What will OKC look like in 20 years?

[BG918]

Just curious what people think the city will be like in 20 years. You never know what the world will be like then, but it's nice to think about anyway...

I see OKC becoming more of a national player in the biotech and research industries, and also strengthening its manufacturing sector. I think the city will be attractive to companies because the schools are good (started with MAPS for Kids and transformed OKC public schools) and there are plenty of college graduates (with OU and OSU expanding, as well as OKC's own OCU, UCO, OSU-OKC, and SNU). Most will be located near downtown by the gigantic and well-respected Oklahoma Medical Center or along the banks of the Oklahoma River.

The riverfront area will be home to dense tech and research campuses along with high rise residential towers, a variety of retail, and is very urban and pedestrian-oriented with many trees and landscaped areas along the river. Further south of the river (and I-40) is a large middle class neighborhood where the majority of Hispanics live and is the center of Hispanic culture, cuisine, and entertainment.

Bricktown will continue to be the city's premier entertainment district and the canal will be 2 times as long as it is currently and will connect to the Ford Center and Myriad Botanical Gardens. The area will be completely built up and very dense with the city's best restaurants, nightclubs, bars, and music venues. An NBA team will play at an expanded Ford Center. Plans will be in the works to bury the portion of I-235 adjacent to Bricktown to connect it to the burgeoning residential area near the OMC.

The CBD will add a few new towers, including a signature building for Devon and a new building for Bancfirst, along with new restaurants and cafes for the lunch crowd. New residential towers and townhomes will be built on the westside of downtown near the Arts District. Historic neighborhoods like Heritage Hill will double in value. Deep Deuce will become a popular live music area, with an emphasis on jazz, and less touristy than Bricktown. The entire midtown area will see new life as people move in to be close to downtown, and will take on an arts vibe similar to the Paseo district. The Asian District will continue to grow and will be one of the best in the region with more restaurants and residential. Nichols Hills will develop an upscale shopping center that will rival Tulsa's Utica Square.

Edmond will continue to grow with over 100,000 residents and an active downtown area because of high growth at UCO. Norman will grow to over 170,000 with continued growth at OU, with Campus Corner rivaling Bricktown for nightlife, downtown becoming more popular with increased retail/restaurants, and more students living in townhomes/mid-rise apartments near campus. A commuter rail line will connect Norman with south OKC, downtown, midtown, north OKC, and Edmond. Construction on a line from downtown to the airport would be in the works.

Frontier City would be expanded with several new rides and a park-wide renovation making it one of the better parks in the Six Flags system. It would also be called Six Flags-Frontier City. White Water Bay would also be extensively renovated. The OKC Zoo will expand its aquarium and add several new exhibits making it one of the nicest in the country. The Native American Cultural Center will be a key attraction in OKC, as will a renovated Stockyards City that is connected to Bricktown/downtown by riverboat on the Oklahoma River.

It's fun to dream...

[Patrick]

BG,

Wow, What a great description of what our city could look like in 20 years. Not sur if I have much to add. Your desrciption is extremely comprehensive, and seems to cover everything.


I suppose I can add a few more comments.

The north side of downtown will develop much like the west side....namely more residential. Upscale condos, apartments, and homes will fill the areas that are currently deteriorating or vacant.

The State Fair Grounds will be fully renovated and one of the nicest parks in the country. By spending over $200 million on the fairgrounds, we'll be able to attract the National Finals Rodeo back to the city at State Fair Park, in addition to keeping the shows we already have. Instead of the fair itself becoming a smaller attraction every year, we'll once again have one of the largest state fairs in the country. Our exhibit buildings will be some of the nicest in the country. We'll once again attract vendors from all over the world, and have a true international show in the International Trade Building.

There will be a nice railed trolley system downtown that replaced the aging rubber trolley system.....this is in addition to the new commuter rail line that was built to connect OKC to Norman. So far both the trolleys and the commuter line are exceeeding expectations.

