After seeking feedback from residents, Edinburg this week unveiled the results of that input which included their top priorities for the city.
Quality of streets, drainage and lighting were among the main concerns for the Edinburg residents who participated in a survey that was conducted as part of the city’s 2040 Vision plan, an initiative to develop a vision for the city.
More than 2,000 residents participated in the survey in addition to the estimated 100 people who attended at least one of several town hall meetings the city held throughout February and March.
The more than 2,000 people who responded to the survey represent about 3% of the city’s population over 18 years old, according to Edinburg Assistant City Manager Brian Kelsey who presented the results from the town halls and survey during a special city council meeting earlier this week.
Though the 3% response might seem low, Kelsey told the council that was actually a good amount of participation.
A good strategic plan had to have two components, Kelsey said. The first is establishing what residents already like about the city and what makes it unique, and the second component is establishing goals.
Those who responded to the survey listed the city’s defining characteristics as its sense of community, outdoor recreation, and its cultural diversity and history.
While they saw opportunity in the city’s continued growth and development, the residents also wanted the city to maintain its “hometown character” meaning they want a vibrant downtown but value a quiet, peaceful environment.
Edinburg also rated highly as a place to settle down — live, raise children, work, and retire. Residents also reported feeling safe but wanted more investment in bike and pedestrian routes as well as street lighting.
Looking forward, the themes of growth, safety, mobility and connectivity, health, government transparency, cultural arts, entertainment, equity, and beautification emerged as what residents wanted to focus on for their vision for the future of the city.
“Equity was an interesting one,” Kelsey said. “At a couple of the town halls, we did hear some input from residents in terms of, well, the city is growing, they see the information that’s coming out about our growing population and about new businesses opening but not everybody feels like everyone’s sharing equally in that growing prosperity.”
The growth of the city has only been more evident recently with the latest figures from the 2020 U.S. Census.
The city touted the latest figures from the Census Bureau which show that Edinburg was the fastest growing city in the Rio Grande Valley and the fifth fastest growing city with more than 100,000 people in Texas from 2020 to 2021.
The city is purported to have grown by 2.4% in one year, from 100,039 residents in July 2020 to 102,483 residents in July 2021.
McAllen came in second in the Valley with 1.1% growth during that same time period.
When residents were to provide input regarding the community needs in the survey, the top five needs that emerged were street lighting, sidewalks, senior services, veteran services, and crime prevention or public safety.
The top priorities for the next two years were street quality, drainage, street lighting, pedestrian accessibility, property maintenance, and traffic management.
With the responses they received, city officials say the results will be taken into consideration during the city budget process but, overall the Edinburg 2040 plan will be an ongoing initiative.
“The idea here is to come up with a list of, I think, priorities that we can focus on moving forward and trying to address the fast growing … needs of our community,” Mayor Ramiro Garza Jr. said during the city council meeting. “What we’ve commented since the beginning … was that eventually we’d take all your input and come up with a report and then, as council, decide what is next.”
Garza suggested forming committees that would be resident-driven and would each focus on one of the themes residents wanted to focus on for the city’s future.
He also noted the city was just beginning their annual budget process and said he’d like to see the budget align with what residents listed as needs for the city.
“For starters, that’s so important,” Garza said. “We have that opportunity to do that at this time.”
