By Jay Stratton
I moved to El Paso more than a decade ago, but before coming to the Sun City, my work in theater took me across the country — from Seattle to St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, New York City and everywhere in between. Here’s what I learned: cities never stay the same. They grow or they stagnate. They attract new industries and opportunities, or they lose their young talent.
As a UTEP professor, I’ve witnessed this “talent flight” firsthand. Bright El Paso students arrive full of promise, and after four years of hard work, many take their skills elsewhere. They love El Paso — who wouldn’t? We have a rich culture, warm people and stunning vistas. But, for many, the careers are somewhere else.
Take a look at 10-year growth forecasts for every major city in Texas. Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Austin all have robust predictions. El Paso’s growth, on the other hand, is expected to be quite tepid. Why? We are a gorgeous city with mild winters and low cost of living. But we fail to attract industry.
The Downtown Deck Plaza is the kind of visionary civic investment that can help change that. It will create new business opportunities, attract companies, beautify central neighborhoods and better connect our vibrant Downtown to the rest of the city. It’s an important step toward modernizing El Paso and helping us compete with cities like Phoenix, Austin and Denver.
The most common argument against the Deck Plaza is cost. Critics say, “It’s a waste of money — they should fix the roads instead.” I understand that sentiment.
But I’ve lived here 10 years without a Deck Plaza, and I still drive across the same potholes. You know what will finally fill those potholes? More jobs and a stronger tax base.
This might sound like an easy line, but for nearly 20 years, I watched a similar debate unfold in my hometown of Seattle over light rail. At every turn, opponents called it too expensive. They demanded study after study and commissioned panel after panel of experts in the hopes that the project would become so delayed in gridlock that it would never move forward.
Decades later, when construction finally began, it transformed the city — revitalizing neighborhoods, easing traffic and spurring growth. And, yes, they eventually fixed the roads, too.
The estimated cost of the Downtown Deck Plaza is about $207 million. That may sound steep but compare it to Seattle’s first light rail line at nearly $4 billion, or New York City’s Hudson Yards project at up to $25 billion. By comparison, our price tag is remarkably modest.
Let’s learn from the success stories of other cities. The Deck Plaza will be a shared investment — funded through philanthropy, grants, and state and federal partnerships that stretch local dollars further.
The cost of doing nothing is far greater. Let’s invest in our future — let’s build the Downtown Deck Plaza.
Jay Stratton is a UTEP professor and the artistic director of the Madeline Park Shakespeare Festival.
The post Opinion: Invest in El Paso’s future with the Downtown Deck Plaza appeared first on El Paso Matters.
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