Dallas

[OUman]

To be quite honest, I've never understood what people mean when they say "I don't OKC to be another x." Reasons being, they say things like bad traffic, high cost of living, too much growth, etc. Those are all necessary evils.

So what do you mean when you say you don't want OKC to be another Dallas?

I would love OKC to be another Dallas. When I say that, I mean job growth, new infrastructure investment(new freeways and aggressive light rail construction), great trails, amazing developments, beautiful skyline, very diverse group of people(when I walk into stores around Dallas I always hear different languages being spoken and see evidence of people from all over the world, I rarely see that in OKC), corporate relocations left and right, new data centers, etc... I'm not proposing an exact clone of Dallas, I'm wanting to see OKC follow in their footsteps.

I don't want Oklahoma City to be another out-of-control boom town. Sure, Dallas has plenty of things going for it right now, but you also have to weigh the negatives with the positives. Traffic, urban sprawl, etc all have their effects. If it's managed growth, I'm all for it. What Oklahoma City has going for it right now is pretty decent for a city our size. You don't have to be another Dallas or Austin to have good quality of life, good jobs, etc.

You are exactly right PluPan. People who say the classic "don't X my Y" are usually people viewing only the negatives that come with it (for this example, primarily traffic.

Did you even read my post carefully? I was not just dwelling on the negatives, I do like what's happening in Oklahoma City a lot. Read my reply above.



Just my opinion folks.

[Plutonic Panda]

I don't want Oklahoma City to be another out-of-control boom town. Sure, Dallas has plenty of things going for it right now, but you also have to weigh the negatives with the positives. Traffic, urban sprawl, etc all have their effects. If it's managed growth, I'm all for it. What Oklahoma City has going for it right now is pretty decent for a city our size. You don't have to be another Dallas or Austin to have good quality of life, good jobs, etc.



Did you even read my post carefully? I was not just dwelling on the negatives, I do like what's happening in Oklahoma City a lot. Read my reply above.



Just my opinion folks.

What is an out of control boom town? What criteria are you using for that definition?

[OUman]

From the Merriam-Webster online dictionary:

Definiton of boomtown:

A town that experiences a sudden growth in business and population : a booming town

This article, although from 2011, hopefully explains it better. I mean, you don't have to believe it just because it references Forbes but then again Forbes is a respected publication.

And Austin most definitely fits the bill of a boomtown. Rapid population growth, skyrocketing prices, nightmarish traffic. What takes 30 minutes here takes well over an hour there.

That's what I meant by out-of-control. Like I said, I'm not anti-growth, I'm just anti-rapid growth. If that's a bad thing then so be it. It's my opinion and I'm sticking with it.

And I'll be happy to continue this conversation via pm, I don't want to derail the topic any further.