If you work a job that involves local travel, you probably pass through Brownsville a few times a week, if not a few times a day.
Although Brownsvillesitsoutside the western border of the city, it is the functional mid-pointbetween east and west Pensacola. On average, approximately17,000 vehiclesdriveon West Cervantes Street each day.
Still, many business owners in the area feel invisible.
"People can ride by 20 times a day and not notice us," said Floyd Jones, owner of The Network barbershop on the corner of Cervantes and T streets.
Brownsville was an early victim of urban sprawl, a once thriving economic corridor that fell into decline as families and businesses fled to new developments on the outskirts of town.
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Still, the area has a lot going for it. It's got anexcellent location, a century's worth of history, a diverse population and— as one resident phrased it— "great bones" in terms of layout, walkability and infrastructure.
According to Strong Towns — a nonprofitorganization focused on making American cities more financially stable and resilient—Brownsville is exactly the type of area where small, smart social and economic investments are likely to bring large, long-lastingreturns.
Beautiful Brownsville
Escambia County defines the Brownsville Community Redevelopment Area as about 1,152 acres of property bounded,generally,by New Warrington Road onthe west, WestAvery Street on the north, West Jackson Streeton the south and Pensacola city limits on the east.
About 60 percent of the neighborhood is residential, according to county data. Throughout the area, colorful, gabled homes, most of them from the 1940s and '50s, line orderly grids of streets.
The president of the Historic Brownsville Community group, Mike Kilmer, lives with his family in a cozy, brick home off Jackson Street.
The home is filled with art, books, pictures and the sound of music. Kilmer, a musician who grew up in New Jersey, has been living in Brownsville for about 14 years and has emerged asone of the most vocal advocates for the community.
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Kilmer was drawn to the neighborhood bya mixture of character, centrality and construction.After Hurricane Ivan, Kilmer was on the market for a home that was brick, on high ground and tied to the sewer system, rather a septic tank.
"We fell in love with this house," Kilmer said. "It's ended up being such a magical place to be."
Kilmer said part of the area's appeal was his many great neighbors. Brownsville is a melting pot of black, white, Arabic, Hispanic and Vietnamese families, all of whom bring something unique to the local culture in terms of food, music, religion, traditions and history.
Businesses like the Brownsville Army Navy Store and Brownsille Ornamental Iron WorksInc., have been in area families for decades.
Any opportunity he gets, Escambia County Tax Collector ScottLunsford will recommend people spend time in "beautiful Brownsville."
Lunsford, a40-year resident of the neighborhood who was elected tax collector last November, held a recentstaff training session in the newly remodeled Brownsville Community Center. He said some employees were skittish about the idea at first, but said they quickly warmed to the neighborhood'scharm.
"People just need to realize what's in their community and what's available," Lunsford said. "I think a lot of times it just gets overlooked."
Brownsville by the numbers
Brownsville, more specifically West Cervantes, was once the main artery between Pensacola and Mobile, Alabama. In the mid-1950s it was a thriving commercial corridor with retail shops, movie theaters and multiple schools.
By the 1970s, however, the neighborhood was reversing course. Cordova Mall opened in 1971, drawing away customers in droves. Interstate 10 was extended to Mobile in 1978, giving commuters an alternate east-to-west route.
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The following year, the Florida Department of Transportation extended Cervantes Streets to four lanes, eliminating storefront parking at many Brownsville businesses.
As Pensacola continued to grow, modern and affordable housing developed on the outskirts of town, and many kids who grew up in Brownsville opted to put down their roots elsewhere as adults.
The cumulative impact of the changes has put Brownsville on a long, slow slide into decay.
According to a Brownsville Community Redevelopment Plan updated by the county earlier this year, county staff recently reviewed the condition of 2,554 houses in the Brownsville redevelopment district.
More than a quarter of the homes, 27 percent, were rated to be in "poor or dilapidated condition." That number is up significantly from a 2004 assessment when just 12 percent of homes were in bad shape.
About 51 percent of the housing stock is in fair condition, down from 81 percent in 2004.
In addition, about13 percent of the properties in Brownsville are vacant or undeveloped, including many storefronts on busy roadways.
The number of empty and run down buildings in the area and the fact that 57 percent ofBrownsville residents rent rather than own means those homeowners who are investing in maintenance and repairs are seeing fewerbenefits.