The zoo will continue to expand by adding a new state of the art Pachyderm house, to replace the old WPA project. Our zoo will continue to rank as one of the best in the nation.

The Omniplex will go through manby renovations that will bring in new exhibits and a new appearance, making it one of the nicest science complexes in the country.

The convention center will be expanded to the south, matching the north side. The center's arena will provide even more convention space, producing two of te largest ballrooms in the country, once the space is converted from an arena to convention space. We will be attracting large conventions since we have the improved center plus we have well over 3000 hotel rooms downtown, many of which are located in high rise hotels on the Bricktown Canal. Hyatt and Omni will both make a presence on the Bricktown canal.

At this point in time, the canal is booming so much, the city is having a hard time keeping up with expansion plans to meet developers wishes. There are just so many national retailers, restaurants, and entertainment venues looking at the area.

The Oklahoma River is continuing to develop with high tech companies, office parks, residential communities, etc.

The relocation of I-40 south, has opened up a lot of new land for development. Much of this new land is being used to expand the CBD south, and add to the already booming residential market.

One must ask...well, with all of these new residential properties, whose supporting all of them. Well, Oklahoma City is now the fastest growing city in
the nation and developers can't build housing fast enough to keep up with demand. OKC now has well over 1 million people, with over 2 million in the metro area including the surburbs. With OKC continuing to be one of the most affordable places to live, people are moving here by the droves. The downtown and river areas are the hottest areas to live. Suburbs continue to grow as well, but urban sprawl has slowed as attention is once again being placed on the downtown area.
Norman is now the third largest city in the state, moving ahead of a stagnant Lawton. Norman now has well over 300,000 people. David Boren just recently retired as president of OU. He's left behind a massive campus, one of the largest in the nation, and definitely rivaling universities like UCLA and Notre Dame. Dan Boren, after spending several years in the US Senate, takes over from his father and has an even more ambitious plan to carry the university on. By the way, enrollment at the university now tops 60,000, almost three times what it was when David Boren took over.

A new state of the art library is built on the far northwest side of town, something that's been needed for several years. It was just ranked the second nicest library in the nation, only second to the Ron Norick library downtown.

John Marshall and US Grant High Schools have become two of the finest in the nation. Both once again are rivaling schools in the Edmond and other suburbian districts.

Downtown now has a beautiful new consortium on the south side of town, built by OU to replace their againg downtown location. It's located where the I-40 crosstown used to run, and is now reviving the south end of the new expanded CBD. The new downtown campus is surrounded by several new CBD towers.

Kerr Park is no longer there, but it has been replaced by a 65 story Devon office tower, the largest in the city and the largest in the state. There is a new Kerr Park located on the east side of the consortium, and a new Devon Park on the west side of the consortium. This has allowed more dense growth in the CBD, while pushing larger park-like areas to surrounding areas.

Regardless, landscaping in the CBD is still plush.

The city now has a successful NHL team playing in the Ford Center, and a successful NBA team playing in a newly built 25,000 seat Dell Arena on the Oklahoma River, near the Native American Cultural Center.

The city is talking with NFL officials, and they are ready to announce the addition of an NFL team to the area. The NFL team will start playing in 2030. The city recently passed MAPS V and it will pay for a new 75,000 seat football stadium/dome called the Heartland Castle. It will look very modern and will have elements that resemble the old Murrah Building, while at the same time having features that look like an old King Arthur type castle, i.e., a mout around the outside of the building which is filled with water connected by the Oklahoma River, draw bridges allow patrons to enter, castle-like towers on each of the four corners of the building, etc. It will be one of the most unique football facilities in the nation.

By the way, after MAPS III and MAPS IV, downtown highways and streets are now absolutely gorgious. Oklahoma City invested in one of the most ambitious beautification plans. Oklahoma City is now a hot spot for garden lovers, and OKC has become officially known by gardeners around, as the "Garden City." The flagship garden remains the Myriad Botanical Gardens.

