Austin City Taco Co., a new fast-casual taqueria concept making its debut in the Cultural District, will be open for business on April 24 at 5 pm, serving tacos, fries with queso, and house-made salsas in a variety of flavors.

The restaurant is located at 517 University Dr., in the space formerly occupied by The Grotto.

Austin City was founded by Cameron Powell, a Fort Worth resident and UT alumnus who drew his inspiration from Austin, with the signature dish being 18-hour smoked brisket tacos.

In-person early voting runs April 22-30 in the May 4 city election for mayor and city council.

To locate an early voting site in your county of residence, visit one of these election websites:

• Tarrant County
• Denton County
• Parker County

Fort Worth is being honored as a Monarch Butterfly Champion City by the National Wildlife Federation’s Mayors’ Monarch Pledge program, becoming the fourth city in North America to be recognized with this title for its commitment to monarch conservation.

In the past year, Fort Worth has created 97 acres of monarch habitat, and it has reached more than 100,000 residents through the Mayors’ Monarch Pledge.

This achievement is the product of years of hard work and commitment, beginning in 2015, when Fort Worth joined the program. Since then, hundreds of cities across the country have signed the Mayors’ Monarch Pledge, with 460 signers today.

Mayor Betsy Price, the Park and Recreation Department and the city’s monarch conservation network have been instrumental in achieving this honor and promoting the conservation of monarch butterflies and other pollinators.

“Fort Worth lies in the middle of the Central Monarch Flyway, the critical migratory pathway for the monarch butterfly. Despite its mostly urban environment, Fort Worth is currently providing habitat for monarchs at city parks, schools, backyards and throughout the city to ensure monarch butterflies have enough native habitat to survive,” said Collin O’Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation. “We applaud and thank Mayor Price for taking the National Wildlife Federation’s Mayors’ Monarch Pledge as a Champion City today, and increasing the actions the city will take to help monarch butterflies.”

Price said: “In Fort Worth, we appreciate the beauty that comes with monarchs migrating through our community. As a city that encourages an active and engaged lifestyle for all citizens, we recognize the important role conservation, education and nature plays in overall quality of life. Fort Worth is fortunate to have a community that embraces monarchs and works to preserve our wildlife.”

Jennifer Grissom has been named executive director of Fort Worth Bike Sharing.

Grissom grew up in Fort Worth and stays busy by running, cycling, traveling with her husband and raising a teenager.

One of Grissom’s first tasks will be the introduction of e-assist bikes later this spring. An e-bike system includes some type of small motor that runs the chain wheel.

Across the Fort Worth Bike Sharing system, there are 46 stations and 350 bicycles.

A banana peel, leftover bread and even coffee grounds make great compost. Food scrap composting collection has come to Fort Worth as another way to reduce what goes to the landfill and how much methane goes into the air. The pilot program will allow residents to separate food scraps from trash and help create a beneficial soil nutrient that is better for the environment.

That’s what the City of Fort Worth refers to as rethinking waste — a sustainable movement that helps the city better manage its garbage.

More people in Fort Worth want to do what’s environmentally right and help make the community greener. That means reducing waste, reusing items, recycling more and composting.

The pilot program is available to all Fort Worth residents. An annual fee of $20 provides residents with a starter kit that includes a kitchen countertop pail, a five-gallon sealable bucket, assorted educational materials and a refrigerator magnet detailing what can and cannot be composted.

The $20 fee will be donated to Keep Fort Worth Beautiful for its ongoing programs and activities.

As the kitchen pail fills, transfer composting materials to the five-gallon bucket in your garage, laundry room or other area of your choosing. Once the five-gallon bucket is full, drop off food scraps at one of 10 collection sites across the city.

Only residential food scraps are accepted in the composting pilot program. Most foods can be composted: fruits and vegetables, bread and other baked goods, coffee grounds and filters, tea bags, eggshells, and cooked meats just to mention a few. Items not acceptable for composting: raw meats, gum, fats and oils, pet waste, Styrofoam, plastic packaging, and most nonedible materials.

To learn more, visit the composting program webpage or call 817-392-1234.

Register here: http://fortworthtexas.gov/solidwaste/compost/ 

The City Council has approved Fort Worth’s Active Transportation Plan (PDF File) which focuses on walking (including persons with disabilities) and bicycling, including connectivity between other modes such as vehicles and transit.

