Dream City:...Brownsville Waiting On Nothing...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

BROWNSVILLE, Texas | So, where are we in the excitable Space Race, Brownsville? Steady launches, a manned mission to Mars planned from SpaceX's Boca Chica launching pad? Tremendous, unbridled growth in town related to the out-of-this-world venture?

Uh, no.

Nothing like that. Actually, nothing at all.

Up-with-the-latest-news Resident Carlos Cascos, a former county judge here, posted a revealing article prepared by Texas Public Radio reporter Gaige Davila, dated August 18 on his busy Facebook page. It is not a pretty picture the report paints of what's come out of the city's effort to become a one-industry town.

It begins ominously, of course.

[During the height of SpaceX fever in Brownsville, city officials rephrased the city's motto, “On the border, by the sea,” by adding, “and beyond.”

Brownsville claimed it was on its way to becoming the new “Silicon Valley of Space.” Officials publicized the arrival of space industry startups and venture capital funds. However, a recent compliance audit conducted by the city suggested that few of the companies publicized by officials remain today.

The audit, which describes a partnership between the city's economic development corporation and 9Point8 Capital, a venture capital firm, found that some of the businesses that promised to set up shop in Brownsville may have never established themselves after their publicized arrivals. ]

But it wasn't solely 9Point8. There were a handful of other companies arriving here, drawn by visions of quick, easy money from City Hall. They got it and...never produced.

The TPR report runs through the various efforts undertaken by the City of Brownsville to welcome the progress. It never came.

The in-depth article at TPR.org is well-worth the time it takes to read through the serpentine mess that's still unfurling. SpaceX has said it has now scheduled its next launch, but did not give a date. It seems to be where it wants to be in relation to its local mission.

Brownsville?

Not so much...

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