By the way, city officials have purchased the old Ford dealership (Bob Howard Ford) across the street, which relocated to Automobile Alley, and the city is currently planning to double the size of the Myriad Gardens by expanding to the south.......plans call to build a second Crystal Bridge which will contain a desert forest, while the original Crystal Bridge will be converted into a complete rainforest. Afterall, these were the original plans for the site back in the 1970's and 80's....the build two greenhouses...one with desert plants and the other with a rainforest.

You're right BG, it's fun to dream.

[BG918]

Nice Patrick, you're even more ambitious than I am! Oh and Norman is already the 3rd largest city in the state, we passed "stagnant" Lawton several years ago! I wouldn't want the NFL in Oklahoma, let OU, and to a lesser extent, OSU football reign supreme!

I would also add that the Lake Hefner area experienced a huge boom when developers finally received approval to continue developing the east shoreline. New high rise condos and townhomes are popular here, near a variety of lakeside restaurants, cafes, and retail shops. The other areas of Lake Hefner were developed into very expensive neighborhoods with lake views and private beaches.

Further south by Norman, the need for more water has pushed the govt. into looking for a new location for a reservoir. The Canadian River was chosen and a dam would be U/C near Purcell. In addition to providing the south metro with water and hydro-electricity, it will also be a new recreation area. Marinas, condos, swimming beaches, a water park, and tony neighborhoods are planned for the banks in Norman. Fast growing Noble, Newcastle, and Purcell will also build marinas. A new I-35 bridge, designed by a famous architect, will be constructed over the lake.

[mranderson]

Not only is Oklahoma City in negotiations with the NFL, the Oklahoma City Blazers of the NHL just won their tenth straight Stanley Cup. Will Rogers World Airport became home to a new airline serving more cities than United and American combined. The new airlne has 500 flights a day out of the Mick Cornett International Terminal, plus corporate headquarters near WIll Rogers.

Universal Studios has purchased 1280 acres of land along with Disney for Disney/Universal World a major theme park, motion picture studio attraction.

By the way... President Coburn has bought a home in Oklahoma City which is an exact duplicate of the White House. At the announcement he also dedicated the Boone Pickens monument in Bricktown... A 750 foot oil tower with observation decks and restaurants and a big clock on each side.

Oh. BG: I may not be a football fan, however, Oklahoma City can EASILY support the NFL AND OU. If people will pay all the bucks for OU and other high dollar entertainment, they will the NFL. I will now throw a pass to Patrick to explain how.

[Patrick]

Unfortunately, I think the latest development at Lake Hefner (the deli and bike shop) will probably be the last. Randy Hogan went through a lot of hurdles to get this last project approved. The city kind of hinted that this would be the end to development at Lake Hefner. I think that's unfortunate, but that's just how it goes. We'll have to save your plans for the Oklahoma River instead.

Mr. Anderson, I like "Mick Cornett International Airport". That has a nice ring to it, especially if Mick can get all of this accomplished. If anyone can, I know he can!

And yeah, Oklahoma can definitely support both college football and NFL. States like Arizona and Missouri do it. If they can, I know we can. Of course, we're going to have to build our corporate base first, but once that's in place and fortified, we shouldn't have a problem. And don't worry about an NFL team taking away from college sports....just look at Miami...they support the Hurricanes just as much as they do the Dolphins. Probably more in fact!

[floater]

Man, how can anybody top what you guys have foreseen? If they become remotely true, OKC will be THE place to live, work, and play!

Oklahoma City 20 years from now will boast 800,000 residents, with the same boundaries, and the metro will boast a little over two million.

Edmond has hit 100,000 residents as a hotbed of financial service technology companies (ala Bloomberg News) generated by UCO’s unique program combining its media, design, and MBA offerings. UCO has been a one-man urban revitalization force by working with the City of Edmond to locate 400 dorm rooms spread across four mid-rise residential communities, as well as its news studios, in downtown Edmond.

