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The Comité del Barrio is independent from La Mujer Obrera and is comprised of people who work and live in the South Central Area. As residents of the South Central area we established the Comité in the year 2002. Our vision is to create and maintain a safe, respectful and culturally rich community for South Central El Paso.

 
Our goals are within the context of social change and we believe in upholding the most basic human rights: access to nourishment, housing, education, employment, and health care, as well as the right to live in peace and to freely participate in society. Comité de Barrio (the Barrio Committee) developed as a vehicle for community members to provide information and gather support to end the environmental hazards eminent in El Paso’s South Central neighborhoods as well as to defend our right to a good quality of life in the South Central area which in the past was recognized as the garment district. The South Central area has suffered tremendously due to the aftermath of NAFTA and has historically been a dumping ground for the City of El Paso.

 

 

When garment factories moved out in the early 90s, industrial businesses took advantage of the vacant facilities and have since been operating, sometimes without proper permits, within our neighborhood. Once vibrant with Mexican culture, the South Central community has become a desolate area where trailer trucks crowd the streets using them as loading docks, and pollution from idustrial businesses endager workers, families and especially the safety of our children. Problems that stem from the warehousing, recycling plants, junkyards and what is left of the factories in our area are zoning, lack of code enforcement, dangerous pollution, chemical explosions or fires, brownsfields, as well as contamination and hazards due to the train which runs directly through the neighborhood. Other problems that are long standing have been a lack of recreational facilities (there is no community center nor is there a library in our area), lack of business opportunities and jobs since the mass exodus of factories to other parts of the world.

The lack of resources made available to our community as well as the lack of opportunities and barriers that exist for the limited English speaking community members also has contributed to our exclusion and limited participation in the dialogue surrounding development plans for our area.

For thses reasons we seek to inform community members of the hazards and possilbe solutions gathering support for replacing the industrial sector with developments that will stimulate local economy, revive the Mexican heritage and establish an environmentally-friendly community and promote community participation in the revitalization process.

 

South Central Barrio Fact Sheet
  Barrio Extended Area of Influence
Census Tracts:

Part of 28 –Eucalyptus to Piedras

Part of 21 –Cotton to Eucalyptus

 21,28,29,30
Zip Code

79901

 70901, 79905
Area: .6 square miles  
Population loss in 10 years: -20%
-19%
Hispanic or Latino 97% for the past 10 years
Bachelor Degrees 2% of population  
Household Population 99%
Housing Units

3,319

 6413
Occupied 89%
92%
Renter occupied 67%
72%
Vacant

11%
8%

o Foreign Born Population, dropped from 57% in 1990 to 48% in 2000

o % of People who speak Spanish at home has not changed, but the percentage that does not speak English well has gone down from 61% in1990 to 47% in 2000

o Only 2% of the population have bachelor degrees

Compared to the rest of the City and County of El Paso, to the State of Texas and the Nationwide average Lower than Average Median Age.

o Slightly higher than average population under the age of 5 and over the age of 65,

o Lower than average percentage of high school graduates.

o Higher than average percentage of rental housing

o Higher than average percentage of vacant housing

o Lower than average median house value

o Higher than average family size

o Lower than average percentage of people in the labor force

o Higher than average commuting time