What I learned on a long walk up Broadway
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A "for lease" sign on Broadway next door to a bustling local deli. Photo: Megan Stringer/Axios
Ahead of Síclovía's return to Broadway for the first time in six years, I decided to get a true pedestrian view by taking a four-mile walk along the street.
Why it matters: The Broadway corridor north of downtown is in flux. It's home to longtime family-style restaurants and posh new eateries, showcasing San Antonio's past, present and future.
- There's no better way to take that all in than on foot.
Catch up quick: Síclovía closes streets to cars and opens them to walkers and bikers. On Sunday, it will stretch from Parland Place to McCullough Avenue downtown.
How it works: I started my journey by The Newstand coffee shop at Josephine Street, walked two miles up to Hildebrand Avenue and then turned around.
Zoom in: City leaders have long hoped to make Broadway into San Antonio's great urban corridor. Whether or not it already is depends on who you ask.
The big picture: The corridor has long been a cultural hub. Brackenridge Park, the Witte Museum, the DoSeum and the San Antonio Botanical Garden are on or nearby Broadway.
- It's also lined with businesses of all types — local delis, an antique shop, a laundromat, a dollar store, bars, a barbershop.
What they're saying: "It's an amazing north-south thoroughfare that was important in the early history of the city," local historian Maria Watson Pfeiffer tells Axios.
- Early San Antonians traveled along Broadway because of the Alamo acequia, the Spanish water system near Brackenridge Park.
- "Since it more or less parallels the river, it's always been a spine in that way."
Context: San Antonio voters in 2017 approved bond funding for Broadway improvements aimed at making the street more pedestrian friendly. Officials planned to reduce it by one lane in each direction, add bike lanes and widen sidewalks.
- But the Texas Transportation Commission halted those plans when it reclaimed ownership of Broadway in January 2022 to prevent the city from reducing the number of lanes.
- The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has since repaved the road and made updates without removing lanes, adding bike lanes or widening sidewalks.
What I found: Sidewalks are better in some places than others, but they're largely intact.
- The main difficulty is crossing the street to access a business on the other side, since crosswalks are spaced out and the street is so wide. I witnessed a couple people making a run for it.
- I passed a few bikers who rode on sidewalks rather than the narrow car lanes.
State of play: Broadway businesses are in a constant state of change.
- Jim's Restaurant, a local favorite, shut down last year after 53 years. A Houston restaurant group is taking over the space.
- Half Price Books and the Antiquarian Book Mart next door closed in May after a developer purchased the site. Half Price Books had been there 45 years.
- The Ranch Motel, a boutique lodging and leisure club, opened in late 2023. Chains P. Terry's and Postino both opened last year, as did La Panadería, a local chain.
The bottom line: Broadway is in transition, and will be for some time.
Keep reading: Running a longtime Broadway restaurant