Scroll down to see the runoff city council candidates' views on neighborhoods versus developers from various forums and town halls leading up to the election.

Just outside San Antonio’s scenic downtown, past the crowds that pack the Alamo and the River Walk, the city is becoming so expensive so fast that many Latinos simply can’t afford to live there anymore. They have shaped San Antonio’s rich Mexican-American culture for generations. But like many minorities living in low-income and rapidly gentrifying urban neighborhoods, they’re struggling to keep up with some of the harshest side effects of economic development: rising property values and shrinking access to transportation. 

Two 100-year-old storied homes in San Antonio’s Tobin Hill neighborhood are being demolished after a city councilman invoked an ordinance under the city signage code to block landmark protection sought by the community and the city Office of Historic Preservation. The clash between the community, the developer and the city bureaucracy erupted at the July 17 Historic Design and Review Commission (HDRC) meeting, prompting the panel to initiate a survey of the remaining historic and significant buildings in Tobin Hill.

Commentary by Jim Bailey, member of the Housing Policy Task Force

About two dozen people gathered for a show of force outside City Hall Wednesday, Dec. 12, imploring the San Antonio City Council to stop “ramming through a policy” on housing development incentives. Community leaders said they want more time for people to understand specifics about the policy, how it has already impacted neighborhoods and families.

By Tony Garcia with Cynthia Spielman

By Charlotte-Anne Lucas and Jolene Almendarez This morning, District 1 Councilman Roberto Treviño will continue to fight a land use category that community leaders say will destroy San Antonio neighborhoods by allowing incompatible, high-density, four-story apartment buildings next to single-family homes.

The San Antonio Zoning Board of Adjustment rejected Imagine Built Homes’ request to build a new home eight feet from an existing home, closer than is allowed under the Mahncke Park Neighborhood Conservation District rules.