In the latest episode of The Building Texas Show, titled "This Texas Border City Is Trading Farmland for Factories," host Justin McKenzie explores how Socorro, a small border city east of El Paso, is undergoing a dramatic economic transformation. Mayor Rudy Cruz explains why families are abandoning generations-old irrigated farmland and how the city is establishing a foreign trade zone to attract manufacturing and logistics tenants.
Irrigation water in the region has become increasingly salty, and allocations have dwindled, making it difficult to sustain crops. Combined with triple-digit summer temperatures, many heirs to farmland are choosing to sell to developers rather than continue farming. "It's sad to see the farmland going away... the water isn't what it used to be. There's a lot of salt here and the salt kills off a lot of those plants," Cruz told McKenzie.
The city's new foreign trade zone is a key part of the strategy to boost the local economy. By offering incentives for manufacturing and logistics companies, Socorro aims to capitalize on cross-border trade with Mexico. The episode highlights the partnership between Socorro and Ysleta del Sur Pueblo, one of only three federally recognized tribes in Texas. Cruz, who previously worked as a small business development specialist for the tribe, noted that the tribe helped secure federal highway dollars to rehabilitate an irrigation bridge the city could not have funded alone.
Education and workforce development are also integral to the transition. Socorro ISD offers 6A programs that allow students to earn associate's degrees and barber licenses before graduating high school, and Fort Bliss has expressed interest in busing students in. The city is also building incubators on the former Braceros Farm site to help local entrepreneurs overcome rent, payroll, and insurance costs before entering the broader market.
Despite the shift away from agriculture, Socorro is preserving its history along the Mission Trail, a nine-mile corridor linking three 400-year-old adobe missions. Homes along the trail have been converted into restaurants, bistros, and breweries that serve pecan and pomegranate beer, keeping centuries-old foodways alive. "You want to see a building that was built by people with their own hands 400 years ago? Come down here and visit it. It's an adobe structure built with these natural elements of wood and mud, but at the same time, it tells a story of the people that still reside here," Cruz said.
The episode is available now wherever podcasts are heard, and offers a deep dive into how one Texas border city is navigating the complex tradeoffs between economic development, environmental constraints, and cultural preservation.
