Photo Credit: Linda Taylor, San Antonio Current
[Excerpt]
Miller points to the formation 50 years ago of Communities Organized for Public Service, now COPS/Metro, as a turning point in the city's willful neglect of low-income, non-Anglo neighborhoods. The grassroots group organized residents to demand drainage, sidewalks, curbs, libraries and other basic services which wealthy parts of town appeared to have an easier time accessing.
While COPS/Metro's organizing power forced the city to correct course, there's still work to do, Miller said. Complicating matters, San Antonio's flooding problems are only likely to worsen due to the climate crisis.
"Even with the amount of money San Antonio has poured into drainage since then, the city still floods," Miller said. "The larger system in which San Antonio operates — a natural system of climate — probably is going to accelerate some of that flooding, and we've got to get ahead of that. Otherwise, it's game over."
At Your Service: Is San Antonio Keeping Up with Residents' Basic Needs?, San Antonio Current [pdf]