Ideas 4 MAPS

[OKC Guy]

Repaving roads takes time, unless you want to redo all of them at once and create a traffic nightmare.

The issue isn't funding. There's plenty of money. The issue is redoing all of OKC's roads takes more than 2 years. Those people are the same people who probably get into a rage about I CANT BELIEVE THEY CLOSED THIS ROAD AT THIS TIME BECAUSE OF X EVENT. People just like to bitch and moan

Then they need to send out flyers to residents based on zip codes and list the roads and when they are projected to be redone. We all understand it can’t be done overnight but need to see what roads are scheduled.

Your last 2 sentences starting with “those people” have nothing to do with the topic I addressed and should be said in the gossip thread and not directed at me.

[OKC Guy]

The bond program takes place over 10 years. MAPS 4 will need to be voted on in 2019. Your request has merit but is impractical. This is the nature of our 10-year bond programs. There are literally still things being wrapped up from the 2007 bond program.

Thanks for your reasonable response. At minimum the city needs to send out a flyer based on zip codes and list all roads being redone and when scheduled. This would serve to allow every resident to see which roads are scheduled. Otherwise most citizens will never know and might assume bad roads are not being fixed.

This is a huge PR deal if they want the next Maps to pass. Each Maps has passed by less than the prior one. A lot of non core residents I talk to are not enthusied with streetcar expense. Thus why if we can show them Maps money is also being spent on roads in their area this will help the buy in for Maps4.

[hoya]

MAPS projects have always been a compromise. Nobody is going to benefit from every project, and some people won't benefit from any of them. We've got to be able to prevail to a general sense of civic pride, of wanting our city to be something better than it is. Purely economic projects like the convention center have their place, but those alone won't get enough votes to pass. Downtown-centric projects like the streetcar are cool, and they inspire a certain segment of the population, but a lot of people will never use them. Projects specific to other neighborhoods will affect progressively fewer and fewer people -- a great park on 150th and Rockwell might be wonderful for people near it but it won't get used by most of the people in the city.

Road improvements are quite expensive, and I worry about paying for things that should be handled with the city's day to day operating budget with special funding projects like MAPS. Roads wear out, and then you've got nothing to point to like you would with a ballpark or streetcar.

[gopokes88]

Then they need to send out flyers to residents based on zip codes and list the roads and when they are projected to be redone. We all understand it can’t be done overnight but need to see what roads are scheduled.

Your last 2 sentences starting with “those people” have nothing to do with the topic I addressed and should be said in the gossip thread and not directed at me.

If they care that much its a ten second google search.

And there’s a certain segment of society that is constantly complaining. If it wasn’t bad roads it’d be something else

[jerrywall]

Road improvements are quite expensive, and I worry about paying for things that should be handled with the city's day to day operating budget with special funding projects like MAPS. Roads wear out, and then you've got nothing to point to like you would with a ballpark or streetcar.

Agree. Rather than a general "make roads better" item on MAPS, which is hard to get folks excited about IMO, I maybe could see some large, visible road based project for a MAPS initiative. If it was something (but better done) akin to the downtown BLVD, running N/S (Classen?) or such, I could see the selling value. Otherwise road spending under MAPS wouldn't really be a cornerstone, just an item on a list of secondary minor projects.

Personally, I'm a big supporter of the idea of cultural/art based projects, and technology based (Municipal Wi-Fi anyone?)

[jedicurt]

Agree. Rather than a general "make roads better" item on MAPS, which is hard to get folks excited about IMO, I maybe could see some large, visible road based project for a MAPS initiative. If it was something (but better done) akin to the downtown BLVD, running N/S (Classen?) or such, I could see the selling value. Otherwise road spending under MAPS wouldn't really be a cornerstone, just an item on a list of secondary minor projects.

Personally, I'm a big supporter of the idea of cultural/art based projects, and technology based (Municipal Wi-Fi anyone?)

i'm still on the streetcar expansion and bike trails, lanes.... but very interested in what other projects people can come up with. you have any specific cultural/art based projects you are hoping for?

[hoya]

I started thinking, what about a Vietnam memorial, both to the people who fought in the war and to all the immigrants who came to Oklahoma in the aftermath?

We could have a wall with all the Oklahoma soldiers who died in the war, and then like a path you walked down that detailed the journey of the people who were brought over to the United States. At the end, maybe a statue that recreates the scene of the evacuation of Saigon?

[shawnw]

I started thinking, what about a Vietnam memorial, both to the people who fought in the war and to all the immigrants who came to Oklahoma in the aftermath?

