Ramiro Garza’s calling cards in his successful mayoral run were advocating for a code of ethics and pledging to rid City Hall of conflicts of interest.

Once in office in late 2021, Garza faced another challenge as freshly released U.S. Census figures showed Edinburg grew faster than any other city in the Rio Grande Valley. The city’s population in 2020 showed a 39 percent growth over the 2010 count. At its new official population of 107,438, Edinburg ranks as the 12th fastest growing city in the nation among communities with a population of 100,000 or more residents.

The new Edinburg mayor estimated that at current projections, his city will be the Valley’s second largest city by 2040. The buzz generated by the rapid growth is exciting. It also brings with it a whole set of pressing challenges. Edinburg will need more public services as well as new roadways and streets to reach growth corridors rippling through it.

“If you don’t work on infrastructure, then it’s going to be tough,” said Garza, who is a former city manager and economic development director. “You won’t be able to maintain that kind of growth without those kinds of public investments.”

A New Center

For years, the east-west corridor of University Drive that meets up at courthouse square marked Edinburg’s center point. 

These days, said Edinburg City Manager Ron Garza, only one third of the city lies south of the thoroughfare that runs by the University of Texas – Rio Grande Valley. Edinburg’s growth to the north has been expansive over the last decade. Much of the city now runs up to Monte Christo Road and beyond to the city’s airport 15 miles north of town. Monte Cristo not long ago was on the city’s northern outskirts. Garza, the city manager, said today the roadway is “a second hub.”

“You want your city to grow fast and to grow smart,” the city manager said. “A city just can’t go without a strategy with this kind of growth.”

Garza, the mayor, concurs wholeheartedly with his city manager’s assessment. He has kicked off an initiative to devise a 2040 Vision plan that will serve as a roadmap on how Edinburg can incorporate its fast growth into policies and budgets. A town hall meeting was also held in early February to begin gathering public input into forming the plan. 

The mayor knows that numbers and recommendations are largely meaningless unless they are applied into actual city life.

“There’s a lot of strategic plans out there, but you need to integrate them into the budget process,” he said. “You need to get your budget priorities aligned with your vision plan.”

Room To Grow

One of Edinburg’s greatest assets has been the amount of open land it has to grow.

That’s especially true of the city’s northern boundaries, which stretch out beyond Edinburg’s airport on U.S. Highway 281 heading out of the Valley. The new Edinburg residences and subdivisions north of University Drive were part of the $339 million in building and construction permits issued in 2021, a recent city press release stated. That figure was nearly double the $164 million in permit valuations approved in 2021.

In southwest Edinburg, meanwhile, the city’s medical and hospital district is booming with the major entertainment and sports venues of the Bert Ogden Arena and the H-E-B Park located nearby. In the hospital district, the South Texas Health System is constructing a five-story, $100-million patient tower. DHR Health is also expanding its pediatric services with construction of an eight-level hospital. Driscoll Children’s Hospital will lease and independently operate the facility.

All of that growth along with its taxes and fees paid to City Hall will help fund needed improvements for new streets. It will also widen existing ones to handle the increasing volumes of traffic. Edinburg will need to boost its public safety capabilities with additional firefighters and police officers, and purchase the equipment and vehicles they will need. Drainage, like every Valley city, is “a never-ending investment,” said Garza, the city manager. 

“Those are all the key ingredients,” Mayor Garza said. “Infrastructure, roads, drainage, improved mobility of traffic.”

Garza starts his first mayoral term with all of those issues at hand needing an immediate focus. He is confident his city will continue to grow “with room to spare.” Edinburg’s added advantages on top of its growth is that it’s the home of UTRGV and also the county seat, with a gleaming multi-story courthouse nearing completion in the center of town. 

“Edinburg is very unique in having all of the elements of a Valley city and also having a large university,” the mayor said. “We have a really good mix of factors that I believe will continue to support Edinburg’s growth.”