Business View Civil Municipal - July 2023

226 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 7 safest cities. This is largely attributed to its dedicated and diligent police department. Furthermore, the city has transitioned in the last four years from a volunteer fire department to a full-time team of professional firefighters for enhanced 24/7 emergency response. Revitalizing River Oaks: Embracing growth and entrepreneurship As River Oaks grows, it is committed to maintaining the small-town charm of the community while bringing it back to its full potential. “I think it kind of became a little bit of a sleepy town as everything grew away from the metroplex. Now, all of a sudden people are realizing how great it is to actually be as close to Fort Worth as we actually are. We’re getting some of the people that moved away who are now seeking out neighborhoods like ours. Close enough to the action but still have that small-town feel,” stated Mayor Houk. Houk also noted that the city’s commercial corridor is very small due to land limitations. “We have an eclectic little group of restaurants now. We’ve got a fairly new Italian restaurant, a Mediterranean restaurant, a down-home cooking restaurant, a Chinese restaurant and now Grumps Burgers.” Grumps Burgers is a chain of six restaurants in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Grumps Burgers owner, Collier Albright is confident he made the right decision when opening in River Oaks, one year ago. “Things couldn’t really be better,” he shares. “From the get-go, it’s been a true partnership. Having grown up in and around the west side, I spent a lot of time in River Oaks. I’m very familiar with the town. It’s a little oasis in the Metroplex and certainly in Fort Worth. It’s a step back in time with all the modern amenities, but still the feeling of community. We prefer to be in smaller towns, where there really is a sense of community and a sense of teamwork. I was blown away by the partnership with the town.” As a landlocked city, River Oaks was originally designed as a bedroom community, supporting the Naval Joint Reserve Base which houses “We have our own water system here in River Oaks, and we are totally renovating the clarifier and rebuilding our filters and the plant itself. The streets are nowhere near complete, but that is our next goal.” said Gregory. River Oaks is also in collaboration with TxDot addressing drainage issues and is actively involved in implementing fiber optics for improved internet connectivity. As far as safety in the River Oaks community it has earned recognition as one of Texas’s