Texan tug-of-war

ALAMO RANCH, at the edge of San Antonio’s outer ring road, is hardly a glamorous place. New strip malls stretch along access roads; neon signs advertise a Walmart, a Target and a Men’s Wearhouse. Yet it is here that Richard Cash, a local who runs a party-equipment rental company, is fighting a suburban war. Sitting on the patio of a branch of BJ’s, a chain restaurant and bar, he denounces the city above the hum of traffic. “We moved out here for a reason: we don’t want to be part of San Antonio,” he says. “We don’t want our tax dollars being poured into downtown projects we won’t benefit from.”