Study shows Lower Westside in Pueblo areas of blight and how city wants to fix them

Neighbors in Pueblo’s Lower Westside say it’s better late than never to do improvements in the area.

This comes after the city did a study that said parts of the neighborhood are blighted.

Rudolph Martinez has lived in the Lower Westside for more than 40 years. He said when you go over the 18th Street Bridge; it’s like going back in time.

“It looks like you go back to the 1920s, no curbs or gutters and no maintenance,” he said.

He feels the area has been neglected. But in December, the Pueblo Urban Renewal Authority and the city teamed up to do a study.

The initial findings show that blighting conditions do exist in the area including inadequate infrastructure, flood hazards, deteriorating structures and buildings, conditions endangering life, environmental contamination and defective street layout.

City senior planner Jerry Pacheco said there is a lot of work that needs to be done.

“(We need) to clean up the environment and illegal dumping and working with owners to get the buildings repaired and then transportation connections and building those connections into downtown,” he said.

Pacheco hopes the Lower Westside can be the crossroads into downtown for people traveling from the west side of the county.

The senior planner said in the end, it can be worth it.

“The existing businesses and residents there can reap the rewards of higher property values and return on investments,” he said.

Pacheco said the cost and how long it will take to fix the Lower Westside is still unknown.

A public meeting for this study will happen on April 29 at the Pueblo Municipal Justice Center at 6 p.m.