Has the local economy ever performed worse?
Household income in El Paso is going down.
Wages are among the lowest in the country.
According to Census Bureau estimates, in the last year, the population of El Paso County grew by only 2,106 people, less than three tenths of one percent. By contrast, Webb County, which holds Laredo, grew by 3048 people, 1.1 percent, and Hidalgo County, home of McAllen, grew by 11,231, or 1.4 percent. San Antonio and Dallas and Houston all grew by lots more.
Remember when Bloomberg named El Paso as the U.S. city with the most domestic out-migration? The city the highest percentage of natives are ditching?
This didn’t happen overnight. People have to get pretty fed up to pull up stakes.
I think any sane person, not suffering from terminal hubris or the fear of being found out, would conclude that whatever goals we’ve been pursuing are not goals that benefit the community.
How bad does it have to get before our policy makers acknowledge the state of affairs and decide to do something different? Are we going to keep pretending that It’s All Good?
Wishing doesn’t make it so.
Wow! That nail’s head just got smashed by El Richi’s hammer, I’d say. I have been wondering about this myself since forever. Why is it that our so-called leaders have consistently, for lo, these many years, pushed for all kinds of BS everywhere except where the real problems exist? They never seek to entice employers that might offer real jobs, with opportunities for advancement, because they seem to be stuck on that old-time garment industry philosophy. Our schools fail to provide the kind of education that might lead to any kind of real opportunity, and our local job market is strictly low end, just like it has always been. Speaking as a retired RN, I can tell you that I made way more money by moving to Dallas after more than twenty years of practice here in El Paso. And, guess what? The cost of living was not that much higher over there!
On the plus side we have a Trolly to No where….
Getting more people here in those dreary stucco houses is not the key. We don’t have enough water for the ones who’ve moved here now..IF we had a million people living here, sprawling all the way to Sierra Blanca, would it be a better city?
I’ve been in El Paso for about a year and enjoy the good food, warm weather, and incredibly laid back life. Unfortunately, my time here will be coming to a close – there are very limited advancement opportunities, and the mis-managed government makes me doubt I could raise future children here – there aren’t a lot of good opportunities compared to other cities – if I want my children to remain competitive in their profession of choice, I have no choice but to live in another city.