Residents, workers doubt open container ban will have notable impact on West 7th safety
Residents, employees and visitors in the West 7th entertainment district have differing views on safety in the neighborhood as the Fort Worth City Council prepares to vote on a proposed open container ban in the area.
Crime in the West 7th area went up 15%, including an 8% increase in public intoxication arrests, in the first 10 months of 2022, according to a city report.
City officials say a ban on open alcohol containers on West 7th district streets, which the council is scheduled to vote on Tuesday, should cut down on underage drinking in an area where concerns about safety have become part of the public conversation.
While Texas law doesn’t explicitly ban public consumption of alcohol, it does allow cities to ban open containers in “central business districts,” defined as places where at least 90% of the land is zoned for commercial purposes. The proposed ban would include Crockett Row, the Montgomery Plaza shopping center, and an area between University Drive and Carroll Street with West Fifth Street as the northern boundary, according to a map in the city report. It would only apply to city streets and sidewalks. Drinking in bars and restaurants would still be allowed.
In May, a man opened fire outside Varsity Tavern, sending two people to the hospital, according to police. The accused shooter was killed in a quadruple homicide in October.
In June, a woman reported she was raped in the West 7th district. A 24-year-old man has been arrested and charged with the sexual assault.
Despite the area’s concentration of bars and nightclubs, most of the crimes in the West 7th district are committed outside drinking establishments by young adults between the ages of 18 and 20, Fort Worth Assistant Police Chief Robert Alldredge told the City Council last Tuesday.
On weekends, fights regularly break out in the streets, generally after the bars close. Most seem to end quickly without any report to police about the altercation.
Some residents of the apartments in the West 7th district, like Sherry Akin, said they feel safe.
Akin, who has lived in the area for a little more than a year, said she regularly goes out to walk her dog late at night. An open container ban, she said, feels silly.
“That’s one of the reasons a lot of people come here,” she said.
Brian Brown, another resident in the area, said he feels like the area is generally safe but does occasionally hear gunshots or police sirens in the area. He doesn’t go out for a walk too late at night. He’s not convinced an open container ban would make any difference with that.
“It feels like it’s security theater more than anything,” Brown said. “Like it’s just for show.”
Jarin Garza, a bouncer at Kung Fu Saloon, disagrees. He said he’s seen the area grow less safe in the past year or so, and is ready for anything that could help reduce risks of violence or excessive rowdiness.
Garza said he thinks an open container ban could mean fewer underage people in the area drinking. He said they’re the ones who cause a lot of the problems.
He thinks bars in the district taking a more active role in safety would have more impact on the area than an open container ban, but figures the ban would be a step in the right direction.
“I don’t want to blame certain bars, but some of them aren’t really doing their part to keep this area safe,” Garza said. “Some of these bars don’t seem to care too much about underage drinking, and a lot of them need to normalize pat-downs and using the metal detector wand.”
Julia Breeland, a bartender who works at a couple of different watering holes in the area, said she doesn’t feel like the West 7th district is nearly as safe as it should be. She’s been groped and grabbed at and always asks a coworker to walk with her when she leaves work.
An open container ban could be a good thing if it’s enforced, she said, but she isn’t counting on it.
“I don’t think it’ll make anything safer because cops won’t enforce it,” Breeland said. “It would be nice if they did. Might make it safer, would definitely make the area prettier.”
She said the entertainment district is regularly littered with empty liquor bottles and beer cans after the bars close and the streets clear on weekend nights.
Some people visiting West 7th said they feel safe most of the time when they’re there.
Cryssie Brooks was out Thursday night for dinner at Chimy’s, a bar and Tex-Mex restaurant in the district. After dinner, she said she questioned whether it would be safe to go for a walk but decided she would be fine.
“It has a reputation of being a little dangerous sometimes,” Brooks said. “But it’s still nothing as bad as Deep Ellum.”
This article includes information from the Star-Telegram’s archives.
This story was originally published November 8, 2022 at 5:30 AM.