I posted a thread in the Suburbs area about a specific housing addition in East Edmond. I'm not going to go into the specifics here, but I wanted to get your thoughts on this topic. It seems like builders are buying land up all over the place in North OKC/Edmond/Deer Creek/East Edmond. In these areas, there are really nice additions (big house, big lots, and a lot of natural beauty of the landscape). However, mixed in with the good is the bad.

We are seeing tract housing developments pop up all over the place. These tract developments have tiny lots with small houses sandwiched together over large areas. If you can get on top of a hill, all you see are rooftops for what seems like forever. The houses themselves are ok. Some builders build better quality products than others, obviously. But, as fast as the houses are going up, you have to wonder how long they'll last. Personally, I'm disappointed that we are seeing the destruction of the natural beauty of these areas. In NW OKC you have rolling hills in a prairie setting, and as you transition to East Edmond, you get into more trees, creeks, and again, the nice rolling hills. Tract housing will destroy this natural beauty if we aren't careful.

The question is, how do you slow it down? Deer Creek isn't going to build any more schools after this new one, but that won't stop builders as long as there is money to be had. I guess some of the wealthy people in East Edmond can stand up and make a scene, but yet again, these builders are machines. What good is going to come from all this expansion? It is like a small bubble is forming in Oklahoma again that could threaten all of our home values. If Chesapeake and/or Sandridge go down, and people stop buying all of these houses that are already built, that bubble will pop, and....well, we know what happens when bubbles pop.

I think the transition of trying to change the mentality of folks about suburban lifestyle vs. urban lifestyle is gonna take at least 25 years to make an impact. Our downtown was neglected for so long that the suburban lifestyle is ingrained in the DNA of people around here. Also, not every neighborhood on the outskirts of downtown are nice. There's a lot of ghetto neighborhoods in OKC that aren't going to draw people in the suburbs to the urban lifestyle even if it is available.

You need to get the people in these 'used to be' historic neighborhoods that are all run down to take care of what they have now.

Unfortunately, I don't think anyone that lives in those places want to increase the value of their neighborhoods because they don't have the drive to.

It is definitely helping that we are where we are now with what development we do have going on in and around the central core. As that grows outward, hopefully it will be a good weed that grows extensively.

I'm not disagreeing with any of your points, but how do you know this?


Deer Creek isn't going to build any more schools after this new one

I'm not disagreeing with any of your points, but how do you know this?

My wife works in that school district. They may have to re-district with Edmond.

I think the problem with Deer Creek is that they don't get any money from sales tax (not many businesses in that area). Most of their budget comes from property taxes from surrounding houses. They may have some of the best schools, but if they build too many schools, they won't have the budget to maintain them. The superintendent (a new one just started so this may change) focused heavily on maintaining the quality of the schools. They simply can not do this if they build too many schools.

My wife works in that school district. They may have to re-district with Edmond.

I think the problem with Deer Creek is that they don't get any money from sales tax (not many businesses in that area). Most of their budget comes from property taxes from surrounding houses. They may have some of the best schools, but if they build too many schools, they won't have the budget to maintain them. The superintendent (a new one just started so this may change) focused heavily on maintaining the quality of the schools. They simply can not do this if they build too many schools.

That makes sense, but saying they will never build another school is very unlikely.

That makes sense, but saying they will never build another school is very unlikely.

They will most likely build more elementary schools in the future, however they will only have one HS, adding on as necessary. Their intention is to become the west side Union or Jenks in athletics. They don't intend to split like Edmond, Moore, Norman, etc. They'll be in 6A in football within a couple of years.