10 Reasons for Repopulating Downtown

Revitalizing downtown is not just about fixing the facades of the historic buildings but convincing people to move back into downtown, which, in turn, will trickle down to revitalizing the area.

But here comes the chicken or the egg situation. People don't want to move to an area that does not have the accomadations and conviniences of large shopping centers or grocery stores within a mile or so, which downtown lacks sorely. By the same token, national retail & restaurant businesses are not going to go to an area that lacks people, especially where the income level is not justifiable to them. So how do you redevelop the downtown when the majority of the people and businesses don't want to be the first to do so? Ha, that's the problem that has plagued downtown B'ville for so long since after its fall in the early 1980's.

With all these new shopping centers and an expanded mall recently, people will see the northern part of the city as more attractive therefore attracting more businesses, which then creates a loop of bringing more people and then businesses and vice versa. It begins to actually create its own growth without outside help. But what is happening today in north B'ville didn't happen overnight not even six years ago with the Sunrise Mall renovation. It happened decades back when developers were building new subdivisions with promise of peace and tranquility from the hustle and bustle of downtnown. The Valley International Country Club (VICC) and the Brownsville Country Club (BCC) were one of the firsts to develop on the FM 802 rd where it was once a two lane and cattle would outnumber people. What a difference 30 years years makes! Now, it's the north side with the hustle and bustle that even surpasses the downtown traffic congestion. it appears that now, people want to live in an area that is rapidly getting overcrowded with vehicles, people, and parking lots. From an airplane, you would think that there was a huge ant hill taking over the north section as massive parking lots and stand alone buildings begin to creep into what once was brush land. slowly, land that belonged exclusively to animals now is reigned by humans. Where once birds were the prominant voices of the land is now drowned out by the steel creatures with their engines, load mufflers, boom boxes, and the whir of the wind as the these creatures slices through the atmoshpere where it could be heard for a mile out at speeds unheard of in the animal kingdom. Nature must now compete with man and their unsatiable need for space.

Many large cities and even towns across the nation are beginning to take notice of the above mention and have begun or already have implemented revitalization efforts to resurrect their downtown district not just to help keep undeveloped land from being desacrated but for many other reason as well. Here's what I believe that downtown should be redeveloped and repopulate it.

I. Minimizing the Impact on the Ecology.

This is the most obvious one since I had just mentioned it above. Too much land is being overtaken and there is now less land for the our animal neighbors to enjoy without human presense. People then complain that there are wild animals in their backyard, but who can blame these victims of human intrusion. When I walk around the Paseo de la Resaca (between FM 802 & Paredes Line Rd), which has an excellent hike and bike trail, I see at night a buch of jack rabits, sand pipers, snakes, and other creatures whose land is slowly being paved or built over and have less space to hide and hunt in their area. Now they are reduces to just a few acres of land that at one time stretched for hundreds of miles. And even this tine area will no onger be their home. What will happen to then is unknown cuz no one does research here about these dispalced animals. By reconcentrating people back into downtown, it will help minimize the destruction of the undeveloped land as well as imposing ordinances where once the downtown can no longer support more people, then, and only then can developers go outside of the downtown area but this last option would be highly improbable as it would send a negative image about B'ville not freindly to developers but then what other options would there be to keep developers in downtown?

2. Up vs Sideways

This is definately true. Their is more space up than sideways. you can hold more people in an acre of land going up than gobbling up land for the same amount of people. Parking garages are usually built into the existing building so as not to take so much space and minimize the impact of unsightly humungous parking lots. Sure, living in apartment style is not for every one but at least offer the option. Some would rather live in single homes and that's fine but there is a lot of space for single home in and around downtown, within a mile radius. There should be a combination of high-rise & mid-rise apartment and condos along with 1 to 2 story homes that can, with careful planning, be integrated together but not be too unsightly where all of a sudden there is a high-rise next to a one-story home. There would have to be intervals of residential homes next to mid-rises and fianlly high-rises to give the impression of a skyline that is well managed and eyepleasing.

3. Economic Cost

As a city grows, mostly for reasons of creating a larger tax base, so does the cost of providing utilities such as light and sewer, police, firefighters, ems, paved roads along with maintanance, schools, and other miscellaneous costs. Is it really worth the time, effort, and money to annex land that will not pay for itself? I can see annexing along the expressway but annexing any other part of the city is futile and costly to tax payers. Lately, the city has been annexing mostly empty land or land that has few residential areas, which means that in the future, the city will have to provide all of the above but will the city get a return on its investments? How does the city justify the expense just to look bigger on the map? As a city grows further and further away from its downtown, the more expensive it becomes to provide the above mention services, especially considering that the costs of everything goes up every year. Ultimately, the city would need to either raise taxes or go for bonds, which is the same as raising taxes on an already over taxed taxpayers in one of the poorest cities in the nation where the per capita income is aout $9,800/year. No. The answer is not to continue annexing land that will not even break even, but to reinvest in the areas that are already have the services in place. By repopulating the downtown area, it is possible to increase the tax base by building highrises and even single family homes within a two mile radius. As more people move closer together, the city is able to recieve more in taxes without the added stress of adding new services. PUB wouldn't have to continue spending on building new sewer lines or power poles and the city would not have to maintain city streets that it would have to be built in the future (already, the city has over 350 miles of streets). The further sideways a city grows, the bigger the demand for services to these areas. The city would eventually go bankrupt without raising significantly the already high taxes. BISD wouldn't have to continue building new schools or even daring to ask voters for more money to catch up to the outer edges of the city. The city would, in time, recieve more tax money than it would spend creating a surplus and then reinvesting the surplus back into the community. The era of bonds and tax raising would be a thing of the past.

