The Where I Live series aims to showcase our diverse city and region by spotlighting its many vibrant neighborhoods. Each week a local resident invites us over and lets us in on what makes their neighborhood special. Have we been to your neighborhood yet? Get in touch to share your story.
I was living in Sydney, Australia in 2020 and attending an artist residency in France when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Amid all the shutdowns, I was forced to return to my hometown after about a decade away. Though San Antonio was a lovely place to grow up, I never felt like part of the community. It was difficult to come back to a place I tried so hard to leave.
Once we got through the worst of the pandemic and I was able to venture out more, getting reacquainted with the city helped me find the community I had always wanted. I learned of friends from high school who, like me, had spent time away from San Antonio and found their way back. I met my partner in 2021 and got involved in the local art community.
Recently, I opened a studio and art gallery in Roosevelt Park called Ornamental Cabbage, which provided the opportunity to reach out to a lot of artists I had followed on Instagram or had heard of, and bring us all together in the same space. Meeting in person and getting off of the digital platform has been amazing and really connective. And then to see the turnout on the opening night was really spectacular.
My partner and I love living in Monte Vista. It’s one of the most impressive historical neighborhoods in the country, which I appreciate as someone who studied art history. Our home turns 100 next year, and we sometimes joke about it being haunted. My partner used to hear noises, but since doing a house healing, we learned that the butler who had been trapped in the pantry has been relieved of his duties.
I love the vines crawling up the red brick exterior of the house, giving it an East Coast or English feel. Inside, our walls are hung with art and ancestral pieces we’ve inherited, and contemporary furniture balances out the space making it feel light and cozy.
Morning walks with our dogs are always lovely and could involve a stroll through the Trinity University campus or a stop at Bright Coffee. Greenhouse is another great spot for coffee that opened earlier this year and has been a welcome addition to the area. For sourdough, we like Extra Fine and Scratch Kitchen.
I grew up going to Landa Library and now find myself returning there often. My partner and I even had our Valentine’s Day picnic at the park there this year.
The Monte Vista Historical Society hosts regular gatherings where we get to see neighbors from other blocks and other walks of life. We also have friends who live in the area and who we run into on our walks around the neighborhood.
Halloween in Monte Vista is always fun. People from other neighborhoods come out, and the streets are filled with kids. We put chairs out on the front lawn and hand out candy, and it feels like Halloween when I was a kid. It’s nice, especially since the pandemic isolation, to see kids having the courage to put on a funky costume and get out of the house and away from their devices for the night.
We’re seeing more young families move in and more revitalization efforts, like the project at the Koehler House across from Temple Beth-El that’s going to be a boutique hotel. It’s exciting to see growth while also having the reassurance that these historic buildings will be preserved. You’re able to access so much nostalgia in San Antonio — to see the past lives lived and the current lives inhabiting a space — and I love that residents fight to protect the city’s history and heritage.
