Bricktown vs. West End
West End in Dallas - When Godzilla welcomed visitors to Planet Hollywood and a day full of divisions could be found inside the West End Marketplace. But it was a ghost town when I visited in 2006. Oklahoman archives.
Today’s Main Street column has me thinking back to the West End – back when it was in its glory days.
Some would say it peaked with the opening of a Planet Hollywood, but I’m not too sure of that. I may be biased toward the early 1990s. I had just graduated from college and I always had a place to crash in Dallas thank to an old college buddy who had done well enough in advertising to afford a condo with a guest bedroom.
On any given weekend spring through early fall, it seemed as if a group of us could drive down from Oklahoma City and enjoy a free outdoor concert in front of the West End Marketplace.
As Chuck Davis noted in 1989 (read today’s column), West End had plenty of restaurants and clubs. I always liked the way the neon Dallas Alley hung between the giant brick warehouses, marking the entry into the club section.
But I also loved the geeky diversions – the 3D art gallery, the fudge shop where production of the treats doubled as entertainment, and of course, the miniature golf course and arcade.
The Marketplace closed two years ago. The West End Association had to lay off all of its staff a year ago – another sign of the district’s continued decline.
It’s difficult not to look at West End when discussing the long term prospects for Bricktown. Afterall, the Dallas entertainment district in many ways has the same feel – the same look – as Bricktown. And the district was an inspiration to early Bricktown developers.
West End – both its past glory and current decline – is mentioned a lot by Bricktown merchants who worry about escalating property values and continued disagreements over pricing of the district’s parking. City leaders have reacted by hiring consultants to look at everything from parking to long range planning.
But let’s go beyond these comparisons …
Bricktown is thriving, and it does boast a lot of attractions that easily top anything that anchored West End in its glory days. Sure, West End had a Planet Hollywood. But Bricktown has the canal and ballpark.
I’m still struck by the sights and sounds of almost 20 years ago. So I’m wondering – is the Bricktown we know today better than the West End I remember? What do you think?
Thank you for joining our conversation on OKC Central. We encourage your discussion but ask that you stay within the bounds of our commenting and posting policy.
Comments
I agree with what Shane said. Like Shane, I never made a visit to the West End … my Dallas trips were always pretty “tight” time wise leaving little room for R&R. But it does seem from what little I’ve read about West End and what I know about Bricktown show significant differences, not the least being the residential, hotel, sports developments associated with Bricktown AND downtown and its nearby environs to the north in the Deep Deuce area. Bricktown appears to be more “holistic” in its approach and geography, or something along those lines.
Certainly, Bricktown needs more retail, and a “cool” kind of retail … such as the Red Dirt Emporium, a very nice development along the canal.
Back to topic … it is a very good thing to remember that an area’s “popularity” can be a fleeting and fanciful thing … so that Okc is vigilant not to take the same path that the West End did. I don’t think that we will and such vivid and graphic contrasts help to keep “what COULD happen” in the forefront of our minds.
You’re off to a great start with this blog, by the way. Reminds me of the venerable “The Downtown Guy,” now silent but who/what I consider to be the grandfather of Okc downtown blogs, and he set a high standard in his time. Maybe he will read this and think about getting cranked up, once again, too!
The fall of Dallas’ West End is not unlike any other major urban mainstay that comes and goes. Take a look at New York, which is a patchwork of neighborhoods that take on prosperity at times, and fall into hard times and get replaced by other neighborhoods. This is really the nature of the mature urban city, and look at Dallas, which started out with the West End, and now in the last decade you’ve seen the addition of hotspots that were even bigger and better–such as Mockingbird Station, Legacy Town Center, Oak Lawn, Victory, and more.
And for what it counts, West End is seeing the possibility of coming back alive with recent redevelopment proposals. It may have been down and out but it’s still always a part of Dallas’ resurgence. Oklahoma City’s resurgence could be anything. Bricktown could be anything. But one thing is for sure: Bricktown is not the only show in town, and it can not afford to rest on its laurels for one day because there are a half dozen other potential hotspots nowadays ready to take its limelight.
Here’s what I have to say about your new adventure … might you be “The NEW Downtown Guy?” Here’s hoping … http://dougdawg.blogspot.com/2008/02/new-downtown-guy.html
As a 25-year resident of Dallas but who calls OKC home because of family ties, I was always struck at how the Bricktown developers emulated the West End. The one thing Bricktown has, and pretty much ensures its longevity, I feel, versus what has happened to Dallas’ West End, is that OKC residents still like to go there — and have a reason to go there.
The West End had competition, in the beginning, from Deep Ellum. Now, it’s moved to Uptown and the Victory Park (where the American Airlines Center is) area. Almost from the time Planet Hollywood was built, the area was known basically as a tourist destination. Because of its proximity to Dealey Plaza, the area was a natural extension for those tourists to keep them downtown. Yet for residents, well, there’s just so many Dallas Cowboy t-shirts or Lone Star souvenirs one wants to buy.
From my trips to Bricktown, I’ve been impressed with the development and venues that appeal to Everyone and not just visitors. To keep everything within walking distance of one another is a big draw and something that seems to be a trend advantage with people these days given the cost of gas.
Though I know the parking situation is still irritating to some Oklahomans who visit Bricktown, it’s still a bargain to Dallasites who have to fork over $12-15 for parking in a lot.
Love your review of the West End and what happened there. I visited it on a summer Saturday night in the late ’80s, and the place was packed. I met my folks down there and we combed every little shop in the Marketplace building. I figured that with its historic location and proximity to downtown Dallas and Reunion Arena that it would only grow in stature. So, I was shocked a couple of years ago when I read that it was virtually closed.
Of course, I didn’t see American Airlines Arena on the horizon, either.
I figure that the challenges facing an entertainment district are sort of like that facing a restaurant chain. Changing tastes and industry trends require restaurants to change their look and their menu on an almost ongoing basis. Maybe it has to happen even in an historic entertainment district.
The cool thing about Bricktown is that while some clubs and restaurants have faltered, others seem to be willing to give it a try and bring in something else new and exciting.
I guess I’m saying that all the constant changes in Bricktown keep it from getting stale.
I never visited the West End. What did it have to offer in terms of residential? Bricktown is getting a strong base of “rooftops” in its immediate vicinity, especially in Deep Deuce/Triangle.
It’s hard to consider what might happen in the future to Bricktown- extremly hard to imagine a situation where Bricktown could collapse. To me, at least.
The only thing I can think of, that might lead to a decline in Bricktown, is Midtown. Midtown is giving Bricktown a run for its money already as far as good, local restaurants and businesses. If Midtown becomes the place locals want to go, we’ll have to keep increasing the amount of tourist traffic from conventions etc in Bricktown.
Dang, I’m trying to think about Bricktown dying, but I just can’t imagine it. It seems to have a monopoly on centralized entertainment districts in the state, and Midtown isn’t really going toward clubs and nightlife, just restaurants. I don’t know…