Today, I had a meeting with the Mayor of San Antonio, Ivy Taylor. After spending a lot of time with my grandmother on the East side of San Antonio, near the AT&T Center, and traveling to 20 baseball stadiums, I just couldn’t understand why the AT&T Center area didn’t have more. When traveling to so many stadiums, and seeing the downtown, and surrounding areas of other stadiums, it is sad to not have a nicer, more attractive area for such an important place.
Almost every city that has a professional sports stadium, has an area around it that improves the experience of attending a game. That includes hotels, restaurants, bars, shops, etc. When you travel to see stadiums like I do, you normally like to stay in the area of the game. That means staying by the stadium, eating at, or near the stadium, and spending your day in that area. If you traveled to San Antonio to see the Spurs, those are the last things you’ll do.
The AT&T Center, is in a very abandoned, and lonely neighborhood, that could use a lift. There is nowhere you would consider staying at near the arena, and there are no restaurants, or bars to eat at. When you go to a Spurs game, you get to the game, park, walk in the arena, watch the game, walk to your car, and leave. That should not be acceptable.
When you go to a game, it should be a great experience, not only in the stadium, but out. How can a team, who just won a championship, and is known for having a great atmosphere in the stadium, not have a better surrounding, that would just make an already amazing franchise, so much better. For many, attending a game is a special event, and they should be able to make it just that. Sadly, going to the AT&T Center sometimes isn’t that, and that is why I wanted to speak to the mayor.
Thanks to my grandmother, who arranged the meeting, since she also has concerns for the East side. When we found out we got a meeting, we were very excited. I immediately started preparing for this special meeting. In the meeting with Mayor Taylor, I voiced my concerns about the AT&T Center, as well as any other future stadiums in SA, and shared my ideas on how I think it could be better.
Mayor Taylor was extremely nice, as she not only took time out of her very busy schedule to meet with me, but also took time to listen to everything I had to say. I was looking forward to this meeting, but what I got out of it was more than I could have imagined.
To say I was able to meet the mayor, and that she actually listened to my ideas, and even agreed with some of them, was so cool. If I can one day say, that my meeting today changed how attending a Spurs game, or any other team looking for a winning, and proud city like San Antonio to play in, I would be proud.
Thank You Mayor Ivy Taylor
What a great article!