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Is there anything still cool about downtown Fort Worth?

11,622 Views | 64 Replies | Last: 1 yr ago by Streetfighter 02
Objective Aggie
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5:31p, 10/28/22
AG
Live 30 minutes from Fort Worth and come in time to time. As a town lots of great things about Fort Worth. But I just stayed downtown and man, what an underwhelming experience.

I stayed at the Sinclair. Great hotel. Great restaurant and bar. This was a great start.

Sundance square. I kept looking for it before I realized I was already in it. It's just a bunch of chain restaurants spread out. Oh look a Jamba Juice. There's a Mi Cocina! I've heard how great this area was and man was this a major letdown.

Bass hall is gorgeous but if you don't have an event there it's not really an attraction.

Recently at Reata. Used to eat at the old location when l had a client in downtown FW. Been a few times since and it seems to have not aged super well. I mean it's nice but seems to have lost its edge.

Look I love FW. Goldees. Stockyards. Drover. Dickies Arena. That area with Rodeo Goat and Social House. The Modern is a great museum.

But downtown FW is just generica unless you tell me I am missing something. Where do you guys go downtown?
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riverrataggie
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In reply to Objective Aggie • 5:34p, 10/28/22
AG
I prefer the lodge.
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Yesterday
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6:37p, 10/28/22
AG
Nope. Stockyards or W 7th
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aggie_wes
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In reply to Objective Aggie • 10:18p, 10/28/22
AG
COVID killed it.
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ftworthag02
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10:29p, 10/28/22
AG
You can thank Sasha bass for that.
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ftworthag02
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10:30p, 10/28/22
AG
[url] https://www.wfaa.com/amp/article/news/local/tarrant-county/downtown-fort-worth-texas-sundance-square-bass-family-reata-restaurant-departures-leaving/287-4661a87e-75fc-40e5-9cb9-ba3e2059191a[/url]
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Garrelli 5000
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In reply to ftworthag02 • 6:46a, 10/29/22
AG
ftworthag02 said:
You can thank Sasha bass for that.
Never heard of her but a quick google explains a lot. She's the typical sloot that married a billionaire twice her age but he went a step further and has her running his business (into the ground).

Take the trash out staff.
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Bunbury
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3:25p, 10/29/22
AG
Fort Worth in general is losing companies, people, etc correct? I enjoy it's charm compared to Dallas but seems like it's not growing in the way other Texas cities have been. I knows there's suburban growth but is that just feeding into mid cities and the northern dfw growth?
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wbt5845
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3:49p, 10/29/22
AG
West 7th is where ir's at. Only time I go downtown now is for the symphony.
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Matsui
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In reply to Objective Aggie • 4:53p, 10/29/22
AG
Covid hurt it badly. And the mgmt company for Sundance square really hurt it as well
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Teacher_Ag
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2:15p, 10/30/22
AG
It's cool during the Holidays but on normal days it is just a big open square with stores you can find anywhere. Needs to be re-purposed with distinctive, locally-owned places that make it worth going to.
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mosdefn14
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In reply to Teacher_Ag • 3:15p, 10/30/22
AG
Teacher_Ag said:
It's cool during the Holidays but on normal days it is just a big open square with stores you can find anywhere. Needs to be re-purposed with distinctive, locally-owned places that make it worth going to.


When was the last time you were downtown? Sasha has ran out White House Black Market, Loft, H&M... All that's left is one offs that people don't make a trip downtown specifically for. She's got her work cut out for her... everyone wants to go to Clearfork for what they used to come downtown for.
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ravingfans
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1:12a, 10/31/22
AG
Caravan of dreams is gone, so no reason to go to downtown Ft Worth...
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grego
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In reply to Bunbury • 6:32a, 10/31/22
AG
Bunbury said:
Fort Worth in general is losing companies, people, etc correct? I enjoy it's charm compared to Dallas but seems like it's not growing in the way other Texas cities have been. I knows there's suburban growth but is that just feeding into mid cities and the northern dfw growth?
I believe it is the fastest growing large city in America.
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aglaohfour
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In reply to ftworthag02 • 9:35a, 10/31/22
AG
ftworthag02 said:
You can thank Sasha bass for that.

