Admittedly, I've only been in their west Edmond location, but I would have thought that would be an example of their best effort.

Noticed the Arby's next to Mutt's closed recently. Not sure why.

Trinity Baptist Church to install a new mural.

Trinity is just west of Classen on the north side of the street.

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/trinity1.jpg

My buddy, Phil, is turning that old pawn shop on 23rd into a bar. He formerly owned Venu in Bricktown. Is there a thread already for it?

These are the properties all directly north of the Pump Bar.



http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/uptown012417a.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/uptown012417b.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/uptown012417c.jpg

Here is the 'before' on that little brick apartment building at 2508 N. Dewey:

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/2508ndewey.jpg

Here is the 'before' on that little brick apartment building at 2508 N. Dewey:

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/2508ndewey.jpg

That transformation is incredible! Excellent work!

the 2508 Dewey property looks soooo good.. I had to scroll up and down looking at the before and after to compare several times. good work

That 2508 N. Dewey property is now for rent so somebody should jump on it.

It's actually a duplex I believe.

Duplex up and down...$1500/mo. For approx 1500sf and it doesn't look like there's parking for both units. I forgot to ask when I called a couple weeks ago...that sign has been up longer than I thought it would be, but $1500/mo on that spot...

Wow. What an amazing deal. Good to be an urban pioneer I guess.

Can't tell if you all are being sarcastic or not....

HAWK pedestrian signal being installed on 23rd between Walker and Hudson this morning, for OKC Community Church and Tower Theatre, I'm guessing. I always felt sorry for the crossing guards there on Sunday mornings, so this is probably long overdue.

Probably an unpopular opinion, but this seems unnecessary. The Walker intersection is RIGHT THERE. If pedestrians have an expectation to cross the street exactly where they park, we are always going to have auto/pedestrian issues. There is nothing wrong with having to walk half a block to an intersection.

I think there's some truth to the view that pedestrians cannot expect to cross the street anywhere, but I think this logic applies better to areas that rate high in walkability. According to Jeff Speck, walkability is not just being able to walk in an area, but a walk must be (1) useful, (2) safe, (3) comfortable, and (4) interesting. Because the south side of 23rd doesn't meet most of these criteria, I think people are more likely to cut across the street to their destination. In this case, I think a mid-block crossing can be appropriate and might even make the area safer by providing a cue to drivers to slow down.

But that's not the case on this block. They redid sidewalks and did some landscaping when the lot was added. It's probably not the highest grade of urbanism, but I think it's reasonable to expect a pedestrian to use it. Adding a pedestrian stop light 200 feet from a crosswalked intersection just plays into the mentality that I shouldn't have to walk to the corner to cross the street.

This seems to be a minority opinion on this board, but personally if the place I need to get to is right across the street and there aren't any cars coming, I'm not going to walk 200 ft to the crosswalk, wait for the light, cross the street, and walk 200 ft back to my destination.

I'm going to walk 50 ft to my destination.

Part of the problem is that our blocks are really really long. Walker to Hudson on 23rd is particularly ridiculous @ 600 feet!!! That's somewhere between 2 and 4 blocks in many urban environments. Walking 150 feet to the corner, only to walk literally 150 feet back the direction you get there one you cross is a bit of a nuisance. It's not natural for a pedestrian to do so.

...Of course, the parking setup on 23rd also seems a bit ridiculous to me, and it really incentivizes that sort of bad behavior by pedestrians that are coming from their cars (most of the pedestrians on 23rd). In a normal pedestrian situation, you're not coming from mid-block, so there's no reason to cross there.

But that's not the case on this block. They redid sidewalks and did some landscaping when the lot was added. It's probably not the highest grade of urbanism, but I think it's reasonable to expect a pedestrian to use it.

Just returning to my point above that walkability is not about having nice sidewalks, but it includes other factors that make it psychologically comfortable to make an extended walk. I'm not saying this to refute your argument that people should use the crosswalk at the light (you bring up a fair point), just to add a perspective as to why someone might just decide to dart across the street instead of staying on the sidewalk.

This seems to be a minority opinion on this board, but personally if the place I need to get to is right across the street and there aren't any cars coming, I'm not going to walk 200 ft to the crosswalk, wait for the light, cross the street, and walk 200 ft back to my destination.

