A view of San Antonio’s riverwalk

March 31st, 2008 at 10:26am Wally Haas

I was in Texas last week and made a point of going to San Antonio to see what all the fuss was about with its riverwalk.

It’s nothing like I imagined. In Rockford, I consider our series of recreation paths a kind of riverwalk. Rockford’s paths are used for relaxation and recreation. San Antonio’s riverwalk is about commerce.

There are restaurants and shops all over the place. The paths are narrow, which means you pretty much have to walk single file when it’s busy. The river, which includes a series of small channels,  is more of a creek by our standards. I didn’t hear much about its origins while I was there and plan to look it up and report back to you later.

It was pretty neat, but once I left I had that “been there, done that” feeling. I don’t think I’ll go back.

If I lived in San Antonio, the only time I’d go there would be to show it to visitors.

I don’t think Rockford should try to copy what San Antonio has. That doesn’t mean I don’t think Larry Morrissey’s riverwalk idea doesn’t have merit.

I think a hybrid of San Antonio’s riverwalk and Harmony, Minn.’s bike path would work best here.
What Rockford builds should be unique and appeal to residents as well as tourists. My plan would be to extend the recreation path from the YMCA to the old Ingersoll building and renovate the Ingersoll into shops and restaurants. People could walk or bike to those shops. Yes, I know the News Tower is in the way, but I’m sure some creative minds can solve that problem.

I know there’s a desire to link the museums to the rec paths, but I see that as a separate deal.  The museums already are a destination. Rockford needs to create more destinations for its residents and visitors to enjoy.

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