With all the new developments and population increases, do You think OKC will see an Austin or Charlotte type boom? With all the developments and steady gains in population, I was wondering if this could be possible since we are now seeing things being announced that we have never seen before. With announcement after announcement of companies and jobs re-locating here and with the addition of thousands of housing units downtown, not to mention the streetcar and other MAPS projects, what can OKC expect within the next 5-10 years? with all the recent accolades and National stories on OKC, is this not the next boomtown? If not, what would it take? Are the recent announcements just peanuts compared to what's ahead?

Pete, Steve are you not seeing this? Seems to me that OKC is about to Boom! Am I wrong?

Pete, Steve are you not seeing this? Seems to me that OKC is about to Boom! Am I wrong?

You are not wrong. OKC is already booming.

You are not wrong. OKC is already booming.Not on a level that Austin did. I would love to see Austin/DFW style growth here. I know a bunch were opposed to that, but I would like it.

With all the new developments and population increases, do You think OKC will see an Austin or Charlotte type boom? With all the developments and steady gains in population, I was wondering if this could be possible since we are now seeing things being announced that we have never seen before. With announcement after announcement of companies and jobs re-locating here and with the addition of thousands of housing units downtown, not to mention the streetcar and other MAPS projects, what can OKC expect within the next 5-10 years? with all the recent accolades and National stories on OKC, is this not the next boomtown? If not, what would it take? Are the recent announcements just peanuts compared to what's ahead?

It depends on what you mean by boom. OKC is "booming" right now compared to its own past 50 years. The development being seen here right now is exciting and unprecidented in this city. Nationally however the picture looks a bit different and while OKC is growing, it isn't all that impressive compared to Austin, Charlotte, Denver, the Twin Cities, etc. I recently mentioned this in another thread. The one thing holding OKC back from booming is the negative national perception and I don't think there will be an Austin or Charlotte type boom until that changes. Yes, steady growth, but not a boom. The population of Metrolina has increased by roughtly 700,000 or so since the year 2000 (its difficult to define because they keep adding and subtracting counties).

The next couple of decades will be glorious for Oklahoma City, and the entire "flyover" section of Mid-America.

Book Review: "The Fate of the States: The New Geography of American Prosperity" by Meredith Whitney | Newgeography.com (http://www.newgeography.com/content/003927-book-review-the-fate-states-the-new-geography-american-prosperity-meredith-whitney)

The Rise of the Great Plains: Regional Opportunity in the 21st Century | Newgeography.com (http://www.newgeography.com/content/003175-the-rise-great-plains-regional-opportunity-21st-century)

Pete, Steve are you not seeing this? Seems to me that OKC is about to Boom! Am I wrong?

Pretty sure they were asleep between your first comment and this one.....

Boom towns are usually characterized by 20% metro population growth in a decade.

Looking at the 2012 estimates vs. the 2010 census (www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=Largest+Metropolitan+Areas), OKC grew about 3.5% in those two years; that's about 17.5% pace.

Better than about the 13-14% we've been averaging, but not yet boom town territory.

However, the growth seems to be accelerating. I wouldn't be surprised if we were well over that 20% mark by 2020.


So, we could already be in boom town territory -- it certainly feels that way.

I would also add that OKC has tons of infrastructure capacity to support rapid growth.

We have an extensive freeway and road system, there are tons of underdeveloped areas in the core and really everywhere else, and of course thousand of acres of pasture very close to freeways (far north and west okc, east Edmond, the area between Moore and Norman).

When you consider cities like Austin, Dallas and Houston are STILL growing at over 20% per decade -- and on much larger base populations -- you can see where OKC could easily digest a lot more people moving in.

If you've never been to a fourth of july display, even sparklers and black cats will seem magical.

OKC is already beyond sparklers, black cats, M80's and small fountains and has moved into air displays. The shows, so to speak, are just going to keep getting bigger, and more frequent.

Pretty sure they were asleep between your first comment and this one.....

Pretty sure he was asking if they're not seeing OKC as fixing to boom, not asking why they mysteriously hadn't seen the thread at 2 am…..

I hope we can Boom without losing what makes OKC unique. If I want to see a Texas city I would rather have to drive to Texas.

I hope we can Boom without losing what makes OKC unique. If I want to see a Texas city I would rather have to drive to Texas.