I'm going to walk 50 ft to my destination.

Exactly. And this is fine if you want a suburban environment where everything has a parking lot out front. In the core, we won't be able to put crosswalks in every half-block. Pedestrians need to be encouraged to use the existing infrastructure.

Just returning to my point above that walkability is not about having nice sidewalks, but it includes other factors that make it psychologically comfortable to make an extended walk. I'm not saying this to refute your argument that people should use the crosswalk at the light (you bring up a fair point), just to add a perspective as to why someone might just decide to dart across the street instead of staying on the sidewalk.

Yeah, and I don't disagree with you on that. The east side of 23rd and Walker is still rough. But my opinion is that this is an OKC problem, not just a 23rd Street problem. Automobile Alley has similar issues.

Exactly. And this is fine if you want a suburban environment where everything has a parking lot out front. In the core, we won't be able to put crosswalks in every half-block. Pedestrians need to be encouraged to use the existing infrastructure.

Agree with you 100% on the bolded part. I think where we differ is I don't necessarily consider walking directly to your destination to be an exclusively suburban activity. Certainly the constant need to park adjacent one's destination is a suburban mindset and one I'd love to see change in OKC.

IMO though, once you've parked, it's just natural to want to walk straight to your destination, and an environment which allows people to do this is one they will feel comfortable walking in and will want to walk in. Asking people to do something unnatural like walk a long way to a crosswalk just to get somewhere they were already fairly close to is pretty car-centric and largely ignores the needs of pedestrians and what feels right to them.

If nothing else this is an interesting real-world study of a mid-block crossing in OKC on a VERY busy street.

Exactly. And this is fine if you want a suburban environment where everything has a parking lot out front. In the core, we won't be able to put crosswalks in every half-block. Pedestrians need to be encouraged to use the existing infrastructure.
Are you familiar at all with Santa Monica Blvd. A number of years ago it was totally redone west of La Cienega Blvd. It is an area that is much more densely developed than 23rd and the interest for a pedestrian on both sides of the street is high. Never-the-less, they designed many mid-block pedestrian crosswalks. It works extremely well and obviously not all planners agree with you.

You're all missing the point. It's got nothing to do with proximity to the parking and everything to do with proximity to the ENTRANCE.

Small thing, but Planned Parenthood planning a nice renovation of a highly visible shopping center corner at 619 NW 23rd:



http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/plannedparenthood1.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/plannedparenthood2.jpg

Excellent news. That building is in need of some TLC.

Adding those windows and landscaping should make a nice difference.

Are they going to take that ugly brown metal awning (?) down?

The brown awning will be staying? Damn...

Yeah, awning needs to go.

You're all missing the point. It's got nothing to do with proximity to the parking and everything to do with proximity to the ENTRANCE.

I definitely don't agree with this. If the parking lot wasn't right there, there would be no crosswalk.

I definitely don't agree with this. If the parking lot wasn't right there, there would be no crosswalk.

Well fwiw, we may be getting a mid block crossing between the ball park and the canal. No parking lot in either of those locations.

Much different environment. Not comparable.

Well fwiw, we may be getting a mid block crossing between the ball park and the canal. No parking lot in either of those locations.

That's not a mid block crossing, it would actually be a restored block crossing. California Ave is essentially the north canal running through the ball park just north of the 2nd to 3rd base paths all the way out into right center field.

Important to note that Walker and Hudson are significantly farther apart than Dewey and Walker, Hudson and Harvey, etc. For whatever reason that entire block roughly 175 ft wider than the others all the way from NW 30th to NW 16th, where Hudson and Walker start to converge.

It isn't quite twice the distance of a normal block, but I still think it's enough to justify a mid-block crossing.

Important to note that Walker and Hudson are significantly farther apart than Dewey and Walker, Hudson and Harvey, etc. For whatever reason that entire block roughly 175 ft wider than the others all the way from NW 30th to NW 16th, where Hudson and Walker start to converge.

It isn't quite twice the distance of a normal block, but I still think it's enough to justify a mid-block crossing.

Like I said, it's 600 feet...that's just an obscene length for a single block...I've walked 3.5 blocks in Vienna in that distance.

Finally...

