San Antonio, Texas

Profile:

San Antonio is named after St. Anthony of Padua because it was on his feast day, June 13, that the site’s river was christened by a Spanish official in 1691. In 1718 a Spanish mission, nicknamed the Alamo (meaning “cottonwood”), was founded there to convert the local natives to Catholicism. But the mission was removed from church control in 1793 and incorporated as a city in 1809.

After Texas joined the United States in 1845, San Antonio became a destination for German settlers and its population swelled. Shortly after 1900 aircraft started being built in San Antonio, which would soon become a center of military aviation, with three Air Force bases nearby.

Now San Antonio’s economy is centered around four activities: financial services, health care, defense, and tourism. In 2001 Kelly AFB was converted into KellyUSA, a commercial port comprising an airport and a rail-served business park that employs 12,000 people. Unlike most other U.S. cities, San Antonio is not surrounded by independent suburbs, and is annexing large amounts of land to enable its growth.

Population:

• City population: 1.3 million in 2005 (estimated), 13th-most populous in the U.S. in 2000
• Metro area: 1.6 million in 2000, 29th-most populous in the U.S.
• Change in San Antonio’s population in the 1990s: +145,356 (+14.5%)

Interesting Facts:

• Elevation: 701 feet
• Median value of a San Antonio house/condo in 2005: $89,800
• Median real estate property taxes paid for housing units with mortgages in 2005: $2,346
• Number of single-family new-home construction permits issued in 2005: 8266 buildings, average cost: $144,500
• The average annual temperature in San Antonio is 68.6º F
• The Alamo, now a downtown shrine and museum, is featured on San Antonio’s flag and San Antonio’s nickname is “Alamo City”
• Toyota Motor Corp. recently chose the San Antonio area as the location for one of its newest truck manufacturing plants

Demographic:

• The racial makeup of San Antonio:
  • Hispanic (58.7%)
  • White Non-Hispanic (31.8%)
  • Other race (19.3%)
  • Black (6.8%)
  • Two or more races (3.7%)
  • American Indian (1.3%)
• Median age: 31.7
• Ancestries: German (9.0%), Irish (5.2%), English (5.0%), United States (3.2%), Italian (1.9%), French (1.8%)
• Among people in San Antonio age 25 and above, 21.6% have a college degree
• Average household size: 2.77

Avg. Family Income:

• Median household income in 2005: $40,186

Transportation:

• Entering San Antonio by road is comparatively easy; the loop design of San Antonio freeways and their connecting highways enable a motorist to reach the central district from any direction
• San Antonio’s VIA Metropolitan Transit Service buses cover 106 routes. Special vehicles serve the handicapped and elderly.
• San Antonio International Airport, 13 miles from the downtown River Walk, is served by 14 major carriers flying domestic and international routes, including nonstop flights to 28 destinations. The airport has an average of 248 daily departures and arrivals. Traveling downtown from the airport by taxi takes about 15 minutes in normal traffic.
• Amtrak carries rail passengers to San Antonio from points all around the country