Leaving Seattle With The New Zealand Family Heading Towards Fort Worth

 A week or two ago I blogged about a New Zealand Family's Seattle Visit Reminding Me Of Fort Worth's Infamous Trinity River Vision Boondoggle.

The New Zealand family had been on an RV trip up America's West Coast. I assume they began in Los Angeles, or San Diego. I only joined their visit once they were north of San Francisco, touring the Oregon Coast en route to Seattle.

Last night I watched a follow up video of the New Zealand Family's Seattle visit, titled We Had To Leave Seattle. That is a screen shot, above, from the video. The view of Mount Rainier seen whilst crossing Lake Washington on the I-90 floating bridge.



The New Zealand Family was quite taken with Seattle. The scenery, seeing mountains in any direction. All the bodies of water. Pike Place. The buildings. The stadiums. And more.

A Seattleite named Rebecca, a fan of their videos, was the New Zealand Family's tour guide. 

I don't think Rebecca took the New Zealanders through any of the tunnels under Seattle, either via vehicle or light rail. Or to West Seattle. Or to REI corporate headquarters. Or many other of Seattle's unique features.

The New Zealand Family reacted to Seattle the way I always have. And yet they only hit some of the highlights.

Before moving to Texas I'd only been to a few of America's big cities. Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Denver, Phoenix, Vancouver and Victoria.

Well, those last two are in North America, but the Canada part of North America, not the United States part of North America.

So, when I moved to Texas, with the first home location being in the little hamlet of Haslet, located in the north end of Fort Worth, Fort Worth was my introduction to a new type of big city.

The big city downtowns I had previously seen, were big. Fort Worth's downtown was not big. The New Zealanders remarked repeatedly regarding Seattle's buildings and design looking so new and modern. I had the opposite reaction to seeing Fort Worth for the first time.

I'd never before seen a city with large areas being basically run-down slums. It was sort of shocking.

I early on was not shy about verbalizing my reaction. Eventually I made a website documenting much of my reaction. I particularly reacted with confused amazement when I repeatedly saw Fort Worth's newspaper of record, the Star-Telegram, have articles about some ordinary thing, making the claim that this ordinary thing was making cities far and wide green with envy about this ordinary thing in Fort Worth.

Soon upon my arrival I discovered the charms of Dallas, thus learning not all Texas big cities are of the Fort Worth quality level.

In the video where the New Zealand Family is leaving Seattle, the New Zealand mother is lamenting regarding what will they have to show Rebecca when she makes her promised visit to New Zealand, saying New Zealand has nothing of the level they'd experienced in America and Seattle.

I had the same concern when first in Texas, knowing I was expecting some visitors from Seattle to arrive about four months after the Texas arrival. By the time they arrived I'd discovered the charms of Dallas, like Fair Park, the Farmers Market, the Galleria Mall, the West End, Deep Ellum, the DART train, and more.

I remember when those Seattle visitors arrived taking them to downtown Fort Worth, telling them I was gonna show them something incredible. Way back then there were huge parking lots along the Trinity River. From those parking lots one could hop on the world's shortest subway. This rickety old thing which took you into a tunnel that opened up in downtown Fort Worth, with access to a now long gone vertical mall, and the downtown Fort Worth Public Library.

The world's shortest subway is long gone. Fort Worth allowed Radio Shack to build a corporate headquarters Radio Shack could not afford, built above the subway and on part of those parking lots.

Eventually the Radio Shack headquarters was turned in a college. I forget the name. Tarrant County College, maybe.

It was things like the Radio Shack debacle that helped me develop such a low opinion of Fort Worth. This was well before the debacle known initially as the Trinity River Vision, which began near the start of this century, with decades later little to show for the supposedly vitally needed flood control and economic development scheme.

Another thing which quickly bugged me about Fort Worth was upon first arrival I'd see signs pointing one in the direction of Sundance Square. I'd asked where the square was, to no avail. Eventually I learned this was the name given to a multi-block downtown Fort Worth renewal scheme.

After decades of confusing the town's few tourists with those Sundance Square direction signs, a couple parking lots were turned into a town square type thing, named Sundance Square Plaza.

This stuff is so goofy I've had people tell me they think I must be making it up.

Nope, it's all true, and I've only mentioned a couple items of the Fort Worth goofiness in this blog post. 

I recently learned that Heritage Park, a park at downtown Fort Worth's north end, across the street from the county courthouse, a park built to celebrate Fort Worth's storied heritage, a park with a unique, impressive design, is still a boarded-up eyesore. A sad state for at least a decade.

Fort Worth's Heritage Park got itself closed after multiple drownings in the Fort Worth Water Gardens, at the south end of downtown. The design flaw in the Water Gardens was obvious, a clear danger, which should never have happened. Heritage Park also had water features, shallow water features in which one could not accidentally drown.

And yet it was deemed necessary that Fort Worth's Heritage Park be closed, surrounded with a cyclone fence, with the park allowed to deteriorate into an eyesore.

Years ago, after I blogged about the Heritage Park scandal, a descendant of the well-regarded designer who designed Heritage Park, I think he was Japanese, contacted me, appalled, asking if it was really true, that this park had been allowed to be destroyed in this manner.

And all these later I recently learned from Elsie Hotpepper that Heritage Park remains a fittingly ironic homage to Fort Worth's actual heritage.

An eyesore....

A Look At Why Fort Worth Is Not One Of The World's Best Cities

In the past week or two I have seen mention made of a list made of the 100 Best Cities in the World.

The first time I saw this mentioned was in the Dallas Observer, which was observing the fact that Dallas ranked only #56, with two Texans towns thought to be better than Dallas, with Houston at #40 and Austin at #53.

The second time I saw this global list mentioned was in the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, online, which began their article with...

Perhaps your city claims one of the best new restaurants, or best overall restaurants in the country. Maybe it was even named one of the best U.S. cities to live in.

But the true test of greatness is on the global scale.

Resonance Consultancy, a real estate and tourism consulting firm, has released a report ranking the top 100 best cities in the world. Three Texas cities earned a spot on the list.

There are more American towns on this list than any other country, with New York at #2, San Francisco at #12, Los Angeles at #14, Chicago at #12, Seattle at #19 and on to many other American cities.

Fort Worth, Texas is not on this list.

Fort Worth is never on any of this type list.

I lived in Fort Worth for a few years before moving to my current Texas location. It did not take long living in Fort Worth to come to the realization that the town had some sort of civic inferiority complex. I assumed this had something to do with being paired with the bigger, more well-known town of Dallas.

That Fort Worth inferiority complex manifested in many ways. Including what I came to call the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Green With Envy Syndrome. So called due to that newspaper repeatedly printing an article about some perfectly ordinary thing, claiming that that perfectly ordinary thing was making towns, far and wide, green with envy.

Yes, I know, this sounds ridiculous, but it happened. Over and over again. The syndrome seemed to cease after it was rendered into an embarrassment.

I remember the worst instance of Fort Worth embarrassing itself was the time some Washington, D.C. lobbying group included Fort Worth in a list of ten American towns determined to be the best at the Urban Village concept.

That time the embarrassment did not come from Star-Telegram hyperbole, it was the city government that embarrassed itself. Initiating a citywide celebration celebrating being so listed by an obscure Washington, D.C. lobbying group.

I am not making this up, it really happened, with celebration central happening at Fort Worth's Gateway Park.

During this celebratory period of time, I happened to be up north, in Tacoma, a town which was also on this list of ten best towns with the Urban Village concept.

I had reason to visit with Tacoma's then Deputy Mayor. I asked him if Tacoma had a citywide celebration after receiving this esteemed honor. He laughed and said, no, we politely thanked them and that was it. Why do you ask, the Deputy Mayor asked?

