In El Paso, drastic weather paves way for green investments

[KevinFromTexas]

By the way, El Paso is Texas' 6th largest city, not its 4th largest.

http://www.statesman.com/news/news/s...een-inv/nmHrW/

In El Paso, drastic weather paves way for green investments

4:22 p.m. Saturday, May 16, 2015

EL PASO — In the parched Chihuahua Desert, El Paso has pioneered a strategy of resource management that could set the standard for West Texas and arid regions worldwide.

The city’s publicly traded utility is divesting from coal in favor of solar energy and plans to build solar farms at neighboring Fort Bliss to help the U.S. Army base consume only as much energy as it creates.

El Paso’s Housing Authority is spending about $250 million to bring public housing units up to certified green building standards, and the city is making other environmentally friendly upgrades, such as converting parking lots and roads into green space and pedestrian-only malls.

[The ATX]

El Paso gets no love. It's a growing city that would get a lot of attention if it didn't exist in the shadows cast by DFW/Houston/Austin/San Antonio...

[Buckeye Native 001]

Its also about as far removed from the rest of the state as possible geographically while still being located in Texas.

I have a cousin stationed at Fort Bliss, its a fun town.

[Leo the Dog]

Originally Posted by Buckeye Native 001

Its also about as far removed from the rest of the state as possible geographically while still being located in Texas.

I have a cousin stationed at Fort Bliss, its a fun town.

Correct. El Paso is geographically closer to San Diego than Houston.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by Hill Country

El Paso gets no love. It's a growing city that would get a lot of attention if it didn't exist in the shadows cast by DFW/Houston/Austin/San Antonio...

Other than Ft. Bliss, what does it have to offer in the way of economy? I saw some nice areas but a lot more poverty. I think that's EP biggest problem, not over shadowed by the other cities.

[Buckeye Native 001]

The feds seem to be its biggest economic driver, between the military and border patrol. After the San Diego/Tijuana border checkpoint, isn't El Paso/Juarez the second largest?

[AviationGuy]

Originally Posted by JManc

Other than Ft. Bliss, what does it have to offer in the way of economy? I saw some nice areas but a lot more poverty. I think that's EP biggest problem, not over shadowed by the other cities.

On the west side of the mountain range, up on the slopes, are some spectacular residential areas. But at lower elevations you do find poverty, but nothing like across the river in Juarez, Mexico.

I know few people in this state who have ever been to El Paso. It's worth the trip. Even from Austin, which is in the center of the state, we're closer to New Orleans. El Paso is a very interesting place, busy, crowded, heavy traffic (I guess like everywhere else), and a fun-loving Hispanic culture (and some incredibly good looking people). UT El Paso is built in Bhutanese (if that's the right word) style architecture, and is quite beautiful.

I believe El Paso averages only about 7 inches of precip annually. Houston on the other side of the state has already had over 70 inches of precip in the last year in some parts of the metro (that's above the normal of about 50 inches, which is already wet enough). The two areas couldn't be more different. El Paso even gets some pretty good snowfall some years. Other years, no.

We can all learn from El Paso. The city has been ahead of the curve for quite some time. Way before anyone else got serious, they were already very strict about lawn watering and I don't believe they allow grass lawns like are allowed even further west in other states.

[llamaorama]

You are right about people from the rest of the state never going there.

My Dad grew up in El Paso. I've been there a few times and always found it to be really interesting. When I share that with people most have never visited. It is a MUCH bigger city that most people realize. Also the mountainous terrain is cool. And the border fence and Juarez city landscape is right up close in your face, there are no other big urban cities that are truly on the border- San Diego is tens of miles away from TJ.

Honestly it looks a lot more like New Mexico or Arizona than Texas. But what is also unique is that is relatively old and has a early 20th century gritty industrial feel to it, its NOT a sunbelt city like say, Tuscon and really doesn't look like Albuquerque either(which feels very 1990s, a has-been tech city)

[Leo the Dog]

Originally Posted by llamaorama

You are right about people from the rest of the state never going there.

My Dad grew up in El Paso. I've been there a few times and always found it to be really interesting. When I share that with people most have never visited. It is a MUCH bigger city that most people realize. Also the mountainous terrain is cool. And the border fence and Juarez city landscape is right up close in your face, there are no other big urban cities that are truly on the border- San Diego is tens of miles away from TJ.

Well yes and no. DTSD is a dozen miles north of the border, but the city limits of SD abut the international border and San Ysidro is the busiest border crossing in the world. The Blue Line trolley has a stop within a stones throw to the border. SD-TJ region has 5.5 million combined.

