Could Fort Worth's Notorious Skid Row-Like 15th Most Dangerous Neighborhood In America Become A Tourist Attraction?

Days after a notorious Fort Worth Neighborhood was designated the 15th Most Dangerous Neighborhood in America, umbrage is still being expressed, by some, in Fort Worth, regarding this alleged outrage.

Was it not fairly obvious that the list of 25 Most Dangerous Neighborhoods in America was pretty goofy. The list had a Galveston neighborhood as one of the Top 25 Most Dangerous.

Galveston?

Methinks the local politicos have also been goofy with their defensive, methinks thou dost protest too much, over-reaction. Calling press conferences and sending out press releases to deny that the dangerous Fort Worth neighborhood is dangerous.

I don't know why Fort Worth does not just embrace this new distinction. Turn the lemon into lemonade. Put up signs telling visitors "You Are Entering The 15th Most Dangerous Neighborhood In America."

It is not like Fort Worth does not have a history of embracing its criminal element. There used to be a part of downtown Fort Worth known as Hell's Half Acre. Hell's Half Acre is in the area where Fort Worth's Convention Center and Water Gardens is currently located. I'm sure when Hell's Half Acre was in its heyday it was one of the Top 25 Most Dangerous Neighborhoods in America.

You will find the Hell's Half Acre historical marker, that you see in the above picture, near the Convention Center.

And then there is, also in downtown Fort Worth, the collection of parking lots known as Sundance Square. Named after the Sundance Kid, who, with his partner in crime, Butch Cassidy, used to hang out in Fort Worth's Most Dangerous Neighborhood of their day, with their Hole in the Wall Gang.

So, Fort Worth has quite a history of embracing its criminal elements.

When I was a kid, Seattle had a Dangerous Neighborhood, or so my mom led us to believe, known as Skid Row, the notorious, original Skid Row. If I remember right this was in the now touristy Pioneer Square area and First Avenue. Often when mom and dad took us kids to Seattle we'd drive through Skid Row, with mom making sure the car doors were locked.

This is the type tourist attraction Fort Worth might be able to have if it'd just embrace its Most Dangerous Neighborhood. Maybe one day, way in the future, it'd even manage to turn into a tourist zone like Seattle's Skid Row did.

Maybe this process could be accelerated if the Trinity River Vision added Fort Worth's Most Dangerous Neighborhood to their ever growing list of things they are seeing in The Vision.