As the population continues to push further East from centralized areas of El Paso, local businesses and corporations continue to meet  the growing demands of residents.

What was once an area consisting of nothing but dirt, desert plants and wild life, is now the fastest-growing part of the city.

The U.S. Census data shows that El Paso County has more than 800,000 people, more than a 15 percent increase during the past decade. However, most of that growth has been in Far East, Northwest and in Horizon City.

Since 2000, neighborhoods in far East El Paso have increased more than 200,000 in population.

Isaac Hernandez,  senior engineering major, has lived in East El Paso since he moved here 17 years ago and said El Paso looks nothing like he remembers it five years ago.

“I remember places past Zaragoza being nothing but desert,” Hernandez said. “Now I just see houses and businesses being built everywhere in this side of town, especially in Horizon and Montana.”

The growth and expansion of services such as retail stores, restaurants, bars, gyms, grocery stores, salons and even movie theaters are developing rapidly in eastern parts of El Paso.

“I think it’s good for our community because it creates more jobs for people and attracts different tenants to El Paso,” Hernandez said. “We are now becoming more modernized as in other metropolitan cities.”

Businesses that were originally located near UTEP , have now opened new bars and restaurants in Zaragoza such as Cincinnati Bar and Grill and Cabo Joe’s.

“Since this area is growing, we keep pretty busy on this side of town,” said Eddie Reyes, manager of Cincinnati Bar and Grill.  “Given that we are a fully established restaurant and bar, we see a great lunch crowd during the day and experience a better nightlife.”

Jacob Gutierrez, manager of Cabo Joe’s on Zaragoza located in the same shopping center as Cincinnati Bar and Grill, said they like to make themselves available to all areas of the city since people like to stay closer to home.

“People don’t like to drive far and would rather visit places that are closer to where they live and since more people are moving to the Eastside, it’s no question we decided to expand in this area,” Gutierrez said.

According to El Paso Department of Economic and International Development, a prime corner in Far East El Paso will be home to a 500,000-square-foot shopping center in the near future. Construction will begin in 2016 at Montana Avenue and Joe Battle Boulevard.

The site plan also shows the largest tenant building will be more than 140,000 square feet. This will include a Sam’s Club location along with two other possible stores such as Academy Sports & Outdoors and Burlington Coat Factory.

Valerie Herrera may be reached at [email protected].