Las Colonias along the Texas-Mexico Border

Jordana Barton, Emily Ryder Perlmeter, Elizabeth Sobel Blum and Raquel R. Márquez

Chapter 14 in Ten-Gallon Economy, 2015, pp 213-229 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract Texas has more than 2,200 colonias—unincorporated settlements often lacking basic services such as water, sewer, paved roads, and electricity. Primarily located along the border with Mexico, these communities are home to an estimated half-million people (mostly US citizens of Mexican-American descent) and represent some of the nation’s largest clusters of concentrated poverty. Drawing on traditional quantitative measures as well as surveys and interviews, we identify promising strategies and common elements of successful efforts over the past 20 years to improve life in these communities. They include adopting an integrated approach to problem solving rather than addressing issues individually, encouraging resident engagement, drawing on community assets such as bilingual skills and entrepreneurship, and creating more opportunities for residents to save and invest in their own communities.

Keywords: Federal Reserve; Affordable Housing; American Community Survey; Informal Economy; Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palchp:978-1-137-53017-2_14

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DOI: 10.1057/9781137530172_14

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