Fort Worth Weekly - News, Entertainment, Restaurants, Music

Critic's choice: Oak Grove Park, Lake Grapevine 2500 Dove Loop Rd, Grapevine

If you're a runner, you'll find paradise on the trails that run around Lake Grapevine. Long stretches of hills, plus a killer view of the lake and docks, make for a great workout and a relaxing break from the concrete city.

Place to Take Your Kids

Readers' choice: Fort Worth Zoo

Urban Digs

Readers' choice: Montgomery Plaza, 2600 W 7th St, FW

Critic's choice: Miller Lofts, 311 Bryan St, FW

Real estate developer Eddie Vanston has done some great historic restoration of old apartments on the near South Side (Markeen, Lueda-May, LaSalle, Sawyer Grocery), but his latest is the best. Vanston has converted the 1910 Miller Manufacturing Building into 15 loft apartments. And these are real lofts, with 16-foot ceilings, concrete floors, and open space. As he has done in the past, Vanston bypasses expensive housing and goes with mid-market rates, with rents ranging from $850 to $1,600 a month.

Graphic Designer

Critic's choice: Pussyhouse Propaganda

Maybe it's because they don't advertise. Maybe it's because their projects fall less on the side of corporate parties and more on the side of local shows and charity events. Maybe it's because they'd rather find a way to combine Evel Kneivel and a map of Mordor than put your real estate company's logo on a koozie. Regardless, Pussyhouse continues to be funny, edgy, and antipathetic to what a graphic design firm is supposed to be, and that's why we like 'em best.

Place to Study

Readers' choice: Fort Worth Botanic Garden

Critic's choice: Southwest Regional Library, 4001 Library Lane, FW

In its predictably quiet atmosphere, you can set up camp at one of the many available tables and count on being undisturbed. Bring your laptop and use the free Wi-Fi or be even more radical and use those traditional library resources - books!

Urban Development/Smart Growth

Readers' choice: Fort Worth South

Critic's choice: West 7th Street

When Dallas-based Cypress Equities bought all that property in the West 7th Street corridor several years ago, some worried about what would go in there. But Cypress has been smart about it. Though still under construction, the development mixes apartments with a movie theater with a bowling alley with office space and restaurants. Some say it's a little too high-end, but it does create a place where folks can live, work, eat, shop, and party without hopping in their cars.

Example of New Architecture

Readers' choice: Omni Hotel, 1300 Houston St, FW

Critic's choice: Villa de Leon, 500 Samuels Av, FW

So garish it's lovable. Only in conservative Fort Worth could someone get away with erecting what's effectively a six-story wall on the banks of a downtown river. Designed by Ames Fender and located on the Trinity Bluff, Villa de Leon has a flat neoclassical façade that calls to mind Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, one of the kitschiest, coolest buildings in the country. However, you'd have to be as rich as Caesar to live in one of Villa de Leon's 23 luxury condos.

Rebirth/Relocation/Re-opening

Readers' choice: (tie) Aventino Ristorante, 3206 Winthrop Av, FW; Domain XCIV, 3100 W 7th St, Ste 112, FW

Critic's choice: Museum Place

As recently as two years ago, the West 7th Street/Camp Bowie Boulevard intersection was a boring collection of benighted storefronts. Thanks to some prescient developers, the area may soon rival Sundance Square for shopping and ambiance. The development's architectural crown jewel is by James Harwick + Partners. A corner building sheathed in glass, it cuts through the visual clutter like a knife.

Public Art

Readers' choice: "Avenue of Light," by Cliff Garten, Lancaster Avenue

Critic's choice: "Chroma Refraction," by David Keens, North Park YMCA, 9100 N Beach St, Keller

Consisting of several dozen vibrant blown-glass amoeba shapes suspended from the ceiling and right below a natural-light well, the UTA professor's project is buoyant and enchanting - if a bit unnerving - as if a school of celestial, DayGlo jellyfish were about to plop down on you. The piece, commissioned by Fort Worth Public Art, is one of several new, outstanding pieces of public art throughout the city that stand to transform our town into a world-class metropolis.

Place to Skateboard

Readers' choice: Trinity Park

Critic's choice: Like, wherever, man

Skateboarders know the best places to freestyle are the forbidden ones: sidewalks, buildings with steep guardrails, drainage ditches, places perfect for skating but often off-limits. "The best place to skate is the terrain that you find on your own, a private spot," said local skateboarder Greg Stubbs.

Example of Public Architecture

Readers' choice: Ella Mae Shamblee Branch Library

Critic's choice: Parking in Color, 1201 Houston St, FW

Form meets function in artist Christopher Janney's $25 million parking garage for the Fort Worth Convention Center. Each corner of the 11-story building is sheathed in multicolored glass. Plus, sounds endemic to Fort Worth, from avant-garde jazz to the ramble of a livestock auctioneer, emanate from speakers on each floor, entertaining motorists while helping to orient them.