The City of Brownsville, Texas, home of the University of Texas at Brownsville/Texas Southmost College (UTB/TSC), has one of the highest rates of poverty in the nation, ranking third of all metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs). Brownsville's population has been growing at a tremendous rate, increasing 58 percent to 139,000 between 1980 and 2000. More than 90 percent of its population is Hispanic. The documented unemployment rate in the Brownsville-Harlingen metropolitan area is ranked second highest in the state, averaging 12.8 percent. Given its proximity to the border and the flow of illegal immigrants, the actual unemployment rate is probably much higher.
UTB/TSC, with approximately 10,000 students, is located near the Buena Vida residential neighborhood in Old Town/Downtown, the original townsite of Brownsville. Buena Vida is one of the oldest residential areas in the city. Two-thirds of its 8,000 residents live below the poverty level. Old Town/Downtown was historically the booming and thriving center of Brownsville, but beginning in the 1970s it has become a poor and decaying neighborhood. Recently, projects have been initiated by both the city and Cameron County to revitalize and restore historic buildings in the area. However, the process is a fragmented one. Besides the poorest residents in the city, Old Town/Downtown houses the old downtown district, the county courthouse, two museums, a historical cathedral, two elementary schools, and a multitude of social service agencies.
Buena Vida, whose name means "good life" in Spanish, is characteristic of an "urban colonia" in terms of its residential population and living conditions. It has a high rate of rental properties in poor condition, residential overcrowding, a lack of green space, and is within a commercial district that lacks any cohesive design. Seventy percent of the housing is renter occupied with absent landlords, and 60-80 percent of the housing stock is substandard.
The university is helping to revitalize the neighborhood in a non-gentrified way; that is, without moving poor people to another part of town. Although the neighborhood was designated as a Strategic Planning Community, the urban problems that need to be addressed exceed Brownsville's capacity to respond, given the city's overwhelming poverty citywide.
The centerpiece of UTB/TSC's Community Outreach Partnership Center (COPC) and the primary vehicle for its revitalization activities are the COPC's Center for Civic Engagement. The Center for Civic Engagement is an integrative, administrative, and communications hub for UTB/TSC's community work, which includes a leadership program for Buena Vida residents, a public safety program, a neighborhood greening program, and a cultural/historical heritage program. These programs enable the university to use its resources in a community outreach capacity to revitalize Old Town/Downtown and bring back la "Buena Vida."