We could have a wall with all the Oklahoma soldiers who died in the war, and then like a path you walked down that detailed the journey of the people who were brought over to the United States. At the end, maybe a statue that recreates the scene of the evacuation of Saigon?

Military park is already a pretty nice memorial with the recent soldier statue additions...

[Laramie]

Oklahoma City MAPS 3 Wellness Centers


Oklahoma City MAPS 3 Wellness Centers: http://www.gsb-inc.com/maps3-senior-...llness-center/

Greensboro Aquatic Center

Greensboro Aquatic Center: http://www.greensborocoliseum.com/ve...aquatic-center

Build one huge: Oklahoma City Aquatic & Wellness Center; a combination of a center similar to the Greensboro Aquatic Center with a OKC MAPS 3 Wellness Center included.

[baralheia]

I'm a much bigger proponent of simply opening all of the health and wellness centers to all OKC residents, instead of just senior citizens.

[OKC Guy]

MAPS projects have always been a compromise. Nobody is going to benefit from every project, and some people won't benefit from any of them. We've got to be able to prevail to a general sense of civic pride, of wanting our city to be something better than it is. Purely economic projects like the convention center have their place, but those alone won't get enough votes to pass. Downtown-centric projects like the streetcar are cool, and they inspire a certain segment of the population, but a lot of people will never use them. Projects specific to other neighborhoods will affect progressively fewer and fewer people -- a great park on 150th and Rockwell might be wonderful for people near it but it won't get used by most of the people in the city.

Road improvements are quite expensive, and I worry about paying for things that should be handled with the city's day to day operating budget with special funding projects like MAPS. Roads wear out, and then you've got nothing to point to like you would with a ballpark or streetcar.

I agree with your overall premise. But the challenge is we need enough city residents votes to pass Maps. So at some point you have to do something that benefits their area. Roads are an easy way to do so but they need to know about them with some type flyer. Its money well spent to get buy in for more Maps

Also, most people I talk to love the maps 1 and 2. Ballpark, canal, BB stadium were all smashing hits. As were most all other projects. Where I hear most complaints is streetcar.

It only takes 10% of voters to change from yes to no to lose the next Maps vote. Its not a buge margin compared to Maps1 was. So its very important to engage citizens (kind of like this thread) in Maps buy in.

If we propose Maps4 and it fails that will set us back bigtime. We may not get another chance for years. So if a flyer helps to engage citizens and shows Maps is not solely a downtown expense that could keep enough votes to pass the next Maps.

Does anyone have the vote percentages handy for 1, 2 and 3?

[hoya]

Military park is already a pretty nice memorial with the recent soldier statue additions...

Military park is small and seems like an afterthought. I'm thinking of something significantly larger. Think the WWI memorial in Kansas City. Not quite that big, but still something impressive.

[Thomas Vu]

I'm a much bigger proponent of simply opening all of the health and wellness centers to all OKC residents, instead of just senior citizens.

I've driven by it a lot and thought that too. There's probably a good reason why it's limited to senior citizens alone.

[Laramie]

I'm a much bigger proponent of simply opening all of the health and wellness centers to all OKC residents, instead of just senior citizens.

I feel that a wellness center that caters primarily to senior centers make them feel safer in a sense that you aren't mixing older adults with the younger or youth crowd.

A center that I proposed would include a wellness center wing targeting seniors; it would also be open to a younger group with the main aquatic center--does that make sense.

Area universities, colleges, high schools without an Olympic size pool could also use the facility which could host National, Regional & State meets. This would give us a fifth wellness and an Aquatic Center capable of hosting Olympic training

[shawnw]

Military park is small and seems like an afterthought. I'm thinking of something significantly larger. Think the WWI memorial in Kansas City. Not quite that big, but still something impressive.

While you're not wrong, nowhere other than Military Park really makes sense because that is the part of town where it is most relevant.

That said if we wanted to tweak the purpose of Memorial Park, that could be something. Lots of space there.

[hoya]

Ultimately I think we'd be better off if we connected most of the MAPS projects with some form of public transportation. It doesn't necessarily have to be the streetcar, but it should be on the proposed metro rail system at least. The idea is that we're creating the future of OKC, and in the future people will interact with the city in a different way.

One thing I was struck by when riding the streetcar is that the city feels different. I've worked downtown for 15 years, but getting on and off the streetcar gives you a different feeling of where things are located than driving there in a car. People are going to start thinking of things downtown in relation to how close they are to which stop. "That's only a block away from the St Anthony stop." I think future MAPS projects need to build upon that type of orientation. In other words, we need to connect them with the streetcar or some other type of public transit access.

