A small Southern town keeps its dignity

http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | BROWNSVILLE, Texas — I just spent a rather pleasant day here in the poorest mid-sized city in America. To the word "pleasant," I add "surprising." Despite the tough economics, Brownsville is aggressively protecting its historic buildings. If Brownsville can find the resources to preserve its heritage, anyone can.

Brownsville doesn't have a lot of blue-haired ladies happy to write checks for historic preservation. This is an overwhelmingly Hispanic community. About 42 percent of its 155,000 people live in poverty.

And that's just counting the people who get counted. Mayor Eddie Trevino thinks the true number of residents is closer to 200,000. Located right on the Mexican border, Brownsville is a magnet for illegal immigrants. Many live in "colonias" — unincorporated shanty towns that often lack such basic services as sewers and electricity.

Nevertheless, Brownsville is about to renew its Heritage Plan for the 18th year in a row. The plan grants generous tax exemptions to owners of historic buildings.

Brownsville has the second-largest number of historic buildings in Texas, after San Antonio, according to Peter Goodman, director for the city's historic downtown. Galveston might quibble with that statement, but there's no doubt that Brownsville has the historic goods. One recent big renovation involved La Nueva Libertad, an 1893 Creole-style beauty that once housed the general store of Andres Cueto.

It makes Trevino crazy that more people haven't heard of Brownsville's charms. "People don't know there's a part of Texas south of San Antonio," he said. (Actually, there's a lot of Texas between San Antonio and Brownsville — in driving terms, about five hours of ranch land.)

Perhaps the real miracle here is E. Elizabeth Street, a shopping thoroughfare dating from the early 20th century. Like many American main streets, this one has seen better days. But E. Elizabeth is still largely intact, because developers were not allowed to knock her teeth out. In the usual downtown tragedy, storefronts are leveled for drive-throughs and parking lots. E. Elizabeth has survived that indignity and awaits her facelift.

It's an old story of downtown decline, except with a Rio Grande twist. E. Elizabeth runs right to the foot of a bridge that separates Brownsville from Matamoros, Mexico. In the old days, rich Mexicans would cross into Brownsville to shop at E. Elizabeth Street's snazzy stores. Then, a fancy mall was built outside the town center. The Mexican shoppers followed it, and E. Elizabeth turned shabby.

But nothing stands still in retailing. Brownsville's mall is also no longer what it was. That's because McAllen, another Texas border town 70 miles away, built an even fancier mall. Mexican shoppers were going to Brownsville's Wal-Marts. Then Wal-Mart built a store on the Mexican side.

Ever since 1846, when Gen. Zachary Taylor put a fort here, Brownsville has had its share of ups and downs. As recently as 1942, it had the fifth-biggest airport in the country. Now, its airport serves only one airline, Continental, which flies one route out of Brownsville, to Houston.

Local fortunes rise or fall with the maquiladora industry across the border in Matamoros. Maquiladoras are Mexican factories that make products for the American market. Brownsville is home to their U.S. distribution centers. So when the maquiladoras have problems — as they had recently — Brownsville feels their pain.

There's a plan for Brownsville to become a tourist gateway to Mexico. The Texas resort of South Padre Island is only 25 miles away. "Spice up your trip to South Padre Island," the Gulf of Mexico resort advertises, "with a zesty shake of Mexican flavoring." That travel tie-in will be an easier sell once Mexico stops the drug-related violence in its border towns. The potential, however, is there.

But whatever happens, Brownsville still has a downtown grid where people can walk places. In that respect, Brownsville joins the list of special American cities, like Madison, Wis., Boulder, Colo., and Portland (Maine and Oregon) — only without the money and the pricy foaming coffee. But guess what? It's about to get latte. Starbucks just announced it will open its first store in Brownsville.

Locals greeted this news with great satisfaction. As Orlando Campos, marketing director for the Brownsville Economic Development Council, told The Brownsville Herald, "Now all we need is a Barnes & Noble."

Froma Harrop is a columnist for The Providence Journal. Comment by clicking here.