El Paso Downtown Pathways Project

SUMMARY

Prior to 2015, a surface parking lot and convention center separated two adjacent downtown districts in El Paso. The car-centric landscape was not conducive for pedestrian travel and forced a 20-minute detour in order to get from one district to another. The City of El Paso made the decision to convert the parking lot into a pedestrian mall to safely move people through the area. The project became an opportunity to reimagine a section of downtown to make it a point of destination in its own right, in addition to supporting economic development and quality of life factors in the area. To do so, the City worked with consultants and local artists to hold open design studios and charetts to engage community members in the design of the space.