The plan integrates and updates previous planning efforts such as the Walk Fort Worth and Bike Fort Worth plans, develops a new Trails Master Plan and provides coordination with the regional Transit Master Plan. The approved plan is a unified citywide transportation network for people who walk and bike, with a coordinated implementation strategy for planning, prioritizing and building improvements.

The Active Transportation Plan is a validation requirement for the Blue Zones Project, a community wide well-being improvement initiative to help make healthy choices easier for everyone in Fort Worth.

To learn more, contact Julia Ryan at 817-392-2593.

Assistant City Manager Valerie R. Washington announced two promotions that will result in a more coordinated structure between the Mayor-Council Office and the City Manager’s Office.

Monica Hamilton has been promoted to a new position, executive general manager for the City Manager’s Office. She has served as deputy chief of staff for the Mayor-Council Office for the past four years, and her breath of knowledge in the City of Fort Worth along with previous municipal management experience is ideal for this role. Her new responsibilities include the administrative management of the offices, budget preparation and management, staff assistance and special projects and coordination between all divisions in the City Manager’s Office.

Chelsea Adler will serve as deputy chief of staff to Mayor and Council. She is looking forward to expanding her role to work with councilmembers on various initiatives as well as furthering her work on many of Mayor Betsy Price’s priorities.

Dear CDA,

As I assume the chair of the Cultural District Alliance, I thought it might be appropriate to introduce myself to you, our members. I first want to thank the exemplary leadership of Max Holderby and of previous chairs. We have seen unprecedented growth in the Cultural District since I first began working in the district, and this organization of members and volunteer leadership has become integral in the success of our neighborhood.

Fort Worth has always been home to me, but being an Air Force brat, it wasn’t until I came to TCU that I finally moved here. Even though I lived all over the world, it was always the Cultural District that I associated with Fort Worth. When we would visit family during the holidays, we would always spend time in the museums and Botanic Gardens. So, when I began working at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, it just felt like home.

I have now been at the Modern for 17 years. In that time, I have watched well over a billion dollars of investment happen in our district (a very conservative estimate). What was once a collection of industrial warehouses, car lots, and the Acme Brick headquarters, now is one of the most vibrant and urban communities in Fort Worth. With all of that growth, we have encountered a long list of challenges, but CDA has always been at the table to ensure our members’ voices are heard.

Despite all of the growth we have experienced, I am regularly reminded that we are by no means finished. We consistently see new building permits filed every month, major transportation projects that effect traffic, mobility, and pedestrian access are being addressed all over the Cultural District, and new facilities like Dickies Arena will energize and engage the western boundaries of our area.

As we continue to grow, CDA will work with our membership on issues that arise. I hope that over the next few months, you will see more opportunities to interact with us and other members at events and public meetings, as well as see this newsletter on a more regular basis where you will find information about some of the varied projects that CDA is working on. And please let us know how we are doing. I look forward to this opportunity to work with everyone.

Best,

Dustin Van Orne

Future Class A Office Space | 464 Bailey Avenue

About the Property

Property to be redeveloped as Class A Boutique Office with views to the east and south of Downtown and the West 7th Corridor and museums.

464 Bailey sits between Bailey Avenue on the east, 4th Street to the south, Hamilton Avenue to the north and Arch Adams Street to the west.

Well situated within the Cultural District, 464 Bailey is adjacent to some of Fort Worth’s most sought after single and multi-family neighborhoods and has immediate access to some of the City’s most touted attractions and developments, making it a prime location to attract and retain a talented workforce.

464 Bailey.pdf

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The Fort Worth Public Library committed in its 2019-2021 strategic plan to reduce barriers to access libraries throughout the city. With that goal in mind, the Library is expanding hours at all locations beginning April 7.

The expanded hours provide an additional 20 hours a week for patrons to visit regional libraries, 14 more hours a week at local branches and an additional eight hours at the Central Library downtown. Colocation branches with Fort Worth Housing Solutions will maintain their current hours of operation.

The Central Library and regional libraries will now be open seven days a week, and all neighborhood branches throughout the city will be open six days a week.

Individuals and families can now enjoy more evening hours. Monday through Thursday, all branches are open until 8 p.m. and until 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Locations with Sunday hours will also be open until 6 p.m.