 The River Walk at St. Mary's Street. The San Antonio River Walk (also known as Paseo del Rio) is a network of walkways around the San Antonio River, linking several major attractions one story beneath downtown San Antonio, Texas. Lined by shops and restaurants, the River Walk is an important part of the city's urban fabric and a tourist attraction in its own right. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2048x1536, 724 KB) This is the Riverwalk in San Antonio Texas at St. ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2048x1536, 724 KB) This is the Riverwalk in San Antonio Texas at St. ...
This article is about the river in Texas. ...
Flag Seal Nickname: Alamo City Location Location in the state of Texas Coordinates , Government Counties Bexar County Mayor Phil Hardberger Geographical characteristics Area City 1067. ...
Today the River Walk is an enormously successful special-case pedestrian street, one level down from the automobile street. The River Walk winds and loops under bridges as two parallel sidewalks lined with restaurants and shops, connecting the major tourist draws from Alamo Plaza to Rivercenter, to the Arneson River Theatre close to La Villita, to Hemisfair Park, to the Tower Life Building. During the annual springtime Fiesta, the River Parade is one of the most beautiful anywhere, with flowery floats that literally float. A pedestrian street is a street where pedestrian traffic is given partial or total priority over all other kinds of traffic. ...
History
The River Walk was the idea of architect Robert Hugman in the late 1920s. As an alternative to paving over the troublesome San Antonio River, Hugman drew out a plan he called "The Shops of Aragon and Romula" which allowed for both flood prevention and commercial development. Hugman maintained his office along the shallow river, despite warnings that he would be "drowned like a rat" and its early reputation as a dangerous hole. (The River Walk was declared off-limits to military personnel at one point.) Hugman persisted, and his office can still be found next door to another early presence on the River Walk, the landmark Casa Rio restaurant.
Crucial funding came in 1939 under the WPA and resulted in the initial construction of a network of some 17,000 linear feet of walkways, about 20 bridges, and extensive plantings including the live oaks whose branches are visible from street level. WPA Graphic The Works Progress Administration (later Works Projects Administration, abbreviated WPA), was created in May 1935 by Presidential order (Congress funded it annually but did not set it up). ...
Through the following decades the network has been improved and extended, without losing its original character. One major extension of the River Walk was performed by the joint venture of two general contractors Darragh & Lyda Inc. and H. A. Lott Inc. to Tower of the Americas as part of HemisFair '68. That was also the year the Hilton Palacio del Rio was built, the first of many downtown hotels that leverage their slice of urban "riverfront". Downtown San Antonio features the historic San Fernando Cathedral, the Tower Life Building and the Tower of The Americas. ...
HemisFair 68 was the first officially designated worlds fair (or international exposition) held in the Southwest United States. ...
In 1981 the Hyatt Regency San Antonio opened with a beautiful new pedestrian connector that linked Alamo Plaza to the River Walk with concrete water falls, waterways and indigenous landscaping. Known as the Paseo del Alamo, this river "extension" actually flows from Alamo Plaza into the San Antonio River through the atrium of the hotel. This connector not only allows the hotel to market itself as being on Alamo Plaza and on the River Walk, but it provides the city with a beautiful urban park that uniquely connects the city's two largest tourist attractions.
Many downtown buildings like the Casino Club Building have street entrances and separate river entrances one level below. This separates the unavoidable automotive service grid (for delivery and emergency vehicles) and pedestrian traffic below. It's an extensive system which achieves a nice balance among retail, commercial, office, greenspace and cultural uses. It gives the city an intricate network of bridges, walkways and old staircases, providing haptic and visual complexity. From an urban planning standpoint, the River Walk may be the best pedestrian-only realm on the continent, with no motor vehicles or bicycles allowed. Urban planning is concerned with the ordering and design of settlements, from the smallest towns to the worlds largest cities. ...
Growth forces expansion The future looks bright for the River Walk. Expansion plans are underway for areas of the river north and south of downtown. As chain restaurants and establishments have begun to flourish, now taking up about a third of commercial space, talk has begun at City Hall about limiting their existence on the River Walk and keeping a distinctively local flair. And after years of murmering from locals and tourists about the water's quality, and a well-publicized insult from Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban during their 2006 playoff series with the Spurs, calling it a "ugly-ass, muddy-watered thing,", talk has also begun about cleaning up the water, although the muddy bottom and silt deposits make this difficult. Until then, washing the river's smell off after a drunken misstep will continue to take its place in the lore of the unfortunate, and the muddy bottom's annual cleaning during the Mud Festival provides tourists with yet another reason to party in San Antonio. The Dallas Mavericks are a professional basketball team based in Dallas, Texas. ...
Mark Cuban Mark Cuban (born July 31, 1958 in Mt. ...
Gallery The River Walk attracts thousands of visitors every day during the holiday season every year. Image File history File linksMetadata Riverwalk_Christmas_05. ...
| Another view of the River Walk. San Antonio Riverwalk Resized, color balanced. ...
| The River Walk as seen on New Years Day. Image File history File linksMetadata SA_river_rustic. ...
This article is about January 1st in the Gregorian calendar. ...
| Boat rides are a popular way to see the River Walk. | A band plays on the shoreline. | Gargoyles line the river in places. |
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