Why We Chose Montecillo for Prickly Pear Dental Care
As soon as we settled on the idea of building Prickly Pear Dental Care from the ground up instead of just purchasing a practice, a single question quickly settled at the front of our minds: where did we want our office to be located? Of course we knew that we wanted to stay in El Paso, but beyond that, the possibilities seemed endless. There are so many decisions involved in opening a dental practice, but this was one of the very first ones that we had to make.
Of course, there are some logistical aspects to such a decision—how long of a commute were we willing to tolerate? Where did market analysis show us that a brand-new dental office might thrive instead of struggling to get by? But simultaneously, there was also a philosophical angle to consider: how could we identify a place that aligns with the how and the why that motivated us to open our dental practice? Simply put, we didn’t want to choose a location just because it was convenient or cost-effective; we also wanted a place that reflected our values.
Ultimately, we settled on Montecillo for a variety of reasons. First of all, despite the fact that we genuinely love the city of El Paso, one of our least favorite things about this place is its overwhelming reliance on sprawling, car-centric urban design. Montecillo is what is known as a SmartCode community, and it’s being designed from the ground up to reduce sprawl and promote walkability. That sort of intentional planning spoke to us, because we’ve approached building Prickly Pear Dental Care in quite a similar way.
Beyond walkability, sustainability was another area where Montecillo’s approach resonated with us. Of course, walkability in and of itself is a major plus from this perspective, but even in more subtle ways—such as stormwater strategies and landscape design—Montecillo has taken steps to become a beacon of sustainable design for the entire west side of El Paso.
We think about it like this: dentistry as an industry is not and will likely never be perfect from a sustainability perspective. For example, hygiene and safety standards simply demand the use of single-use plastics in many areas, and we would never put our patients at risk by cutting corners here in pursuit of a more environmentally conscious dental practice. That being said, we still take all reasonable steps to make Prickly Pear Dental Care as sustainable as possible. Montecillo seems to approach the question of sustainable design in much the same way.
As an example, El Paso being El Paso, it’s inevitably true that most of our patients will be arriving at our office by car. The developers of Montecillo—despite taking concrete steps to promote walkability—are not blind to this fact! The difference here is that they placed our parking lot behind our office, ensuring convenience for drivers while simultaneously maintaining a peaceful, pleasant experience for Montecillo residents who might be coming to our office on foot or by bicycle. Much like our dental practice, Montecillo takes concrete steps to embrace sustainability without losing sight of the real world in which we live.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we felt aligned with Montecillo’s long-term outlook. We’ll be completely honest with you: we know that we’re one of the first businesses to move into our little corner of Montecillo, and it’s easy to feel a bit uncertain about that. That said, neither Prickly Pear Dental Care nor Montecillo is solely about what’s happening right now—or even in the next few months or years. We see ourselves as genuine members of the El Paso community and we plan to be in this location for the long run—perhaps decades if all goes as well as we hope!
We genuinely believe that over this same time period, Montecillo will continue to grow into the thriving, mixed-use community that we all want it to be. And of course there are signs that this is happening already—even as we draft this post, we can see homes going up on the hill across the street and multiple businesses being built out right down the block; simultaneously, the finishing touches are being put on a brand-new apartment building just a few hundred yards away. Simply put, the future is bright here in Montecillo, and we’re proud to be in very much on the ground floor.
Ultimately though, choosing Montecillo wasn’t about being early to a development or betting on what might be popular next. It was about finding a place that felt aligned with how we want to practice dentistry and how we want to show up for our community. Our goal is to see Prickly Pear Dental Care become a genuine fixture on the west side of El Paso over the long term, and Montecillo feels like a neighborhood built with precisely that same mindset. We’re grateful to be here, and we look forward to growing alongside this community for many years to come.
—Jim and Dr. Flores