Because Fort Worth had a citywide celebration when they got the same esteemed honor, I told him.

You are kidding, said the Deputy Mayor. Nope, really happened, said I.

Fort Worth has long had a history of what one might characterize as delusions of grandeur, manifesting in multiple ways.

Like the time a sporting goods store opened in Fort Worth called Cabela's. With Fort Worth touting the belief this store would give Fort Worth the #1 tourist attraction in Texas. Not occurring to anyone, apparently, that suggesting such seemed to indicate Texas was a tad weak in the tourist attraction area, which is definitely not the case.

Texas has many attractive tourist attractions, way more attractive than a sporting goods store. San Antonio's Riverwalk comes to mind, as does Galveston, and Big Bend, and much more.

Within a year the Fort Worth Cabela's was no longer the only Cabela's in Texas. One opened in Buda, down south by Austin. And then another Cabela's opened in the D/FW Metroplex. 

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram has never fessed up to being party to the bizarre top tourist attraction in Texas con job.

When I see one of these type lists, listing towns by some criteria, with Fort Worth never being on the list, I can not help but wonder how a long time Fort Worth native, subjected to the local hype and propaganda explains it to themselves.

Fort Worth needs to fix a few problems before it can have any hope of ever being on a list of the best cities on the globe.

Such as, fix Fort Worth's downtown, currently a ghost town on the busiest shopping day of the year, on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, a ghost town due to the fact that downtown Fort Worth has no stores of the sort one might do their Christmas shopping in.

Knock of calling a multi-block area of the Fort Worth downtown, Sundance Square. There is no square there. Years after spouting there being something called Sundance Square, a couple parking lots were turned into a sort of square type location, then called Sundance Square Plaza.

This type thing is not the type thing a town wearing its Big City Pants does.

There are two semi-unique attractions in downtown Fort Worth. The Watergardens at the south end of downtown. And Heritage Park at the north end of downtown.

Elsie Hotpepper recently confirmed for me that Heritage Park is still a boarded-up eyesore, a status it has had for over a decade. Which is sort of an adequate metaphor for Fort Worth. A park purporting to celebrate Fort Worth's heritage, doing so by being a messed up eyesore.

And then there is what that Heritage Park eyesore overlooks. Another thing which makes Fort Worth a laughingstock, not worthy of being on any Best Cities listing.

Fort Worth is now in its third decade of a pseudo public works project, originally known as the Trinity River Vision, before morphing, over the years, into the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision.

This Vision purported to see an area in danger of being flooded, even though such had not happened in over half a century, due to flood control levees preventing such. The Vision claimed this to be a vitally needed flood control and economic development scheme, which is so vital it is now limping along in its third decade.

Cities worthy of being considered best in the world do not have these type dawdling, ill-conceived, ineptly implemented projects.

A failed project, currently, after all this time, basically only seeing three little bridges, built over dry land, to connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island, awaiting a cement lined ditch to go under the bridges carrying diverted Trinity River water.

We could go on with more details regarding Fort Worth's Trinity River Vision Boondoggle, but we won't.

Because it is lunch time...

Fort Worth Is Not The Most Laid-Back City In America

Yet one more sort of goofy item on the Microsoft News page I see via my Windows Edge browser.

Titled "This Is The Most Laid-Back US City"

I do not know if the above link works on all platforms, or just on the Edge browser.

Anyway, this was a gallery one scrolled through, listing the 50 most laid-back cities in America. By what criteria? I have no idea.

Several Texas cities showed up on the Laid-Back list. With Houston being in last place, at 50. San Antonio is #47, followed by Dallas as the 46th most laid-back city. Continuing on, expecting to see laid-back lazy Fort Worth show up, I came to the last Texas entry, Austin is the 29th most laid-back city.

And, the most laid-back city in America? Why, it is the big city in America about which I am most familiar.

Seattle.

Like I said, I do not know by what criteria it was decided a city's level of laid-backness is. As I have experienced Seattle, the town is way too bustling to be considered laid-back. The downtown area of Seattle has throngs of people bustling about. If a couple cruise ships are docked, with the cruisers off the boat, the Seattle waterfront is bustling, not remotely laid back.

The most laid-back city I have experienced, by my idea of what laid-back is, is Fort Worth, Texas, with the deadest big city downtown I have ever been in. A ghost town on the busiest shopping day of the year, Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving.

Fort Worth never shows up on these type lists. On the rare occasion something about Fort Worth is made note of, a big fuss ensues. Like the time a Washington, D.C. lobbying group, who were advocates of the Urban Village concept, had Fort Worth as one of the Top Ten American Cities with Urban Villages.

You likely will not believe this, but Fort Worth actually had a city-wide celebration celebrating showing up on this list.

I was in Tacoma a short time after this, talking to the guy who was Tacoma's Deputy Mayor at the time.

Tacoma was also on this list of cities and their urban villages. I asked the Deputy Mayor if Tacoma had a city-wide celebration after getting this esteemed honor. He laughed, and said, no, we just politely sent them a thank you message.

I then told the Deputy Mayor that Fort Worth had a city-wide celebration over this esteemed honor. You have to be joking, was his replay. Nope, not joking, said I.

I think the rarity of Fort Worth being the recipient of any sort of accolade is a big contributor to what seems like the town's civic inferiority complex. Part of that complex is caused by being linked to Dallas in a large metropolitan area known locally as the Metroplex. Dallas is the well-known, handsome big brother, whilst Fort Worth is sort of the homely sister, to use a metaphor.

My early years in Texas, living in Fort Worth, reading the local newspaper called the Star-Telegram, I made frequent note of the inferiority complex as manifested by what I called Green With Envy Syndrome, where that newspaper would opine that some perfectly ordinary thing would be causing towns far and wide to be green with envy.

Again, I am not making this up.

Years ago I made a webpage making note of multiple instances of Fort Worth's Green With Envy Syndrome.

I have been told that the Star-Telegram has dropped its Green With Envy nonsense. I know it has been years since I have seen an instance of the syndrome...

What Does Fort Worth Have That Dallas Does Not?

The above is a screen cap from yesterday's blog post. That blog post generated an amusing comment from someone going by the unusual name of Anonymous.

Below is that comment from Anonymous...

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Is Fort Worth One Of The Most Breathtaking Skylines In America?":

Q: What does Fort Worth have that Dallas does not?

A: A major city nearby.

A prominent TCU professor has said that Fort Worth is the dumbest city in the dumbest county in the dumbest state.

Fort Worth no longer has a downtown central library. Seattle and Austin have incredible central libraries. Foat Wuth dont need no grand palace for that book learnin, boy!

_______________________

I suppose it is a tad mean-spirited to make fun of Fort Worth.

But, the town sort of invites it.

For over two decades the town has had a mess at the north side of its downtown, known as the Trinity River Vision. A vision which sees much needed flood control where there has been no flooding for well over half a century, due to flood prevention levees already in place.

Late in the previous century Dallas came up with its own Trinity River Vision type vision. That vision included three signature bridges over the Trinity River. Two of those bridges have become reality.

Fort Worth copied the Dallas vision near the start of the current century. The Fort Worth vision also saw three signature bridges. Fort Worth has built all three bridges, taking over seven years to do so. Over dry land, to connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island.

The Fort Worth signature bridges turned out to be ordinary looking freeway overpass type bridges, nothing signature about them, unlike the Dallas bridges which have become iconic Dallas images.

One day, in the future, Fort Worth hopes to dig a cement lined ditch under those three little bridges, then divert Trinity River water into the ditch, thus creating the imaginary island.

Like I said, Fort Worth sort of invites being made fun of...

