The Civic San Antonio

San Antonio has been five years away from becoming a major American city for as long as anyone can remember. The Civic is the nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom trying to understand what's working in this city, what isn't, and what we could do better. TheCivic.com

San Antonio is the NBA's 27th-largest market. Project Marvel is the cost of remaining an NBA city and every comparable market has paid it. The work of the next twenty years is making sure we don't have this conversation again.

@MurraySuggests We want fiscal responsibility.

@thecivic That’s a weird way of saying you want to spend even more taxpayer money.

San Antonio is the poorest major economy in the fastest-growing state in the country. We have a $152 million gap coming next year and property tax hikes on the table for the first time in three decades. The inaugural issue of The Civic is out now. Link below.

One thing to do this weekend in San Antonio: @Garrett_T_Capps, San Antonio’s musical ambassador and founding partner of @thelonesomerose, released I Still Love San Antone, his most gonzo record to date. It features Santiago Jiménez, Jr., the late, great Augie Meyers (of the Texas Tornados), and Paul Leary (of Butthole Surfers). He’s throwing the release fiesta Saturday, May 9th, at The Lonesome Rose. Free admission, with Santiago Jiménez, Jr. opening. If you want to know what makes San Antonio music San Antonio music, it’s a damn good place to start. Thanks to Chad Carey, @TheMontereySA

REFRAME: San Antonio has an income problem that looks like a housing problem. A handful of six-figure subsidized units won't put a dent in the problem, even at scale. The fix is more well paying jobs, better education, & building more housing.

Austin, Dallas, and Houston aren't pulling ahead because they subsidize more units, though these programs exist everywhere. They're pulling ahead because they have higher wages and let builders build.

Per a Harvard University report, San Antonio ranks 96th in GDP per capita among America's largest metros. Census data consistently shows San Antonio as one of the poorest large cities in the U.S, and average net worth is outside the top-100 in a Synergos Technologies report.