Was down there yesterday and the parking is now painted for back in parking. they had all of the north side and about half of the south side completed. I also noticed the new Bar Indigo was putting up signage and working on the outside of the building i assume they are pushing to get open by June for Pride. I understand they have had some permitting issues so hopefully that is all a go now. The Phoenix has also painted the front of the building and added shudders to the top windows and it looks so much better.

it is a vast improvement but there's also lots of room for more; perhaps a master plan is needed as a vision for the district. Perhaps leaders could also benchmark other gayborhoods to see what does and does not work.

there def needs to be more placemaking; be proud of your heritage and citizens OKC!

as a Gay man now in my 50's it does my heart good to see ANY investment in this area. could things be done a bit better? of course but it is far and away 100x better than its ever been. I do hope it spurs some investment in the area and we see it thrive. I know there is a lot of tension between cooper and owners in the district and i don't think all the blame lies with the business owners. I would say some of that falls in his lap as well.

I would also like to see a unified Pride event but again both sides have done their fare share of creating that divide. Cooper also has participated in choosing sides in that as well.

i look forward to see more progress in the area and thanks for the pics Pete!

i am also looking forward to a time with a more unified community! i am a fairly new property owner and member of the community. I was excited to reach out to Counselman Cooper, but my experience was not pleasant with him at all. i voiced my concern about the district and some issue i was having with vandals, and instead of listening and trying to offer solutions, he got on his soap box and spewed his dislike for the police. i had high hopes for him and am sadly disappointed. But to end on a good note, i am happy in the direction the neighborhood is going! it certainly isn't perfect, but i am hopeful about the future!

i am also looking forward to a time with a more unified community! i am a fairly new property owner and member of the community. I was excited to reach out to Counselman Cooper, but my experience was not pleasant with him at all. i voiced my concern about the district and some issue i was having with vandals, and instead of listening and trying to offer solutions, he got on his soap box and spewed his dislike for the police. i had high hopes for him and am sadly disappointed. But to end on a good note, i am happy in the direction the neighborhood is going! it certainly isn't perfect, but i am hopeful about the future!

This does not sound like something James would say at all. For those who know him well, as I and many others on the forum do, this does not sound accurate at all.

https://youtu.be/jqNhYWs1e3k

Reverse angled parking is going so well already

https://youtu.be/jqNhYWs1e3k

Reverse angled parking is going so well already

I think it looks pretty good for something that just started a couple days ago and I haven't ever seen in OKC before.

They need to put signs up along the street that say "Do Not Cross Double Yellow Line To Park" and a sign in every spot that says "Do Not Park Head-in, Reverse Parking Only".

https://youtu.be/jqNhYWs1e3k

Reverse angled parking is going so well already

That's like a 50% success rate, way better than what the reverse angled parking by UCO gets.

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/39th051522a.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/39th051522b.jpg

Looks pretty good and a vast improvement. Are there still plans for more landscaping? Also, would be nice to add decorative trash receptacles and huge decorative pots and perhaps some benches for more interaction on the strip? Perhaps even decorative lighting. Looks like it could use more streetscaping. Anyone else knows?

Looks pretty good and a vast improvement. Are there still plans for more landscaping? Also, would be nice to add decorative trash receptacles and huge decorative pots and perhaps some benches for more interaction on the strip? Perhaps even decorative lighting. Looks like it could use more streetscaping. Anyone else knows?

They have started to install metal trash receptacles and they are not finished with the landscaping. New streetlights are still to come and I'm sure they'll add some benches as well.

The actual district had put out benches at one point that the backs said " 39th street district" but they pulled them until construction was done as there wasn't much room for them and figured they would put back after the facelift. looking forward to the street lights and see how its finished . as for success rate of the parking I believe its a learning curve. How many reverse parking areas are in OKC currently? i know in Austin they have signs in areas of reverse parking that state " reverse parking only" . I think most people will get it sooner or later and some wont. Pride parade is 18 days away. My next fear is the affect of a parade crowd on new landscaping, I hope they protect it properly and people behave accordingly.

want an easy way to get people to reverse park? put in a median of some sort, so people on the opposite side wont drive straight in. With the median, the only way to park would be on your side - which would be to reverse in this case.

Problem solved.

Too late. You missed the engineering change request deadline.

tbh, I shouldn't have to be the one to recommend that very simple improvement. OKC engineers should benchmark other cities who are successful with reverse parking + biking in dense urban districts. Just like they should benchmark cities successful with traffic circles, more than 4 lane intersections, scramble intersections, transit police, traffic enforcement, successful streetcar and commuter rail implementation, shall I go on?

