Envision El Paso

A vision shaped by our community

What have we been up to?

Envision El Paso is a long-range planning effort to update the City’s 2012 Plan El Paso comprehensive plan.

The process kicked off during the City’s 2024 Strategic Planning Session, with priorities being further reinforced during the

2026 Strategic Planning Session, setting the stage for the work ahead.

Residents and staff shared their ideas and priorities for the future of El Paso, during engagement meetings and events from April through September 2024. This information helped reinforce project themes and guide deeper conversation as we discussed land use updates.

Through 2025 we focused engagement on updates to the Future Land Use Map and in developing the Housing & Economic Development Strategy. Plan recommendations were brought to Council this summer 2026.

Envision El Paso is the City’s blueprint for how our community will grow and change over the next 10-15 years. Think of it as a shared guide that helps residents, business owners, and planners visualize the El Paso of the future. It’s a living framework that evolves with our city and our collective vision for the future.

This updated Comprehensive Plan builds on what we love about El Paso and focuses on what we can make even better for the future. It continues the goals of the Mayor and City Council’s 2026 Strategic Plan and builds upon the foundation of Plan El Paso 2012 (Volume I & Volume II).

On June 20, 2023, City Council approved the award of the contract for the Comprehensive Plan to our consultant, Arcadis.

Envision El Paso is made up of several separate documents, organized around four areas:

Land Use, Housing, Economic Development, and Infrastructure.

Each document stands on its own, but they all point toward the same goal of encouraging new development and reinvestment in established areas.

Focusing growth this way is more fiscally responsible for the city in the long run,

since it avoids the added cost of building and maintaining new infrastructure to serve sprawling development.

  • Land Use Plan

    The Plan translates the community’s long-term vision into a clear framework for where and how development should occur. It is intended to be a supporting guide for the FLUM.

    Land Use Plan

  • Future Land Use Map

    The FLUM is the graphic representation of the framework laid out in the LUP. It identifies the different place types across the city, and guides future development and investment decisions.

    FLUM

  • Housing Strategy

    Developed in response to a needs assessment and is intended to provide the City of El Paso with a roadmap for addressing the most pressing housing issues in El Paso, now and in the future.

    Strategy

  • Housing Needs Assessment

    This assessment looks at the current housing landscape in El Paso and provides and analysis to understand the gaps in housing availability and affordability.

    Needs Assessment

  • Economic Development

    This memo provides recommendations to the Infill Development Policy to help strengthen the city’s approach to encourage and support infill development.

    Memo

Technical Memos

  • Infrastructure Maintenance

    Provides a clear framework to guide decisions on infrastructure planning by outlining how the City can better align its General Fund budget with Strategic Planning Goals and community priorities to support delivering quality service.

    Memo

  • MTP Amendment

    A holistic review of proposed amendments to confirm alignment with the City’s Street Design Manual and assess impacts on levels of service, subdivision patterns, capital expenditures, and infrastructure coordination.

    Memo

  • Street Design Manual

    Establishes a streamlined process for reviewing changes to El Paso’s Street Design Manual, which was adopted in 2022. Updates support staff in imlpementing guidelines in the manual to ensure consistent and transparent decision making.

    Memo

  • Quick Wins

    To provide a framework to explore the introduction of a structured process to guide inter-department coordination, budget allocations, timeline and priority level to respond to community-informed actions in a prompt manner.

    Memo

Dive deeper into the process for

each phase of the project

  • Future Land Use Map (FLUM)

    Community workshops were led with the intent of providing a deeper understanding to how the Future Land Use Map (FLUM) is used to guide development in El Paso. Workshops were educational and had opportunities to provide your ideas for how you would like to see El Paso develop.

    Learn More

  • Housing & Economic Development Strategy

    This effort was co-led with Community and Human Development And Economic Development departments to update the city’s Housing Strategy to increase and diversify our housing supply, with the intent of improving housing attainability and housing production.

    Learn More

  • 2024 Community Symposium

    The event brought together community members, professionals, and city leaders to engage in meaningful discussions about the future of El Paso. Discussions focused on sustainable urban development, city planning, and community-driven solutions to foster a more connected city.

    learn more

  • 2024 Community Workshops

    The first phase of the engagement process included two primary components: a visioning survey and a citywide summer workshop series, which both were designed to gather ideas and input from residents to inform policy updates in Envision El Paso.

    Summary

  • 2024 Strategic Planning Session

    We kicked off the engagement process for Envision El Paso by leading two activities at the 2024 Strategic Planning Session. Participants included 47 staff members including council representatives and department directors participated along with seven community members.

    Photo Reel

Engagement Support

  • Envision El Paso Working Group

    The working group was responsible for working with the City’s planning team to provide diverse perspectives and feedback regarding the Comprehensive Plan Update. The working group was a mix of council appointed members and selected community leaders.

    Learn More

  • Envision El Paso Ambassadors

    Ambassadors played a key role in the early engagement process in 2024. The goal was to connect with residents outside of regularly scheduled workshops and meetings, with the intent of engaging more people that don’t typically engage with the City, to bring in diverse voices and lived experiences.

    learn more

Themes & vision Goals

The Envision El Paso themes were shaped through community input and data-driven analysis. Between April and September 2024, residents shared their priorities through workshops, open houses, and surveys. Their input, along with an assessment of El Paso’s current conditions, helped identify the issues that matter most to our community’s future.

