SA2020
I
have done only limited research in recent years into contemporary
cases of “urban renewal”. I don't use that label to harken back
to efforts of the second half of the 20th century to
combat urban decay or blight. I don't limit the concept to efforts
for physical replacement of slums and low income/high crime areas
into yuppie new neighborhoods. I am, instead, using the term “urban
renewal” in a much broader, macro sense. Limited though they may
be, there have been 21st century business and municipal
public leaders who have sought to make cities better, to right
wrongs, and to fashion what their great-grandparents would have
considered more utopian communities. To do this within the
constraints of existing power structures and the overall social norms
and to maintain the vast freedoms for all societal participants is
incredibly difficult. Many cities, as encouraged and enabled by
their parent state governments, seek merely to make small incremental
improvements. If a given city can see a 5% reduction in their crime
rate for a given year with some confidence the improvement won't
reverse itself the following year, they are ecstatic. Or perhaps the
one percenters convince the local voters to agree to some special tax
break or funding to get a new stadium built for the local pro sports
team. And when this succeeds and is followed by some success by that
team it brings pride to the area and they rejoice that things are
indeed improving.
But
few cities look at the complete, overall urban experience and develop
broader plans to marshal resources designed to make a city better and
provide a better life for all or most inhabitants of the city.
Such
an effort was what I found fascinating in what San Antonio, TX
launched in 2010. They labeled their effort “SA2020”. Their
effort was designed to allow for a full two plus years of planning
and seven or eight years of action they hoped would produce a better,
more livable, more desirable city than what San Antone had become by
2009. The planners broke down the total effort into eleven separate
but overlapping spheres of concern and wrote ten year plans for each
sphere, establishing quantifiable goals where feasible. Theses
spheres ranged from Civic Engagement (voting and the functioning of
government) to the local economy (encouraging business growth and
reducing unemployment) to having a healthier fine arts structure
(fiscally viable) and to reducing the discomforts of a poor
transportation networks throughout the metropolitan area. I
moved from San Antonio to Oklahoma in early 2013. This was toward the
end of the initial planning stages and after the first year or so of
implementation had begun. I have not been close enough to follow the
daily struggles of implementing throughout the five years since we
left. I sense that there have, in fact, been improvements and some
goal attainment that likely would not have been as marked had this
coordinated effort not been undertaken. I also believe from
available data and news reports that by 2020 not all of the spheres
will be able to declare victory or mission accomplished. I offer that
opinion not to denigrate the effort but to emphasize the enormity of
the original vision. Had San Antonio been able to deliver in all
eleven areas anywhere close to the original goals, they would have
indeed produced a modern day miracle in democratic America. My hope
in shining a light on their efforts is that they take encouragement
from their improvements, learn from the difficult challenges they
couldn't solve, and double down on their resolve to continue building
a livable large city in flyover country that could offer model
solutions to other cities in our fair country.
I
intend to summarize the successes and ongoing challenges for SA2020
as of the summer of 2018. This will probably take four more Blog
posts beyond this one.
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