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The Las Cruces City Council voted unanimously to approve the El Paseo and S. Solano Metropolitan Redevelopment Area Plan at its June 7 meeting.
An internal Metropolitan Redevelopment Area Committee will be formed in the coming months and the Safety Improvement Program will be implemented in September with $100,000 in funding allocated by the city council, Blairre Flores, representing Las Cruces Economic Development Department, said at the meeting.
The plan aims to make this area of town more of a “pedestrian-friendly community with a renewed focus on sustainable development and equitable growth,” according to the project document.
The document lists eight “catalytic projects” as places the city considers to be in need of public funding to encourage private investment. The projects include reinforcing El Paseo as a connection between New Mexico State University and Downtown, redevelop the area using infill strategies, and addressing public safety concerns.
After reaching out to the community and receiving more than 2,000 survey responses, the city development team said that public safety was “overwhelmingly” the number one concern.
Some strategies aimed at addressing this concern include better lighting, considering a police sub-station in that area and working with private businesses to have a larger private security presence.
More affordable housing, better trail systems to connect communities and upgrades to the Valley View Park were also mentioned in the project document. The plan also calls for more “welcoming gathering spaces” both indoors and outdoors.
