SAN ANTONIO – Many of us have felt the effects of the pandemic in different ways and a recent UTSA report sheds light on how local teens and young adults could be affected in the future. The study focused on Bexar County’s “opportunity youth” -- 16 to 24-year-olds who are not enrolled in school or do not have a job, and the number of people in this group in the San Antonio area is growing by the day. But in the San Antonio area, there are nine local zip codes where the percentage is more than 15%. Prior to the pandemic, many of these portions of San Antonio already had issues with the digital divide and connectivity, making it harder to join the workforce. You can view the full report from UTSA and the City of San Antonio below.

They were “the affordable housing solution of the 1920s and 30s,” said Roger Enriquez, Ph.D., executive director of UTSA’s Westside Community Partnerships Initiative. A spokesman for Shirley Gonzalez, who represents District 5 on City Council, said she was instrumental in the effort now underway, to document and preserve the shotgun houses. He said the goal is to preserve “what we already have.”Enriquez said several plans that are in the works including one that would help families rehab their shotgun houses. The initiative is underway even as the San Antonio Housing Authority is planning to demolish the 501 units that make up Alazan Courts, the city’s oldest public housing project, late next year. (Credit: SAHA) (SAHA)RELATED: Virtual San Antonio Housing Authority groundbreaking sparks West Side protest