How would you spend $25 million to improve the quality of life in Oklahoma City?

[bdhumphreys]

I posted this question on twitter, but thought this community might have some different ideas to offer:

How would you spend $25 million to improve the quality of life in Oklahoma City? #thinkbig

p.s. - the money is real, just a matter of deciding where best to spend it.

[mOKCie]

I would give it back to the people who it was taken from. It's not nearly as efficient as simply not taking it from them in the first place, but there's nothing that can be done about that now. Since that probably isn't going to happen, I would pay down the debt because that is the greatest threat to the quality of life in OKC or anywhere else.

[Kerry]

I would give it back to the people who it was taken from.

Why the assumption that it was taken from them unwillingly?

[mOKCie]

Why the assumption that it was taken from them unwillingly?

Why the assumption it wasn't? Where do you think it came from? A donation would be far less likely than a federal grant. But, I digress. We can speculate or defer to the source of the thread.

Blair, where does it come from?

[bdhumphreys]

Blair, where does it come from?

Voter approved sales tax. I promise to give more details later, but for now I am interested in hearing more ideas.

Btw, giving it back is a legitimate idea...

[mOKCie]

Voter approved sales tax. I promise to give more details later, but for now I am interested in hearing more ideas.

Btw, giving it back is a legitimate idea...

I would devote all of it to planning/starting a major rail hub and planning/acquiring all necessary routes. Anything worth doing is worth doing right. If we don't think big on this from the beginning, we are doomed to failure.

[Easy180]

Voter approved sales tax. I promise to give more details later, but for now I am interested in hearing more ideas.

Btw, giving it back is a legitimate idea...

heck yeah...25 bucks per person would be life changing for sure

Spend it all making the area around I 40 and Bricktown look even nicer...We need that area to be our crown jewel for folks to stop off and spend

[Kerry]

I would use it to expand the modern street car system to something other than an initial 6 mile starter system. I would connect Capitol Hill, OCU (using Classen Dr.), State Capitol, and WRWA via a downtown hub.

[SkyWestOKC]

I would use it to expand the modern street car system to something other than an initial 6 mile starter system. I would connect Capitol Hill, OCU (using Classen Dr.), State Capitol, and WRWA via a downtown hub.

If we are going to WRWA, we might as well use something else besides a streetcar. We are talking 6-7 straight miles, possibly more if you use the grid system. Only way I'd put a streetcar on the route is if you went down Reno to Meridian and then Meridian down to the airport. You'd hit a lot of businesses and a lot of hotels. But that would cost an unrealistic amount of money and would take 30 minutes to get downtown from the airport. Some sort of a rail system that could go direct, and doesn't have a stop in between would be best. Heck, you might be able to tap on to the existing rail that goes down Newcastle Road.

[Spartan]

mOKCie--what debt are you talking about? We don't have a municipal debt. And I know you wouldn't be suggesting that the objective of a community quality of life initiative should be to pay down the federal debt, I know that nobody would ever be that dense.
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I would use the money to issue out loans to stimulate housing projects downtown, very similar to what Tulsa has done with the Vision 2025 Housing Fund. The fact of the matter is that we are not doing very well in terms of infill projects to compliment the big ones that we have going on right now, and all of our developers seem extremely intent on sitting on the sidelines and watching the big projects take place for the next few years. That needs to change. Tulsa got a LOT of infill projects done at the same time as the recession, and is keeping the momentum moving forward, by issuing out several loans out of a $10 mil pot. This would be a $25 mil pot, so it could have greater impact. The criteria would just be that no project can get more than 50% of its financing out of this, the loans must be paid back within 8 years, and the projects must be urban.

Imagine if we had something like this in place while the Cotton Exchange and Flatiron projects were still moving forward. Those projects would be near completion right now. Maybe we could also give OCU a loan to keep their downtown law school moving forward. The simple fact of the matter is that we need to find creative ways to invest in ourselves during this recession in order to keep downtown development, and the dream of a vibrant mixed-use environment, alive and well and not sidelined due to current economic constraints. Because we have MAPS 3 and all of those projects, I do not see where there is a certain project in particular that it would be nice to have.

[mOKCie]

mOKCie--what debt are you talking about? We don't have a municipal debt. And I know you wouldn't be suggesting that the objective of a community quality of life initiative should be to pay down the federal debt, I know that nobody would ever be that dense.

I should have asked Blair for a clarification on the source of the $25 million instead of speculating myself. In the scenario the money is a federal grant, in whatever benevolent disguise it comes in, it should never have been borrowed/taxed in the first place and it would be better for the quality of life in this city, state, and country if it goes back from whence it came. In the scenario it is actually city money that originated in the city or it is a private gift, I posted too soon.

