As the 6th largest city in the United States, and one of the fastest growing, San Antonio is also one of the most car-dependent, with streets built for speed rather than for the people who live along them. Neighborhoods on the south and west sides have median home prices as low as $108,000, while the city continues to prioritize expansion at the edges over investment in what already exists. The new subdivisions, roads, and infrastructure will cost far more to maintain than it will ever generate in tax revenue. Strong Towns San Antonio exists to ask the harder questions, bring the data to the table, and connect residents who want a different kind of city.
About Our Chapter
Our Mission
Strong Towns San Antonio is a local chapter of the national Strong Towns movement. We educate residents, track city decisions, and advocate for development patterns that make San Antonio financially stronger and more livable for everyone. We do this through local conversations, community advocacy, and connecting people to tools and resources that help them take action where they live.
Our Vision
San Antonio is a city where every neighborhood is safe to walk, every street is worth what it costs to maintain, and housing options exist for people at every income level. Growth here means better, not just bigger.
What We Do
We are not a city department or a lobbying group. We are residents who show up, ask questions, and share what we learn. Our work happens in living rooms, at city council meetings, on neighborhood walks, and in online conversations with people who want San Antonio to be better.
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Learn Together
We host regular conversations about how San Antonio grows, where the money goes, and what the research actually says about streets, housing, and city finances.
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Advocate Locally
We track city decisions, show up to public meetings, and connect residents with the tools they need to make their voices count at the neighborhood level.
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Build the Movement
We connect San Antonians to the broader Strong Towns network of 290+ local chapters, resources, courses, and advocates working on the same issues across North America.
People Who Are Trying to Make the Difference
Our Team
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Yamini Karandikar
Yamini lives in the Downtown neighborhood and mostly relies on walking and e-biking as forms of transportation. She organizes many of the Strong Towns SATX events and is the primary liaison with the city and other advocacy groups. Yamini currently serves on the San Antonio Planning Commission and Technical Advisory Committee (PCTAC) and as an Advisor to the Board for Texans for Reasonable Solutions (TfRS) focusing on unlocking incremental housing development.
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Austin Kelm
Austin is a Themed Entertainment Designer who lives in the Woodlawn Lake neighborhood and gets around almost entirely by ebike and VIA. He represents Strong Towns San Antonio on the AAMPO Active Transportation Committee and the SA Tomorrow Near North Planning Committee. Since joining the chapter, Austin has focused on transit-oriented development and the Bike Network Plan, and is now working on quick-build implementation along Cincinnati Ave bike lanes and connecting residents to the city's Greenway Trail network.
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Brittnie Spornhauer-Carrillo
Brittnie is a San Antonio-based communications professional with a background in strategic communication, media, and organizational research from Texas A&M University. Her interests in sustainability and civil rights activism brought her to Strong Towns San Antonio, where she focuses on community outreach and communications for the chapter.
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Jaye Howell
Jaye is a housing advocate, incremental developer, and former data engineer who leads the Incremental Development and Affordable Housing Team for Strong Towns San Antonio. His work focuses on missing middle housing, the duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, ADUs, and small multifamily buildings that add variety and affordability to existing neighborhoods without changing their character. Drawing on more than 20 years in data engineering, Jaye pairs analytical thinking with community engagement to advocate for gradual, financially sustainable development that gives people of all incomes a place to live and thrive in San Antonio.
Want to join our leadership team?
We’re currently looking for a Community Engagement Lead! If this position interests you, use our submissions form to get in touch!
Big Ideas, Real Impact.
Every event we host is designed with intention, from the atmosphere we create to the way each session flows.
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$6.6 billion
San Antonio's total infrastructure deficit across the city, identified in the 2022-2027 Bond Program discussions. Source: City of San Antonio / Patch, 2022
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1,445 miles
The gap in San Antonio's sidewalk network. Filling it would cost an estimated $717 million. Source: KENS5 / City of San Antonio Public Works, April 2024
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75%
Three in four Bexar County households pay more than 22% of their annual income on transportation costs, according to the Center for Neighborhood Technology's Housing + Transportation Affordability Index. Source: San Antonio Report
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141
Traffic deaths in San Antonio in 2025, including 54 pedestrians and 4 cyclists, according to local crash data cited by Vision Zero SA. Source: KSAT, November 2025