Herb Weitzman
We all know how the Bishop Arts area of Oak Cliff grew from the seeds planted by a few local businesses seeking to find success in an urban neighborhood that many retailers had previously overlooked. Today, Bishop Arts’ line-up of one-of-a-kind restaurants, galleries and shops draws the types of crowds that those early businesses could only dream of.
Now we’re seeing a new urban retail district emerge in Fort Worth, one whose momentum is drawing comparisons to Bishop Arts.
The area, just south of downtown and called the Near Southside, is gaining the critical mass and locally grown charm that should ensure its continued success. Comparisons to Bishop Arts have resulted because the area is:
• Surrounded by several of Fort Worth’s oldest and most historic neighborhoods.
• Seeing an influx of younger residents attracted to its sense of place and its loft apartments, townhomes, restaurants and coffee shops, live music, theater, pubs, historic landmarks, and more,
• A walkable district.
The comparisons between the two urban districts can also be seen in the second locations for vegan restaurant Spiral Diner, a Near Southside mainstay that expanded in 2008 to Bishop Arts, and for Bishop Arts’ well-known Dude, Sweet Chocolate, which recently opened a satellite location in Near Southside’s Avoca Coffee.
Long-time businesses in the Near Southside area include Paris Coffee Shop, Chat Room Pub, Hot Damn Tamales, and several others. These are being joined by newcomers like Ellerbe Fine Foods (named one of the 10 best new restaurants of 2010 by Bon Appetit), Shinjuku Station (honored by Texas Monthly as one of the 10 best new restaurants in the state), Avoca Coffee, Yucatan Taco Stand, and several others.
Businesses in the works include a two-screen art house cinema, a market and deli, a coffee house and live music lounge, and new residential and mixed-use construction designed to fit the neighborhood’s character.
As in Bishop Arts, entrepreneurs have to be willing to deal with risk when opening in the Near Southside. But that risk—and the potential reward—is helping enhance one of Fort Worth’s most unique districts.
5 comments
Where have all these real estate people been? This re-birth of Fairmount/Near Southside has been going on for years. I mean years! Thank God there’s a new generation coming to the forefront in business in the urban cores of America who know how to think ‘outside of the box’ and actually LISTEN to what people are saying about what they want in a city (streetcars anyone?) instead of ramming outdated suburban car-centric overlays on everything in sight!
[...] more at Real Points » Blog Archive » Herb Weitzman: Is Fort Worth’s Near Southside the Next Bishop Arts?. Like this:LikeBe the first to like this [...]
We’re honored to have been a part of this great area for over a dozen years. There are parallels with any number of lovely, revived urban districts in leading cities and communities across the country. PHPR’s first office was on Inwood Road just south of Lovers Lane in the 70s, when those blocks were still part of a sleepy Dallas neighborhood. Our next was on West Seventh in Fort Worth when dusty warehouses populated what is now So 7. We have enjoyed each of these revitalizations. If you haven’t visited the Magnolia Avenue area (ever or lately), please head on into Cowtown and enjoy the locally owned restaurants, energetic street scene with singles and strollers alike, businesses and art centers. It’s exciting, invigorating, and a lot of fun.
Don’t forget King Tut — fabulous Egyption food (has a lot of greek on the menu, too.)
[...] Click here to continue reading this article by Herb Weitzman on on D Magazine’s Real Points. Learn more about this up-and-coming neighborhood at fortworthsouth.org. [...]