SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio looks a lot different than it did in 1999 — and not just because of what’s been built downtown.
When the San Antonio Spurs claimed their first NBA Championship in 1999, the city’s skyline was sparser, its economy was different and many of today’s major businesses weren’t here yet.
“I think of jumping back to sophomore year of high school and driving downtown next to the Alamodome in my aunt’s car, honking our horn,” said Will Garrett, vice president of Talent Development and Integration at Port San Antonio. “There were probably the two Marriotts there, Tower Life Building — there wasn’t the skyline even that we see today.”
New factories, research centers and a changing downtown have helped reshape San Antonio over the past two-plus decades.
Manufacturers and tech employers arriving in the region have created better-paying technical jobs, according to economic development leaders.
Sarah Carabias Rush, president and CEO of Greater SATX, said the transformation has been sweeping.
“There was no Joint Base San Antonio yet. Most of today’s manufacturers were not here,” she said.
San Antonio’s population has grown roughly 22% since 2014, according to the city’s U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program, San Antonio-New Braunfels MSA, 2014-2025. Jobs in tech, professional services and advanced manufacturing have expanded during that same period — changing the kinds of career pathways available to residents.
Momentum builds for next generation
Community and business leaders say the growth is about more than numbers — it’s about the city’s long-term competitiveness.
“We are seizing the momentum as a community,” Carabias Rush said. “We are coming together and investing as one in the things that matter — in our people and in our place — so that we can be economically competitive for generations to come.”
More companies mean more pathways to careers that require different, higher-level skills, leaders say.
Carabias Rush also pointed to the energy surrounding San Antonio’s NBA franchise as a symbol of the city’s rising profile.
“Thinking about our Spurs and the way that we are investing in our downtown — the exciting energy that that’s going to create for this region is only going to help accelerate the growth and the momentum that we’re seeing,” she said.
As San Antonio continues to grow, city leaders and residents are watching closely to see how the expansion affects neighborhoods and families across the region.