It’s not fair to lay the blame for El Paso’s recent poor performance on lists like Milken’s Best Performing Cities, (where El Paso fell from second to fifty-third place over four years), or the spectacular increase in home foreclosures, (up 83 percent from last year), at the feet of the cabal responsible for economic development. We might be a lot worse off without their ham-handed efforts.
Then again, they are quick to take credit when metrics improve.
It’s curious that El Paso’s secret government thinks that what’s wrong with El Paso is a lack of civic amenities in downtown. If I were to throw hundreds of millions of dollars at El Paso’s problems, my first choice wouldn’t be cosmetic improvements to instill community pride. But then again, I’m not a downtown real estate speculator.