Deep Ellum at a Crossroads

This article was originally published August 21st, 2025.

Deep Ellum has always been more than a neighborhood—it’s a heartbeat of Dallas. Founded 152 years ago, the area has grown into a cultural hot spot with more than 100 bars and restaurants and over 25 live music venues. On any given night, locals and visitors alike can be found crowding its patios, stages, and sidewalks.

But lately, Deep Ellum’s vibrancy has been clouded by rising crime, disruptive construction, and a wave of closures. Many business owners say they’re feeling squeezed between the need for safety and the financial realities of running late-night establishments.

A Summer of Violence

This summer has been particularly difficult. Late-night violence between midnight and 3 a.m. has escalated to the point of tragedy. On July 5, a fight in a parking lot ended with five people shot and 22-year-old Caylen Fritz losing his life. Two other shootings in June also rocked the neighborhood, leaving another person dead.

In response, the City of Dallas imposed a weekend curfew three weeks ago. Streets now close at 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays—meant to control crowds but, for businesses, a devastating blow.

“Street closures will continue to be implemented on Friday and Saturday nights at 10 p.m. for the foreseeable future,” confirmed Jonathan Maner of Dallas Police Department Media Relations.

The move echoes 2019, when similar street closures were rolled out. But many business owners argue the strategy does little to curb violence while cutting into their bottom line.

Business Owners Push Back

At a late July meeting with City Council Member Jesse Moreno, owners voiced their concerns. Suggestions included hiring outside consultants with experience managing busy entertainment districts and exploring alternatives to curfews.

If we were forced to close at midnight, we would either have to completely close our business or restructure it.

Allen Falkner of The Nines

For many restaurants and bars, especially smaller ones, that late-night window between midnight and 2 a.m. can mean the difference between profit and loss. Cutting it off, they say, only accelerates closures in a neighborhood already struggling to keep its identity.

Rodeo Dallas and the Question of “Problem Bars”

The most high-profile closure so far has been Rodeo Dallas, which remains shut down amid legal disputes. The bar is fighting claims that it has become a hub for crime, with court testimony linking it to five shootings and four murders since March.

While property owners Asana Partners argue the bar is a public nuisance, neighboring club owners—including those at Club Dada—say Rodeo isn’t solely to blame. Still, city officials believe specific establishments have played a role in the rise of violence.

“I feel that if we don’t take action, we will see dozens of other businesses close if we don’t change the trajectory of what is going on at certain establishments in Deep Ellum,” Moreno told Fox 4.

Rodeo has also been in a steep uphill battle with its landlords, which led to club owners being locked out of the building at the top of the month.

The fate of Rodeo Dallas will be decided later this month, but its case underscores broader tensions: how much responsibility should individual businesses bear for crime trends in the district?

Residents Caught in the Middle

While nightlife dominates headlines, Deep Ellum is also home to thousands of residents. For them, the construction and street closures have added daily frustrations.

One Deep Ellum resident, who asked not to be named, described the toll:

“The construction and ongoing violence in Deep Ellum every weekend has really put me in a weird space. I feel like every time I go downstairs there’s something going on. There’s always traffic, and it’s not easy for residents to get home in the evenings after a long day at work.”

Others have reported an increase in car break-ins since foot-traffic-only weekends began, suggesting unintended consequences of the city’s safety measures.

Local businesses are also feeling the construction crunch. At The Weed Spot, employees said foot traffic has dropped significantly, made worse by the lack of notice they received from the city before work began.

A Changing Landscape

Since 2020, more than a dozen bars and restaurants have shuttered in Deep Ellum. Some closures, like The Green Room, were tied to concerns about gentrification and changing demographics. Others, such as Harper’s and Anvil Pub, cited shifting foot traffic and rising costs. Even when venues reopen elsewhere, like HIDE’s move to North Greenville, longtime patrons say it “isn’t the same.”

The cumulative effect has left Deep Ellum feeling less like the rowdy, eclectic neighborhood many Dallasites grew up with, and more like an uncertain experiment in urban management.

Finding a Path Forward

Amid the challenges, the Deep Ellum Foundation insists it is doubling down on safety. “If something happens here, people are going to want to see that’s addressed quickly and effectively,” said executive director Stephanie Keller Hudiburg.

The Foundation has even urged the public to contribute to safety measures such as the SeeSay app, which allows data gathering on local disturbances.

Meanwhile, August 20 marked the deadline business owners set for the city to make some much needed, tangible changes or see Rodeo Dallas permanently closed for good.

But many in the community believe safety cannot come at the cost of the district’s character. Deep Ellum has always thrived on energy, diversity, and late-night culture. Stripping those away risks undermining the very identity that draws people there in the first place.

As the city, police, business owners, and residents search for solutions, one truth remains: Deep Ellum’s future is once again at a crossroads. Whether it emerges as a safer, reimagined nightlife hub or loses more of the institutions that made it famous will depend on the choices made in the months ahead.

DW’s Culture Contributor Reagan Elam contributed to the reporting for this story.

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