Norman is aggressively pushing forward, continuing the pace the just-retired David Boren had jumpstarted 30 years before. Norman is the undisputed world leader in weather forecasting technology, allowing all of its 200,000 residents to feel safe. NOAA relocated there 10 years before. North Norman has exploded, with the Prairie Sky development on I-35 as its core. A residential and lifestyle center, Prairie Sky is a city within a city, with upscale shops, bookstores, cafes, and theatres arranged on a town square with a mix of single-family and low-rise apartment/condo communities flowing outward toward Robinson and Tecumseh. The big hill has a sign that says “WELCOME TO NORMAN” above “This is Prairie Sky” You can take an elevator or climb the carefully crafted trail to the top, where you’ll find SkyDeck Restaurant and OU’s new planetarium.

Together, Edmond, Midwest City’s Tinker, Oklahoma City, and Norman form what the country has been murmuring as the Research Spine, specializing in media, biotech/health care, aerospace and weather. This becomes literal ten years later, as talks and funding are underway for a maglev train connecting the four.

Inner city Oklahoma City is the pulsating heart of it all. The Paseo has attracted 30 new artists who have redeveloped more surrounding properties into studios, led by the Paseo Business Improvement District nonprofit. Another BID, the Little Asia BID, has secured the neighborhood’s place as the most active and integrated Asian enclave in the southern US. A Vietnamese consulate, SBA assistance center, and the Irene Lam Cultural Center (no longer in the Gold Dome but in a new facility) occupy the neighborhood. They are surrounded by Japanese gardens, parks, and monuments/statues. In the center is a central plaza/fountain that hosts performers and mahjongg tables. Market Saturdays and Mahjongg Sundays occur weekly during the warm months. And yes, the Milk Bottle Building and Braums Milk Bottle are still there.

A trolley takes visitors up and down North Western, which hosts the annual streetside Taste of Oklahoma City festival. Another trolley connects it to the other bustling neighborhoods – Little Asia, Paseo, downtown, Capitol Hill, and Stockyards City.

Speaking of trolleys, another one takes workers up and down Lincoln from I-44 to I-40. The State of Oklahoma is ¾ finished with the construction of satellite buildings north of the Capitol.

Downtown Oklahoma City is a 24/7 home to 20,000 residents. Midtown is a New Urbanist neighborhood where townhouses and apartment/condo communities radiate from a Midtown Square, a greenspace lined with picnic tables, benches, and flower beds. An elementary school is nestled among the houses.

The Hudson Arts District has closed off some interior streets and placed lawns and parks between its gallery tenants and the University Place campus buildings (hosting OU’s Business Center, OU-OSU Urban Design Collaborative, OSU’s H & R school, and other former Downtown College Consortium classroom buildings, each named after an OKC mayor).The Sheridan Studios (creative business incubator) hosts daily presentations and discussion panels. The reinvigorated International Photography Hall of Fame shares the block just north of the art museum, which has expanded to include the rest of that block. Live/work lofts fill out the rest of the district.

In partnership with Bob Funk and the City of Oklahoma City, the downtown YMCA has expanded north into Auto Alley with a world-class tennis and basketball court complex with spectator seating.

Ditto on the Bricktown Canal expansion. Renovation of the upper warehouse floors into housing has resulted in more neighborhood services, such as the Spin Cycle laundry and DJ lounge. Statues of Toby Keith Vince Gill line the canal.

Yes, the free Charlie Christian International Jazz Festival attracts doubles the downtown population everyday during this weekend event on three stages and the Charlie Christian Jazz Hall.

Glassy space tourism HQs fill the CBD, sending out twice-daily shuttles to operations in Burns Flat.

Bob Howard relocates. East of the Ford Center is the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame and Academy, hosted by Bart Conner and Nadia Comenici. On the south side of the Cox Center is a jumbotron screen and a giant three-dimensional panel of Jim Thorpe, backlit in blue.

