latest news on the downtown revitilazation project? (El Paso, Morton: high school, live)

[LEVOW]

El Paso advertising agency MithoffBurton Partners moving Downtown - El Paso Times [great news!!!1]
[mills plaza district]

[malamute]

Where is all the revitalization downtown? I was down there today and it didn't look any better to me. The downtown buildings look kind of drab, but I was in the Mesa-San Antonio-Overland area.

[utelpaso88]

Originally Posted by malamute

Where is all the revitalization downtown? I was down there today and it didn't look any better to me. The downtown buildings look kind of drab, but I was in the Mesa-San Antonio-Overland area.

Gotta be patient, this is a several years project. Its not gonna happen overnight. Right now they can only do a few things at once but they're pretty big steps towards the revitalization. The Mills building is in the middle of getting its renovation, the 1st avenue lofts just started construction, and the new federal courthouse wont be ready until January. It'll all come along within time. It may not look like much, but three or fours year from now, there will major changes to way downtown is right now.

[ikanep]

so why don't they had some nice architectural lighting to downtown ep structures? make it look vibrant and alive @ night, downtown looks so dead and dull at night.

[Smooth from ELP]

Clean it up, put more lights up, hire more foot/horseback/bike patrol officers and YOU will go there at night.

REVITALIZE!!!

[LEVOW]

What Downtown plan?<br>Few signs of progress after three years whats going on?

[patricktherogue]

I have just moved here and fully support the project to renew the downtown area, but in keeping with the spirit and look of the town already here. As a newcomer, the first thing that struck me about the downtown was how out of place the two most prominent buildings were - the Chase bank building and the Wells Fargo building. It is unfortunate that these buildings were erected during the saddest period of American archtecture, when buildings resembling shoeboxes stood on their side were considered inspiring. Their are many beautiful and interesting buildings in downtown El Paso, both old and new. Even the new courthouse, while not completely my taste, has a presence all its own; a modern design with a nod to the spirit of the past. But the big shoebox buildings sadly overpower all the others. The most jarring aspects are the billboard-like names atop the buildings, the garish WELLS FARGO and the royal blue, completely our of place, CHASE logos. As the Wells Fargo building is simply a big glass box, their is probably nothing to be done. But at least the Chase building is an appropriate color for the area. I would suggest changing the color of the logo from clue to desert tan, at the very least, like their logo. Or possibly get creative and emplace a spanish tile mosaic design where the blue is now, with the CHASE letters still visible. Anything to bring those buildings in a little more harmony with their surroundings would go a long way to changing the image of downtown EP, IMO.

[luplor]

Patrick, I agree with you. Just clean up the town area and renovations would do the trick. EP is a unique town and that can be a big draw. There is no need to bulldoze the town and throw up skyscapers to look just like some other place. If it looks just like SF, NY or Dallas then why would a tourist come here when they can go to the actual city.

[LEVOW]

The Downtown Plan is dead. Maybe.

[this is so damn frustrating, if i get a chance im moving out of el paso, this is sad, im tired of the city settling for mediocrity!]

[HookTheBrotherUp]

How many citizens does El Paso have? Of that number, how many are/could be eligible voters?

Of those left, only ~16K voted on a proposition in El Paso. The number of people who voted for, or against the propisiton is irrelevant for my point, but what is relevant is that the number of votes cast is indicative of the number of people who voted in the city as most of the ballot was filled with ammendments. The voter turnout for such a large city is embarrassing.

I'm sure more people voted overall, but the 16,065 number is a baromoter of how people in El Paso feel towards their city/government. If you can't get the public involved, then El Paso is doomed to more of the same. It will change someday, it always happens, but when?

It is easy to complain about it, but what have you personally done to make things happen? Get involved, that is how things will change in El Paso.

And as for activity in El Paso right now, I discount 95% of it because that is the affect of the military's actions right now. The city of El Paso gets no credit for that in my book. People are not flocking to El Paso because they want to, rather they have to, unlike most other cities in Texas which are seeing an influx of new residents for real jobs, and looking for real change.