Day One: Las Cruces Community Shares Challenges and Opportunities for Downtown
Following an early morning guided tour through downtown for members of the project team, our week-long public workshop for the Downtown Master Plan Update began in earnest Monday, October 20, with the Downtown Las Cruces Partnership, the people closest to the daily realities of downtown. Their message was clear: downtown has momentum, but now is the time to be strategic about what comes next.
Space is limited, some say, so future growth may mean building up, not out, and not everyone is comfortable with that idea. Even so, there’s strong interest in more housing downtown, especially townhomes, condos with structured parking, and a mix of attainable and market-rate units for the roughly 10,000 people who already work in or near downtown and might choose to live there if options existed.
Several city-owned or underutilized catalyst sites came up repeatedly. People want to see these places activated, whether through housing, shared workspaces, food incubators, or markets.
A grocery store remains a top need. Food trucks, farmers market expansion, and small-scale incubation were also mentioned as near-term wins.
The group praised past streetscape improvements but was blunt about what still feels unfinished: dark side streets, unlit parking lots, a lack of shade, and empty stretches along Campo Street. But, it was agreed, the issue isn’t so much safety as it is the perception of safety. “It’s not scary, it’s just dark,” someone said. A Walk Downtown campaign was suggested to shift the narrative.
They also talked tools: vacancy-to-vibrancy ordinances, use of TIDD funds beyond bricks and sidewalks to support business development, partnerships with NMSU’s Arrowhead Center for incubation, and environmental site assessments to unlock stalled properties.
In short, downtown has a strong foundation. Now it needs housing, light, food, activation, and a coordinated push to turn vacant into vibrant.
