UptownDal81 wrote:Another point that crossed my mind: does anyone else think that McKinney Ave. and especially this part of McKinney is not as desirable these days as it once was? Sure, there is a Whole Foods across the street and restaurants and bars in walking distance. But the crowds brought into the area by the neighboring bars give me pause, and at times feels downright dangerous as evidenced by the shootings that have taken place at this intersection. While one of the main problem venues (One Sette) is now closed, the activity at the bars that are still open does not feel a whole lot different to me. I live close by, around Klyde Warren park, and even though One Uptown is in walking distance, personally it would not have been on my radar for that very reason.
This is absolutely the case. I remember when this project was announced, this intersection felt like one of the hottest parts of urban Dallas at the time. Since then, though, other areas have really picked up a lot steam (Bishop Arts, Deep Ellum, etc..), so Uptown has a lot more competition than it once did.
I still think Uptown is a great place to live and has a lot to offer, but it needs to adapt into becoming less of a destination and more of a neighborhood that focuses on catering to people who live and work there. I feel like that transformation is happening, but during the transformation, this particular intersection went from being thriving and hot to pretty mild these days (and also sometimes unsafe).
I'm kinda thinking that once the Quandrangle and the strip that currently houses Kung-Fu are redeveloped, that could really help transform this part of town into something a lot more pedestrian friendly and more desirable.