El Westside de San Antonio is both a defined geographic place and a state of mind that has been symbolically represented by artists in songs, paintings, poems, stories and film. Both its physical reality and its symbolic representation fuse nostalgically in the memory and remembrances of all who have lived there in the past and in the present. The barrio (neighborhood) is often depicted as a cultural sanctuary or a zone of refuge providing a sense of security and comfort to its inhabitants.

The Westside Preservation Alliance is a consortium of community activists, scholars and residents who realize that San Antonio’s future is built upon San Antonio’s past and history should not be erased based on decisions made without the input or concern for those whose lives are effected by change.