Is Fort Worth One Of The Most Breathtaking Skylines In America?

 

Another interesting Microsoft Windows Edge browser Start Page gallery of photos. This gallery purports to name The 30 most breathtaking skylines in America. I do not know if the link to the skylines works in all browsers or mobile devices.

The text at the start of the gallery of skyline photos...

The 30 most breathtaking skylines in America

The US is a wide and diverse land of intense and unique bursts of development, with higher buildings and more interesting structures popping up each year. These skylines emerge like a fingerprint of each city, revealing their characteristics through architecture, atmosphere, and culture. Check out this gallery to see the top 30 skylines in the country.

I assume the list of 30 is ranking the skylines in order, what with the list starting with Washington, D.C., a town which really does not have much of a skyline and ending with New York City at #2 and Chicago at #1.

I would have guessed New York City would be the town thought to have the most breathtaking skyline.

I am familiar with the skyline which was right behind New York City.

Seattle, WA

The combination of the Space Needle Observation Tower and Mount Rainer looming in the background makes Seattle's skyline hard to forget.

Seattle does get a bit of a boost, breathtaking skyline wise, what with there being mountains no matter which direction you look, east, west, south and north.

I am also familiar with the breathtaking skyline 5 spots below Seattle.

Dallas, TX

Dallas' skyline isn't extremely new, and although it has high-rises like the Bank of America Plaza (which reaches 921 ft), its best feature is the colorful, interactive lighting that adds a layer of festivity and celebration to this already beautiful skyline.

The Dallas skyline is impressive after dark. Nice during the day too.

Further down the list are two other Texas towns, Austin and Houston.

I was impressed with both Austin and Houston's skyline upon my first visit to both towns.

When I see lists like this, remembering my experience of living in Fort Worth, a town which has a kind of civic inferiority complex, due to being sort of the homely little sister to handsome big brother, Dallas.

Anytime there is any sort of positive mention made of Fort Worth, no matter how remote, the locals, well, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and others, make a big deal of it. 

Such as, recently a British travel writer wrote a column published in a UK newspaper touting Fort Worth as now being the coolest town in Texas, replacing Austin in that cool distinction. I read the article and found it rather delusional, and odd, real odd.

I wonder how long a list of America's Most Breathtaking Skylines would have to be before Fort Worth showed up on the list. 100? 200?

Seattle Waterfront Vision Nears Completion With No End In Sight For Fort Worth River Vision

I saw that which you see here this Memorial Day Monday morning, via a Seattle Times Can a new bike path on Seattle’s waterfront work for cyclists and cruise ships? article.

Seeing this brought to mind the fact that I've not heard anything of late about that Fort Worth embarrassment known as the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision. Or simply, as The Boondoggle.

The only thing I recollect hearing about The Boondoggle, after the completion of those three pitiful little bridges built over dry land, to connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island, is that Fort Worth finally finagled some funding, via the Biden Infrastructure bill, to help pay for the cement lined ditch that would divert Trinity River water under those three pitiful bridges.

Fort Worth's infamous Boondoggle began boondoggling near the start of the current century. I forget what year it was that construction began on those three pitiful bridges. I do remember it took an astonishing seven years to build those bridges.

Over dry land.

Meanwhile, up in the Pacific Northwest, in Seattle, about the same time Fort Worth had a TNT exploding ceremony to mark the start of the building of those pitiful bridges, Seattle began a massive project to rebuild the Seattle Waterfront.

This Seattle project was not given a pretentious name, like Seattle Waterfront Vision. 

The first part of that project was boring a tunnel under downtown Seattle. When that was completed the Alaskan Way Viaduct was removed, with its traffic now going through the new tunnel.

With the viaduct removed the rebuild of the waterfront could begin. Now nearing completion.

Meanwhile in Fort Worth. Crickets.

How can two American cities be so different? Such began baffling me soon after the move to Texas.

One thing I know for certain is that if Fort Worth's Trinity River Vision is ever something one can see, one will never see HUGE cruise ships docking on the little lake that is part of the vision...

Quest To Find Fort Worth's Most Iconic Skyscraper

No, that which you see here is not the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Wichita Falls, population 102,988. What you see here is the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth, population 935,508.

This morning's Fort Worth Star-Telegram asks the following question regarding the skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth.

This question appeared in an article titled POLL: What is Fort Worth’s most iconic skyscraper? These 6 are the city’s tallest.

The article in its entirety...

When you think about Fort Worth’s skyline, is there one tower that is most iconic? These are the six tallest buildings in downtown (well, technically seven, but we’re counting the City Center’s sister towers as one). Which best represents Fort Worth? The concrete Brutalism of Burnett Plaza, the city’s tallest building? Maybe the sleek glass Modernism of the newer high rises?

Methinks the Star-Telegram might need to familiarize itself with what iconic means....

Definition of iconic

1 : of, relating to, or having the characteristics of an icon. 2a : widely recognized and well-established an iconic brand name. b : widely known and acknowledged especially for distinctive excellence an iconic writer a region's iconic wines.

The only thing in Fort Worth which comes remotely close to being iconic is the Fort Worth Stockyards sign.

Fort Worth On The Cutting Edge Of Technology Mining Bitcoins

A couple days ago the DFW entity known as Stenotrophomonas left a comment on a blog post which directed me to what seems to be some new Fort Worth lunacy. But, may not be lunacy, what with it being a fact that I really don't understand cryptocurrency. 

The comment from Stenotrophomonas...

Stenotrophomonas has left a new comment on your post "Driving By The Skagit Valley Tulips East To Snow Covered Cascades":

White for now, but soon to be green with envy.

Fort Worth embraces cryptocurrency, becomes first city in U.S. to mine Bitcoin

_____________________

I think the Stenotrophomonas white reference was referring to the snow covered Cascades, whilst the green with envy reference referred to what is known as Fort Worth's Green With Envy syndrome, usually manifested in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram where some mundane thing in Fort Worth will be making towns, far and wide, green with envy.

In this instance it is the cryptocurrency known as bitcoin, which will be making towns, far and wide, green with envy. Though this Fort Worth Report article does not use the green with envy verbiage, it does contain some verbiage of that type delusional sort.

Let's look at this article about Fort Worth embracing cryptocurrency for some examples of delusion. That did not take long. The first sentence...

Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker wants the world to know Cowtown is open to cryptocurrency.

__________________

Yes, I imagine the world is quite excited that Fort Worth is open to cryptocurrency. And then there is this quote from Fort Worth's mayor...

“I’ve been joking that we’re Cowtown and cryptocurrency, right?” Parker said on the stream. “It’s all happening in Fort Worth.”

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That is some real knee slapping joking there, joking that Fort Worth is Cowtown and cryptocurrency. And it is all happening in Fort Worth. And then there is this...

Standing beside Parker, Lee Bratcher, president of the Texas Blockchain Council, described Texas as the epicenter for Bitcoin mining globally. Now, he said, Fort Worth is taking steps to become the capital of Bitcoin mining in the state. 

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Texas is the global epicenter of bitcoin mining? With Fort Worth to be the capital of Texas bitcoin mining?

Okay, reading this bitcoin mining stuff had me wondering what that means. So, I Googled "bitcoin mining" and read the Wikipedia article about bitcoin. Reading that article did not help much.

The next bit of bitcoin info in the Fort Worth Report mirrors what I read in the Wikipedia article...

Bitcoin is a type of cryptocurrency, a digital currency that is not backed by an establishment such as a bank. To make sure each Bitcoin transaction is verified, machines in a network compete to solve a complicated math problem. If the machine solves it first, it becomes the official record of the transaction. A Bitcoin is given in exchange as an award to the first miner that solves the math problem. This process is called mining. 

