I have heard the restoration is pretty close to the original but just doesn't look right to me. I hate that they changed the name of historic Front Street to Wyatt Earp Blvd.
ah, good old dodge city!
you'd love what they've done to the place...hehe
Boot Hill is still there, but it's something like 20 bucks just to enter it, it's incredibly cheesy and tourism has dropped considerably.
Meanwhile the downtown and front street area next to Boot Hill is now a latino market. The Guatemalans and Ecuadorans have shops and tiendas but they fight with the Mexicans and the Hondurans over the retail space...
East side is run by a combination of 3 latino gangs, while the south side is controlled by the Redneck meth dealers. normal folks are increasingly confined in their middle class ghettoes. A late night run to the Super Duper Mega-Lo Wal Mart on 14th is a risky proposition....
Infrastructure is in complete disrepair, and when I was there last Christmas, it looked like a cross between Baghdad and Mexico City.
Most of the small manufacturing has long since shut down or left for mexico, and industry has been replaced by not 1, not 2, but 3 meat packing plants. Half the town works in the plants, and consequently half the town is spanish only and new immigrants.
It's kinda interesting, I still have relatives there and my little niece in 4th grade is fluent in english and spanish, but she can only read in spanish....as that is what most of the elementary schools focus on, with about 80% of the kids from spanish only households. On the other hand, you've never had better Mexican food. The Honduran and Guatemalan restaurants aren't bad either. Also, The Teinda's and mercados that have sprung up are good places to shop, you'll always find something interesting.Freshly cut goat meat anyone?
On the down side, Dodge City has the name recognition that they could easily capitalize on but they don't. Instead they focus on bringing more low wage meat factories.