SustainLane 2006 US City Sustainability Ranking

El Paso: Bordering on Sustainability

El Paso's first century was based on booming mining and minerals processing, but for the past 30 years, downtown El Paso has been marked by a downhill slide in economics and quality of life. Now the city is undertaking a Downtown Plan to revitalize its city center.

You'll find much to like in El Paso. In addition to its unique bi-national culture, the city is affordable, features many parks, and has a moderate climate for much of the year, at almost 4,000 feet in the high desert near the Franklin Mountains. A renewed Plaza Theatre and several downtown museums, part of the Bi-National Arts Walk, are soon to be joined with a mixed-use business and residential neighborhood. Open-air plazas, a key attraction in Latin America and the Southwest, are also poised for a comeback.

A much more extensive public transit system would help El Paso take advantage of its urban redesign and historic preservation efforts. The city's historic district has great potential as a neighborhood with a distinct cultural identity, which should be appealing to shoppers, residents, and tourists.

The city's proximity to Ciudad Juarez helps the metro area form the largest community on the US-Mexico border, with 2.5 million in combined population. Officials from both cities have an opportunity to collaboratively address shared environmental issues relating to air and water quality, in addition to regional transportation.