Let's say we get half a dozen different attractions, all in the range of $50M or so apiece. Minor league soccer stadium somewhere in the Capitol Hill area. A Vietnam memorial over in the Asian District. A major expansion of the Farmer's Market partnered with OSU OKC. A country music hall/performance center over in the Stockyards City area. (These are just simple suggestions, I'm not married to any of these). And then we connect them all with a streetcar line that services the attractions and the surrounding neighborhoods. It wouldn't just be a toy to go around downtown, it would help expand the very idea of what "downtown" happens to be.

[KayneMo]

Does anyone have the vote percentages handy for 1, 2 and 3?

MAPS - 54%
MAPS for Kids - 61%
MAPS 3 - 54.3%

[shawnw]

That was the percentages of of the victory right? Not of the eligible registered voters that voted? That was pretty low I thought.

[OKC Guy]

MAPS - 54%
MAPS for Kids - 61%
MAPS 3 - 54.3%

Thank you

So in reality it only takes 4.4% of voters to change it to no.

Maps3 was passed in 2009 and we have changed as a city. So the next vote might be unknown because we’ve had way more growth since Maps 3 compared to growth after/in between 1 and 2 and 2 and 3. As much as downtown has grown I would bet a majority of actual residents growth is in suburban OKC (away from downtown but still in OKC).

Lots of folks will be watching Streetcar. Good thing is park and OMNI will be opening before next Maps and those will likely be very positive and recent stories. But we invested a lot of tax dollars in Stereetcar and citizens are watching not just now but the next year or two.

[OKC Guy]

That was the percentages of of the victory right? Not of the eligible registered voters that voted? That was pretty low I thought.

Yes, I’m sure that was actual people who voted for Maps not all registered voters. Same as any election vote.

I think Maps 2 was so high due to Maps 1 being so great. Then Maps 3 came back down because some didn’t feel Maps 2 addressed their schools. I am just guessing from what I recall of stories done back then.

This is why Maps4 is no gimmie, and will take a lot of PR to make sure it passes.

[RodH]

The MAPS 3 margin was smaller because it was opposed by the police and firefighters due to a dispute with the mayor. The vote also took place during the great recession.

[PaddyShack]

Wrong thread.

[Laramie]

Ultimately I think we'd be better off if we connected most of the MAPS projects with some form of public transportation. It doesn't necessarily have to be the streetcar, but it should be on the proposed metro rail system at least. The idea is that we're creating the future of OKC, and in the future people will interact with the city in a different way.

One thing I was struck by when riding the streetcar is that the city feels different. I've worked downtown for 15 years, but getting on and off the streetcar gives you a different feeling of where things are located than driving there in a car. People are going to start thinking of things downtown in relation to how close they are to which stop. "That's only a block away from the St Anthony stop." I think future MAPS projects need to build upon that type of orientation. In other words, we need to connect them with the streetcar or some other type of public transit access.

Let's say we get half a dozen different attractions, all in the range of $50M or so apiece. Minor league soccer stadium somewhere in the Capitol Hill area. A Vietnam memorial over in the Asian District. A major expansion of the Farmer's Market partnered with OSU OKC. A country music hall/performance center over in the Stockyards City area. (These are just simple suggestions, I'm not married to any of these). And then we connect them all with a streetcar line that services the attractions and the surrounding neighborhoods. It wouldn't just be a toy to go around downtown, it would help expand the very idea of what "downtown" happens to be.

$50 million a piece (most of these items would take $15M--$50M):

Minor league soccer stadium somewhere in the Capitol Hill area.
A Vietnam memorial over in the Asian District.

A major expansion of the Farmer's Market partnered with OSU OKC. (Save and renovate the historic Farmer's Market.)
Oklahoma City Farmer's Market: http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/W...lahoma_City_OK

A country music hall/performance center over in the Stockyards City area.
Edmond, OK - Armstrong Auditorium: https://www.armstrongauditorium.org/

Hoya, hope you have submitted these items.

[TheSteveHunt]

funding of true local media outlets

[Sooner.Arch]

I have dreamed of an Oklahoma City Museum of Modern Art and Sculpture Museum. Attachment 15071
The lot would be right across the Museum of Art. Personally, I would tear down everything there except the concrete structures that were part of the bank
Attachment 15072
This portion would become the outdoor sculpture garden, similar to the sculpture museum in Dallas. Those are dreams haha, big ones I know!

The lot would be perfect for a sculpture museum or modern art museum
This museum is in Dallas and is what I hope we strive for