{"id":214220,"date":"2025-09-10T00:59:16","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T00:59:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/214220\/"},"modified":"2025-09-10T00:59:16","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T00:59:16","slug":"west-side-leaders-want-development-while-preserving-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/214220\/","title":{"rendered":"West Side leaders want development while preserving community"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dozens of people filled seats at the Edgewood Theatre of Performing Arts on Tuesday morning to get the answer to one question. What\u2019s happening on the West Side?<\/p>\n

Prosper West hosted its annual State of the Westside event, where speakers and panelists focused on collaboration and development while keeping community members at the center of the conversation.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe West Side has never been a community defined by what people give us or withhold from us. We are defined by what we create, by what we build.\u201d said Teri Castillo, who represents much of the West Side in District 5 on San Antonio City Council.<\/p>\n

Building was a theme of the event. Ryan Kuhl, Prosper West\u2019s CEO, noted that investments in transit corridors, University of Texas San Antonio\u2019s plans for its downtown campus<\/a> and other infrastructure projects constitute major change for the West Side.<\/p>\n

Speakers at the event noted other projects \u2014 like the Museo del Westside<\/a> and Basila Frocks<\/a> \u2014 that showed the area\u2019s growth. <\/p>\n

\"\"Ryan Kuhl, CEO of Prosper West, addresses the audience and panelists during Prosper West\u2019s State of the Westside event at the Edgewood Performing Arts Center on Tuesday. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n

Basila Frocks turned a former dressmaking workshop at 500 N. Zarzamora St.\u00a0into a mixed-use space where businesses and other organizations will be housed. It\u2019s scheduled to open next month. <\/p>\n

Museo del Westside<\/a> is a project in development by the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center\u00a0that will be a site focused on the neighborhood and its history.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Kuhl said the community has to be involved<\/a> in those changes. Otherwise, he added, people end up getting displaced from their neighborhoods.<\/p>\n

\u201cRevitalization without protection turns into gentrification,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

A series of panelists touched on the importance of working together to capture those opportunities for growth and make sure benefits are local.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s juice now in the economy that we\u2019ve never had before,\u201d said Henry Cisneros, former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and San Antonio mayor from 1981-89.<\/p>\n

Cisneros said he was working on an anti-displacement fund to help longtime residents pay for steep property tax increases when development comes to their neighborhoods.<\/p>\n

\"\"Prosper West held its State of the Westside event at the Edgewood Performing Arts Center on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n

Janie Barrera, founder of LiftFund, which has provided business loans and training since 1994, called for a community fund to own and manage land on the West Side.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s that saying, \u2018If you own your dirt, you own your destiny,\u2019\u201d Barrera said.<\/p>\n

Cristina Balli, the executive director for the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, added that the West Side\u2019s history and culture were important pieces of future efforts.<\/p>\n

\u201cCultural heritage is not just a byproduct or on the side,\u201d Balli said. \u201cIt\u2019s central to and leading the effort.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speakers noted the challenges that faced the West Side, including historic underinvestment and the current Trump administration policies that are decreasing public funding for nonprofits.<\/p>\n

Partnerships and collaboration were touted as a solution for those problems. <\/p>\n

Numerous speakers noted the ESTAR West program<\/a>, a coalition of community members and local businesses that coordinate strategies and resources for local businesses. The program was started as a part of the Aspen Institute\u2019s 2021-23 City Action Lab. <\/p>\n

One panel focused on nonprofits, their funding and how they are coping with more scarce resources. Nadege Souvenir, CEO of the San Antonio Area Foundation, said big donors are going to have a hard time filling in gaps in federal funding.<\/p>\n

The solution is to bring nonprofits and community groups together so they can work together to solve problems, she said.<\/p>\n

\"\"CEO of the San Antonio Area Foundation Nadege Souvenir addresses fellow panelists during Prosper West\u2019s State of the Westside event at the Edgewood Performing Arts Center on Tuesday. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n

\u201cCall us when you need some space to think, to plan, to ideate, to collaborate,\u201d Souvenir said.<\/p>\n

Leilah Powell, executive director of Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), said giving people resources and structures to learn how to handle financials and build organizations help. Powell said even though funding challenges and uncertainty can seem overwhelming, it\u2019s important to forge ahead.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe systems that we all thought would be there \u2026 are being stripped away,\u201d she said. \u201cThat makes us uncertain about our work. But don\u2019t be uncertain about that work. The work we\u2019ve been doing is the same work we\u2019ve been doing for decades. We\u2019re fighting for justice. We\u2019re fighting for resources for our communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speakers at the event \u2014 from politicians to nonprofits to business people \u2014 maintained a tone of defiant positivity for the West Side.<\/p>\n

The community takes care of its own, Castillo said, and comes together to do so.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all for the good of the \u2018hood,\u201d she said. \u201cWe might just have different ways of getting there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Disclosure: Janie Barrera is a board member of the San Antonio Report.<\/p>\n

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