The Five Themes

1. Housing Attainability
…is the alignment of housing options with the needs, demographics, and incomes of El Paso residents. It promotes security, economic opportunity, and neighborhoods where everyone can find a place to call home.

2. Mobility Choice
…is the ability for all residents — regardless of age, income, ability, or location — to access their daily needs through safe, affordable, and convenient transportation options, whether walking, biking, taking transit, or driving.

3. Sustainable Living
…is the commitment to responsibly address the challenges of a changing climate by reducing heat impacts, conserving water, and supporting the resources and environments that foster a healthy, resilient community.

4. Economic Development
…is the collective community effort to advance growth and prosperity, supporting local businesses, attracting investment, and enhancing quality of life in El Paso and across the region.

5. Fiscal Responsibility
…is an economically sustainable development pattern that maximizes long-term municipal revenues and ensures the efficient delivery of public services and infrastructure.

Why the Themes Matter

These themes form the backbone of the Envision El Paso Comprehensive Plan. They will:

  • Guide updates to City policies and priorities.

  • Direct future investments toward the greatest community benefit.

  • Help track progress toward the shared vision of a prosperous, safe, clean, and vibrant El Paso where every resident has access to opportunity.

Our Consulants

Arcadis

Economic & Planning Systems, Inc.

IN THE NEWS

  • "City’s community workshops on ‘Envision El Paso’ kicked off Wednesday"

    KTSM.COM

  • "City of El Paso hosts workshops for Envision El Paso, a comprehensive plan update"

    KVIA.COM

  • Your City in 5: City of El Paso Future Land Use Meetings

    City of El Paso YouTube

What is a Comprehensive Plan? 

A Comprehensive Plan is a document created by local governments and residents to determine what the focus and vision of the community should be over a 20-year period. 

A Comprehensive Plan is a requirement by the state for a local government to have Zoning regulations. 

It also provides a broad tool to help communities identify how they want to prioritize resources and future planning efforts. The Plan can be used as a guide for a city in budgeting and policy decisions, drafting regulations, and creating five-year Strategic Plans. 

The Plan looks at the relationships between land uses, infrastructure, such as roads and utilities, and community needs, and can impact how and where a community grows over time. It seeks to include broad, equitable, and diverse public engagement from residents across all areas of the city. 

The City of El Paso has embarked on updating their 2012 Comprehensive Plan which will build upon the things we love about our community and focus on the things we want to improve for the future. 

Explainer Video

FAQs

  • The City of El Paso’s Comprehensive Plan is permitted by the State of Texas as a primary tool to guide long-term growth and change over a 20-year period. It is not a zoning ordinance, but it does help to guide amendments to the code as well as the zoning map.

    A Comprehensive Plan can guide a city in budgeting and policy decisions, drafting regulations, and creating two-year Strategic Plans. It looks at the relationships between land uses, infrastructure — such as roads and utilities — and community needs and can affect how and where a community grows over time. It seeks to include broad public engagement from residents across all areas of the city.

  • Envision El Paso is an update to Plan El Paso, the existing comprehensive plan that was adopted in March 2012. The update is needed because much has changed since then, and El Paso is now faced with a new set of challenges and opportunities.

    With these key themes — mobility choice, sustainability, affordable housing, economic development, sustainable living, and fiscal responsibility — Envision El Paso will address those challenges and opportunities and advance our community.

  • Envision El Paso serves as a road map for El Paso’s future development, guiding decision-making processes and investments to create communities that residents want to live and thrive in. The focus for policy updates include to increase housing options to increase affordability, driving development in areas where it is fiscally responsible and more sustainable, and updating our infrastructure maintenance plan to take care of existing and future infrastructure and facilities.

  • The City of El Paso Planning & Design Division is leading this project in partnership with a citywide interdepartmental team and other public agencies in the region. They are assisted by an expert consultant team that has a mix of global experience and deep local roots and knowledge.

    The project is being guided by a working group appointed by the El Paso City Council, as well as a team of project ambassadors who will be extending our reach into neighborhoods across the city.

  • A driving focus of the Envision El Paso initiative is equity so that we can reach as many El Pasoans as possible, particularly those in underserved areas. Various methods will be used to engage with and gather feedback from residents throughout El Paso during the planning process. Some approaches include outreach events such as community meetings and pop-ups, surveys, interactive online platforms, multilingual outreach, and social media and digital communication.

    Envision El Paso has a team of Envision El Paso Ambassadors from all parts of the City to help us reach El Paso’s varied population. Visit EnvisionEP.com to contact us about hosting a meeting with your local neighborhood association, church group, civic group, or other local organization with one of our Envision El Paso Ambassadors.

    By employing a combination of these engagement strategies, Envision El Paso can ensure that the planning process is transparent, and responsive to the needs and aspirations of the city’s residents.

  • Give us your feedback! We want to hear from as many residents as possible about what they believe El Paso should be in the years to come.

    Visit this website often to share your ideas and invite others to share their input too. Upcoming meeting dates and locations can also be found here.