Report: El Paso 31st in U.S. in well-being

Feb. 24--A new report ranks El Paso among the top communities in the country for well-being -- giving the city high marks for purpose, community and physical activity, despite low rates of supportive relationships, economic security and health insurance.

El Paso is ranked 31st in the nation among 190 communities on the 2015 "Community Well-Being Rankings and Access to Care" report by Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, released this week.

The report, based on phone interviews conducted in English and Spanish, takes into account respondents' sense of purpose, social relationships, financial security, connection to their communities and physical health.

El Pasoans' sense of purpose boosted the city's overall score. El Paso ranked fifth in the nation in sense of purpose, or respondents saying that they like what they do each day and are motivated to achieve their goals.

U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-El Paso, said he sees that sense of purpose in the multitude of teachers, health care professionals and other El Pasoans who work diligently to help underserved communities, despite being overworked.

"I really feel like one of the things that distinguishes El Paso is that when we take something on, we take it on all the way and it becomes our purpose in life," O'Rourke said.

He referenced writer Cormac McCarthy, who called El Paso "one of the last real cities left in America."

"In El Paso, you get the real deal, and I think that is perhaps reflected in that purpose and fulfillment ranking," O'Rourke said. "We are who we say we are, and in that, I think, comes a sense of fulfillment and accomplishment, versus communities where people are never quite comfortable with who they are or are pretending to be something else."

El Paso ranked in the middle of the pack at 72nd in "sense of community," or respondents liking where they live, feeling safe and having pride in the community.

State Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, said he has seen the city develop a sense of purpose and community in recent years.

"I think we're creating a real sense of community, a real sense of identity -- who we are, what we do and the role we play, not just in the region but in the state," Moody said. "Having been here my whole life, I've seen a shift in the way we view ourselves as a city. It always seemed like we were trying to aspire to be like this city or that city. We're not doing that; we're aspiring to be the best we can be as ourselves."

El Paso also performed well in the physical health category, ranking 25th for respondents who said they have good health and enough energy to get things done each day.

"The report does not surprise me," said Michael Kelly, vice president for programs at the Paso Del Norte Health Foundation. "El Paso has ranked this way and very high for a while. Too often we in El Paso do not give ourselves enough credit for how well we really are doing."

El Paso's purpose, community and physical activity scores counteracted its poor performance on social relationships and financial stability.

El Paso ranked 145th in the social category, or whether respondents have supportive relationships and love in their life.

To Kelly, the dichotomy between a sense of community but lack of relationships could be due to El Paso's history as an immigrant town. People leave their families and friends behind when moving to El Paso, whether from Mexico or elsewhere in the United States, Kelly said.

O'Rourke and Moody questioned the rating, pointing to the strong family ties in the region. Perhaps the ranking captures the desire of young people to build new relationships and find new friends, O'Rourke said.

Many young El Pasoans struggle to meet other young people, himself included, O'Rourke said.

"One of the reasons I think it's so critical that our Downtown become truly vibrant and a 24/7 destination is the story of so many young El Pasoans, myself included when I first moved back, is it's not as easy as other cities to meet other young people (in El Paso), to form those kinds of relationships," he said. "That's something a successful Downtown will provide."

The Gallup report also ranked El Paso 150th in financial stability, or respondents managing their economic lives to reduce stress and increase security.

Nearly one-quarter of El Pasoans live below the poverty level, and only 20 percent have a bachelor's degree or higher, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

The ranking should induce El Paso to improve per capita income and job opportunities, O'Rourke said.

"That's something we need to continue to work on," he said.

The Gallup report also considered key questions on access to health care.

With only about 70 percent of residents having health insurance, El Paso had the second-lowest rate of health insurance coverage in the nation, beating out only McAllen.

El Paso also reported the second-lowest rate of respondents who have a personal doctor: only 63 percent. Again, McAllen ranked worst in the nation, with about 58 percent having a personal doctor.

Those numbers don't surprise Roy Ortega, community relations manager for Project Amistad, which helped Las Crucens and El Pasoans enroll in health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.

About 178,000 people in El Paso County were uninsured in 2013, Ortega said. Since then, Project Amistad had enrolled about 60,000 people from El Paso and Las Cruces in coverage.

He said the majority of people who still lack insurance fall in the coverage gap created when Texas refused to expand Medicaid: They're too poor to qualify for health insurance subsidies, yet earn too much to qualify for Medicaid.

An estimated 766,000 Texans fall in the gap, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Statewide, three Texas communities ranked higher than El Paso on the Gallup index. McAllen ranked 11th in the country, reporting high rates of purpose, social relationships, community and physical activity despite low financial stability and health insurance coverage.

Austin ranked 17th and the San Antonio-New Braunfels area ranked 20th.

Nationwide, the Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island area in Florida ranked first.

Last year, El Paso ranked fifth in the nation overall on the index, although that report only considered the biggest 100 metropolitan areas in the country. El Pasoans also reported a high sense of purpose that year.

Lindsey Anderson may be reached at 546-6345; [email protected]; @l_m_anderson on Twitter.

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