14
Lifestyle
McAllen is going through a rebirth of sorts. The old stucco buildings that used to be flower shops and 99-cent stores are being gutted and renovated into bars, music venues and restaurants. Seventeenth Street is quickly becoming the new playground for the city. Some liken it to a miniaturized version of Austin’s Sixth Street, others see it as a detriment to the city -- a row of “cantinas, not bars.” McAllen’s Heart of the City Improvement Corporation, a not-for-profit organization that is seeking to create an “entertainment, arts, retail and urban living district,” according to Joe Rodriguez, Executive Director for Heart of the City. The renovation of 17th Street occurring downtown is largely
money, about two or three times a week to a bar or two with friends. Some people consider it a small Sixth Street, but I don’t really think so. I can see how it’s similar, but Sixth Street is a lot larger, I don’t think McAllen’s going for that.” Heart of the City did look to Austin’s Sixth Street -- a street located in downtown Austin that is known as the live music capital of the world (filled with music venues and bars) -- when initially planning for 17th Street. “We did look at Austin, but McAllen isn’t a college town; not like Austin is. We have Pan Am and STC [South Texas College], but they’re not major colleges, they’re smaller, the demographic that would hit Sixth Street is much different
“If McAllen is going for a family oriented place downtown, they’re not really going in the right direction. A lot of the people who go downtown are young and some of the places end up kind of ghetto,” said Moreno. “But it all depends on where you go, and it’s like that anywhere you go, even in Austin … I like what’s going on downtown. There aren’t a lot of places people can go just to hang out and do something, and you can do that now downtown.” Alamia and Rodriguez agree with Moreno. Rodriguez said that the area is still finding its identity. “All of the venues are pieces in a puzzle. Everyone has their place, and you can’t single one out and say we want
"I like what's going on downtown. There aren't a lot of places people can go just to hang out and do something, and you can do that now downtown." -Patty moreno due to their pursuits of both public and private interests. “I have already created an entertainment district, housing 37 venues. They’re bars, grills, lounges, music venues, things like that,” Rodriguez said. “Our job at Heart of the City is to make sure that everything is done properly.” Before this reinvention, the downtown area was largely a “center where the general public could come and shop,” according to Raquel Reynoso, Notary Public and owner of Raquel’s Notary Public, across the street from The Gallery Bar. Many of the stores were discount stores or flower shops, a slew of small businesses where people shopping on a budget could come. “If I went downtown, it was to go buy a prom dress, or if someone in my family was having a wedding,” said Patty Moreno, senior theatre performance major at the University of Texas-Pan American. “I never really knew it as a place to hang out unless I was coming to Hermes Music. Now, I don’t really come to shop, I just come, if I have
than the one that would come to 17th Street,” Rodriguez said. “We’re going for the 25 and up crowd, and many of the businesses down here cater to professionals like lawyers, politicians, doctors, pharmaceutical reps. When I was a student, I had to live on a budget, we’re not focused on a young crowd.” McAllen’s entertainment district has quickly become a hot spot, and even though the initial planning for the district was geared towards slightly older than college aged professionals, many of the patrons of bars end up being slightly younger than that. “You have some young people come in, and families, and professionals, it just depends. We get a little bit of everything. Most of them are Hispanic. We play Mexican music, mariachis are here on the weekend,” said Anthony Alamia, chef at Hacienda 17, a restaurant brought in during the renovation. Some feel that the direction of downtown is nearsighted, despite its appeal to a younger audience.
your crowd and then not allow another,” Rodriguez said. “Downtown is filled with different kinds of venues; we have a curandera, a tattoo shop, restaurants, bars. Many of the venues are still trying to figure out who they are, one day they focus on attracting this audience, and then they change something, and a different audience comes.” However, even among those who like the development, some patrons still feel that there are aspects of 17th Street that Heart of the City could improve on. “I like this area, it reminds me a lot of Sixth Street, my only complaint is that they need to close down the street already like they do in Austin. It’s safer,” Alamia said. “Any business that brings in more money to the area is good for the area.” But some of the current tenants are dissatisfied altogether with the development of the downtown area. “The city took out the renters and everything is being turned into a bar. I don’t like that. I have been here for 18 years, and now it’s a street of cantinas, not (cont’d on page 148)