Hey Westoplexians,

It's been a dry one. We're deep into a stretch with no real rain, wildfire smoke drifted in from Palo Pinto County, and even my flower beds look personally offended at me. Dry spells have a way of showing you what actually has roots, though - this week a 40-year-old bowling alley on Oakmont couldn't hang on, but a Tex-Mex spot that's been slinging margaritas since 2001 held its ground, and a cowboy showed up in the Stockyards with a mechanical bull and zero fear of round two.

Here's what caught my eye this week.

-josh

Cityview Lanes, the 64-lane bowling center at 6601 Oakmont Blvd, has abruptly closed after four decades in the neighborhood. It opened back in 1986 as Don Carter's Cityview before eventually becoming Cityview Lanes, and generations of leagues, birthday parties, and Friday night dates walked through those doors.

There wasn't a big send-off. A message on the alley's website simply said that as of August 26, the property had been sold to a private investment group - thanks for the patronage, that's it. The North Texas chapter of the U.S. Bowling Congress put it better than I could, calling it "more than just a bowling center... a home to leagues, tournaments, friendships, celebrations and countless memories."

I've been watching the whole Oakmont/Overton Ridge stretch grow for a while now, and this is the kind of thing that happens when land gets valuable - and it’s sad seeing the old anchors go. Worth a longer look at what's actually happening in that corridor one of these weeks.

That's 64 lanes of muscle memory gone in about the time it takes to bowl a game. Somebody just picked up some very expensive real estate.

🎳 Source: RePlay Magazine | Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Rio Mambo closed its Burleson, Colleyville, and Weatherford locations this week, leaving exactly one restaurant standing in the whole chain - the original at 6125 SW Loop 820, tucked into Cityview Centre right off Bryant Irvin.

That original location opened on September 11, 2001, ran under founder Brent Johnson for 22 years, and got sold off to California-based Xperience Restaurant Group in 2023. It's that same company's financial troubles that apparently just cost three of its own Rio Mambo satellites their doors - the Colleyville spot was locked out twice in the same week before finally going dark for good.

Maybe there's something to be said for the original always being the one people stay loyal to. Four locations shrank down to one, and it just happens to be the one people actually drive to.

The one on Bryant Irvin is still standing, still pouring margaritas, still doing Sunday brunch. Go say hi to it.

We enjoyed the Weatherford location when we lived there - and still frequented it for Chamber of Commerce events and business lunches when I was in town. The staff really cared about being a good spot. Breaks my heart seeing good workers impacted by situations outside of their control. Owners aren’t the only ones who take a risk in a business…

🍹 Source: Hoodline | Community Impact

Rocker Steiner - the reigning World Champion Bareback Rider, a guy who gets paid to get thrown off animals - just opened a bar. RCKR Roadhouse celebrated its grand opening this month at 302 W. Exchange Ave, right in the heart of the Stockyards, complete with a mechanical bull, rodeo streaming on the TVs, and full honky-tonk energy.

Business ownership runs in the family - his people also run the Steiner Ranch Steakhouse overlooking Lake Travis in Austin - so this isn't exactly a stretch for him. Still, there's something a little funny about a man whose entire career is voluntarily getting bucked off livestock deciding his next chapter involves a mechanical one, indoors, with a bar attached.

The Stockyards aren't slowing down either - mark your calendar for September 13, when NBC 5, Telemundo 39, and the Stockyards Business Association host a Fiestas Patrias celebration for Mexican Independence Day right there in the district.

Two new reasons to end up down at the Stockyards this month. I'm not mad about it.

🤠 Source: Sports Illustrated | NBC 5 DFW

Heads up before November: Tarrant County Commissioners Court voted this week to approve 224 Election Day polling sites for this fall's election, down from 316 in the 2022 midterms. That's 92 fewer places to cast a ballot, plus early voting sites dropping from 50 to 47.

The vote was 3-2, straight down party lines. County Judge Tim O'Hare and Commissioners Matt Krause and Manny Ramirez, all Republicans, voted for the smaller list. Commissioners Alisa Simmons and Roderick Miles Jr., both Democrats, voted against it and had pushed to restore several of the cut sites, including ones at UTA and two Tarrant County College campuses. County election officials pointed to cost and lower turnout at some locations as the reasoning; the vote followed an eight-hour meeting with more than 100 people signed up to speak, most of them against the cuts.