___________________

Yeah, that totally cleared up this whole bitcoin mining thing. With the following paragraph adding even more confusing clarity...

The city of Fort Worth will mine with three Bitmain Antminer S9 machines donated by the Texas Blockchain Council — an organization made up of companies and people working in the cryptocurrency industries. The miners, worth $2,100 altogether, will operate 24 hours a day at the Information Technology Solutions Department at Fort Worth City Hall in a six-month pilot program. 

______________________

And another bit of illumination from Fort Worth's mayor...

"The pilot program isn’t just about testing cryptocurrency," Parker said. “It’s bigger than that. We want to be a city that’s on the forefront of technology innovation. And what I’ve noticed lately is that any company that’s on the forefront of technology, they’re all talking about cryptocurrency.” 

__________________

Who knew Fort Worth wanted to be on the forefront of technology innovation? And how does one notice that any company on the forefront of technology is talking about cryptocurrency?

Two more paragraphs, then go read the entire Fort Worth embraces cryptocurrency, becomes first city in U.S. to mine Bitcoin article...

During the live Twitter conversation, Parker said she got the idea when she was running for mayor and started talking to Les Kreis, principal at Steelhead Capital, about how the city can be at the cutting edge of technology. 

The city of Fort Worth has been trying to sell itself as an innovative place for tech workers to grow their companies or relocate. It recently established an entrepreneurship and innovation council committee and has funded the Techstars Physical Health Fort Worth Accelerator program, according to past reporting from the Fort Worth Report. 

___________________

No, that is not even remotely delusional, for the Fort Worth mayor to think Fort Worth could somehow be on the cutting edge of technology. Fort Worth has been trying to sell itself as an innovative place for tech workers?

Here's a reality check for the mayor. A town on the cutting edge of anything has streets with sidewalks, modern public transportation, city parks with zero outhouses, no slums, good schools, a well educated population and attributes of many sorts which attract a corporation to invest.

I remember when Fort Worth was trying to woo Intel to build a big facility near where I lived when I first moved to Texas. Fort Worth offered Intel multiple incentives. But, Intel chose to build in Chandler, Arizona. Fort Worth should send a task force to Chandler to see why Intel would pick that town over Fort Worth.

I have given up trying to understand why Fort Worth, as reflected in the town's leaders, and its only newspaper of record, is so prone to delusions about the town, pretending it is something it is not, pretending it can be something it can not possibly ever be, such as becoming a city at the cutting edge of technology.

I can see how Austin might be a Texas town which could see itself on the cutting edge of technology. But Fort Worth?

Cowtown and Cryptocurrency...

Hollywood Used To Like Fort Worth As Much As Fort Worth Liked Hollywood

I saw the above on the front page of this Saturday's, March 26, 2022, online edition of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Upon seeing the When Hollywood liked Fort Worth as much as Fort Worth liked Hollywood
 headline I instantly wondered if this was going to be one of those Star-Telegram staples I made mock of many years ago, a staple which seems to have disappeared in recent years, the disappearance of  which caused one to think someone at the Star-Telegram had developed an eye for the absurdly ridiculous.

The Star-Telegram staple to which I refer I came to call the Star-Telegram's Green with Envy syndrome. Articles about some perfectly ordinary thing relating to Fort Worth which the Star-Telegram would claim made towns far and wide green with envy.

Eventually I made a Green with Envy web page documenting some of this type nonsense.

So, I read today's Star-Telegram with it mind that today's article would likely contain some element of the Star-Telegram's Green with Envy verbiage. Or in some way be totally delusional.

This was a long article. The first instance of delusional verbiage came in the last sentence of the second paragraph...

Fort Worth was on its way to becoming the Hollywood of Texas!

And then there is the paragraph which followed Fort Worth becoming the Hollywood of Texas...

Big-time production certainly seemed to be heading to Fort Worth in 1920 when Lone Star Pictures Corp. announced plans to relocate here from California. Like southern California, North Texas offered the promise of good weather for outdoor filming almost year-round. Their first picture was to be a “romance of the Texas oil fields,” but the studio never came, and their oil-field love story was never filmed.

Fort Worth has a long history of some big deal not materializing. Or being delusional about some development being touted as destined to become the #1 tourist attraction in Texas. Which is what the Star-Telegram touted when the Cabela's sporting goods store opened a store in Fort Worth.

The following paragraph contains multiple Fort Worth delusions...

Hollywood liked Fort Worth as much as Fort Worth liked Hollywood, reflected in how many films opened here. In the fall of 1940 Warner Brothers opened “The Westerner” starring Gary Cooper here. The decision to premier it in Fort Worth was easy since this was “the city where the West begins” as Amon Carter often said. At its Sept. 19 opening, with World War II already raging in Europe, a Star-Telegram headline screamed, “Everybody but Hitler here for Premier.” The city rolled out the red carpet for Cooper, director William Wyler, and producer Samuel Goldwyn, and Warner Brothers booked the film into all three first-run theaters (the Hollywood, Worth, and Palace). The opening pushed news of the war off the front page of the Star-Telegram. Amon Carter joined in the spirit of things by throwing a party for distinguished visitors at his Shady Oak Farm. Everyone agreed, Fort Worth hospitality was unmatched, or as Samuel Goldwyn said, “It is doubtful such an event would have been held anywhere else outside Hollywood.”

Hollywood used to like Fort Worth as much as Fort Worth liked Hollywood? The use of the past tense seems to indicate neither town still likes the other. The decision to open a Hollywood Western in Fort Worth was easy because Amon Carter often said Fort Worth is where the West begins? Only Fort Worth pretends the town to be where the West begins. Most Americans think the town which has that honor is St. Louis, Missouri. That town even built a giant arch to symbolize St. Louis being the Gateway to the West.

The Star-Telegram screamed everybody but Hitler is in Fort Worth for the movie premier? Clearly, the Star-Telegram's habit of printing ridiculous hyperbolic nonsense is a habit that has been around for a long long time.

And then we have this doozy of a paragraph...

The year 1951 proved a banner year for movies about Fort Worth. “Follow the Sun” was 20th Century Fox’s “inspiring true story of America’s greatest athlete,” which for the movie’s purpose meant Fort Worth golf legend Ben Hogan. It opened on March 23 simultaneously in all three first-run theaters, and the city proclaimed, “Ben Hogan Day!” One Star-Telegram columnist called the premier “the biggest thing to hit this town since Amon Carter put on a cowboy hat and climbed up on a horse.” After the premier Mrs. Hogan told the Fort Worth Press “they got all the facts exactly right,” and Amon Carter pronounced star Glenn Ford worthy of an Oscar.

Movies about Fort Worth? With 1951 being a banner year for such?

And then we have this paragraph...

Horses and Fort Worth just naturally went together. A 1951 Warner Brothers movie starring Randolph Scott used the city’s name for its title though there was little connection to actual historical events in the script. In “Fort Worth” Scott played peace-loving newspaperman Ned Britt trying to tame the town through the power of the press, but of course in the end it took a six-gun. The only bow to history was a passing reference in Britt’s newspaper to a panther spotted sleeping on Belknap Street. The movie’s opening (June 13) reportedly broke “all known world premier records” with 7,000 flocking to all four downtown theaters (the Big 3 plus the Majestic). The city also provided an “Official World Premier Hostess” to escort Scott around town. Applicants for the job had to supply a photo of themselves in a bathing suit.

The idea of someone trying to tame Fort Worth with the power of the press is an amusing thing to read. To this day Fort Worth does not have what most towns have, that being a real newspaper practicing real journalism, ferreting out corruption and wrongdoing, instead of being a cheerleader for what is known as the Fort Worth Way, currently best exemplified by how the Star-Telegram has covered Fort Worth's ongoing mess known as the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island Riverwalk District Vision. And, really?