A long mall connects downtown to the Oklahoma! River. A vibrant commercial district along Robinson, lined with streetside cafes and markets. Between downtown and the river is one of the city’s most prestigious neighborhoods, Riverside, where local celebrities have their permanent or part-time homes. A private college, music institute, and public junior high school fill this leafy neighborhood. It’s composed mostly of diverse single family homes, with mixed-income, two-story apartment buildings on the corners of the intersections.

On the intersection of Robinson and the river, though, is a small carnival area with a Ferris Wheel and carousel. Shops and restaurants surround a brick/stone fountain plaza overlooking the river. A continuous trail, public art installations, and Native American-inspired streetscape elements (benches, signs) line the riverfront. With a mix of dense housing, golf and frolf courses, fishing piers, and sports equipment rentals (including bikes) dotting the shore, this is one of the most sought-after places to live in the central US.

Finally, on the other side of the river are more active components: the 3,000-employee Dell Campus, other corporate HQs, and high rise condo communities sporadically fill the south shore.

[Patrick]

Wow, this sounds fun! I think it would interesting to move away from OKC for about 20 years, come back and see what it looks like...or better yet, just fast forward 20 years....but then again, I don't want to age that quickly.

[okcpulse]

Wow, Patrick. Actually it's funny you say that! My wife and I have plans to move to Houston, Texas in October 2005 so she can be close to her immediate family. It will be difficult for me to leave Oklahoma City. This is where I grew up, and have many good memories. We hope to return someday, but since I have a lot of family here in the city, we will be back often to visit. I already plan to start a mail subscription to my favorite paper, the Oklahoma Gazette. No independent weekly in the country, not even the $1.00 an issue Village Voice in New York City even compares to the Oklahoma Gazette.

In 1993, I never would have pictured Oklahoma City as the city it is today. Never. In 1993, we were a no-place, pass-by sleepy city... a place that hardly anyone across the country even heard of.

And today... today we are a thriving metropolis, definitely on the move, pushing progress along faster than anytime in our city's history. I will be a Texas resident, yes, but I will always be an Oklahoma Cityan, and I will remain as okcpulse on this forum. If anyone asks "are you from Texas?" My reply will be "no, I'm from Oklahoma. I'm a transplant." However, I want to see my wife happy. She loved living here, but family to her, and me, is number one.

If Oklahoma City came this far in 10 years... just imagine 20 years!! Each of you have a vision of this city that matches visions of my own. With the future of Oklahoma City that all of you have in mind, here is my take on what Oklahoma City will be like in 20 years.

I'm with floater. Oklahoma City 20 years from now will boast around 800,000 residents. Edmond will have more than 120,000, and will have become a major high-tech mecca boasting the latest research firms for new computer technology. UCO will be a major player in Edmond's status, and thanks to the 25,000 college students in the area, downtown Edmond will boast sophisticated nightlife.

Norman, with over 200,000, will be the southern mecca of Oklahoma City's research spine, and also a major player in Oklahoma City's film industry, thanks to the cooperation of Oklahoma City Community College and OU's film department and performing arts program, inlcuding the Ed Harris Performing Arts Institute, a major acting school (Actor Ed Harris is an OU grad).

Oklahoma City will be home to a cluster of software firms and computer hardware manufacturing plants thanks to a large number of economic incentives from the Oklahoma City High-Tech Development fund, and Forward Oklahoma City V. A new 65 story tower will be completed, boasting architecture that makes the tower an international landmark. Oklahoma City's freeway system is in top-notch condition, and its city streets are well landscaped into "garden boulevards". Thousands of patio-dining restaurants line N.W. 23rd, the new downtown boulevard and Western Avenue, a street that is regularly used in Hollywood films.
The Little Saigon International Festival in Oklahoma City's thriving Asian district attracts 100,000 visitors, sampling Asian food from over 100 district restaurants.

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation and the Oklahoma City Public Works Department begins expanding the successful Oklahoma City Area Rapid Transit rail (OCART) into Edmond, Guthrie, Shawnee, Midwest City and adds more stops in Norman. Ridership will be expected to double. Will Rogers World Airport completes a major expansion project, encompassing 60 gates and handling over 20 million travelers, and is a major hub for America West as well as Southwest.

