Deep in the Heart of San Antonio: Land and Life in South Texas

Why was San Antonio built in a flood basin? How did it become such a tourist destination? Are the city’s social relations really so amicable, its political fabric truly multicultural? Why has it been so poor, and for so long?

“Texans claim two homes—where they live and San Antonio.”

industrialization

Then again, San Antonians might respond, who wants to live in Houston or Dallas?

Its poverty is historic and has been linked to its inability and unwillingness to push beyond its dependence on military spending and tourism to fill the communal coffers.