Example of reverse parking I used comes from Tacoma, WA. Not exactly the bastion of urban development but we do have a simple median bump in a reverse parking district where opposing traffic can't head into the opposite side - thereby forcing traffic to reverse park or move on. Again, it isn't rocket science - just often times need to observe or think like a driver who wants to park and sees a spot across the street and what would stop such a person from doing that. ...

A small strip of a median in this area would be destroyed within a month. Along with many wheels.

You can already see in the photos above, all the cars parked are currently incorrect. This is just how it will be here. Maybe in a few years people will get the idea down lol.

Street lights are in and electrified. Looks great!

Street lights are in and electrified. Looks great!

Thanks for sharing.

I'll get out there and take some photos.

Thanks for sharing.

I'll get out there and take some photos.

Thanks pete.. it does appear they are either replacing the traffic lights at the Penn and 39th intersection or it could be they are just adding poles for Walk/Don't walk lights. those are not yet in place but bases are there at that intersection. i guess cross walk signals most likely.

^

Great.

I hope they do the striped crossings there as well.

They've been doing a rework of the SW corner of Penn and 39th for several weeks now, hasn't been fun for southbound traffic up through Penn and 44 for a while. Did that finally finish today?

Street lamps have been added and they make a big difference!

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/39th052922a.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/39th052922b.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/39th052922c.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/39th052922d.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/39th052922e.jpg

What a stunning difference!

BTW, the Pride parade is Thursday at 6PM and there will be festivities all weekend.

It's great they were able to get this project mostly complete in time for the celebrations.

Pete:
The parade is Sunday June 5th at 6pm. Wednesday June 1st at 1pm will be the opening ceremony with Mayor Holt reading the declaration.
I am glad they got the street completed before June 1st. I think there is still some planting etc to be done but what a difference. still most people don't use the parking correctly but a sign would probably help. Seems self explanatory but I know in Austin there are signs indicting Back in parking only.

Took these today.

Now that the streetscape project is largely complete, I bet we see lots more improvements in this district. Huge step forward.


HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/39th053122a.jpg


HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/39th053122b.jpg


HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/39th053122c.jpg


HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/39th053122d.jpg


HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/39th053122e.jpg


HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/39th053122f.jpg

Really makes me happy to see this! I hope this is just the beginning of great this to come for this area.

I know this is probably small stuff but allow me to spaz out for a sec.





HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/39th053122b.jpg


AYOOOO, NICK BAYER!

He was my visual art teacher over at Harding Fine Arts Academy! Let's go!

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/39th060422a.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/39th060422b.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/39th060422c.jpg

https://youtu.be/OejbL8lxmeI

Friday ride through during Pride

Wow looks nice! Shawnw you need a horn to warn people Aoooogah!

I have a bell and with that wide angle fisheye effect it looks like I'm going faster than I am, and like I'm closer than I am to some folks. I def try to be super cautious around pedestrians, I know they have the right of way.

Street scape looks really nice. Also, for Pride, I like how they had signs up around the neighborhood with parking on just one side of neighboring streets. It made maneuvering around much easier. Much safer for pedestrians.

The Indigo place looks really neat. Great improvements all around for this area.

People were camped out ready to watch the parade on both sides of 39th all the way up to Classen.

Oh and the Tulsa King filming downtown again. Busy Sunday.

I haven't been by this area in many years, but it was super seedy the last time I was there. Really pretty awful.

Today it is really looking good based on these photos. It looks kinda like the gayborhood in Dallas even. I forget the name of that area but It's just west of downtown. Really an amazing transformation.

I only went over for a few hours on Sunday but Pride on the newly renovated strip seems like it was a huge success.

It's like a mini Castro

The Dallas gayborhood is Cedar Springs. They used to have the Pride Parade on Cedar Springs but moved it to Fair Park about 10 years ago, I think.

nice (and interesting) that OKC has 2 pride parades. I think both are warranted IMO in that Pride Inc's focus on 39th is needed to get synergy for the gayborhood and Pride Alliance focus on Scissortail Park is needed to promote the movement to the OKC community at large.

Many cities have a Pride Month for June, where various events take place; is this the direction OKC is going? If not, I'd love to see the day/weekend where the Parade starts at 39th, runs down Classen to downtown and ends at Scissortail (a combination of the two current approaches). Nevertheless, it should be (but never is) noted in the national media that OKC has two Pride events; that'd shake up a few misconceptions/biases about OKC.

nice (and interesting) that OKC has 2 pride parades. I think both are warranted IMO in that Pride Inc's focus on 39th is needed to get synergy for the gayborhood and Pride Alliance focus on Scissortail Park is needed to promote the movement to the OKC community at large.