[bdhumphreys]

I should have asked Blair for a clarification on the source of the $25 million instead of speculating myself. In the scenario the money is a federal grant, in whatever benevolent disguise it comes in, it should never have been borrowed/taxed in the first place and it would be better for the quality of life in this city, state, and country if it goes back from whence it came. In the scenario it is actually city money that originated in the city or it is a private gift, I posted too soon.

Rather than allow this to become an exercise in bad riddle-making, I won't get into anymore details, but you have not necessarily replied too soon. That said, I hope people will participate in the exercise at whatever level of abstraction is necessary to alleviate their conscience. Another debate on taxes and the appropriate role of the federal government will ruin all the fun.

[betts]

I should have asked Blair for a clarification on the source of the $25 million instead of speculating myself. In the scenario the money is a federal grant, in whatever benevolent disguise it comes in, it should never have been borrowed/taxed in the first place and it would be better for the quality of life in this city, state, and country if it goes back from whence it came. In the scenario it is actually city money that originated in the city or it is a private gift, I posted too soon.

I think giving it back would amount to about $50 per person in the city, and since people in the metropolitan area and from other states and municipalities contribute to sales tax, I'm not sure how we could give it back to all those who paid it. I don't see any way that $50 would improve my life regardless.

I'd much rather see it used to improve quality of life for the city as a whole. Personally, I'm going to go with the streetcar as well, although I like Spartan's idea too. $25 million would give us one extra mile, which could be used to take the streetcar to the Devon and Chesapeake boathouses, to the Health Sciences Center, to the new Central Park or to double track 3.5 miles. After a few days in Chicago, I am again reminded of the value of mass transit.

[Larry OKC]

mOKCie--what debt are you talking about? We don't have a municipal debt. And I know you wouldn't be suggesting that the objective of a community quality of life initiative should be to pay down the federal debt, I know that nobody would ever be that dense. ...

Do you want to explain what you mean by that?

[Richard at Remax]

I'd put in a top golf

[metro]

I'd rather see some beautification along our major corridors, I-40 through the center city, Broadway Ext. from I-44 to downtown, NW 23rd from Classen west to I-44. I-44 from SW 44th to Hefner Parkway. NW Expressway from Classen to Rockwell. The remaining money I'd like to see expand the streetcar system.

[blangtang]

free admission to White Water Bay when the temp is above 90 degrees.

if that doesnt work, the money should be given to Devon Energy for the sole purpose of erecting a 200 foot tall cross atop their tower once its finished. That'd put us on the map!

[oakhollow]

Make a MidTown or Automobile Alley a top notch restaurant/nightlife area. Develop restaurants with fun atmospheres and great food that turn into places for nightlife and socializing later in the night.

[SkyWestOKC]

Make a MidTown or Automobile Alley a top notch restaurant/nightlife area. Develop restaurants with fun atmospheres and great food that turn into places for nightlife and socializing later in the night.

That could be cool. Would have to be very careful to not put Bricktown out of business while you do it. Make it a stress reliever/secondary option to The Brick, but don't make it better than Bricktown unless you want to see Bricktown fall on it's ass.

[OKCisOK4me]

That could be cool. Would have to be very careful to not put Bricktown out of business while you do it. Make it a stress reliever/secondary option to The Brick, but don't make it better than Bricktown unless you want to see Bricktown fall on it's ass.

That's pretty easy to do. All you do is target the 30-40 year old crowd. This may be the land of young married couples but there area also plenty of still single or freshly divorced guys n' gals in this age range who are finding themselves again. Not to mention that this area is pretty much for well to do career oriented minds. Bricktown is aimed more as a touristy/family oriented entertainment district. I'm 32 and I don't go to Bricktown unless I absolutely have to. We just don't like dealing with all the 21-25 year olds (like we used to once be). Plus, Bricktown lost it's edge.

[OKCMallen]

That's pretty easy to do. All you do is target the 30-40 year old crowd. This may be the land of young married couples but there area also plenty of still single or freshly divorced guys n' gals in this age range who are finding themselves again. Not to mention that this area is pretty much for well to do career oriented minds. Bricktown is aimed more as a touristy/family oriented entertainment district. I'm 32 and I don't go to Bricktown unless I absolutely have to. We just don't like dealing with all the 21-25 year olds (like we used to once be). Plus, Bricktown lost it's edge.

Indeed. I'd take a couple of places and move them up to Midtown and be super happy.

[Spartan]

Make a MidTown or Automobile Alley a top notch restaurant/nightlife area. Develop restaurants with fun atmospheres and great food that turn into places for nightlife and socializing later in the night.

development loans.

[earlywinegareth]

Buy coats for every schoolchild. That will prevent having to cancel school when it's too cold for kids to stand outside waiting for the bus b/c their parents don't/can't dress them appropriately.

[fuzzytoad]

lottery tickets

[blake]

Startup capital for best business venture proposals.