"It's one of the oldest neighborhoods recognized by the city of El Paso," said Alfredo Borrego, of the San Juan Neighborhood Association.

The neighborhood hasn't always been one of the safest.

"It was terrible. Sometimes you couldn't even walk at night or when it got dark," said resident, Maria Velarde.

While residents admit it still has some problems, there have been a number of improvements.The San Juan Neighborhood Association renovated the recreation center, the senior center, and even came to an agreement with the El Paso Independent School District when it comes to Hawkins Elementary playground.

"It's a playground during school hours, closed to the public, after school hours it becomes a public park," said Borrego.

The school district pays for the watering of the grass and the city covers the maintenance. It is a relief for Velarde, who uses the park to walk her dog. It is also something Borrego said other schools are now looking at doing. He said the neighborhood is just starting to pave the way for for what they call a better community.

"Just last week City Council approved 30,000 for sidewalk gaps," said Borrego.

Not all residents, though, were thrilled to see streets be blocked off for construction.

"At the very beginning sometimes, they quite don't understand, but the end result is very positive and everybody is pretty happy with what we have here," said Borrego.

Borrego said another problem the neighborhood is seeing is businesses moving in, forcing residents out. The association sat down with the city to make sure no more businesses can make their way in and they can preserve the area.

"We have stopped the commercialization zoning and it’s more residential," said Borrego.