Is El Paso getting ready to explode?
The news reports lots of exciting developments. Aldea. Luxury high-rises. A downtown office tower.
But so far no spade has turned earth.
Usually developments like that are driven by demand. Demand is created by an under-served segment of society. Do we have that here?
Is it a response to an aging baby boomer cohort moving through the economy like a goat moving through an anaconda? Or those pesky millennials facing mid-life crises?
Or is it all a marketing ploy? Fake it till you make it. Perception as reality. Smoke and mirrors.
You know. It’s All Good.
I haven’t noticed a seismic shift in the the things that create consumer demand. In fact, the changes seem to be headed the other way.
Successful capitalists are nimble in the face of changing economic conditions. Newspaper announcements are piecrust promises, and nobody like to lose money. The peso’s fall hurts the touted buying power of the visiting Mexican consumer. Now doesn’t seem like the time to launch big commercial enterprises in El Paso.
But maybe the investors have aces up their sleeves. Maybe they know secrets hidden from the blogerati.
Time will tell.
I agree with you, totally. We’ve heard these kind of stories for years, and while it is true that El Paso has indeed grown, we are still a big town with a small town mentality and attitudes. Instead of all this BS about new, revitalized, remodeled, rebuilt, and generally torn up, maybe we need to see some effort put into fixing our crumbling streets and improving our schools and the infrastructure upon which we all depend.
I like your photo of the Empty Desert: plenty of space for a 22 story High rise and does not affect traffic…yet.
Regards
H
That’s the site of the Aldea development, between Mesa and I-10, north of Executive. Somewhere out there is a Walmart.
Growth for growth’s sake. That’s cancer.
What happens to a dream deferred?