The premier of this movie titled Fort Worth broke all known world premier records? I am guessing towns far and wide were green with envy when that happened.

And then there is the final paragraph of this Star-Telegram article, a paragraph which contains the most delusional item in the entire article...

With all the natural attractions of Cowtown, and the hard work of the Fort Worth Film Commission there is a good chance Fort Worth will attract future productions. They will need financial inducements, location settings, and plenty of extras. Fort Worth is open for business.

Fort Worth has natural attractions? Really? And those are what? The Tandy Hills is the only thing I can think of?  The Fort Worth Stockyards are not a natural attraction, but they are an attraction, really, the only thing remotely unique in all of Fort Worth....

Fort Worth's Amazing "Iconic" T & P Station Skyscraper

I saw that which you see above yesterday in Wednesday's Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

This an example of the type Star-Telegram "news" I have been eye rolling over ever since I was first exposed to Fort Worth and the town's newspaper of record, with its patented tendency towards hyperbolic nonsense..

Delusional hyperbole that long has had me wondering how such gets past any sort of editor. 

Why does the Star-Telegram, and Fort Worth, have such a fixation on claiming some lame thing in Fort Worth is iconic? Or a signature structure?

For years now we have been told that the Trinity River Vision is building three iconic signature bridges, over dry land, to connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island.

When those bridges finally began to be somewhat seen it was obvious they were perfectly ordinary little bridges which look like freeway overpasses.

Passing over nothing.

Is the explanation for this type nonsense, spouted by those who refer to something in Fort Worth as being iconic, that they don't know what the word "iconic" means?

Simply Googling "iconic definition" should help the Star-Telegram understand the T & P Station is not iconic. One example among dozens which come up when you Google that simple search term...

"Synonyms for 'iconic': famous, well-known, celebrated, renowned, fabled, legendary, notorious, infamous, illustrious, the one and only, best, better."

Yesterday I asked a non-Texan if they could name for me some iconic things that say "Fort Worth" to them. "No", was the initial answer. And then, "Oh, I know, that sign that says Fort Worth Stockyards".

Well, that doesn't count when the name is right on that which you think is iconic.

Now, what are some iconic things which people do see as iconic representations of a town?

The Eiffel Tower comes to mind, you know that is Paris when you see it.

The Golden Gate Bridge, you know that is San Francisco, among other iconic SF things, like Chinatown, the Cable Cars, Lombard Street, Fisherman's Wharf, Alcatraz.

You see a photo of the Petronas Towers, you know that is Kuala Lumpur.

The Burj Khalifa and Burj Al Arab, you see a photo of one of those and you know it's Dubai.

See the Statue of Liberty, and you know it's an iconic symbol of both New York City and America. New York City has many iconic structures, in the form of skyscrapers and bridges. Oh, and Times Square.

See a photo of the skyline of Dallas, with Reunion Tower, and you are seeing an iconic image known world-wide due to a world-wide hit TV show called Dallas, back in the previous century.

Seattle has a few iconic images which people associate with the town, such as the Space Needle and Pike Place Market. And a big volcano called Rainier south of town.

But Fort Worth? I hate to hurt anyone feelings, but there is absolutely nothing in Fort Worth, other than the Fort Worth Stockyards sign, which is an iconic thing people recognize as being Fort Worth.

So, just stop it Star-Telegram, no more with this ironic use of the iconic word.

And speaking of Seattle and the Space Needle.

Last night I was watching a video on YouTube titled TOP 15 Most Amazing Skyscrapers. I expected to see the usual suspects, some of which I mentioned above, like the Petronas Towers, or those towers in Dubai, and some of the towers in China, like the futuristic ones in Shanghai.

What I did not expect was what I saw when we got to the #3 Most Amazing Skyscraper.

That being that it was the Space Needle which was the 3rd Most Amazing Skyscraper.

The accompanying verbiage described the Space Needle as an iconic structure, which it is. But, skyscraper? The Eiffel Tower was not on this TOP 15 list. I would think the Eiffel Tower would be much more recognized, and iconic, than the Space Needle. And I've never heard either referred to as skyscrapers. Even though both do scrape the sky.

I wonder if one day someone will build something in Fort Worth which will actually become iconic. The Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision may become iconic, but not in the way most town's would want to be known, as in an Iconic Boondoggle of Epic Proportions.

You can watch that aforementioned TOP 15 Most Amazing Skyscrapers YouTube video below...

Fort Worth's Inept Urban Planning Population Growth Bragging Rights

A few days ago in a blog post about Fort Worth Almost Being The Fastest Growing Big City In America mention was made of the fact that the Fort Worth Star-Telegram seemed to be missing an opportunity to do its usual inflated puffery over something to do with Fort Worth which most town's newspapers would not feel the need to be puffing about.

A few days later on Facebook the Star-Telegram's Bud Kennedy made mention of the fact that Fort Worth's population had grown in the latest census, passing Jacksonville to become America's 12th ranked city, population-wise.

This was blogged about in a post asking Is Fort Worth The Biggest City In The World? This question was asked after multiple Facebookers commented on Bud Kennedy's post making the observation that Fort Worth's population growth was largely due to the fact that the town annexes open spaces, and has a lot of open space within its borders in which to build homes.

As witnessed by the above photo which illustrates that open space, with the sprawl of homes, in this morning's Star-Telegram article titled Only 2 cities added more people than Fort Worth in 2020 as city climbs in U.S. ranking.

The caption under the photo says "An aerial view of far north Fort Worth shows a veritable ocean of rooftops. The city has grown 24% since 2010 and is now the 12th largest city in the U.S."

Far north Fort Worth was where I lived when first moving to Texas. Actually it was the hamlet of Haslet, the border with Fort Worth was across the street from my abode. At that point in time this seemed to be out in the country, with farm/ranch land what one saw when one looked south towards the puny skyline of downtown Fort Worth, which you can sort of see through the haze at the top of the above photo.

That open farm/ranch land is now filled in with that ocean of rooftops.

Due to Fort Worth's notoriously bad urban planning, that ocean of rooftops has not been accompanied by new parks, or road improvements.

Or, most notoriously, adequate drainage to prevent the deadly flooding which has occurred due to the bad urban planning. 

A few days ago I made mention of the fact that my Access Is Denied: But I Don't Need Permission To Access The Fort Worth Star-Telegram.  

Even with my access being denied, I am easily able to gain access, and thus read what I want to read in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, such as today's odd article about Fort Worth's population.

Previously I had blogged that it was Seattle which the latest census indicated had grown the most of the big American cities. With Fort Worth having the second most growth.

Somehow the Star-Telegram knocked Fort Worth down to 3rd place, from 2nd, claiming Phoenix was #1, with San Antonio #2.  In the Seattle Times article about this serious population issue, neither San Antonio or Phoenix are in the Top Five, with the Seattle Times version having Seattle #1, Fort Worth #2, Mesa, Arizona #3, Austin #4 and Tampa #4.

The Star-Telegram article about Fort Worth being #3 has some choice Star-Telegram type verbiage, including a gem from Fort Worth's outgoing mayor...

“Fort Worth’s move to the 12th largest city in the United States was expected, but that doesn’t make the news any less exciting,” Mayor Betsy Price said Tuesday in an email to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

What would be exciting would be if Fort Worth matched infrastructure improvement with population growth. You know, things like modern facilities in the city parks, sidewalks alongside the city streets, modern public transportation. That type thing. 

Filling open spaces with more homes, making a sort of bedroom community, does not seem all that exciting.

And then in this paragraph Betsy's elaborates more ironic nonsense...