All told, the redevelopment areahas an assessed value of about $166 million dollars and brings in nearly $1.9 million in ad valorem taxes each year, according to the tax collector's office.It’s not a huge sum, and county data indicates many homes in the area have been steadily losing value.
The county determined the median value of an owner-occupied home in the Brownsville CRA is a little more than half that of the county median: $73,417 compared to $130,449.
Still, Lunsford said the area's challenges could also be viewed as opportunities.
A better Brownsville
Vacant buildings mean there is space for new homeowners and businesses.
Because Brownsville is in an older part of town,the spacing of buildings is moredense than you'd see in modern developments like strip malls and big box stores. That means with a little retrofitting, the area is uniquely suited for foot traffic.
Lunsford said access to transportation is a barrier for a lot of Brownsville residents, so businesses that came into the neighborhood and filled gaps in services would likely find success.
"The biggest thing is walkability," Lunsford said in terms of Brownsville's assets. "The customers, they walk, they bike, they're going to be in the area all the time. ... A lot of small businesses could do well there, probably at a price they could afford."
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Many Brownsville residents and business owners, like barbershop owner Floyd Jones,envision Brownsville transforming into a hub for restaurants, shopping and culture like downtown.
In fact his business'name, The Network, is a reflection of his desire to build partnershipsand cross promotions with other business owners. Unfortunately, the entrance to Jones' shopfaces "T" Street, not Cervantes, and it's easy to miss for people who don't know it's there and are cruising past at 40 mph.
"We've got sidewalks, but once you cross the street the sidewalks start dissipating," Jones said. "It's not safe. I would never let my child walk up this street alone."
The Florida-Alabama Transportation Planning Organization is in the midst of a studyinghow West Cervantes could be reconfigured to help spur revitalization and redevelopment.
One of the options on the table is a "road diet," which could entail narrowing orreducing traffic lanes to make room for bike paths, sidewalks, cross walks and street-side parking. The area the TPO is reviewing stretches from "A" Street toDominguez Street.
The thought is that small improvements that beautify the areaencourage people to stop and make it easier to navigate the area on foot and are a simple and comparatively inexpensive way to jump start the economy.
"We're trying to see if there is something we can do to narrow lanes, slow down traffic and see if that wouldn't bring us to a more walkable, bikable roadway," said Commissioner Doug Underhill, who represents the district, along with Commissioner Lumon May.
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Underhill said the study is reviewing what the economic impacts of the changes would be, as well as whether narrower streets could support the area's traffic flow.
Escambia County has also initiated some other projects to help get Brownsville back on track. The county finished a $1.8 million renovation of the Brownsville Community Center earlier this year, as well as allocated some funding for sidewalk and street light installations.
Underhill said he viewed those sorts of investments as the type of basic services governments should be focused on.
He noted that the county's usualeconomic development model —buildingexpensive industrial and commerce parks in hopes of attracting new businesses — wasn't working. It makes more sense to spend the county's limited assets on the resources it already had, he said.
"(Brownsville business owners) are working hard to be part of Escambia County, and we're taking the tax dollars we're getting from them to bring someone else into town,"Underhill said."We should be investing back into these communities."
There's been a more concerted effort among Brownsville residents to take more ownership and initiative in improving their neighborhood. TheHistoric Brownsville Community assembles residents and business owners once a month to discuss planning and improvements in the community.
They are considering hosting a community-wide New Year's event with stalls and pop-up shops to draw new customers to the area, Kilmer said.
Kilmer also listedsome small things Brownsville residents could do on a daily basis to affect positive change.
"Pick upgarbage when we see it," he said."Take walks and say hello to people. Show up at City Council meetings and County Commission meetings. Take care of our houses. Buy locally. Use the library. Send and answer a lot of emails, plan events."
Basically, live in, care about and be a part of the community.
And help encourage others to see and invest in Brownsville's potential.
"We need a sign that says 'Beautiful Brownsville' at all four entrances," Lunsford said. "We need to brag on ourselves and change one mind at a time."
Reporter Kevin Robinson can be reached at krobinson@pnj.com and 850-435-85270.
Today's story is part of the PNJ's ongoing series about CivicCon: Empowering Pensacola Through Civic Conversations.