4. Fewer Miles to Get From Here to There

Living within the downtown area, where sidewalks exists, would help foster an active walking activity by walking to your nearest convinience store, retail store, restaurant, banks, the downtown district or even work! The future downtown will encompass new hike and bike trail creating safe places to get from one place to another. With diabetes rated the number one risk factor in the Rio Grande Valley, what better way to beat this disease than by "walking" away from it. People would not need to rise by car to reach the nearest store or bank. Most people could opt to walk there instead. Nothing would be further than a two mile thus, even if one had to use their car, it would not take more than a few minutes without the hassle of fighting through traffic at the bottlenecks near the expressway. Also, students going to UTB/TSC would be spend less in travel cost by living near the campus, thus saving in gas and money, which is in short supply when going to school.

5. Preserving the Historical Nature of Downtown

As more people move closer or into the downtown, more of the historical structures will more than likely be rescued and restored. There would be more interest in restoring these structures to attract those who are interested in living in these majestic buildings. Before long, say about 20 years, most if not all of the buildings will have occupied upper floors versus today where only the bottom floors are occupied. With more interest in living in downtown the more interest in bring the buildings back to life.

6. Less Pollution in Brownsville

Living in downtown provides the opportunity of walking rather than driving as the downtown offers sidewalks from St Charles St. to nearly all the way to the Expressway 77/83. It's safer to wlak in downtown without the worry about being hit by a car when crossing a major intersection such as Boca Chica Blvd or FM 802 (though there is still dangers from getting mugged but that could happen anywhere at anytime). With more people walking than driving means less pollution from car exhuasts, which in turn creates better breathing for everyone.

7. Downtown View

Living in downtown would provide a view like no other place in the RGV. I know cuz I've been to most of the tall buildings including the 14-story Villa del Sol apartments and the view is phenominal! talk about being able to see a large swath of Matamoros adn into Mexico along with the international bridges, view of UTB/TSC with its beautiful architecture, to the north east and east with the view of the Port of Brownsville as well, on good sunny and clear day, the view of the skyline of SPI (only at 14 floors and above) and the view toawrds north B'ville where all you see is a sea of green! Not to mention the incredible view of the downtown historic buildings. It's just amazing to see all this and can only be viewed from the downtown area. If developers woudl take the time to go into the upper floors (especially the Villa del Sol), the would see opportunity ($$) knocking ont heir doors and build high-rises to take advantage of these amazing views. Really, no other place in the valley could you find a view such as this.

8. Within walking Distance

Living in and around downtown would provide short walking distances to the UTB/TSC, Matamoros, downtown, the soon to be built MultiModal Transportation Terminal, Glady's Porter Zoo, the various parks such as: Washington Park, the newly renovated Dean Porter Park, Lincoln Park, Hope Park (along the river), St. Charles Park and the future Linear Park in front of the Federal Courthouse and its future hike and bike trail the Historic Battlefield Trail and the Texas Trail of Trees. Phew, those are a buch of parks located within a mile or so from the downtown district.

9. The Future West Loop

Once the West Rail Relocation Project (will remove all RR tracks and build a new rail bridge west of Brownsville) is complete, it will free up the existing railroad tracks from the B&M Int'l Bridge to near Alton Gloor. This, in turn, will become the future West Loop. It's not determined yet if it will become a limited access highway such as the expressway or a boulevard. in either case, a new direct acces to north Brownsville and the Expressway 77/83 will be built to downtown. This means more people will be able to get to downtown other than the expressway. With any luck, the future West Loop will become an expressway style to help move people in and out of dowtnown without congesting the existing expressway. The West Loop will definately help with revitalizing downtown.

10. A Place Like no Other

Living in downtown would be like living in the past while looking into the future. As new projects such as mid and/or high-rises make their way into downtown providing views as mentioned above, it will provide an experience where you can walk or drive in downtown while seeing the historic structurte with modern buildings (once built in the future) and having a feeling of nostalgia. there is so much history here that can't be felt or seen anywhere else in the Rio Grande Valley. Living in downtown is really living "On the Border, By the Sea."

Well, these are my ten reasons for living in downtown and I'm sure I have thought of others but can't think of them right now. I hope this article helps you all to see the opportunites in repopulating downtown and maybe even convince you of doing the same. As for me, I'm waiting a while longer to be able to buy a midrise building and living in the upper floor while renting the rest of the building. I dream about this every day and look forward to enjoying the view and living in the past splashed with the present. hope to see you all there in the future.