When I opined my disdain I was thinking that this propaganda had to do with the recent award Fort Worth shared with Wichita Falls which the local propaganda distortionists touted as indicating Fort Worth had America's best downtown when the award was for Fort Worth's new downtown plaza, with the award given after Sundance Square submitted the plaza for consideration, with that submission being full of ridiculous propaganda which the Pinnacle Award awarders must not have investigated for veracity before awarding the award.
After I blogged my disdain for this Top Downtown in America ad someone named Anonymous commented...
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "To Experience America's Top Downtown Go To Fort Worth Weekly":
The ad claims "Fort Worth has the #1 downtown in America, according to livability.com..."
That is a lie.
No I'm almost certain they are correct. Downtown Fort Worth was chosen the #1 downtown in America by Livability.com.
http://livability.com/best-places/top-10/best-downtowns/10-best-downtowns/2014/fort-worth
The pinnacle award for Sundance Square Plaza is a separate award from a different organization. It seems like Fort Worth is always winning one these meaningless awards and, of course, bragging about winning them.
I found the comment from Anonymous to be disturbing for a very disturbing reason, with that reason being I think my memory may be failing.
Why do I think my memory may be failing? Well. I clicked on the link in the comment from Anonymous, and quickly found myself thinking that that which I was reading seemed very familiar. Particularly when I read that two of the other towns on this Top Ten Best Downtowns list were Eugene, Oregon and Bellingham, Washington.
I thought to myself, did I blog about this? I thought it seemed likely I would have, what with Eugene being where I was born and having lived in Bellingham. So, I entered "Bellingham" into the search window on the blog and quickly found out that I did blog about this, back on Monday March 17, 2014, in a blogging titled America Is In Deep Trouble If Fort Worth Is The Best Downtown In America.
I am thinking I promptly forgot about this ludicrous Top Downtown deal due to the ludicrousness of it, I mean, just read what towns followed Fort Worth on the rest of the Top Ten list--- Providence, Rhode Island, Indianapolis, Indiana, Provo, Utah, Alexandria, Virginia, Frederick, Maryland, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Bellingham, Washington, Eugene, Oregon, Birmingham, Alabama.
At the time I don't know why I did not investigate Livability.com. I have now done so and found out how Fort Worth could end up on such a list when better known downtowns in America are not on the list, you know, towns like New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Portland, Los Angeles, Boston or Seattle.
The Wikipedia article about Livability.com cleared it up for me in its first paragraph....
Livability.com is a website that ranks America’s most livable small and mid-sized cities. The website includes demographic information, statistics, articles, photography and video that summarize the quality of life in cities, including information about schools, neighborhoods, local restaurants and cultural events. The website’s content is anchored by original photography shot by Journal Communications Inc. staff photographers. The site also provides moving tools and tips, do-it-yourself project help and home and garden advice.
So, I guess I was right after all when I opined it was false advertising to advertise Fort Worth's as the Top Downtown in America, according to Livability.com, when truthful advertising would have said "America's Top Mid-Sized Downtown", with the blurb at the bottom of the ad truthfully edited to say "Fort Worth has the #1 mid-sized downtown in America, according to livability.com....."
I don't understand how Fort Worth can be considered mid-sized. Fort Worth is a big city, population wise. Why would Fort Worth be on a list with much smaller towns like Bellingham and Eugene? This makes no sense.
Does Fort Worth still have that semi-pro Cats baseball team playing in La Grave Field? I recollect finding it bizarre that a big city like Fort Worth had a semi-pro baseball team playing in a very minor league with teams from little towns a fraction the size of Fort Worth.
Why does Fort Worth not play in the Big Leagues, both in baseball and when it comes to competing for these important Top Ten in America type lists? And shouldn't someone let the good folks at livability.com know that Fort Worth is not a mid-sized city? Fort Worth's currently population is 792,727.
Bellingham's population is 82,234. Eugene's population is 157,986. Both are small, mid-sized towns.
Bellingham, Eugene and Fort Worth's are the only downtowns on the Livability list which I have visited. My ranking would be Eugene at #1 due to being so pedestrian friendly. Bellingham at #2 due to being a bigger, more lively, more attractive downtown than Fort Worth's, even though Bellingham is a fraction of the size of Fort Worth.
I'd rank Fort Worth a distant third, due to its downtown having embarrassing eyesores like the boarded up Heritage Park, along with no downtown department or grocery stores, both of which exist in the downtowns of Eugene and Bellingham....
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