Documents

• A Study of Affordable Housing in Brownsville, Texas: Challenges and Opportunities

  This report on affordable housing in Brownsville is one of the first that has been done on a local level that makes use of primary data that was generated through the use of extensive field based interviews by the research team. This primary data provided the researchers with a reference base to guide its use and analysis based on national findings from major housing research institutes. From such a point the team began to generate an accurate overview of housing in Brownsville. The key findings from this study may also be considered a baseline since no such data was found to exist at the local level as the research design unfolded.

• Buena Vida Barrio Report

  This barrio is a micro representation of the overall low quality of life that has been identified for both Cameron County and the City of Brownsville by the U.S. Census Bureau.  There were several mitigating variables that emerged from the data that will have some impact on this barrio’s ability to become part of the region’s economic and social mainstream. Of these the most challenging were the high percentages of undocumented residents, the inordinate numbers of renters, the low economic capacity of employed residents and the high crime rates that exceed those of the region in general. The most notable of these assets are the two elementary schools that are performing at any outstanding level by all standard measures.

• Cameron County/Matamoros Benchmark

  This report provides select quantitative and qualitative data on Cameron County, U.S. and Matamoros, Mexico, to assess assets and challenges for regional and binational development.  A key organizing principle is that the border region in general, and Cameron County / Matamoros in particular, is at a crossroads in terms of regional leadership; business and industry development; education and workforce training; and quality of life.  While benefiting from a strong binational economic and cultural heritage, established and growing educational assets, and a rapidly growing young bilingual and biliterate workforce, the border region is challenged as never before.