Yep, she's a piece of work according to everyone I know who has dealt with her. She's successfully obliterated most of what was great about downtown, though I honestly can't figure out what her motivation or intention is. It's incredibly strange.

And don't really understand people saying West 7th is any better, the crime in that area has been concerning for a while and nothing seems to stay open for long. South Main, Clearfork and the Stockyards have replaced downtown and West 7th as true dining and entertainment destinations, in my opinion. But it's still inexcusable that a city like Fort Worth doesn't have a decent downtown district, especially after all the money that was dumped into Sundance Square.
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Objective Aggie
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10:41a, 10/31/22
AG
Magnolia area is good as well.
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Buford Tannen
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11:48a, 10/31/22
AG
Sundance used to be the pride of the city until the last few years. Rent increases, elimination of free parking, and the constant transition of the property management has caused major disruption. Ed handed the keys to Sasha and yes, she's completely ruining it. Covid also did a number on a few places and it's going to be a while before it comes back around. There are a few places down there still worth going to, but as many have said, it's lost its charm.

Magnolia, Stockyards, South Main, Clearfork and River/Foundry are pretty cool spots these days. W 7th was pretty awesome 10 years ago but its overrated now.
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Creative
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3:33p, 10/31/22
Fort Worth started its decline when XTO left.
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DannyDuberstein
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3:46p, 10/31/22
AG
It's a shame. XTO was a client of mine for years so I spent a lot of time in downtown FW. Been down there a few times since covid and it's kind of depressing to see the backslide
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Creative
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4:11p, 10/31/22
How many buildings did xto occupy downtown? 6?

Unless you replace them with another huge company.

That was a large portion of the downtown lunch crowd.
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Objective Aggie
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4:55p, 10/31/22
AG
Who were and are biggest FW companies?
XTO
BNSF
Alcon
Pier 1 was and is bankrupt I think
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Buford Tannen
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In reply to Objective Aggie • 5:36p, 10/31/22
AG
Lockheed….
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DannyDuberstein
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In reply to Creative • 5:44p, 10/31/22
AG
They had 7, but not sure that they had people in all of them. Pretty sure 6 of 7 have sold by now, retaining one with about 300 people. My info is a bit stale because they were pretty much just in WT Waggoner when I had them (late 90s, early 00s). Not sure how many they had in each at their peak
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Know Your Enemy
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In reply to ravingfans • 5:48p, 10/31/22
AG
ravingfans said:
Caravan of dreams is gone, so no reason to go to downtown Ft Worth...

Miss that place. Scat Jazz Lounge is cool. Haven't been in a long time, though.
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mosdefn14
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In reply to Objective Aggie • 6:22p, 11/1/22
AG
Objective Aggie said:
Who were and are biggest FW companies?
XTO
BNSF
Alcon
Pier 1 was and is bankrupt I think
Speaking of downtown specifically…

DR Horton moved out ~2018. Range Resources downsizing was a decent loss. Oak Hill sold a part of their business to BNY in the last 2 years. Various banks & lawfirms all working somewhere between 20 and 100% remote.

Monthly parking lots are 80% empty on Monday and Friday. VIP parking in Garage 1 had a multi year waitlist but now has availability. City Club is begging for new members.

And just wait until city hall moves to the Pier 1 building, which is technically downtown but not walkable.
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20ag07
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7:27a, 11/2/22
Quote:
Who were and are biggest FW companies?
XTO
BNSF
Alcon
Pier 1 was and is bankrupt I think
BNSF, Alcon, and Lockheed's campuses are all far from downtown.
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Objective Aggie
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8:06a, 11/2/22
AG
Yes but still provide jobs and money. Just not downtown real estate.
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Ag CPA
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9:19a, 11/2/22
AG
Downtown's biggest corporate champions, RadioShack and XTO, are gone. As younger generations of the Bass and other oil families assume control their wealth and attention is going to other parts of the country (especially the east coast) instead of FW and Sundance Square. Most of the companies that set up shop downtown during the Barnett boom days like Chesapeake are gone as well. Add a dash of COVID to this and you get a train wreck.

