Archive for December 3rd, 2008

The title of this post came from a search query that led someone to our blog via Google search.  I have to assume that they didn’t find what they were looking for, since this article had not yet been written when the query was made, but I’m going to rectify that now by writing the piece that I believe they would have wanted to find. And believe me, if I had known they were going to google it I would have put it together for them sooner.

Yes, we have hip places to live in Fort Worth, but first let’s define “hip.” When searched in Urban Dictionary, the word comes out with the definition:

“Cooler than cool, the pinnacle of what is “it”. Beyond all trends and conventional coolness. Not to be mistaken for “deck.”  www.urbandict.com

Okay, so in other words, it doesn’t really have to do with cost. It has to do with understanding the trends, the things that be happenin’ here.  That considered, I give you,

THE LIST OF HIP PLACES TO LIVE IN FORT WORTH

Monticello — this rapidly gentrifying area also known as the Cultural District is being quickly bit up in price past the budget of most young professionals, not to mention working people. But there are some unusual properties here, and for the ultimate in cool real estate — which is to get a small simple property in a high-end neighborhood — Monticello is choice. For those who want to speculate on value a little more aggressively, search for properties that will be impacted by the redevelopment of the old Montgomery Wards building area or anything that touches on the Trinity River Vision project.

Downtown/Sundance — Here’s your total loft-living urban hip upscale location. The heralding of downtown as a happening zone occurred a few years after a tornado damaged the scyscaping downtown Bank One Building. The Bank One had sat around with plywood nailed all over it for years, but then was redeveloped as “The Tower” condos. Prices went through the roof. This was followed by redevelopment into apartments of a number of downtown buildings such as the Neil P. Anderson, and today, loft living is alive and well.  This is a shopping/tourism website, but it will give you some info: www.sundancesquare.com

North of Camp Bowie — this is another neighborhood with stylish real estate of wildly varying house values. You might think of it as just west of Monticello. Up near River Crest Country Club and the famous Camp Bowie Blvd. shopping strip, you can find everything from tear downs to rebuilds to huge castle-mansions to duplexes here. You’ll need to pay a fair price per square foot, but it’s said that real estate here is rock solid. Location, location, location, you know. www.historiccampbowie.com

TCU/Bluebonnet — Again as in Monticello and Camp Bowie, a wide range of housing, this time close in to the University. Basically, the farther east you run (in the direction of the railroad tracks) the less desirable the digs. And once you’re across McCart, you’re officially out of the zone. For lower values per square foot, try the area between Granbury and Trail Lake Drive.

Forest Park: The doctors and lawyers who work down town have lived with their families on this bluff by the river for about 100 years, and it probably won’t change, since this neighborhood is close enough to the hospital district to get there in a horse and buggy. Chose from custom homes, historic homes, million dollar homes, or get one that’s all three.  Forest Park probably has more traditional-style holdings then trendy digs, but then, even today, sometimes it’s hip to be square.

So now you say: Help, look at my checkbook, I can’t get into any of these neighborhoods. But you can, because I have saved the best for last. No more excuses. If hipness is your goal, it comes at every price point:

Near Southside — This is where the new urbanists are hangin, and they are working hard to redevelop this once worn-out section of town that’s been through the wealth/poverty cycle once already. Built up around the 20′s, the Southside was at first a booming family neighborhood, but it fell into disrepair as the much lamented suburban flight led workers to abandon the city. Much later, in the 80′s, an interest in vintage homes (think that TV show, “This Old House”) plus a certain environmentalist sympathy began to lead many to believe that this neighborhood had potential as a gentrified zone for downtown and hosptial workers. The struggle has been long, but seems to be bearing fruit at last, with new construction, new roads and upgrades, and better housing values. And nowhere in Cowtown has reaturants like the ones in the Near southside. For more information on the neighborhood, visit www.fortworthsouth.org