Six Flags Oklahoma, formerly Frontier City, boasts a record attendance for the 2024 season, with many next door cooling off the summer heat at Six Flags Prairie Harbor, formerly White Water Bay, the water park that relocated next to the old Frontier City park for better attendance and profitability, having sold the Reno property to Maxtor Technologies, who opened a hard drive manufacturing center to compete with nearby Seagate Technologies.

And finally, the St. Anthony Health Campus joins forces with OU Medical Center for breakthrough healthcare for the thriving central Oklahoma City area, serving the dense urban area, and also forms a partnership for new medical technology.

The sky is the limit! I will enjoy the next 14 months as much as I can!

Continue the Renaissance!!!

[Patrick]

Hey okcpulse, sory to hear you're moving to Houston, but at the same time, the move will allow you to appreciate OKC so much more. As you come back for trips, just seeing the progress each time will make you excited. It's amazing how many people over the years I've talked to on OKC forum boards that had originally lived here, no longer live here, but miss OKC a lot, and visit frequently. Hot Rod and floater, on this forum, are both good examples, Hot Rod being from Seattle and floater being from Cleveland, but both living in OKC at one time or another.

It's funny that youmention OCART, because actually just a few years back, floater, Keith, and I along with several others from the community formed a group of concerned citizens we called OCART, to lobby our local government and try to push them on the need for commuter rail in our city. We probably had about 10 to 15 people involved, with 20 being our best meeting. A Metro Transit official was involved in the group, and Steve Lackmeyer and/or Jack Money with the Oklahoman came to a couple of the meetings.

Anyways, the plans you mention for your vision of the city in 20 years are more than feasible. I especially like the mention of the St. anthony/OU MEdical Center campus. I hope that one day, that are is linked....solid medical and research facilities. I'd like to see the research park expand down 10th St. and join the two campuses. Afterall, they're almost out of room at their present location.

[Nuclear_2525]

WOW, so many dreams! Hopefully some of the will come true...I would like to see OKC boom like this. One thing that won't happen though is OU having 60,000 students in Norman. If I remember correctly, OU is going to turn the Norman campus into more of a Rice, or graduate school, but will still have the amazing athletics program. They are going to try to keep the Norman campus small and elite. Their large campus is going to be in Tulsa. But, even without a large campus in the OKC area, a graduate school would be awesome.

[Patrick]

Huh? I know you're joking, but it's not very funny. As an OU student, I know this is all bull. Wasn't sure if you were just dreaming like the rest of us, or trying to state facts, but all of what you say will never ever happen. Ever! Never! Ever! Never! Never! Ever!

Now, here's what is actually going to occur: The main campus is staying in Norman and plans are to continue to expand it south towards Highway 9, offering even more undergraduate degrees. The new National weather service is part of that plan. David Boren just announced a few months ago he planned to have 40,000 students on the Norman campus over the next 10 years.

The Tulsa Health Sciences Center campus will expand, but not that much. It will still just be another health sciences center campus like it already is. They're just going to develop out the small piece of land they have at 41st and Yale in Tulsa. They're considering offering some of the same programs they offer at our Health Sciences Center complex in OKC, namely a medical school, allied health, pharmacy school, etc. All of the schools would be much smaller though. For example, the medical school here in OKC accepts 150 students into each class. The one in Tulsa would only accept 40.

[Nuclear_2525]

Are you sure about the 40,000 students? The last 10-15 year plan I read about for the Norman Campus was what I explained before. And I am not the only who read that. Someone else told me about it first and then I ended up finding the same story. The goal for OU was to add the weather center and a few other buildings out there. It said they planned on opening a 4-year university in Tulsa for their overruns, like UT has all over Texas. It said the Norman campus was going to stay very elite, hence the rising ACT scores, a 25 or 26 now to get in. From what I read, their plans were NOT to expand the campus and add more students...they want quality not quantity. The person who told me that they were not going to expand their enrollment at all was my OU adivisor that came to my high school to speak to all the interested seniors. So unless all this has changed in the last month or so, then OU is telling two different stories!

