On Saturday the city came out in big numbers to help kick off SA2020, the long range planning effort initiated by the Mayor’s office. It’s an opportunity for San Antonio to plot out a course for its future and what it would like to look like in the year 2020. It’s an ambitious effort and is pulling together people from across San Antonio to help shape that vision. From city leaders to students people gave up a Saturday morning to come listen to speeches and brainstorm about what they would change in San Antonio, what they would keep, and what they would like. Based on the participation and ideas San Antonio is ready to shape itself into a world class city.
I had a unique opportunity to participate in the activities as the Twitter voice of SA2020 that day. I am working as a part of the social media team for the initiative and was tasked with sitting in the middle of the TriPoint group to tweet up what was said. To do so I positioned myself at one of the four student tables set aside in the main room. That not only let me be in the middle of the action but gave me an opportunity to listen to the discussion of those that would be most affected by what came out of SA2020.
Joining me at the table was Dr. Dennis Ahlburg, the new president of Trinity University, who helped facilitate the discussion among the students. Dr. Ahlburg did an incredible job working with these young and articulate young people, helping them brainstorm out new ideas for the city. Then again, that didn’t take much with this group of bright young minds who were already engaged in sustainability and working at providing a better environment for their peers.
I got to meet and sit with Drew, a student at Keystone School, who came out to SA2020 because he had an interest in the initiative and realized that anything developed would affect him in the future. Keen on sustainability it was interesting to see his reaction after meeting Bill Sinkin, the godfather of solar energy in San Antonio. I would almost equate it to a kid meeting a pro sports figure. That’s got to make you feel good seeing that kind of reaction.
Bill is no stranger to these type of efforts, serving as the first president of Hemisfair ’68. Having his wealth of knowledge and perspective in this effort helps not only keep us grounded in the past that brought us here but in the future we can become. Bill’s one of the most innovative people in sustainable energy in our city. But he’s only one of the many leaders who sat at the tables with people of the community.
San Antonio is not the only city in Texas undergoing this type of activity. Austin recently launched Imagine Austin, a comprehensive planning effort being managed by the City of Austin to help come up with a vision for the capital city. In an article in today’s Austin American-Statesman the various potential scenarios for Austin’s future were laid out.
Austin’s vision is much longer than SA2020, mapping out plans for the next three decades. However, the process is much the same with citizens engaging in a series of public forums and discussions on the subject. Some of the challenges facing Austin is how to maintain the unique character of the city that prides itself with the phrase “Keep Austin Weird” while creating an environment that accommodates an ever changing demographic and growing population.
That same challenge faces San Antonio as SA2020 wrestles with preserving the rich historical heritage of a city almost 300 years old with a growing economic base focused on bio-medical, cybersecurity, and a potentially growing green energy industry. Urban sprawl is starting to plague San Antonio, stretching city resources beyond current capabilities. However, San Antonians still pride themselves on their small town feel in the 7th largest city in the nation.
SA2020 hopes to address all these issues and more. Saturday was the kickoff and Oct. 28th starts the visioning. There are three other public forums planned after that session. You can be a part of this unique effort by participating in the forums or providing your feedback through the website. You can also follow the effort on Facebook or Twitter.
But for now, in the words of my good friend Carlos Guerra who was roasted last Friday, “stay tuned … for more … details.”