The Waco City Council this week agreed to fund an implementation plan for revitalizing 25th Street, aiming to enhance its walkability and vibrant Hispanic culture.
The council on Tuesday awarded a $254,000 contract to Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc., which will lead a community visioning process and look at ways to enhance walkability and “placemaking.”
The corridor plan’s scope includes about 1.5 miles of 25th Street from Franklin Avenue to Maple Avenue, a stretch that includes the Poco Loco supermarket, Provident-Heights Elementary School, the 25th Street fire station, and numerous small food, retail and automotive businesses. Nearly 7,000 Hispanic residents live in the Census tracts adjacent to the corridor, according to American Community Survey five-year estimates from 2021.
District 4 Council Member Darius Ewing, who has made the project a priority, said the city will listen closely to stakeholders as 25th Street business owners guide the improvement process.
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District 4 Council Member Darius Ewing stands in front of Fire Station No. 6, a recent addition to 25th Street. The city’s study of the predominantly Hispanic corridor is meant to enhance parking, pedestrian safety and placemaking.
He said he hopes the process will be proactive and intentional about creating a space that is vibrant and welcoming, by the city’s and community’s standards.
“We’re not going to move forward on any sort of improvements in this area without making sure we’re in lockstep with what you want,” he said.
The project has been a priority for past District 4 council members, including Dillon Meek, who is now mayor. Ewing said when he was first appointed to the seat to replace Meek in 2020, the two met to discuss the corridor’s revitalization.
Daysi Berrera, owner of 25th Furniture Store, said she remembers before the pandemic having early meetings with other business owners and Meek about how to improve the street.
“I remember when he (Meek) came walking by every single business … asking, ‘How can we make 25th more beautiful?’ He listened,” she said.
Ewing said the implementation plan and work will be largely guided by a study performed by Grassroots Community Development, which confirmed some of the city’s thoughts about the community’s desires and helped create a connection between the two.
“A lot of that is what we’re using to move forward with this … They were really, really intentional about getting feedback from business owners,” Ewing said of Grassroots.
Fire Station No. 6 is a recent addition to 25th Street, a predominantly Hispanic corridor that is due for infrastructure and pedestrian safety improvements.
Grassroots Executive Director Mike Stone said building relationships with the business owners, the “local experts,” has been integral in 25th Street’s revitalization. He said it will be important for them to provide feedback as the project progresses, as any kind of construction could impact business owners, and advanced notice and coordination is vital.
The Grassroots study compiled responses from interviews, a focus group meeting and a survey to gauge business owners’ opinions of the corridor.
The survey found that most participating businesses were satisfied with their location on 25th Street and primarily shopped at other businesses along the same corridor, and the street ranked high in drivability.
However, business owners ranked parking as the street’s worst asset, as the fast-moving street only has some on-street angled parking. Respondents also shared a desire for better sidewalks and more street lights.
Respondents also shared a sense of pride and community in the corridor. Grassroots recommended developing a shared corridor identity with a possible overlay district, a shared color scheme and built-in cultural elements.
Rosa Rodriguez, owner of Casa de Bendición y Antojitos Centroamericanos, said she has run the Christian gift shop and restaurant hybrid at 1409 N. 25th St. for five years. She said her “heart belongs to Waco,” but she’s ready to see more change.
“I love it, but I would like to have something different for the community because that’s my goal, my point, to put the community together. … For me, it’s very important for the community to know that we’re here for them too,” she said. “My goal is to have this place where everybody can come, like family.”
The street brings in customers from Marlin, Mexia and other communities all over in search of Hispanic goods that can’t be found elsewhere, she said, and having a nicer area to welcome them into would show customers 25th Street is here for them. Her store connects many different people from different places and cultures, which makes her happy, Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said people walk throughout 25th Street from their homes in surrounding neighborhoods to stores and restaurants. More lighting, better sidewalks and placemaking would make the street more inviting to pedestrians, she said.
She said she keeps an open door for people passing by who may need a place to rest or a glass of water, but she wishes the street outside was a more inviting place for them to stop and relax.
“A lot of people walk around here … so I would like to see benches so they can sit out and wait for the bus, or rest to help the community,” Rodriguez said. “Little things like that make a difference. … That’s my goal and my dream to see 25th shine in the middle of this beautiful city.”
Rodriguez said more lighting would help her feel at ease leaving her store at night, though she hasn’t had any issues with security in a few years.
The Waco City Council this week agreed to fund an implementation plan for revitalizing 25th Street, aiming to enhance its walkability and vibrant Hispanic culture.
Furniture store owner Berrera agreed with Rodriguez but said safety on 25th Street has increased drastically since she purchased her shop at 1108 N. 25th St. in 2013.
Her business has changed from selling prepaid phone cards to piñatas and now to furniture, but so has the corridor. Now that the area is a safe place to be, with game rooms shut down and more of a police presence, she said it’s time for further enhancements, specifically noting better parking.
“Eventually the idea is to make it like a Latino shopping place, a safe, nice environment that everybody can get a piñata, they can get furniture, they can get some candy, ice cream, tortillas, tamales, everything that we have,” she said.
Berrera said more stop signs, lights, walking signs and beautification would help the already culture-rich corridor more elegant and inviting.
“I see a lot of people walking, a lot of kids from school walking,” Berrera said. “There’s a supermarket right there and apartments … and I really like that environment. We’re safe so we can walk all the time, but now we just need to be more safe for the people driving and the people walking with more walking signs, more parking spaces.”
Both Berrera and Rodriguez took pride in the fact that their businesses serve unique purposes in the Hispanic community, further diversifying the types of businesses that have grown along the corridor.
Council Member Ewing said he hopes to create an environment that invites the community to patronize businesses, making it feel safe to spend an afternoon shopping along 25th Street.
Ewing said he takes 25th and 26th streets almost every day, which both carry fast-moving one-way traffic across three lanes. Better traffic calming measures and street infrastructure is needed and a possible downsize to two lanes could be the fix to slow down traffic through the area, but he is awaiting recommendations from the Kimley-Horn plan.
Slowing down traffic, widening sidewalks and fixing broken and cracked walkways could help make the area more walkable as well.