“Growth, especially the explosive growth we are seeing in Fort Worth, is always challenging for a city, but it is in that growth there is also massive opportunity to build incredible things,” Price said. “In my 10 years as mayor, we’ve worked to capitalize on those opportunities, meeting the needs of a growing city with innovation and resourcefulness, while always maintaining the unique history and spirit of Fort Worth.”

Build incredible things? Like the ongoing Trinity River Vision Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision which has been ambling along for most of this century, so far rendering a large chunk of Fort Worth's central core into being an embarrassing eyesore.

Maintaining the unique history and spirit of Fort Worth? Has Heritage Park, across the street from the downtown Fort Worth Tarrant County Courthouse, re-opened yet? After a decade, give or take a year or two, of being yet one more Fort Worth eyesore.

It would be fascinating to hear Betsy Price try to elaborate on how those opportunities to which she refers, have been capitalized upon, along with some examples of Fort Worth innovation and resourcefulness.

And then there is the final paragraph of this Star-Telegram article, reviving some classic Star-Telegram verbalize we have not seen for awhile...

Besides creating bragging rights for the largest cities, the Census figures are used for crucial things such as determining how many seats in Congress each state should have, and how much funding communities can receive for roads, schools and other government functions.

Oh yes, the all important bragging rights.

Long ago we made a webpage with multiple examples of what was referred to as the Star-Telegram's Green With Envy verbiage, where this that or the other perfectly mundane thing in Fort Worth was making towns far and wide green with envy, or was giving Fort Worth bragging rights. 

For years that type embarrassing verbiage has seemed to have disappeared from the Star-Telegram, only to reappear today, maybe thinking those of us with access denied would not notice...
 

Is Fort Worth The Biggest City In The World?

 

A few days ago in a blog post about Fort Worth Almost Being The Fastest Growing Big City In America mention was made of the fact that Fort Worth is unique among big cities in that the town has multiple wide open spaces within the town's borders, along with wide open spaces to expand to, unlike towns hemmed in by geography in the form of mountains or bodies of water, or surrounded by suburbs.

Last night, on Facebook, I saw a post from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Bud Kennedy, he being the closest that newspaper has to an actual journalist, in which Mr. Kennedy wrote "We're #12: Fort Worth officially passes Jacksonville to become America's 12th largest city at 927,720 people..."

Some of Fort Worth's population growth comes from annexing territory previously not incorporated into a town. Doing this has seemed a bit bizarre, to me, at times. Such as annexing a narrow strip of territory all the way to D/FW International Airport.

I think the annexation actually includes part of the airport property.

Which renders it sort of ironic when landing at D/FW with the pilot welcoming those onboard to Dallas, whilst landing, sort of, in Fort Worth.

Fort Worth has a puny downtown, lacking things like department stores. I think there may now be a small grocery store of some sort downtown. There are few restaurants, and on the busiest shopping day of the year, the day after Thanksgiving, downtown Fort Worth is a ghost town. We have made mention of this ghost town fact a number of times in various venues including Having Fun Looking For Black Friday Shoppers Today In Downtown Fort Worth.

Via the comments to Mr. Kennedy's Facebook post I learned I was not alone in realizing that Fort Worth's population size is a bit misleading when thinking the number of people in a town somehow relates to that town's, well, being an actual big city with an actual big downtown.

Two of those comments...

Michael Doran: While technically true, the area within the Fort Worth city limits is so huge -- 355 square miles -- that I'm doubtful that it makes for a fair ranking by population. I would argue that anyone from Fort Worth who visits Seattle (84 mi²), Denver (155 mi²), Boston (90 mi²), or San Francisco (47 mi²) would say that those cities sure *seem* bigger than Fort Worth.

Paul Allen: Those cities are more urban, vs a sprawling city like Fort Worth. I don't think that should change the rankings though. Just came back from Seattle and you are right, it "feels" like a much bigger city because everything is stacked up. You hardly see anything under 5-6 floors inside the city. Many more skyscrapers and high-rise apartments, real, mostly functioning public transit gets people around. It feels like a city. Fort Worth feels more like a big suburb with a few tall buildings in the city center.

______________________

I did not realize the size of Fort Worth was so huge.

355 square miles!

San Francisco is only 47 square miles. With Seattle slightly bigger at 84 square miles. Denver, at 155 square miles, is like Fort Worth, with wide open space to expand to. I have been to all those towns Mr. Doran mentioned, expect for Boston, and his opinion matches mine, in that San Francisco, Seattle and Denver sure do seem way bigger than Fort Worth. 

And Mr. Allen's observation that Fort Worth feels more like a big suburb with a few tall buildings in the city center, than an actual big city, seems accurate.

At 355 square miles in size, is Fort Worth the biggest city in the world? Likely not or we would have heard such bragged about, over and over again...

UPDATE: After hitting the publish button on this blog post I went to Twitter and what was the first thing I saw?

This...

Apparently we are in full on brag mode regarding Fort Worth's new population status. But, note the image included in this Twitter post. Photo documentation showing how puny downtown Fort Worth is.

Does not look like the downtown of a town with almost a million population, sprawled over 355 square miles...

Fort Worth Almost Fastest Growing Big City In America

No, this is not one of our patented posts about something we see in west coast news sources we would never expect to see in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram about something to do with Fort Worth. Or Texas.

Quite the contrary, this particular instance makes mention of both Fort Worth and Texas.

It was in this Friday morning's Seattle Times this Surprise! Seattle was the fastest-growing big U.S. city in 2020 article was found.

I would think multiple other big U.S. cities would be growing faster than Seattle, population-wise. Seattle is totally hemmed in, geographically, in every direction. Unlike other towns, like Fort Worth, with wide open spaces on which to build, or annex to the city, to make the town bigger geographically.

Where do all these new arrivals to Seattle find to live? I know one answer is tents set up alongside I-5, and other homeless encampments. Are the homeless Seattle newcomers counted in the census?

Three paragraphs from the Seattle Times article...

New data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that between July 1, 2019, and July 1, 2020, Seattle had a net gain of about 16,400 residents, hitting a total population of 769,700. That pencils out to a growth rate of 2.2% last year.

And that means that among the 50 biggest U.S. cities, Seattle is — are you sitting down? — No. 1 for growth in 2020.

What about all those Sunbelt cities that everyone has been flocking to during the pandemic? Sure, they’re growing fast, but they were behind Seattle. Fort Worth, Texas, ranks No. 2, followed by Mesa, Arizona; Austin; and Tampa.

________________________

Well, there you go, Seattle is growing the fastest in the U.S., with Fort Worth growing the second fastest, and Austin, which is also in Texas, growing fourth fastest.

I am not too familiar with Austin. Is the capitol of Texas like Fort Worth? With wide open space to expand to? Or is it hemmed in, like Seattle? I have been to Mesa, Arizona. That town is like Fort Worth, with wide open space to expand to. I know zero about Tampa, other than the town is in Florida.

I saw no mention made this morning in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram about Fort Worth being the second fastest growing town in America. Usually such news would have the Star-Telegram crowing that this news was making towns far and wide green with envy, with calls for a city wide celebration.

The self deprecating first two paragraphs in today's Seattle Times article are of the sort one would never read in the Star-Telegram, what with its tendency to ridiculous hyperbole over something not worthy of being hyperbolized.

Those first two Seattle Times paragraphs...

Throughout the pandemic, we’ve been reading stories about people fleeing big cities for the suburbs, smaller towns, and rural areas. And, of course, here in Seattle, a lot of folks have talked about our city dying.

Well, it turns out, to paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of Seattle’s death are an exaggeration. Not only did Seattle keep growing in 2020, but it grew by a healthy amount.

