Downtown Brownsville Without Cars

As I drove down Elizabeth Street this morning, I passed a man, about my age, driving his motorized wheel chair in the other direction.  He was holding a red and white umbrella to shelter him from a light rain.

Motorized wheelchairs are common in front of our house as well.  I assume many originate from the high rise nursing home I see through the cane out my window behind the computer screen.  Most are decorated with flags and bumper stickers.

Also, the HEB carts are common and I now from time to time add the adult tricycle to the mix.  We have always had a lot of people walking in groups or alone.  Cars seem to be increasingly rare as gas prices soar.  I can still afford to drive, but I don't think most of my neighbors really can.  Liability insurance costs have long since priced many Brownsville drivers out of the range of driving legally.  Now $4.00 a gallon gas is finishing this group off as well.  If it hits $6.00 by the end of the year as has been predicted I bet people start selling their cars.

Why not, City Fathers, just make this the way of life in downtown Brownsville.  I propose taking a rectangle from Fronton to Tyler, East 14th to Palm and closing it to private automobiles and most trucks.  If we are really bold, we can extend it to include UT Brownsville as well.

I suppose there would need to be a way for freight to be moved in and out so the merchants could get the ropa usada, Chinese knickknacks and  sacks of pinto beans in and out, but we can still make the whole area safe for motorized wheelchairs, HEB carts, walkers and bicyclers.  It works in other cities.

We would need some public transportation, of course.  Buses or trams or a train or a horse or mule drawn carriage or gondolas, to get to the edge of the rectangle.  Parking would need to be available somewhere outside the triangle.

Maybe certain merchants and craftsmen would get a boost.  The complaint about shopping in downtown Brownsville is there is no place to park.  Without cars, the streets that are too crowded for the cars would be abundantly adequate for the pedestrians and bicyclists.

Maybe it could be like a San Antonio Riverwalk, just not as stretched out.  My favorite European city has always been Venice.  I just now realize why:  no cars.