Kern Place - Today

Today

Kern Place is extremely popular with college and university students. The area is known for its glitzy entertainment district, restaurants and coffee shops who cater to both business patrons and university students. After UTEP's basketball and football games, UTEP fans pack the Kern Place area for food and entertainment.

Kern Place contains Cincinnati Street a small bar district, with bars including Hemingway's, Crawdaddy's, GeoGeske (G2), Cincinnati Street Bar, Loft Bar, Mini Bar, Marco Polo Dive Bar, and Kern Place Cigars, a cigar shop. Also considered part of the "Cinci" nightlife district are several businesses on the opposite side of Mesa St. including Mesa St. Bar and Grill, Black Market, No Fish and The Palomino. The cross-street is Mesa located directly across from the University of Texas at El Paso. This bar scene has grown over the years and has attracted thousands to its annual Mardi Gras block party as well as after sporting events or concerts. This environment has a mix of what a big city bar scene should provide except it's scaled down. Young men and women make up the majority of the crowds who stop in between classes or after work. Weekends fill the parking lots and sidewalks.

The only visible blemish on this idyllic neighborhood is the discovery of elevated levels of lead and arsenic in some yards and properties. Since its discovery, local Texas Senate representative Eliot Shapleigh has fought diligently against the re-opening of the Asarco smelter believed to be the cause of the contamination.