Here are some photos from today’s excursion on Seattle’s South Lake Union Streetcar. Here, we’re boarding at one of the stops.

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For those of you who don’t read both West & Clear and my other little baby, Fort Worthology, here’s a summary of what you missed whilst cruelly stomping on my heart with your steel-toed Ignore Boots. C’mon, baby - Fort Worthology loves you like a kitten, too.

• A link to an old ’70s plan to extend the Leonard’s/Tandy Center subway
• A note that the Museum Place development marches onwards with the closing and imminent demolition of J & J’s Hideaway
• A post about Agricultural Urbanism - techniques for integrating food-growing into a dense, walkable environment
• A video from the CNU showing how walkable neighborhoods help reduce energy use and pollution
• Another one of my laments (collect the whole set) about the closed and decaying Heritage Park downtown
• Some updated site plans for the West 7th development
• A note about the Downtown Design Review Board’s half-approval of new lighting for the Texas & Pacific train station/lofts
• A request for information on vacant lots for sale in Fairmount

As reported onFort Worthology, the large metal poles which once held a billboard at the Cultural District intersection of 7th, Camp Bowie, University, and Bailey but which were stripped clean and bent over by the 2000 tornado are at last being reinstalled in front of the new Museum Place Post Office. Reader Jeff W. sent me this shot of the reinstallation underway now.

The poles will form the centerpiece of a new public plaza in front of the Post Office. The front wall of the building itself (seen in the photo covered in white Tyvek wrap) will be covered by ceramic tiles with a large mural of a thunderstorm crossing the prairie, along with the words “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” The Post Office and the plaza are both still under construction as part of the big Museum Place development.

Personally, I’m very happy to see the distinctive poles reinstalled as a piece of public art. They are an incredible reminder of the power of nature (don’t forget, they were bent simply by the force of wind) and an eye-catching landmark for the rapidly redeveloping Cultural District. It’s great to see a bit of the area’s history brought back as a centerpiece of a development that points towards its future.

So sayeth the North Central Texas Council Of Governments (NCTCOG):

After years of rapid home-building north of Loop 820, Fort Worth’s population has reached 702,850, according to estimates released Thursday by the North Central Texas Council of Governments.

What I find interesting is this tidbit:

It’s a milestone — the city has more than 700,000 residents for the first time — but it’s tempered by indications that some people are shifting away from buying new homes in outlying neighborhoods and toward apartment rentals in Dallas.

Fort Worth added 16,000 residents — 3,850 fewer than Dallas, which has more apartments available and a more mature urban transit core.

I’ve been expecting news to eventually surface that the big urban living boom in Dallas would be a boost to their growth like this. While we’ve been doing some tremendous infill development in urban Fort Worth, I have a feeling we’ll be seeing a lot more to come as demand for central city living draws more interest to new residents. And I have a feeling the emphasis on condos over rental apartments that has been big here for a while will shift back towards rental for this very reason. The several hundred new apartments being built on 7th Street now (yes, the vast majority of units on 7th under construction are not pricey condos but actually rental apartments) along with the several hundred about to get underway at Trinity Bluff will likely set the tone for the near future. Already, there are plans for big urban apartment infill projects being talked about in the Near Southside.

The other issue mentioned is transit. We’ve got more on the way, and more planned - in today’s world, I’m betting they’ll become big draws if we can get them built as we wish.

It’s been a while since the last time I did one of these big development roundups, so let’s do another one, covering the current hotbed of activity - the 7th Street corridor between downtown and the museums. A lot has changed since the last time I wrote about these developments, so let’s dive right in.

Museum Place is really making significant strides in construction these days. The area around the development is a world of torn-up pavement, orange cones, fences, and cranes as work steadily moves from the big 7th/University/Camp Bowie/Bailey intersection back into the neighborhood.

Above, the big building of the development, One Museum Place, is getting more glass installed as its facade installation continues. This building will be home to ground-level retail, office space, and condos on the upper two floors.

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Another week of posts at West & Clear’s sister site Fort Worthology, and it’s been a busy week in Fort Worth urban development. Here’s some of what’s been going on since last Thursday:

• Another building falls to the Museum Place development - now they’re making way for the Aloft Hotel on Arch Adams between 7th & Camp Bowie.
• So7’s Shops & Lofts are moving ahead at a good clip.
• I took a look at the loft apartments in the Kress Building downtown.
• Finally, I wrote a big roundup on the status of various bits of the Trinity River Vision.

After all the ruckus surrounding Whole Foods - will they come to Fort Worth or not, and where will that be? Will it be urban? - I decided to just head straight to the source. So, at long last, I am proud to announce that I have the final word on Whole Foods in Fort Worth.

Whole Foods is building a Fort Worth location. It will be located on the Southwest Parkway at Edwards Ranch Road. It’s going to be approximately 55,000 square feet. Since they’re not only waiting on the Edwards Ranch development as a whole, but also getting the roads themselves to be built, they are estimating that they will begin construction in late 2010.

I’m a bit disappointed that they’re coming in so far from the central city, and in what looks to be a fairly suburban fashion. Y’all know me, after all, and that I’m Mr. Urban Development. I’m not a fan of the Southwest Parkway, either. Still, we now have genuine confirmation from the source that Whole Foods is on their way, eventually.

So, now I’ll be hoping that a store like Sprouts, Trader Joe’s, or Tesco Fresh & Easy builds in the urban heart of the city.

UPDATE: It would appear that I have fallen to an April Fool’s joke.