Downtown Fort Worth Inc. serves the city very well in so many ways. Staying mostly behind the scenes this organization works to make or urban core the very best it can be by bringing together people to accomplish a common purpose. There are many big cities (some very close-by) where the people allow agenda politics to rule the day. It would be naive of me to say that there are no agendas at play in the politics of Cowtown, but one thing about my hometown that is perhaps it’s greatest attribute: common purpose is usually placed ahead of separate individual priorities… at least after the fighting’s done. No place is Fort Worth’s special brand of civic pride more apparent than downtown. Bash the Bass family if you wish, just as people bash Joe T Garcia’s, The Cowboys and Tim Love. It comes with the territory when you are on top…
Fort Worth’s downtown is a fine setting for urban adventures from dining to art, music, Segway tours, walking and even living in one of many thriving condominium projects. The gem of downtown Fort worth is Sundance Square, where both visitors and locals can gather for parades, fairs, concerts or most recently a gigantic elegant dinner party. The Main Table on September 8th brought 500 hungry diners out to the middle of Main Street which was closed off between 6th and 9th for the party. Grace, Reata, Ruth’s Chris, Capital Grill and Del Frisco’s fed us from their kitchens. Grace even shared it’s kitchen with the Reata crew so they wouldn’t have to haul their food across town.
What a great evening we had. Best thing about it is the people seated at the enormous table; every kind of Fort Worthian I can imagine… some extremely “important” in the city and others less well known, but at a minimum interesting and interested in the common purpose we shared. We were all sitting right in the middle of it: Main Street. Nobody at the table had a negative thing to say, a mean remark about someone across the way, a complaint or an axe to grind in public. It was an evening of civic pride and good will. It didn’t have to be manufactured by Downtown Fort Worth, Inc., but simply facilitated. Downtown Fort Worth, Inc. is doing a great job, along with all of their partners and others doing sometimes thankless and unnoticed work for the betterment of our city. Everyone at the table probably has something to gain by living in a healthy city with a vibrant urban core, but it’s not just a self-interest that we all share but rather a common purpose. That’s what I feel was in the air last night. Everyone that was not there asked me later “wasn’t it hot?”. Although it was 95 degrees we had shade and a cool breeze and something great to focus on besides ourselves. It probably was a bit hot but I honestly did not see anyone last night who appeared to notice. Great time, for sure.
