{"id":46168,"date":"2015-06-03T06:40:15","date_gmt":"2015-06-03T12:40:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=46168"},"modified":"2015-06-16T10:13:56","modified_gmt":"2015-06-16T16:13:56","slug":"southern-nm-is-dreaming-big","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2015\/06\/southern-nm-is-dreaming-big\/","title":{"rendered":"Southern NM is dreaming big"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The

Heath Haussamen \/ NMPolitics.net<\/p>

The Organ Mountains at sunrise.<\/p><\/div>\n

COMMENTARY:<\/strong> Picture Las Cruces in 20 years as a city with\u00a0tens of thousands of new residents. Its median income is higher and its poverty lower than in 2015. It’s an innovative, thriving, multicultural city that has America’s attention.<\/p>\n

The improved economic situation in this future scenario is\u00a0largely due to people coming together to build two important projects that have transformed the region.<\/p>\n

Some 40 miles to the south, business is booming at the Santa Teresa Port of Entry. On the American side of the border an active industrial park includes\u00a0a rail hub that is home to\u00a0distribution centers for companies\u00a0like Home Depot and Target. Across\u00a0the border in Mexico, Foxconn operates a manufacturing plant where Dell, Apple and other companies build devices that are shipped all over the globe.<\/p>\n

\"Heath

Heath Haussamen<\/p><\/div>\n

And 45 miles northeast of Las Cruces is Spaceport America, where paying customers\u00a0fly into space and companies\u00a0launch satellites and other payloads. The spaceport’s success has attracted\u00a0businesses to the region, most centered in Las Cruces.<\/p>\n

The spaceport brings tourists to the area. So does a national monument created two decades earlier that has preserved the mountains around the expanding city. We market\u00a0the majestic peaks of the Organ Mountains and the chance to watch spaceships launch\u00a0in a tourism\u00a0campaign that focuses on the region’s open space and skies.<\/p>\n

The area’s schools have programs geared toward preparing our children to work in the commercial space industry. We have privately owned medical and dental schools housed at New Mexico State University. More of our kids find jobs and stay here than was once possible, and other people\u00a0come to Las Cruces for school or work\u00a0and end up staying.<\/p>\n

Las Cruces is already a majority-minority city in 2015, which makes it a window into America’s future. Those future transplants further\u00a0increase Las Cruces’ multiculturalism by 2035.<\/p>\n

This is Las Cruces as a successful mid-sized city in the middle of the 21st Century.\u00a0Southern New Mexico’s people may be creating such a future right now.<\/p>\n

Laying the groundwork<\/h3>\n

I grew up in Santa Fe, but I make Las Cruces my home\u00a0in part because its people are having a moment of innovation that could be transformative.\u00a0I find Las Cruces to be\u00a0an accepting and friendly place that is full of energy. During a time of rapid change for our nation and world, Southern New Mexico isn’t afraid to try new ideas.<\/p>\n

In a state that’s often at the\u00a0top of bad lists and the bottom of the good ones, many New Mexico communities could\u00a0learn from this region.<\/p>\n

It’s not because we’re\u00a0moving in any particular ideological direction. I’m not endorsing any specific policy or project.<\/p>\n

Las Cruces and the surrounding region have active political factions, nonprofits, activist groups and citizens working hard for change. We have some forward-thinking government officials and agencies. We have lots of recent transplants, some young, some old, some wealthy, some poor. The constant movement and dialogue they engage in is healthy.\u00a0Things are happening.<\/p>\n

Consider some examples:<\/p>\n