Rainbow Records, Hoover Vacuum buildings on the market

By: Molly M. Fleming The Journal Record February 23, 2017

OKLAHOMA CITY – Gary Parker looks at the Rainbow Records building a little differently than most people.

He’s able to look past the boarded-up windows and peeling paint. When he looks at the buildings at NW 23rd Street and Classen Boulevard, he’s transported back in time.

He can remember when he had to work next door at his parents’ Hoover Vacuum shop. Starting at 10 years old, he would spend his summer breaks with his brothers, repairing vacuums. He was paid 25 cents per hour.

“My dad put three kids through college with that vacuum shop,” he said. “We had a lot of commercial accounts. We had the Capitol’s vacuums.”

He remembers hanging out with The Flaming Lips and other bands that came through town and stopped at the record store.

He’s still friends with people who once worked at the store.

The shop was a drugstore in its early life. The apothecary cabinets and ice cream machine from the soda fountain are still in the building. And there’s a lot in the three buildings owned by Parker’s parents, Carlin and Velma Parker. More than 50 vacuums are inside the record store. The building’s original exterior neon lights sit in stacks around the space.

Vacuum parts fill the record store’s storage space. Besides vacuums, the building is stocked with stuff that Carlin Parker would trade for his repair work. The vacuum store’s storage area is filled to the brim with boxes, full of the traded items.

Parker is selling the three properties, which include the Rainbow Records building, the Hoover Vacuum shop and a third building between the two – 2401, 2405 and 2407 N. Classen Blvd. They total more than 6,000 square feet with a listing price of $1.59 million.

“We were waiting for what we felt like was the right time,” he said.

But other people were tired of waiting for something to happen with the properties. Parker said potential buyers had tracked down his parents at their home. They would even shove contracts under their door.

They didn’t sell. The highest offer they heard was $900,000.

Newmark Grubb Levy Strange Beffort office broker Brad Rice took a different approach. He called the Parkers and visited with them politely. He sent them a letter and told them what he thought about the property and its selling potential. It took a year for him to secure the listing.

“I love the corner,” he said. “With what’s going on at Classen and Uptown, I just wanted to see it redeveloped.”

That’s what Parker said he would like as well but knows there’s a possibility that some or all of the properties could be demolished. His parents have owned them since the 1970s. They’ve operated their vacuum shop there since 1953. They leased the Rainbow Records building to the owner. The record store closed in 2003.

Rice said the Parkers are willing to take offers on the building, but there won’t be a formal call. There’s no timeline for when a closing will occur. Rice said he wants someone local to make the purchase.

“Someone local will respect the character,” he said, giving mention to The Pivot Project team and its work on restoring historic buildings.

Open Streets returns to Uptown (23rd from Robinson to Western) on April 2nd and will also include The Paseo.

New place going in directly east of Community Church called Uptown Art & Antiques.

The space will also be available for rent for special events.



http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/gallery040217a.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/gallery040217b.jpg

Anybody know more about these? I think these apartments were previously owned by OCU.

https://www.facebook.com/Flamingo-Apartments-332947750380662/
https://www.instagram.com/flamingookc/

Really makes a difference on that stretch of 23rd. Sorry if I've missed another thread.

Anybody know more about these? I think these apartments were previously owned by OCU.

https://www.facebook.com/Flamingo-Apartments-332947750380662/
https://www.instagram.com/flamingookc/

Really makes a difference on that stretch of 23rd. Sorry if I've missed another thread.

It was used as Graduate level housing.

It was used as Graduate level housing.

Yup. Although I knew zero people who lived there while I attended OCU.

Yup. Although I knew zero people who lived there while I attended OCU.

Really? I knew several people.

Indeed, they weren't the nicest apartments.

So the stop-lights are up on the mid-block cross-walk between Hudson and Walker.

I hope they were installed like today and are still in the process of getting situated, because the Westbound light sits among the trees. I was driving westbound and literally could not even see the light until 10 feet away from the crosswalk.

So the stop-lights are up on the mid-block cross-walk between Hudson and Walker.

I hope they were installed like today and are still in the process of getting situated, because the Westbound light sits among the trees. I was driving westbound and literally could not even see the light until 10 feet away from the crosswalk.

The mid-block crossing lights have been there for a few weeks now, actually. Sounds like a report to the Action Center is needed for tree trimming.

