1 Tourism

San Antonio is a popular tourist destination. The jewel of city is the Paseo del Rio, or River Walk, which meanders through the downtown area. Lined with numerous shops, bars, and restaurants as well as the Arneson River Theater, this attraction is transformed into an impressive festival of lights during the Christmas and New Year holiday period.

The downtown area also features HemisFair Park (home of the Tower of the Americas and the Institute of Texan Cultures), La Villita, El Mercado, and the city's most widely recognized landmark, the Alamo.

Other places of interest include Brackenridge Park (home of the San Antonio Zoo), the missions of the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, the Witte Museum, the McNay Art Museum, SeaWorld of Texas, and the Six Flags Fiesta Texas theme park.

Every April, San Antonio hosts Fiesta San Antonio, a 10-day celebration of the city's diverse cultures and of the heroes of the Battle of the Alamo and the Battle of San Jacinto. Visitors can also experience something of the cowboy culture every February at the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo; year round, they can also see the 40 ft. tall cowboy boots at North Star Mall.

Beyond taking in the sights and sounds of San Antonio, tourists can sample some of its world famous Tex-Mex cuisine at the many fine restaurants located throughout the city. San Antonio also has no shortage of establishments offering Texas style barbecue, and for the truly intrepid barbecue aficionado, a day trip to some of the more renowned barbecue pits and smokehouses of Central Texas is both necessary and easily manageable.

2 Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1,067.3 km² (412.07 mi²). 1,055.6 km² (407.56 mi²) of it is land and 11.7 km² (4.51 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 1.09% water. The city sits on the Balcones Escarpment.

3 Demographics

According to the 2000 census, San Antonio is the 9th largest city in the United States and the third largest in Texas. There are 1,144,646 people, 405,474 households, and 280,993 families residing in the city. The population density is 1,084.4/km² (2,808.5/mi²).

There are 433,122 housing units at an average density of 410.3/km² (1,062.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 67.68% White, 6.82% African American, 0.84% Native American, 1.57% Asian, 0.09% Pacific Islander, 19.34% from other races, and 3.66% from two or more races. 58.66% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 405,474 households out of which 35.9% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.1% are married couples living together, 16.4% have a female householder with no husband present, and 30.7% are non-families. 25.1% of all households are made up of individuals and 7.6% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.77 and the average family size is 3.36.

In the city the population is spread out with 28.5% under the age of 18, 10.8% from 18 to 24, 30.8% from 25 to 44, 19.4% from 45 to 64, and 10.4% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 32 years. For every 100 females there are 93.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 89.7 males.

The median income for a household in the city is $36,214, and the median income for a family is $41,331. Males have a median income of $30,061 versus $24,444 for females. The per capita income for the city is $17,487. 17.3% of the population and 14.0% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 24.3% of those under the age of 18 and 13.5% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

4 Education

San Antonio hosts several institutions of higher education offering bachelor's degrees or higher, including:

• Our Lady of the Lake University [1]
• St. Mary's University [2]
• Trinity University [3]
• University of the Incarnate Word [4]
• University of Texas at San Antonio [5]

And many other institutions that offer courses and trainings for individuals

5 Sports Teams

• San Antonio Missions, Texas League Minor league baseball
• San Antonio Rampage, American Hockey League
• San Antonio Silver Stars, Women's National Basketball Association
• San Antonio Spurs, National Basketball Association

6 Nightlife

Popular Hot spots:

7 Neighborhoods

San Antonio has several neighborhoods of interest:

• The Monte Vista National Historic District is located one and a half miles north of downtown San Antonio and is home to approximately 3,000 people. Its distinguished residential architecture, primarily from San Antonio's "Gilded Age," defined as extending from 1890 to 1930, forms the most extensive and intact neighborhood of this era in Texas.

- from http://www.montevista-sa.org/homes/

• The King William Historic District is just south of the central business district of San Antonio. It comprises parts of some twenty-two blocks with seventy-nine historic structures, most dating from the second half of the nineteenth century.

- from http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/KK/ghk1.html

• The northeast suburb of Windcrest is known for its tradition of elaborately decorating homes with lights every Christmas.

• The North Central side of San Antonio contains some of the most valuable residential property in the city. The city of Alamo Heights is populated with historically wealthy families. Inwood just inside Loop 1604 is where many newly upper class residences are located.

• The southeastern suburb of China Grove has a song written and sung about it by the Doobie Brothers entitled "China Grove."

• Downtown has a growing residential population. It is surprisingly affordable to live in the downtown area, although there can be a waiting list for an apartment to open up. Another benefit is that rush hour traffic is generally going in the opposite direction. The only thing missing is a grocery store! While the bus system (VIA Metropolitan Transit) is not ideal, it is far better than most mass transit systems in the US.

8 Notable Natives

Henry Cisneros was the mayor of San Antonio from 1981 to 1989. He was the first Hispanic mayor of a major U.S. city, and later went on to serve as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Bill Clinton.

San Antonio NFL players include Keith Cash and Kerry Cash (Holmes High School) and Priest Holmes (Marshall High School).

Shaquille O'Neal graduated from Cole High School, having led his team to a 36-0 record and a state championship his senior year.

Native actors include Carol Burnett and Ann Prentiss.

Olympic gold medalist swimmer Josh Davis was born in San Antonio on September 1, 1972, the same day Mark Spitz won one of his seven 1972 gold medals and made Olympic history.

Heloise was born and still lives in San Antonio.

9 External links

• San Antonio official website
• San Antonio Convention & Visitors Bureau
• San Antonio Golf

Texas
Regions: Arklatex | Central Texas | Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex | East Texas | Edwards Plateau | Houston Metropolitan Area | North Texas | Northeast Texas | Piney Woods | Rio Grande Valley | Texas Hill Country | Texas Panhandle | Llano Estacado | Southeast Texas | South Texas | West Texas
Largest Metropolitan areas: Abilene | Amarillo | Austin- San Marcos | Beaumont- Port Arthur | Brownsville- Harlingen- San Benito | Bryan- College Station | Corpus Christi | Dallas- Fort Worth | El Paso | Houston- Galveston- Brazoria | Killeen- Temple | Laredo | Longview- Marshall | Lubbock | McAllen- Edinburg- Mission | Odessa- Midland | San Angelo | San Antonio | Sherman- Denison | Texarkana | Tyler | Victoria | Waco | Wichita Falls
See also: List of counties in Texas

Cities in Texas Bexar County, Texas

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