Tale Of Two Cities: Seattle Boon & Fort Worth Boondoggle

Last week a Fort Worth local emailed me asking what I knew about the current status of that town's three simple little bridges which have been stuck in slow motion construction mode for six years, trying to build bridges over dry land to connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island.

I replied that I had not been to the DFW zone in about a year, so have had no eye witnessing of the mess which has become such an embarrassing Boondoggle. I do not know if the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision still sends out quarterly slick propaganda brochures detailing the imaginary progress of a public works project the public did not vote for, which has been limping along for most of this century, with little to show for the millions of dollars wasted.

Those who foisted this Vision on Fort Worth tried to claim it is a vitally needed flood control and economic development project. Where there has been no flooding for 70 years, due to flood control already in place. Vitally needed, and yet not vitally needed enough to convince the locals to support a bond issue to pay for it. Instead begging for federal dollars, unsuccessfully. And giving a local congresswoman's son a job for which it is now totally clear he was not qualified, in order to, hopefully, get the mother to somehow secure those federal funds.

Also, last week, a fellow former Washingtonian asked me what I knew about the current status of the rebuild of the Seattle waterfront.

I replied that I had not read anything about the waterfront rebuild since the Alaskan Way Viaduct was removed. And so I Google searched and found a lot of info about the Seattle Waterfront rebuild. More on that later in this post.

For someone who might be wondering why we are looking at a public works project in Fort Worth, and one in Seattle. Well, these are the two big cities with which I am most familiar, and whose stark differences have been of interest ever since seeing Fort Worth up close and wondering how an American city can be so different from another American city.

The town's two public works projects both had their beginnings back near the start of the century. Seattle's was sparked by an act of Mother Nature known as the Nisqually Earthquake. This earthquake serious damaged a structure known as the Alaskan Way Viaduct, a double decker state highway built between the Seattle downtown and the Seattle waterfront. This viaduct was of a similar sort to the Embarcadero Viaduct which collapsed in San Francisco during the Loma Prieta Earthquake.

Also near the start of the new century a group of Fort Worth insiders foisting on the public a public works project the public did not vote for. At the time it was foisted it was known as the Trinity Uptown Project, later the Trinity River Vision, before many name additions, in total, the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision. The Fort Worth project claimed to be about vitally needed flood control and an economic development scheme.

After the Nisqually Earthquake it was quickly realized the Alaskan Viaduct needed to be replaced. Temporary fixes were installed, along with quake activated gates to stop traffic entering the Viaduct if a quake was detected. A long debate began as to how to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

Meanwhile, in Fort Worth, after the Trinity Uptown Vision project was announced not much of anything happened. Some earth was moved around near Gateway Park. A quick to fail wakeboard park was built. A lot of signs were installed touting the wonders of the still not seen vision.

And then in 2014, with a TNT exploding ceremony, construction began on three simple little bridges, to be built over dry land to connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island.

Around the same time, up north, in Seattle, the solution to the Alaskan Way Viaduct began in the form of the world's biggest (at the time) tunnel boring machine, digging a transit tunnel under downtown Seattle.

Both Fort Worth's bridge building and Seattle's tunnel digging soon ground to a halt. No one has ever explained the long stall to the Fort Worth bridge building. The Seattle tunnel boring machine, known as Bertha, ground to a halt when Bertha hit a big steel pipe, stalling the project for a year.

When Bertha began boring again the tunnel project moved full steam ahead, was completed, with traffic flowing under downtown Seattle via a double deck highway tunnel. With the tunnel now handling the Alaskan Way traffic, the Viaduct could come down. Which quickly happened, so now Seattle is in the rebuilding of the Seattle Waterfront phase of the multi billion dollar project.

Meanwhile, in Fort Worth

Six years after that TNT exploding ceremony Fort Worth still has three simple little bridges under construction over dry land, which had been projected to be completed two years ago, and now are projected to maybe possibly be completed sometime this current decade.

So, how does one town successfully manage a multi-billion dollar, complex public works project, fully funded, whilst another American town can not even manage to get three bridges built, along with other "promises" which the Trinity River Vision purported to see?

I have asked, more than once, is the Trinity River Vision still mailing those slick full color brochures quarterly? Detailing all the imaginary progress and wonders to come?

Now, in 2020, Seattle is in the midst of the final third part of its HUGE public works project. Phase One, the tunnel which began construction the same time Fort Worth started trying to build three bridges has long been completed. Phase Two, the removal of the Alaskan Way Viaduct has long been accomplished.

And now Phase Three, the rebuild of the Seattle Waterfront is well underway.

In addition to the Seattle project being fully funded, whilst the Fort Worth project relies on federal handouts hopefully secured by a local congresswoman motivated to do so due to the project hiring her son to do a job for which it is now obvious he was not qualified, the Seattle project, unlike the Fort Worth project, seems to operate with absolute transparency.

When Bertha ground to a halt a 24/7 camera was aimed at the fix-it operation, with constant website updates detailing the progress. For a short time Fort Worth aimed a 24/7 camera at one of its bridges under construction, but that has long been disabled due to the fact there was not much activity to see.

Just check out this Seattle Alaskan Way Waterfront Projects website ( screen cap at the top) and see the timeline of the waterfront rebuild part of this project, and you in the Trinity River Vision zone ask yourself why you never see anything this detailed regarding the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision?

How much longer are the people of Fort Worth going to put up with this bizarre Boondoggle mess which was foisted upon them without a vote? Taking property via abusing eminent domain, disrupting traffic flow for years, causing multiple businesses multiple woes.

Why is no one held accountable for this embarrassing mess? Are the voters actually going to re-elect Kay Granger again, after her part in this mess?

Well, if so, I guess Fort Worth gets what it deserves.

Ineptitude, incompetence and civic embarrassment...

Downtown Fort Worth Looks To Seattle For Future Lessons

That which you see above is a screen cap of part of an email from last month.

I do not know why, but each month I receive an email from Downtown Fort Worth, Inc. full of information about what's happening in downtown Fort Worth during that particular month.

When I saw last month's email newsletter from Downtown Fort Worth, Inc. it instantly amused me, and then I forgot about it til this morning of the second day of March.

Apparently last month DFWI's 38th annual meeting took place. With that meeting hosting a look into the future by looking at Seattle's lessons for Fort Worth.

I have long experienced Fort Worth locals getting cranky at me when I compare Seattle to Fort Worth. I have lost track of the number of times I have explained that I compare the two because they are the two big cities with which I have had the most contact.

I suppose it would be more accurate to compare Fort Worth to Tacoma, with Tacoma being another big city with which I am familiar. Tacoma is sort of to Seattle what Fort Worth is to Dallas, with Seattle and Dallas being the better known, bigger towns in their respective metro zones.

But, comparing Fort Worth to Tacoma would also not be pretty and would also likely make cranky those Fort Worth locals who are averse to mirrors and accurate reflections.

After all, Tacoma is a town much smaller, population-wise, than Fort Worth. Yet, somehow, Tacoma manages to have streets with sidewalks, parks with zero outhouses, multiple public swimming pools, two HUGE waterfront developments (privately funded), one of the biggest city parks in the world, multiple bridges involving complex engineering (over water), built in a timely time frame, while Fort Worth struggles to build three simple little bridges over dry land, to connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island.

And somehow Fort Worth is taking a look into the future by learning some lessons from Seattle?

I can think of a few lessons Seattle could teach Fort Worth.

Such as do not begin a public works project which the public has not voted on, and which is not fully funded.

During less time than Fort Worth has been ambling along in slow motion with its imaginary vitally needed flood control and economic development scheme, known as the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision, or more frequently, simply as the Boondoggle, Seattle has voted on and actualized multiple public works projects.

