I just thought of something RELEVANT, for once
San Antonio is going to one huge traffic nightmare pretty soon- within the next year, I'd guess. I-10, 281 (widening), and 1604 (widening) are all going to be underconstruction. 410 is already/still underconstruction. They've just started work on the San Pedro exit off of 410, and they are going to start finishing Wurzbach parkway where it will cross 281. the whole northwest/north/west side of san antonio is going to become very congested. (I don't know if this is common knowledge or not- hope i'm not giving away secrets here). San Antonio has also just created their own toll booth "solution" at the 281/1604 interchange- which, from what I hear goes like this: at the interchange, you can pay a toll, and just continue on through the interchange as one would generally expect to in a normal situation. or, if you choose not to pay the toll, you have to go through a series of stoplights to change highways. can you imagine the traffic nightmare?
If you choose to live on the southside, you might be Ok. New braunfels area might be ok (37/I-10/1604 interchanges might be ok). but to get anywhere on the north, west, or northwest sides, you are going to be sitting in traffic a lot. and this is where a lot of new development is currently going on- so that means more people using a currently not-efficient and soon to be under-construction system.
then there is the tree oridance issue: in theory, developers are supposed to be preserving trees when they build new areas. if they don't save the trees, they pay a fine. However, the fine is more or less inconsequential and is frequently over looked. it ends up being cheaper to wipe out all the trees and pay the fine than to build developments around large trees. These trees have been proven to improve air qualtiy (reduce pollution), and lower the heat-island effect. also, the trees reduce individual home cooling costs, nevermind the simple aesthetic value. In theory, before developers start any site work, they are supposed to have a tree survey done, to count the trees that are endagered (or rare, or whatever) or very large (and thus very useful). If a developer doesn't do the tree survey, and starts site work, they are supposed to be fined, and site work is supposed to cease immediately. however, this rarely happens. when they are fined, it is frequently overlooked by bureacrats that cater to developers, and work continues. <-- the point of that is that while some regulations may be in place to try and control the negative aspects of development, the regulations are undermined by corruption. This type of thing tends to happen city wide, at all levels, in all areas, i think. Which kind of tells you what kind of decision making is going on at the city gorvernment level.
I'll shut up now.