COWTOWN TAPPING INTO VAQUERO ROOTS
Fort Worth: 3 major developments target Hispanic population
By Jeff Mosier, THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS

Tourism marketers boast that Fort Worth is the city of "cowboys and culture."

But Rosa Navejar, president of the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, has a question. "If you look at history, who taught the cowboys?" she asked. "Vaqueros."

The steady growth in Cowtown's Latino population, which has doubled since 1990, has developers embracing a New West that looks a lot like the Old West.

At least three major Hispanic-themed retail projects are planned or in the works, each in neighborhoods that have struggled to attract development in recent decades.

The $4 million Mexican-style Mercado on North Main Street is mostly finished, and the city is looking for a buyer. The city took over the project, inspired by San Antonio's market, when the original developer was unable to raise private funds to complete what was started with government secured loans.

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