A four billion dollar floating bridge and road upgrades across Lake Washington. Another four billion dollar project to remove the Alaskan Way Viaduct, replaced with a tunnel, along with rebuilding the Seattle waterfront. And then there is the 54 billion dollar most recent Sound Transit measure passed by the voting public.

Meanwhile Fort Worth panhandles for federal funds funneled from more prosperous parts of America, to pay for the town's ineptly implemented Boondoggle.

Fort Worth could learn lessons in the concept of urban planning from both Tacoma and Seattle.

Just one example is the mess of bad planning one finds whilst driving Fort Worth's North Tarrant Parkway west to that road's inept juncture with Highway 287. You do not see this type ridiculous incompetence in Seattle and Tacoma. It would make the locals angry.

The same day I saw that Fort Worth was looking to Seattle for lessons for the future I saw that which you see in the second graphic, in the Seattle Times.

Now, becoming more progressive and liberal would be a mighty fine thing for Fort Worth.

Is trying to achieve such one of the lessons Fort Worth is learning from Seattle?

This would require amping up the education level of the Fort Worth population. Increasing the numbers graduating high school.

And college.

Improving the schools. Hiring better teachers. Spending more money on education.

You really can't have a progressive liberal population if the majority of your people are poorly educated with a simplistic understanding of the world.

Having a well educated liberal minded population may explain a lot of the differences I have noted between Fort Worth and Seattle/Tacoma.

Is being a liberal bastion the reason the Seattle zone is the home to so many successes? Microsoft, Starbucks, Costco, Amazon, Boeing to name just four well known examples.

Meanwhile Fort Worth is home to Radio Shack and Pier One Imports. And American Airlines, I think, though the AA corporate headquarters is a location I have never seen.

Last year I remember reading that some Fort Worth entity was working to attract multiple corporations to relocate to Fort Worth. This seemed a typical Fort Worth delusion.

Why would any corporation relocate to a town hosting America's Biggest Boondoggle? Among many other embarrassments. Such as the boarded up eyesore homage to Fort Worth's heritage, known as Heritage Park, a blight on the north end of downtown for over a decade.

Seattle has a park somewhat similar to Fort Worth's Heritage Park, called Freeway Park. Actually Seattle's Freeway Park is like a combo of Fort Worth's Heritage Park and Fort Worth's Water Gardens at the south end of downtown. 

Seattle's Freeway Park was designed as a solution to I-5 slicing through downtown Seattle. Freeway Park is a lid over the freeway, made into a large park with trails, canyons and waterfalls. Freeway Park eventually linked with the Washington Convention Center, and other downtown buildings, and a pedestrian tunnel, which, if I remember right, connects Freeway Park to Rainier Square.

At some point in time crime became a problem in Seattle's Freeway Park. I can't remember for sure, but I think there was a murder. But, unlike Fort Worth, instead of closing Freeway Park and surrounding it with barbed wire and cyclone fence and turning it into an un-used eyesore, solutions were found, such as better lighting, panic buttons, police patrolling. I forget what all. But the park was not closed. It was improved and kept open.

That is not the Fort Worth Way, you know, to analyze and improve something. Adopting the Seattle Way of operating really might be a valuable lesson for the future of Fort Worth, but I really don't see that happening.

Oh, and for those aforementioned poorly educated types, below is an easy to understand definition of what the term "liberal" actually means...

Sketchy Decade Long Look At Two Cities: Fort Worth & Seattle

As 2019 draws to a close let's amuse ourselves with a look at a couple examples from the past day or two of items I read in west coast online news sources, usually the Seattle Times, about something to do with Seattle, that I would not expect to read in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, about something to do with Fort Worth.

These looks at these type items have been among our most popular blog postings, for years.

And part of what renders these blog postings amusing is hearing feedback from Fort Worth locals expressing umbrage.

The Fort Worth locals expressing umbrage thing is always amusing. It always seems the same as someone getting all cranky because of what they see in a mirror.

Anyway.

The first article which struck me as something you would not see in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram about something regarding Fort Worth is a Seattle Times article which has 10 sketches showing how Seattle has changed over the last decade.

Sketches showing things like the Amazon campus, the new Seattle waterfront with the now gone Alaskan Way Viaduct, the new tunnel under downtown Seattle, the hugely altered city skyline, a new floating bridge, trolley lines, link light rail lines and other stuff.

Meanwhile during the last decade in Fort Worth.

What could the Star-Telegram possibly sketch 10 instances of showing how Fort Worth has changed over the last decade?

Well, the Fort Worth skyline has not changed. Heritage Park remains a boarded up eyesore. The Trinity River Vision is now a nationally known Boondoggle, with three simple little bridges stuck over dry land. I guess sketching the ruins of three unfinished bridges would qualify as something which happened over the previous decade.

Oh, Rockin' the Polluted Trinity River Happy Hour Inner Tube Floats, that is something sketch worthy.

Did the pitiful solo Molly the Trolley public transit vehicle come to be the last decade? I don't remember when that embarrassment started up.

How about those Trinity River Cruises which the Trinity River Vision Boondogglers were hyping earlier in the year. Did that ever come to fruition?

I suppose the Star-Telegram could sketch the remains of the Cowtown Wakepark, what with it being something that came and died the past decade.

I just remembered an actual sketch worthy thing which happened in Fort Worth this decade. In the goofiest bond issue ballot I have ever seen voters passed three goofy ballot measures which somehow approved of the building of a new arena.

Dickies Arena is now open and has received nothing but positive reviews and has already hosted multiple events, and is likely going to be a big hit at the upcoming Stock Show.

If only Fort Worth's ongoing inept urban planning had managed to make an exception to its usual ineptness and had addressed the traffic problems which a town with urban planning would have anticipated with the building of a new venue.

Now, let's move on to the second article in the Seattle Times about something in the Seattle zone which one would never expect to read in the Star-Telegram regarding a similar thing happening in Fort Worth.

Seattle has been one of America's boom towns for most of this century, with the booming getting more so this past decade, hence the article saying Seattle's massive surge of new construction is causing a permitting backlog.

Fort Worth has no similar problem. Pretty much anyone wanting to build anything in Fort Worth can get the project approved. Often encouraged with tax breaks and other incentives. Even for an obvious con job, like a sporting goods store finagling to get breaks to build what they conned the locals into thinking would be the biggest tourist attraction in Texas.

The town manifests little evidence of what is known as urban planning.

A visit to where I first lived when I moved to Texas, to the hamlet of Haslet, in far north Fort Worth, is instructive. Back then, miles of open land was between my abode and development. The skyline of downtown Fort Worth was a distant little blip on the horizon.

And now, 20 years later, all that open land has been filled in, mostly with houses. And retail, such as malls, and Costco. With the roads basically the same as they were when I first drove on them. HUGE development allowed without the infrastructure upgraded. Just drive west on North Tarrant Parkway til you get to Highway 287 and you will see all you need to see to understand how ineptly Fort Worth's urban planning is.

Add to that the fact that drainage was not adequately upgraded. Which has greatly exacerbated flooding, causing deadly flash flooding downstream from the badly developed development.

Recently the Fort Worth city council embarrassed itself by disbanding the town's Ethics Commission. On Facebook I saw more than one person sarcastically comment along the line that doing so fits right in with the city's delusion of thinking that it is somehow going to attract multiple corporations to re-locate to Fort Worth in the coming decade.

I often wonder, have most of these Fort Worth locals, who apparently are okay with what is known as the Fort Worth Way, not been to other parts of America? Even other parts of Texas?

Very perplexing. And it is almost not only a happy new year, but a happy new decade, as well...