Fort Worth Grows Up

Financed in part by the Downtown Tax Increment Financing District (TIF), Sundance Square is "a roughly 35-block collection of shops, restaurants and entertainment venues layered with office space and residences" that has dramatically changed downtown Fort Worth from "a sea of surface parking lots and abandoned buildings in the 1970s, to today's vibrant, walkable streetscape."

Just this month, oil industry billionaire Edward Bass broke ground on several new projects that promise to continue the evolution of the area, which has been guided by 1988's 150-block master plan, and helped along by stragetic public subsidies.

"Creative financing isn't the only thing that sets Sundance Square apart. Unlike most development in car-centric Fort Worth, Bass isn't kowtowing to that motorized god of the Texas landscape - the new pedestrian plaza will replace two surface parking lots."

"Despite the grumbles from car-loving neighbors, Hoss is proud of the vote in support of a more pedestrian-friendly environment. 'I think the trend is moving in this direction,' he said. 'Fort Worth is probably ahead of the curve.'"