Many cities have a Pride Month for June, where various events take place; is this the direction OKC is going? If not, I'd love to see the day/weekend where the Parade starts at 39th, runs down Classen to downtown and ends at Scissortail (a combination of the two current approaches). Nevertheless, it should be (but never is) noted in the national media that OKC has two Pride events; that'd shake up a few misconceptions/biases about OKC.

I am not in the know on this, but my understanding is that the two separate parades result as much from internal politics and resentments within the local LGBTQ community as from anything else.

The Dallas gayborhood is Cedar Springs. They used to have the Pride Parade on Cedar Springs but moved it to Fair Park about 10 years ago, I think.
Actually Dallas is having the same issue OKC pride has been going through. organization moved it to fair park prepandemic i think maybe 2018 and the gayborhood did not take kindly to it. so they are also experiencing two prides. they had parade and pride in the cedar springs neighborhood last weekend as well.

I am not in the know on this, but my understanding is that the two separate parades result as much from internal politics and resentments within the local LGBTQ community as from anything else.

You are very correct. while I say have all the Pride that a city can support , its unfortunate when a community can't get along and work together even if putting on separate events. The Downtown Pride group feels Pride on 39th is too focused on bars and isn't family friendly however i saw many families and ones that don't care to be in the thick of it tend to do the parade further down 39th before it reaches Penn. I see it as growing pains as we as a community are more widely accepted. Pride started in bars and as a protest and frankly other parts of cities would not want our parade or our Presence in their parts of town. So i am happy we are welcome elsewhere but i don't like to abandon our roots either.

The Dallas gayborhood is Cedar Springs. They used to have the Pride Parade on Cedar Springs but moved it to Fair Park about 10 years ago, I think.

same in seattle, started in 2007, before it was always in the capitol hill district on broadway then it split having one in capitol hill and one around the seattle center

"2007 -- MANY HAVE CHOSEN SIDES IN GAY PRIDE CELEBRATIONS / EVENTS HELD ON SEPARATE DAYS THIS YEAR

For the second consecutive year, fans of Seattle's annual gay pride celebration will be confronted with two parades and two festivals competing for their attention.

A downtown parade promises visibility and progress, while a parade on Capitol Hill touts loyalty to the gay and lesbian community that nurtured the celebration there for more than 25 years.

The dual celebrations were born when Seattle Out and Proud, the group that organizes Seattle Pride, decided to break rank and move the festivities to the Seattle Center last year."

You are very correct. while I say have all the Pride that a city can support , its unfortunate when a community can't get along and work together even if putting on separate events. The Downtown Pride group feels Pride on 39th is too focused on bars and isn't family friendly however i saw many families and ones that don't care to be in the thick of it tend to do the parade further down 39th before it reaches Penn. I see it as growing pains as we as a community are more widely accepted. Pride started in bars and as a protest and frankly other parts of cities would not want our parade or our Presence in their parts of town. So i am happy we are welcome elsewhere but i don't like to abandon our roots either.

I feel the same way - there's no reason why we can't have so-called "family friendly" Pride events, but it's equally important to honor the long history of Pride too - it was a protest and riot against harassment and brutality due to repeated police raids of the Stonewall Inn. Part of the problem I fear is that there's not a great enough diversity of LGBTQ-focused businesses in the district, and many of the buildings that are there are underutilized. We need more reasons to go down to 39th that aren't just going to one of the bars - more restaurants and more retail would be fabulous, and it'd be nice to have another clothing store like Pulse again. I'm hopeful that the streetscape overhaul will help to kickstart further revitalization and development here - there's plenty of room under the rainbow for everyone!

The gay parade was so lame. Unlike in years past, no bands, no fire trucks, no armed services, or cowboys on horses. Past gay parades had all that.

I feel the same way - there's no reason why we can't have so-called "family friendly" Pride events, but it's equally important to honor the long history of Pride too - it was a protest and riot against harassment and brutality due to repeated police raids of the Stonewall Inn. Part of the problem I fear is that there's not a great enough diversity of LGBTQ-focused businesses in the district, and many of the buildings that are there are underutilized. We need more reasons to go down to 39th that aren't just going to one of the bars - more restaurants and more retail would be fabulous, and it'd be nice to have another clothing store like Pulse again. I'm hopeful that the streetscape overhaul will help to kickstart further revitalization and development here - there's plenty of room under the rainbow for everyone!

