San Antonio, Texas
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San Antonio, Texas |
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San Antonio, Texas. The cultural and commercial center for the Río Grande Valley, is famous for its Spanish heritage and its unique mix of Mexican, Anglo, and German cultures. San Antonio has a tropical climate, with very hot summers and mild winters. Precipitation is plentiful, with about 31 inches falling annually, much of it in summer. |
 The city is located in an area of rolling hills on the San Antonio River and San Pedro Creek, which comes from springs in the city. The streams bubble forth from the Edwards Aquifer, San Antonio's only source of water, which collects rainwater from the Texas Hill Country to the northwest and channels it underground through porous limestone. |
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San Antonio Points of Interest |
San Antonio Amusement Parks |
San Antonio Festivals & Rodeo Shows |
Two of the nation's principal interstate freeways cross in San Antonio. Interstate 10, the main route across the southern United States, connects the city with houston to the east. Products from Mexico are frequently transported on Interstate 35, which also ties the city to the Dallas- Fort Worth metropolitan region to the north. Interstate 37 links the city with Corpus Christi on the Gulf of Mexico. San Antonio has good railroad connections to the nation as well as passenger train service. Air transportation is through San Antonio International Aiport. San Antonio's government consists of a council composed of 11 members elected for two-year terms. Ten members are selected from districts; the 11th is chosen by voters citywide and acts as mayor. The council appoints a city manager, who administers the city under policies established by the council. |
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San Antonio by the mid-1990s had become the ninth largest city in the United States. Its economy historically was based on providing commercial, manufacturing, and financial services for an agricultural area extending to the south and west of the city. With plentiful attractions and pleasant weather when much of the nation is experiencing cold winter weather, San Antonio has also become a frequent convention host and tourist destination. Manufactures include refined petroleum, processed food, apparel, microprocessors and semiconductors, agricultural equipment, aerospace equipment, and eyewear. |
While national reductions in the size of the military during the 1990s damaged the city's economy, during the same period the Tourist Industry increased in importance. The health service sector also grew, as San Antonio emerged as the center for health care for the Río Grande Valley and northern Mexico. Biosciences-related research, as well as applied engineering and physical sciences research and development, is being carried out in San Antonio at the Southwest Research Institute and the Texas Research Park. A major spur to the economy has been the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which allows the area to draw upon its historic links to Mexico and to solidify its credibility as an international financial center. It was chosen, for example, as the site of the North American Development Bank. |
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The narrow upper course of the San Antonio River, spanned by many bridges, winds through the city, making a horseshoe-shaped bend around the central business district. Along its banks in midtown is the Paseo del Rio, or River Walk, a popular walkway with shops and restaurants shaded by large cypress and palm trees. Scenic excursions aboard small riverboats through the district is one of the city's premier activities for visitors. |
HemisFair Plaza, site of a world's fair in 1968 celebrating the city's 250th anniversary, adjoins the river. The site of downtown recreation and entertainment, the plaza contains a convention center and the Tower of the Americas, a revolving restaurant and a observation deck 750-foot-tall that affords panoramic views of the city. The river winds past La Villita (or The Little Village), a complex of restored buildings from the city's earliest residential settlement and now an arts and crafts community. To the west of downtown San Antonio is Market Square, patterned after markets in Mexico. Immediately south of downtown, along the river, is the King William District, an area settled in the 19th century by wealthy Germans and noted for its unique architecture. |
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San Antonio Points of Interest |
San Antonio Amusement Parks |
San Antonio Festivals & Rodeo Shows |