The $850 million bond before voters is the largest in the city’s history, and it deserves widespread support.

The vast majority of spending — roughly 70 percent — is for street and drainage infrastructure. That makes this a back-to-basics bond. But there are also some signature projects that will magnify San Antonio’s quality of life.

It’s the right mix of curbs and gutters with aspirational projects.

The bond is also great bang for the buck. It won’t raise taxes. The city’s AAA bond rating ensures low rates, which remain historically low.

On top of this, the city will leverage roughly $350 million in outside funding to supplement many of these projects.

The bond will be divided into six propositions. Proposition 1 is streets, bridges and sidewalks; Proposition 2 is drainage and flood control; Proposition 3 is parks, recreation and open space; Proposition 4 is library and cultural facilities; Proposition 5 is public safety facilities; and Proposition 6 is neighborhood improvements, also known as the affordable housing bond.

We recommend voters approve all six propositions.

The city has to maintain parks, sidewalks and thousands of miles of roads — and the bond program is the right vehicle to do that.

Affordable housing is a bit of an outlier for a municipal bond package, but it’s a potentially interesting pilot program to address a major issue in San Antonio. At $20 million, the affordable housing bond is relatively small given the community need.

Under the proposed bond, the city would use these funds to prepare development sites in 12 specific neighborhood improvement zones. This could mean demolition, clearing environmental hazards, building rights of way or extending utilities. Developers of these sites would be required to include affordable housing in their projects.

Roughly 20 percent of San Antonio residents live below the federal poverty line. At the same time, gentrification in many San Antonio neighborhoods has raised rents or led to displacement. We think $20 million is enough to create a meaningful pilot program that city leaders and policymakers can study and possibly broaden in the future.

This is very much a citywide bond as only 20 percent of the funding is focused on downtown. But those projects are incredibly important as the city celebrates its tricentennial and re-imagines Alamo Plaza.

Improving Alamo Plaza is a no-brainer, and the city has slotted $7.3 million for this effort. The bond also sets aside $26 million for the continued development of Hemisfair Park. The improvement of the Broadway corridor and the Zona Cultural will further revitalization downtown and help attract private investment and young professionals.

While the Hardberger Park land bridge has conjured some local angst, we see it as an exciting project that will complete a pristine and popular green space in the heart of our community. It will also be built with $10 million in private funds.

This bond package will maintain and improve streets and parks. It will include senior centers and new police and fire stations, and it will further the progress downtown. It will do all this without raising taxes.

Keep San Antonio a great place to live, work and play. Support the 2017-22 bond program.