Housing costs skyrocket as SpaceX expands in Texas city

Alexander Gonzalez-Hernandez painted a mural of Musk.

Gaige Davila/ Texas Public Radio

The motto of the city of Brownsville used to be "On the Border, By the Sea." It was changed to "On the Border, By the Sea, and Beyond" in order to pay homage to the company that has a facility about 23 miles east of the city.

There are murals depicting space. There is a hot dog stand on the side of a building.

I decided to incorporate space into the business because I knew it was going to be poppin. Rodriguez opened a hot dog stand last year, a hit with the space enthusiast crowd, though she acknowledges the split between those who support and are against the location of the company.

Rebecca Rodriguez is the owner of the space dog station.

Gaige Davila/ Texas Public Radio

A lot of people do go for it, just the same way they do not like it.

Rises in housing costs are part of the change. The median housing price in the metro has increased by 26% since 2020, from $184,900 to $233,000. According to Census data, the median yearly family income for residents of Brownsville is just over $40,000, a third less than the country as a whole.

Christopher Basald is a Native American studies scholar and member of the Carrizo Comecrudo Tribe of Texas. He moved back to his hometown of Brownsville after growing up there.

He lived in a duplex for 18 months before his landlord asked him to leave.

Basald found a smaller apartment with a higher rent. There was an eviction notice taped to the window. He said it scared him.

Basald has a full-time job with healthcare benefits. If my landlord tells me that I need to get out and find an apartment, how difficult will it be for someone else?

Basald sees parallels between the plight of his ancestors who were forced off the land and his housing situation. The ancestral land of the Carrizo Comecrudo tribe is along the Rio Grande river and on the coast.

The Resaca De Las Palmas State Park is in Brownsville. Basald was forced to find a new home when rents went up.

Gaige Davila/ Texas Public Radio

Please consider moving to Starbase or greater Brownsville/South Padre area in Texas & encourage friends to do so!



SpaceX’s hiring needs for engineers, technicians, builders & essential support personnel of all kinds are growing rapidly.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 30, 2021

The history of economic exploitation of human beings in this valley is not lost on Basald.

The rising costs are blamed on CEO Musk, who encouraged people to move to Brownsville for jobs.

Nick Mitchell-Bennett, executive director for affordable housing organization Come Dream, Come Build, says that they all refer to it as a day one.

Mitchell-Bennett says that homes in Brownsville are on the market for less than two weeks. It would take up to three months to find a buyer for a home in Brownsville.

Local organizers protested the arrest of Bekah Hinojosa for spraying graffiti below a mural. There is a mural on the side of the Capitol Theater.

Gaige Davila/ Texas Public Radio

Mitchell-Bennett says it has increased regardless of whether people are moving here for SpaceX or trying to get into the market.

Musk wants to colonize the planet and send people to Mars. The company tested prototypes at its site. Only one has not exploded.

The largest rocket ever created was 395 feet tall. The Boca Chica site will be expanded by nearly 20 acres after the launch of the Starship in a suborbital flight.

The FAA said last month that it was postponing its decision on whether to grant environmental clearance to the project. If the FAA issued an environmental impact statement, Musk would move the program to Florida. It can take a few years to complete an EIS.

The company did not respond to NPR's requests for comment.

During a press conference last year announcing space-business investor firms opening in Brownsville, the mayor said the city needed to continue attracting more space-related companies.

"If you create that atmosphere, this business-friendly environment like we are doing, we are going to be able to attract that."

NPR did not get a response from Mendez.

An artist's criticism of SpaceX's effect on Brownsville

Ramirez stands before one of his pieces at his gallery in Weslaco at South Texas College's library.

Gaige Davila/ Texas Public Radio

One local artist has documented the change that has taken place in the area. He has written about the relationship between the two places, including an exhibit titled "Who's the Bandit?" at South Texas College's Weslaco campus.

Most of the pieces are made with Ramírez collected around the Rio Grande Valley. The signs are usually crudely written and illegal, with phrases like "We Buy Houses" and a phone number written on them.

The portraits of Musk and Mendez show who benefits from the ambition of the leadership of the city to become a New Space City.

These types of cultural works and art are helping create a narrative around what New Space City is and what they are trying to do.

Ramírez hopes that through this exhibit, he can change opinion about the presence of SpaceX in Brownsville.

He says arts and culture is a way to understand policy.