Saw in the city's GO Bond document that $3.3 million was allotted to "street improvements" for NW 23rd between Western and Broadway. Anybody know what those will be?


D. Improvement of streets by providing street enhancements which may include reconstruction, construction, repair, resurfacing, and improvement of streets, pedestrian safety improvements, bicycle lanes, striping and markers delineating bicycle facilities and lanes, pedestrian amenities, related engineering, traffic control signals, signs, devices, markings, conduit and improvements, street lighting, technology improvements, drainage, intersection improvements, right-of-way acquisition, utility relocation, sidewalk repair, sidewalk installation, street furniture, landscaping and related irrigation systems in the vicinity of the following locations:

...

NW 23rd St. from N. Western Ave. to N. Broadway Ave. $3,300,000

https://www.okc.gov/home/showdocument?id=7501

None of these GO bond line items will have formal (or usually even conceptual) plans yet. They are mostly generalized cost estimates based on departmental and other recommendations, plus industry formulas, and should they be approved the planning/design process would begin.

None of these GO bond line items will have formal (or usually even conceptual) plans yet. They are mostly generalized cost estimates based on departmental and other recommendations, plus industry formulas, and should they be approved the planning/design process would begin.

Right, but wasn't there a study done a few years back in conjunction with OCU I believe?

Need to dig it out because I'm sure most of the things on there will be on the wishlist.

That is an area in serious need of help on all fronts and of increasing importance and visibility for OKC.

Not sure if a study dealt with the area between Western and Broadway, but you may be right. Either way, the rapid and probably not totally anticipated growth of walkable entertainment along that specific stretch would of course require an update to anything that had come before.

IIRC, the Tower thing was already in progress at the time of the study, or at least the promise of it was around due to the previous ownership group who went through all the planning but never could execute.

Dirt work has started for the free-standing Jimmy John's on NW 23rd and Barnes.

Dallas company to bring blend of spinning and Zen to Uptown (http://www.okctalk.com/content.php?r=393-Dallas-company-to-bring-blend-of-spinning-and-Zen-to-Uptown)

ZYN22, a Dallas-based fitness brand, will bring a studio to Oklahoma City's Uptown district, the first outside the state of Texas.


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/zyn222.jpg


The company offers premium indoor-cycling classes that combine cardio, weight training, dancing and inspiration and claims a full-body, life-changing workout.

The 3,400 square foot facility will be located at 610 NW 23rd, the former site of Joe's Pawn Shop. The building, located in the heart of resurgent 23rd Street corridor, was recently purchased by local investors and renovated.


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/zyn221a.jpg


ZYN22 was founded in 2015 with a different take on traditional fitness classes, based on the premise that in 22 days everything can change. The company currently operates 4 locations in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

The newest studio will be equipped with the latest cutting-edge technology, with stadium seating for 50 bikes, each with its own power metrics.

Athletic wear and cold press juice will also be offered.

ZYN22 plans to open in October.


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/zyn223.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/zyn224.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/zyn225.jpg

The branding aesthetic makes me want to vomit (damn millennials ;) ) but I'm stoked that that building is getting a tenant! Goddess Vibes!

The branding aesthetic makes me want to vomit (damn millennials ;) ) but I'm stoked that that building is getting a tenant! Goddess Vibes!

As a millennial I agree. But I'm also a fan of the design of the Boathouses by the river, so I'm kind of all over the place when it comes to design. Getting a good workout location in this neighborhood is badly needed though, and will definitely add to the vibe there. Hopefully this can pressure some new life into maybe remodeling the stores across the street. I'm still waiting for the CSL plasma building to eventually be bought out. Definitely doesn't fit in the neighborhood anymore.

Will be interested to see how it performs here. I dont think they have memberships but charge $22 for every spin class you want to attend.

This is the Asian fusion place going in directly west of the Bunker Club.

Owner said they are still 2-3 months out.

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/tran061717.jpg

Will be interested to see how it performs here. I dont think they have memberships but charge $22 for every spin class you want to attend.

$22 a class?? Jesus that's expensive and adds up.

$22 a class?? Jesus that's expensive and adds up.
The price you gotta pay for enlightenment.

This is the Asian fusion place going in directly west of the Bunker Club.

Owner said they are still 2-3 months out.

Cool! First I've heard of this one. New concept? Who is the operator?