I get the concern, but restaurants are a destination. All the people in Southside, Arlington, and, I suspect, most of downtown drive now to eat, so I can easily see them driving downtown if the food is good.
It works for the Southbank.
Good point, and I hope you're right. Is there enough of a market for diners to make the trip into town, particularly with all the offerings the St. John's Town Center has brought to the region? At least most of these new restaurants have solid ownership and stellar reputations behind them so that's a plus.
I wouldn't be too concerned about it. I saw Tampa's Ybor City go from virtual abandonment to +20 continuous blocks of dining, boutique retail and entertainment uses in the 1990s. The clustering of complimentary uses results in the area becoming a regional draw.
That's why I really like the idea of The Elbow or whatever you want to call that collection of bars and restaurants off Bay St (not a big fan of the name, but oh well...branding). But even though the area around it is not so grand (and that's changing) they have the advantage of greater cruise passengers, more conventioneers, year-round vacationers, and having a unique romanticized history helping it be the draw that it is. If only we could have the other pieces fall into place like Laura St. Trio, FSCJ housing, Landing redevelopment, etc. along with the growing DT dining scene, it could easily have Ybor City's vibrancy.
It just seems there's such a fine line between becoming another Ybor City or another Channelside.