NE OKC/I-35 development

[thebigtamale]

I’ve always wondered what the deal was with NE OKC and the I-35 area- specifically from Broadway Extension and I-35 and from Kilpatrick Turnpike to Wilshire Blvd. Why hasn’t that area ever filled in? When you look at a map, there’s a big void and when you drive around, it’s just woods and some residential. With great highway access to the capitol complex, Health Sciences Center and downtown, you’d think this area would have filled in long ago.

On the same note, why is there not much development just east of I-35? It seems like Edmond is starting to build up on the east side of I-35, but OKC has a few truck stops (Flying J and Love’s), some small restaurants geared toward truckers (McDonalds, Cracker Barrel, Waffle House, IHOP), Frontier City and then industrial buildings, junk yards, and shady motels. There’s upscale housing just east (Apple Valley) and just west behind Frontier City. Seems like with the interstate traffic that some food and retail should have popped up by now.

[Snowman]

Historically for a couple reasons, if people were building north of the city they tended to do it in The Village, Nicholes Hills and later Edmond since smaller cities tended to be more responsive with city services and to get into the other school systems. Also the NE was 'the black part of town' when that was a bigger issue than today which made big difference in the sprawl pattern pre-interstates, plus sprawl tends to happen slightly further out from earlier sprawl.

I35 pretty much was layed down in the middle of nowhere when they put it in because it was mostly trying to go around downtown OKC at the time, i235/Broadway Extention though was near the already an established corador from highway 77 it replaced and The Village, Nicholes Hills & NW OKC had been sprawl areas before the interstates were built, interstates in many cases just increased the speed the established areas grew and made hopping further out another five, ten or twenty miles more palatable.

[Bellaboo]

I’ve always wondered what the deal was with NE OKC and the I-35 area- specifically from Broadway Extension and I-35 and from Kilpatrick Turnpike to Wilshire Blvd. Why hasn’t that area ever filled in? When you look at a map, there’s a big void and when you drive around, it’s just woods and some residential. With great highway access to the capitol complex, Health Sciences Center and downtown, you’d think this area would have filled in long ago.

On the same note, why is there not much development just east of I-35? It seems like Edmond is starting to build up on the east side of I-35, but OKC has a few truck stops (Flying J and Love’s), some small restaurants geared toward truckers (McDonalds, Cracker Barrel, Waffle House, IHOP), Frontier City and then industrial buildings, junk yards, and shady motels. There’s upscale housing just east (Apple Valley) and just west behind Frontier City. Seems like with the interstate traffic that some food and retail should have popped up by now.

Isn't most of this area the antenna farm ?

[adaniel]

One word: schools.

Most growth in OKC happened in the NW quarter around Lake Hefner, but development was starting to trickle up north. The city had even went ahead and started widening roads in anticipation of the next wave of development. You can still see this in how streets like Eastern are 4 lanes through what is now rural countryside. My own grandparents tried to buy land near Eastern and Kelly in the late 1960's as sort of a mini-investment. Then the Finger Plan for desegregation happen in 1972 and white flight began en mass. Nobody was going to develop land within OKCPS during that time. Cross town busing finally ended in the mid eighties but by that time this area's economy was in ruins from the oil bust and the far NE side hasn't really been touched since.

The type of development you see now is strictly limited to highway services. No rooftops=no large scale development. The only reason you see upscale neighborhoods east of 35 is because that area is zoned to Oakdale Schools. And the type of zoning in that area will restrict any sort of large scale residential construction.

One thing though: the NE side wasn't always known as the "black side" of town. Most of the eastside north of 36th was Caucasian up to the mid 70s, and the area between 23rd and 36th was sort of the demarcation line. My grandparents were the first AA family to buy on their street when they bough their home in the mid 60's. The majority of blacks lived in Deep Deuce and the areas now occupied by the OUHSC.

[boscorama]

Well stated, adaniel.

[MWCGuy]

I think most of these areas go undeveloped because the people that own them don't want to sell or want more money than what developers are going to pay. I know the areas up and down 104th,119th, 134th and 149th were like that many years. Many of those land owners died or hit a time in life where money was needed and the land was sold.

I know when my grandfather came back from World War II the mission for most people was get there hands on there own piece of land. He did that off SE 36th High he owned a majority of the block he lived on. Through the years he sold it off to family members and friends until he got down to the 2 acre lot that exist to this day between his house and his sister's house. He kept the front section in between as an yard for us kids to enjoy for a play area. The back section was a large garden where they grew just about every fruit and vegetable that could be grown in Oklahoma Soil. I plan on doing that same thing some day soon. I want my own piece of land that I can grow a large garden and hopefully pass down to my kids and grandkids.

[rezman]

I've wondered too why the area around 122nd & I-35 has remained so shabby. That area is begging for revitalization. It's the first large development area you see when you enter OKC from the north.

From my understanding, and this could be wrong, but the reason some of the areas east of I-35 have never been devloped is that they are resevered for flood control.

[Snowman]

From my understanding, and this could be wrong, but the reason some of the areas east of I-35 have never been devloped is that they are resevered for flood control.

I could see that being true between Draper Lake & Sooner Road, which is also penciled in as ending up a new lake/reservoir when they build the 2nd pipeline to Atoka/Sardis

[thebigtamale]

Read an interesting article about the new LifeChurch that's under construction on Broadway Ext. I've also been seeing some office park development. Maybe those will help brighten up that area.

[rezman]

I could see that being true between Draper Lake & Sooner Road, which is also penciled in as ending up a new lake/reservoir when they build the 2nd pipeline to Atoka/Sardis

Don't know about that area. I'm refering to the area around 122nd and I-35, north to Memorial and surounding areas. I know not all of that area is flood control, but it is part of the Deep Fork valley.

[thebigtamale]

Just reading this article about the new LifeChurch planned for Broadway Extension area. LifeChurch.tv's church construction near Broadway Extension draws curiosity | News OK. Also have been noticing some office park construction on Broadway Ext. further north. Maybe that will help brighten up that area.

Also, thoughts on the future of the area east of I-35 in Oakdale, Edmond, and Jones school districts? I have some relatives out and have seen some nice homes being built. Will we ever see commercial development serving those neighborhoods?