Victoria Courts office workers say they have been getting calls from city residents who do not want the public-housing tenants relocated near them. This is one of those places that most San Antonians try to avoid at night. Even some of its residents are eager to leave. Still, with all of its problems and flaws, Victoria Courts has become a neighborhood, one that gave rise to its own school, its own businesses, its own day-care center and its own way of life. The bonds of friendship have flourished here.
Residents share their telephones and washing machines with neighbors they know and trust.
They help care for each other's children. They go grocery shopping together when they have a little money to spend. They flee their hot, non-air conditioned apartments on humid evenings to gab with neighbors on the front steps and sidewalks. Play areas inside the complex always are full, from morning to well after sunset, with romping and laughing children. Drying laundry is the other ever-present sight.