CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — City planners held an open house Thursday night seeking public opinion on the future of the city's west side.
"We'll be using this feedback to help write a vision," City of Corpus Christi Senior City Planner Annika Yankee said. "Then we'll write goals and a development plan for the area."
Finalization of the long-term development plan for west side is months away. Before then, the city will hold more meetings like tonight's where people can point out the community's positive and negative attributes.
"It's very dilapidated," meeting attendee Catherine Holmes said.
"Kids feel, for sure, more safer on the other side of town than here," Holmes' Texas A&M-Kingsville classmate Armando De Los Santos said.
The two students attended the meeting as an assignment for one of their classes, but they do have a stake in the future of west side. They both have family who live there.
"On the south side, you can just walk out and go to a safe trail," Holmes said. "There's a lot of area to walk around and have fun, and be active, and go for a run, and encourage a healthy lifestyle. But here, you walk down the street, and it's a little dangerous."
Public safety is just one of the issues that community members talked to city leaders about. Economic development, parks, and housing are others.
"I'm really excited about this project actually," Yankee said. "I think this is a special area of the city -- a lot of history here."
The next public meeting on the west side long-term development plan won't be until the Spring. In the meantime, the city encourages you to fill out the online survey. You can access it by clicking here.