While I completely agree with this, this comment in particular makes some of the bar owners on 39th defensive, even hostile. They are not exactly open to doing things differently. However, now that the city is putting hard money into the district, my guess is that it will evolve organically, just as the Plaza and other areas did once there was a significant investment in hard infrastructure and aesthetics.

As an outside observer, I've noticed that there are some serious disagreements about the direction of the neighborhood but mostly it seems to be clannish and personal. That kind of thing is not unusual for traditionally marginalized communities. Nothing is worse than a circular firing squad.

There is also a line of inquiry I've heard that is, "why should we hang out in the lgbtq neighborhood at an almost exclusively lgbtq bar when we are accepted by the wider community?" I do understand the line of thought, but hope 39th will become a much more vibrant version of itself.

The gay parade was so lame. Unlike in years past, no bands, no fire trucks, no armed services, or cowboys on horses. Past gay parades had all that.

Agree! It seemed much shorter this year, with just a few years ago having over 100 entries and the street jammed packed. I normally walk with a group, that decided this year to sit both parades out. Having to coordinate 2x festival and 2x parade just wasn't happening for us this year.

nm

agree on all accounts. I hope that the changes will bring some new life to the area and some diverse business.

on that note Stars pizza has closed shop next to the Phoenix. I heard the owners of the building did not renew their lease. they actually had good food and the best wings in the city but the place looks a mess. I am hoping there are plans for the space and maybe a new place to eat that is more inviting.

A couple of decent restaurants would be a great place to start moving this district forward.

I walk through there all the time and would love someplace where I could sit outside. Plenty of room for street-facing patios and the Boom is the only one I can think of.

While I completely agree with this, this comment in particular makes some of the bar owners on 39th defensive, even hostile. They are not exactly open to doing things differently.

I just don't understand this mentality. Bars are cool and all but damn we're way more than that. My husband and I actually don't really visit the district much at all because we're not big on going there just to go to a bar... but I'd visit more if there were some good restaurants or places to shop - especially if LGBTQ owned/operated. Like Pete mentioned, some patios out here (especially now with the new streetscape) would be absolutely killer. Something to draw in the non-bar-focused LGBTQ crowd, please!! And hell, maybe having more to do down there might convince people like me to pop into one of the bars for a drink or something while I'm in the area - imagine that.

A nice coffee/breakfast/brunch spot with outdoor seating would absolutely kill it there. Hopefully, someone is already working on that.

There is almost nothing going on in the morning and daytime in that district, apart from some smoky bars on weekend afternoons and maybe the pools at The District Hotel.


I know The Boom does a gospel brunch on Sundays but that is a completely different theatrical kind of thing.

They also need a homeless outreach program to set up an office there.

Tons of homeless all around that area... Not saying they should have a shelter or soup kitchen, just a place where the homeless can be presented with services and a ride to the various places that provide them.

I'm sorry but that Hotel needs serious updating. I hope I'm not seeing the finished product.

I just don't understand this mentality. Bars are cool and all but damn we're way more than that. My husband and I actually don't really visit the district much at all because we're not big on going there just to go to a bar... but I'd visit more if there were some good restaurants or places to shop - especially if LGBTQ owned/operated. Like Pete mentioned, some patios out here (especially now with the new streetscape) would be absolutely killer. Something to draw in the non-bar-focused LGBTQ crowd, please!! And hell, maybe having more to do down there might convince people like me to pop into one of the bars for a drink or something while I'm in the area - imagine that.

Agree completely. I have been made aware of attempts to improve the district going back for more than a decade. Not a lot of movement resulted from it. It seems there's just an insular mentality there. Maybe it's the result of years of trying not to attract attention to the neighborhood to preserve a sense of safety and to deflect harassment.

Also, perhaps some of it could be the result of greed, as we have seen in other OKC districts.

Ultimately, it's an acceptance of mediocrity and a lack of imagination that holds the area back. Now that the city has ponied up for major improvements, it's time for the business owners to carry the baton, invest creatively and purposely, and help the area become a 7-day-a-week, all-day destination. IOW, a real retail and entertainment district.

They also need a homeless outreach program to set up an office there.

Tons of homeless all around that area... Not saying they should have a shelter or soup kitchen, just a place where the homeless can be presented with services and a ride to the various places that provide them.

You are correct about that. I do homeless outreach with a group mostly in the Capital Hill and S 44th area but have on occasion done outreach in this area. There are a lot of small groups like us but we have limited resources. I am very interested to see what the MAPS 4 money will do.

I would love to see some day businesses with street engagement and front patios for coffee and food options. I hope that can happen. I wish i had as much money as I have in ideas, I would definitely do something here.