I'm not going to tell you how to feel about the number - that's yours to sort out. What I do want to make sure you've got is the practical part: Tarrant County runs countywide Vote Centers, meaning you can vote at any open location on Election Day, not just one assigned to you. With sites shifting for November, it's worth double-checking your usual spot is still on the list before you head out.

🗳️ Find current polling locations → Tarrant County Elections 📰 Source: Fort Worth Report | Texas Tribune

Given everything above, here's the homeowner tie-in: the clay soil under most of the Westoplex is "expansive," meaning it swells when it's wet and shrinks when it's bone dry. That shrinking is exactly what causes sticky doors, cracked drywall, and - worst case - real foundation movement. If you're seeing those signs and you're not running a soaker hose or drip line along your foundation right now, you need to start.

The short version: place the hose 12 to 18 inches out from the slab (not directly against it), run it for 30 to 45 minutes a few times a week, early morning is best. If you want to get technical about it, stick a screwdriver in the dirt near your foundation - if it won't go in more than an inch or two without a fight, that soil's telling you something. Worth checking with your specific water provider too, since some restrictions treat drip/soaker systems differently than sprinklers.

Sticky doors aren't a haunted house. It's just Texas dirt doing what Texas dirt does when nobody's paying attention to it.

💧 Source: My Blog | Atlas Foundation Repair | Level Up Construction

Fort Worth Botanic Garden members are getting first access to the new Baker Martin Family Garden starting this fall - the two-acre kids' and families' expansion that's been under construction since its groundbreaking back in November 2024.

It's the first major expansion to the Botanic Garden in nearly 20 years, and the details are worth the wait: a 150-foot shallow creek for safe wading, a "Texas pond" stocked for frogs, fish, and dragonflies, and eleven separate interactive nature zones designed by a firm that's built more than 25 of these gardens around the country. Public opening is set for March 2027.

Maybe the best sign of confidence is that they're letting members in first - always a good tell when the people who already love a place get first dibs. For move-up families thinking about where they want to put down roots in this city, a two-acre outdoor space built specifically for kids is exactly the kind of thing that tips the scale.

Something to look forward to once the leaves turn - and something worth an early-fall visit even before the ribbon officially drops.

🌿 Source: Fort Worth Botanic Garden

An hour west of us, the Ross Fire is still burning. It started as an 80-acre blaze along Highway 180 in Palo Pinto County on August 24, and ten days later it's an estimated 90,400 acres and 38% contained - the second-largest wildfire in North Texas history, and it's not finished yet.

The numbers are hard to sit with: 157 structures destroyed, another 140 damaged, though crews have managed to save 453 more. Nearly 450 firefighters have been working it around the clock, cutting containment lines through six-foot chaparral and steep, rocky terrain that's made the job even harder. This week investigators finally determined a cause - it was human-caused, tied to equipment or vehicle use along the road, though they couldn't pin down the exact source. Not lightning. Not something anyone could've done much about after the fact, just before.

Palo Pinto isn't technically the Westoplex, but it's close enough that the smoke has been visible from parts of Fort Worth, and it's burning in the exact same bone-dry conditions sitting over all our yards right now. Different degree, same problem. Keep Palo Pinto and Jack counties in your thoughts this week - and if you've got a way to help, the Forest Service and local county pages are the place to check.

🔥 Source: Texas A&M Forest Service (InciWeb) | KERA News | CBS Texas

Fun fact for the week: back in 1873, a Dallas lawyer wrote a snarky newspaper column claiming Fort Worth was so dead and quiet that he'd seen a panther asleep, undisturbed, right in the middle of Main Street. It was meant as an insult about a town everyone thought was going under. Fort Worth's response wasn't to get defensive about it - the local paper's editor just put a panther on the masthead and leaned all the way in. A hundred and fifty years later, we've got panther statues downtown and it's on the police badge. Sometimes the thing that's supposed to knock you down is just the thing you end up building an identity around.

That's the week in Fort Worth. As always, if you have questions about the market, want a free home value estimate, or just want to know what's happening in your neighborhood - I'm one reply away.

See you next week,

Josh Harville
Real Estate Professional | Fathom Realty, LLC | SA-0682306 Westoplex Region: Fort Worth · Aledo · Weatherford · Benbrook & surrounding communities
📞 817-917-8923
✉️ [email protected]
🌐 http://joshuaharville.fathomrealty.com/
Instagram: @Westoplex_Harville
Facebook: Josh Harville - Realtor - Fathom Realty

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