I've driven throug El Paso and its DT lies adjacent to the border, so I understand what you were saying.

[Keep-SA-Lame]

Originally Posted by llamaorama

You are right about people from the rest of the state never going there.

My Dad grew up in El Paso. I've been there a few times and always found it to be really interesting. When I share that with people most have never visited. It is a MUCH bigger city that most people realize. Also the mountainous terrain is cool. And the border fence and Juarez city landscape is right up close in your face, there are no other big urban cities that are truly on the border- San Diego is tens of miles away from TJ.

Honestly it looks a lot more like New Mexico or Arizona than Texas. But what is also unique is that is relatively old and has a early 20th century gritty industrial feel to it, its NOT a sunbelt city like say, Tuscon and really doesn't look like Albuquerque either(which feels very 1990s, a has-been tech city)

I have family with deep roots in EP and agree with your sentiment. It's not somewhere I would really care to live for a lot of reasons, but it's still a fascinating place that people like to bash because it's relatively poor and overwhelmingly Mexican. It also has my favorite street in Texas:

https://www.google.com/maps/@31.7538...JPyji8IJUw!2e0

Downtown's pretty much abandoned and there's not much going on, but South El Paso between the bridges and downtown is this jumble of small retailers (mostly clothing) that make it unlike any place I've been in the US. It's basically an extension of Avenida Juarez, on the other side of the bridge. Definitely the most vibrant retail corridor in the state and a totally fascinating place to walk around. If you had just half an hour to spend in the city, spend it there.

On topic with the article, it's not very surprising to me that El Paso is emerging as a leader in this field. It really began in the 90s when people were freaking out that El Paso would literally run out of water, since so much of the Rio Grande is taken up by agriculture. They opened the state's only (I think?) desalination plant to take advantage of a brackish aquifer, so they're good for now. But anyone who's familiar with the western deserts can tell you that it's a harsh place, so from the beginning of permanent settlement, careful resource management has been at the front of the agenda there.

[pdxtex]

Originally Posted by Leo the Dog

Correct. El Paso is geographically closer to San Diego than Houston.

and further west then santa fe, new mexico! man i want to go to el paso so bad. how do they do with water management? apparently its f'ck all windy there also. like haboobs and stuff...scary....

[Buckeye Native 001]

Haboobs aren't really scary unless you happen to be driving in one and don't know what to do (get as far off the road as possible and turn off your Iights)

That said, I dont get the sense that its in as much trouble as the rest of the Southwest with water due to its location along the Rio Grande, but there is an awful lot of agricultural developments in that region, especially along I-10 in New Mexico.

[Leo the Dog]

Have you guys heard of this? Soapy gray water (tubs and sinks) to be recycled for toilets and landscaping uses. KB Homes is the first to use it in SD homes. Adds 8-10k in costs.

Saw it on the local news a few days ago. Here's an older article I found.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/business/...le2619240.html

[Leo the Dog]

Originally Posted by pdxtex

and further west then santa fe, new mexico! man i want to go to el paso so bad. how do they do with water management? apparently its f'ck all windy there also. like haboobs and stuff...scary....

When I lived in metro Phoenix, haboobs were kind of fun (as long as you're indoors). You could watch it form on the horizon and move in across the city. It went from day to dusk, high winds, slight cool down, followed by either big fat rain drops, to heavy tropical like downpours with lightning and hail.

[AviationGuy]

Originally Posted by pdxtex

and further west then santa fe, new mexico! man i want to go to el paso so bad. how do they do with water management? apparently its f'ck all windy there also. like haboobs and stuff...scary....

In the spring, yes, and with the monsoon thunderstorms during the summer. Same thing that happens in Phoenix. Fall and winter are nicer.

Interestingly, El Paso has the topography and climate that so many people think is characteristic of all of Texas. Yet the majority of the state's 27 million people live in topography and climate characteristic of the South and Midwest (although most of the Midwest is much colder in the winter). Relatively few people live in southwest through northwest Texas, and most people in the state rarely, if ever, venture to those parts of the state. You have a few small population centers out there like Laredo, Midland/Odessa, Lubbock, and Amarillo, but not much else.

The other thing interesting about El Paso is that the natives of that city speak like New Mexicans, Arizonans, and Californians. Rarely do you hear any southern accents or drawls except for people who have moved there from elsewhere. Yet in other places in West Texas like Midland/Odessa, Lubbock, and Amarillo, you hear the drawls. El Paso really belongs to the real Southwest.