More With Les Norton

I asked Mr. Norton about the investment it takes to make downtown enticing for shoppers.

Well, it's very hard to get people to invest money in an entity like downtown Laredo today when you see: 'Well why should I invest?  What has the city done?'  You know, for years we've been asking them to improve the lighting system; we've been asking them to work with us to improve the situation at the bridge.  Why is it taking so long for pedestrian shoppers to walk across the river?  I understand that's a federal responsibility, but I'm saying, as a city government you certainly could help us.  Take us by the hand and open the right doors, to get some concrete answers to solutions as to how we can get shoppers from Mexico into Laredo faster.

One of the things that city council has long overlooked is the fact that so many affluent Mexican shoppers that could spend a lot of money in Laredo, those same shoppers, because they can afford it, are flying now from Monterrey directly to Houston, to Dallas, to San Antonio.  They don't have to put up with all that it takes to get from Monterrey to Laredo on the freeway -- the traffic jams, the bridge, the time it takes to cross over.  They don't have to put up with that when they can board a plane, in an hour they can be shopping in San Antonio.