Most of what made OKC unique was destroyed in the Pei Plan. We are basically working with a clean slate. Any boom will only bring positive things with the exception of heavier traffic if that bothers you. OKC doesn't really have a unique cultural heritage that could be lost with an influx of transplants like some other cities have seen.

Most of what made OKC unique was destroyed in the Pei Plan. We are basically working with a clean slate. Any boom will only bring positive things with the exception of heavier traffic if that bothers you. OKC doesn't really have a unique cultural heritage that could be lost with an influx of transplants like some other cities have seen.Agree 100%

I know up 281 it's almost one damn continuous city now up to Spring Branch, no?

That used to be country up there.

After looking at a map, that is depressing. I remember when FM 1604 was pretty much the end of the earth for people there.

Most of what made OKC unique was destroyed in the Pei Plan. We are basically working with a clean slate. Any boom will only bring positive things with the exception of heavier traffic if that bothers you. OKC doesn't really have a unique cultural heritage that could be lost with an influx of transplants like some other cities have seen.

Uniqueness is more than buildings. It's also the people and their work ethic and what they consider entertainment and many other aspects. I live in Mustang but OKC impacts my life everyday. I wouldn't like to see it turn into a homogenous hipster hive mentality. But that's just my opinion, like all my posts.

OKC hardly lost all it's uniqueness with the Pei Plan.

We've lost more of our uniqueness by the rapid Big-City-Texiification of the city over the last 40 years than by the Pei Plan. Hopefully OKC turns that around.

Downtown is getting more fun. With my Grandkids or my wife.

OKC hardly lost all it's uniqueness with the Pei Plan.

We've lost more of our uniqueness by the rapid Big-City-Texiification of the city over the last 40 years than by the Pei Plan. Hopefully OKC turns that around.Are you serious? Another attack on Texas on here, what a surprise. Texas ruined OKC's "uniqueness". I highly suggest you have a gander of some of the pictures of the OKC's golden days when we had a huge dense downtown with many breathtaking buildings such as the Criterion Theatre that was destroyed by the Pei Plan.

Are you serious? Another attack on Texas on here, what a surprise. Texas ruined OKC's "uniqueness". I highly suggest you have a gander of some of the pictures of the OKC's golden days when we had a huge dense downtown with many breathtaking buildings such as the Criterion Theatre that was destroyed by the Pei Plan.

…Not really an attack on Texas so much as an assent to reality…

And I've seen the pictures... I want to puke every time.

But why did the Pei Plan come around in the first place?

I moved all the San Antonio discussion to this thread:

http://www.okctalk.com/other-communities/35797-san-antonio-%7C-deep-heart.html

Uniqueness is more than buildings. It's also the people and their work ethic and what they consider entertainment and many other aspects. I live in Mustang but OKC impacts my life everyday. I wouldn't like to see it turn into a homogenous hipster hive mentality. But that's just my opinion, like all my posts.

I hope OKC grows to offer a full life for people in a variety of different lifestyles. If somebody wants to live in a hipster hive, OKC should offer it. If they want to live in a gated community in the suburbs, there should be options. If they want to live in an urban yuppie community, it should be here. If somebody wants the traditional honky-tonk country lifestyle, it should still be here. If you want to live in a diverse, mixed income community, it should be offered. Cities with a high quality of life - those that become boomtowns - have options for all walks of life.

f OKC is going to truly thrive it has to do something to become more of a destination. Whether that be some brand new Theme Park, multiple casinos (something like Tunica) near downtown with the Ferris Wheel and all, or making Film Row become Hollywood East. Give those guys a reason to come here and make movies and save millions in filming costs. With tax incentives and lower production costs, why would they not?

My point is that we MUST create a demand or desire to come to our city. The things we are doing are good but not great, from the standpoint that we notice it but the vast majority of the country has no clue about OKC. We need demand and we need to build things like the HSR and have a route from DT to NW, Edmond to Norman and WRWA to DT. We need to expand our airport, add more gates and put out a welcome sign for a hub relocation and offer incentives to come here. We already train thousands of air traffic controlers at our airport. Our leaders need to make this a priority and watch this city take off and explode.

As for how to pay for it, the HSR can be added to maps. Yes, it is an additional tax but the rewards would be so worth it for this city. Also, it can expand to other suburbs to join in as well to help pay for the cost such as Edmond, Moore, and Norman. If you want to be big, you have to dream big and it's time we stop settling for mediocre or making excuses of why we can't do it. You strike when the iron is hot and this economy is good here now and doing this now will save millions compared to later.