In the latest episode of The Building Texas Show, titled "This Texas Border City Is Trading Farmland for Factories," host Justin McKenzie explores the transformation of Socorro, Texas, a small border city east of El Paso. Mayor Rudy Cruz discusses why families are selling generations of irrigated farmland to developers, the establishment of a foreign trade zone, and how the community is rebuilding its economy while preserving its history.
Mayor Cruz points to several pressures reshaping Socorro: salty irrigation water, reduced water allocations, and extreme summer temperatures. "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. These factors are pushing younger generations to abandon inherited farmland in favor of commercial and industrial deals.
The city's new foreign trade zone is attracting manufacturing and logistics tenants that facilitate cross-border trade with Mexico. This initiative is part of a broader strategy to diversify the local economy beyond agriculture. According to the show notes, the partnership between Socorro and Ysleta del Sur Pueblo, one of only three federally recognized tribes in Texas, is central to this effort. Cruz, who previously worked as a small business development specialist for the tribe, described building incubators on the former Braceros Farm site to help local entrepreneurs grow before entering the wider market. He also credited the tribe with securing federal highway dollars to rehabilitate an irrigation bridge the city could not have funded alone.
Education and workforce development are also key components of the city's plan. Socorro ISD's 6A programs allow students to graduate with associate's degrees and barber licenses, while Fort Bliss has shown interest in busing students into the district. On the cultural front, the Mission Trail—a nine-mile corridor linking three missions—has seen homes converted into restaurants, bistros, and breweries serving pecan and pomegranate beer, keeping centuries-old foodways alive.
Mayor Cruz invites visitors to experience Socorro's heritage: "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." The episode is available now wherever podcasts are heard.