What pisses me off is that FW took all of this for granted, especially the Bass family. Now that things are in a downfall there is no Plan B to revitalize downtown (I guess you could say Panther Island, which will probably never get finished in its original form).

Downtown Dallas is still a dump but at least the city has been proactive the past 15 years to bring in redevelopment, attract corps like ATT and GS, successfully leverage their own benefactors like the Hunts and now expand the convention center (which I think is a waste, but at least they are trying).

I will say that the Stockyards turnaround has been amazing, would have never though in my 20+ years living here that something like Mule Alley could be pulled off.

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Objective Aggie
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10:00a, 11/2/22
AG
Quote:

Downtown Dallas is still a dump

I was in downtown Dallas last week at AT&T Plaza at night and I have to say the place was thriving.

Downtown Dallas is not great compared to say Chicago or NYC or even Seattle, etc but it has life. It has restaurants. It has bars.
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DannyDuberstein
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10:15a, 11/2/22
AG
Yeah, Downtown Dallas has improved by leaps and bounds. I was in public accounting from mid 90s to early 00s, so with our office in downtown Dallas but with energy clients like XTO in downtown FW, I got to experience the contrast constantly. FW had a huge advantage, but they've both now spent years heading in opposite directions. Dallas still has a lot of issues, but it's far better than it was while FW has gone the other way
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Proposition Joe
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11:17a, 11/2/22
City Hall moving into the Pier 1 Building might actually work to the occupancy advantage if they are smart enough to cut some good deals on more centralized downtown locations to some of those companies getting pushed out of Pier 1.

As for downtown in it's prime -- I think a lot of people really took for granted just how many people were all on the same page to create Sundance Square. It was not just the Bass money (which now has been splintered a dozen different ways), but many of the heads of the initial anchors of Sundance were collectively working towards the vision. Performing Arts FW, the FW Symphony, etc...
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20ag07
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In reply to Objective Aggie • 5:28p, 11/2/22
Quote:
Yes but still provide jobs and money. Just not downtown real estate.
My wife and I work for 2 of those. We live in 76109. I pass downtown on the way to my office every day.

We used to be in Sundance every other weekend. I think we've been twice in 2022.
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mosdefn14
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In reply to 20ag07 • 6:20p, 11/2/22
AG
20ag07 said:
We live in 76109. I pass downtown on the way to my office every day.

We used to be in Sundance every other weekend.


Humble brag
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Proposition Joe
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7:36p, 11/2/22
Even in it's prime, restaurants were the main attraction to downtown FW, followed by Bass Hall. The big movie theater anchors obviously weren't a big draw anymore. The bars have really never been that much of a draw. 8.0's in it's day... Thompson's when things were still bustling. Now there's few if any nightlife spots you actually seek out.

With as much as Fort Worth has grown, other nightlife pockets popped up. West 7th wasn't too much of a threat as the restaurants weren't typically all that high end, but with Magnolia, South Main and Clearfork -- suddenly if you want to have a premium steak you didn't have to go downtown.

The area desperately needs/needed an entertainment draw. Whether it be a small concert venue, a minor league baseball team building a field in the heart of downtown... Anything. Because right now downtown is a destination for Bass Hall and that's about it.
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double aught
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In reply to Objective Aggie • 1:28a, 11/3/22
AG
Objective Aggie said:
Quote:

Downtown Dallas is still a dump

I was in downtown Dallas last week at AT&T Plaza at night and I have to say the place was thriving.

Downtown Dallas is not great compared to say Chicago or NYC or even Seattle, etc but it has life. It has restaurants. It has bars.
AT&T's Discovery District is really cool. We've taken our kids there a couple of times.

https://discoverydistrict.att.com/
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