The ACE District, block by block

ACE stands for Arts, Culture and Entertainment, which is what the city decided downtown would be back when it was mostly empty storefronts. It worked better than anyone expected. Texas Avenue is three blocks now that feel like a town, and this is what's on them.

Texas Avenue, west end. Where the avenue starts to feel like itself. Art Alley is the painted passage between buildings — murals on both walls, lit at night, ten minutes and the photo everyone takes. The galleries and the Art Center are here or a block off; the shows rotate and the calendar has them. This is the quiet end during the day and the walking end at night.

Texas Avenue, the middle block. The eating block. Bocanegra's at 214 West Texas Avenue — the Tex-Mex place the town adopted fastest — is the anchor here, and the reason the line spills onto the sidewalk on a Market Saturday. Storefronts that turn over — a boutique, a barber, a shop that's new this year — and the empty one that won't be empty long. The Market at Town Square spills into this block on its Saturday.

Texas Avenue, east end, and Town Square. Town Square is the civic living room: the pavilion, the lawn, the tree in December, the Market on the third Saturday from ten to two, the Pre-Grito Party on the Friday night, and the parade route on its day. Grito Fest itself is at Bicentennial Park. The Baytown Little Theater is nearby and has been putting on a season longer than most of the businesses have existed. City Hall is a short walk; the District 4 listening tour is December 1.

North Main, the cross street. Turn north and it's the other half of the evening. The Dirty Daiquiri at 2007 North Main for the town's own drink — this is the block that made downtown a night out instead of a lunch. Heart and Whisk at 4618 North Main, further up, for the morning after. The live-music bar people think of as downtown, The Chute, is actually out on Garth; the bowling-and-games place, Hooky, is on the I-10 side. Downtown's night is smaller than the internet says, and better for it.

Parking, honestly. Free and on-street every day but the three big ones — Market Saturday, Grito Fest, the Christmas parade — when you park at Lee College and walk ten minutes. The Town Square lot fills by 10:30 on a Market Saturday.

What it isn't yet. A daytime district. At two on a Tuesday the avenue is quiet; the evening economy came back before the afternoon one. Watch the empty storefront; watch the San Jacinto Marketplace out on Garth, which will either pull energy away or push it downtown depending on what opens there.

En español. El Distrito ACE es el centro de Baytown: Texas Avenue con Art Alley y Bocanegra's; Town Square con el mercado del tercer sábado (10 a 2) y la fiesta previa al Grito Fest (el Grito Fest en sí es en Bicentennial Park); North Main con el Dirty Daiquiri y, más arriba, Heart and Whisk. Estacionamiento gratis en la calle, excepto los tres grandes días.