It’s amazing what can happen when a neighborhood reinvents itself, and brings attention to exciting developments. It’s time for Downtown Dallas to have the spotlight. Recently, while wandering down Main Street, I was smacked in the face with a realization. The area of town that has been discounted as a ghost town that goes dead after day is now the most avant garde of them all.

A plethora of green spaces fill the nature requirement:

• Main Street Garden with its adoring puppy play area and Rusty Taco hideout (Currently Undergoing a brand new look and new sod!)
• Belo Garden with grassy knolls and water features will young and old beating the heat.
• Klyde Warren Park, the bad ass park that has DJ parties, food trucks and bootcamp. Need I say more?

Restaurants/Markets that have a passion for creating an escape for the true epicurean:

• CBD Provisions putting final touches on what is to be a delicious gastropub
• Wild Salsa serving street tacos south of the border style.
• Weekend Coffee serving up a strong Iced Chai or Cold Brewed Coffee for this Summer heat
• Urban Orchard Market and Urban Vineyards filling a need for an organic grocery/market that doubles as a chic wine bar

Shopping that takes notes from the Champs-Élysées:

• Play, a children’s store that sports Comme des Garçons for the little ones
• Neiman Marcus showing that the big D for Downtown will always have style
• Ten Over Six providing one of kind, kitschy pieces that pop and scream to come home
• Traffic: Los Angeles where I’ve already been challenged to pull of a man skirt but could still pick up a dapper pair of jeans or jacket for the night out

All of these components come together to form a thriving, proud community of restauranteurs, hoteliers, business owners and residents. This once-doubted Downtown is now bursting at the seems with development and beckoning for you to come and see what it has up it’s sleeves.