[swake]

I think 2025 may be confused, I have never heard anything about OU planning a major campus in Tulsa. I know they want to grow the Shusterman campus, but I think mostly as a graduate and medical center.

OSU is the school planning a major Tulsa campus. OSU is planning to have more than 5,000 students at the Tulsa campus within the next few years growing into a major campus with 20,000 students by 2020 with student housing, a greek system and even possibly independent athletics. They even want to move the medical school to the Greenwood campus downtown, from the west side so the whole school is together. OSU’s medical school in Tulsa was judged one the top medical schools in the United States for the fourth year in a row by US News and World Report this year. The short term plans are to complete the research center, build a new student union and starting plans for a first dorm.

NSU is also planning on building their Broken Arrow campus into a major university campus. They, in fact, plan on the BA campus being larger than the campus in Tahlequah within the next several years.

[Nuclear_2525]

Lol...well who knows...My advisor told me that OU was going to follow UT and start opening up 4-year universities with athletics and everything all over the state. He said that by 2025 OU wanted to have 4 universities in OK.

[Patrick]

swake, you're right. Nuclear, not sure where your advisor got the info. but remember that he's just an advisor and it may be wishful thinking on his part.
The regents are investing way too much money into the Norman campus to be moving the main campus somewhere else. And yes, the expansion will continue. David Boren has said that time and time again.

Yes, swake is right. The Shusterman campus will expand in the future, but will be very similar in nature to OKC's Health Sciences Center, only on a smaller scale. The 20 year plan calls for adding a separate medical school, pharmacy school, college of allied health, college of public health, etc. These will all be on a much smaller scale than the OKC campus though. It's important to note that the Shusterman Center is already a health sciences center campus, it will just be expanded. 20 medical students out of a class of 150 every year elect to move from OKC to Tulsa to complete their 3rd and 4th years of medical school (clinical years). Also, there are several medical graduate programs already at the Tulsa campus. But it will be solely a medical health sciences center.

You might have mistaken what the advisor said. Yeah, OU is following after Texas, not in the fact that they're having more than one main campus, but in the fact that thy're going to have more than one major health science center campus. UT as several Health Sciences Center campuses.....one in Galveston, San Antonio, etc.

Yeah, 40,000 students was the target number for the 10-15 year plan. I got a little mixed up on that info. though....the 40,000 is for all 3 campuses...the main campus, the OKC HSC, and the Tulsa HSC. The goal is 35,000 at the Norman campus, 3,500 at the OKC campus and 1,500 for the Shusterman Campus.

It is true that OU is raising the ACT scores. But, that's only to make it a more elite and competitive school, so it can compete academically with schools like UCLA, Notre Dame, and Stanford. If anything, that will raise enrollment not decrease...you'd think it would decrease enrollment because it would be more competitive to get in, but raising ACT's makes the school more competitive and attracts a higher caliber of students. Just think of how many students want to go to Princeton and Harvard. That's what OU is shooting for. So, you will see enrollment increase, probably even more drastically than if you left ACT scores alone, because of the prestige and eliteness OU will gain from this. A higher caliber of students will be attending OU in the near future. Thus doesn't mean that new buildings won't be built and the campus won't be expanded. In fact, with the gain in prestige, OU's popularity will probably increase to such a point that they'll be forced to continue expanding. That's what's happened with recent increases in ACT scores at least. Look at all of the construction going on on campus now. And OU has the highest ACT requirement in the state, et enrollment is gonig through the roof.

And yeah, OSU is planning on a larger campus in Tulsa like swake mentions, but even it will still be smaller than their Stillwater campus. Still, it will be a 4 year university.

In regards to OSU's medical school.....well, you didn't get the whole story on that. It's one of the top "DO schools" in the country, not a top medical school overall. You have to remember that DO (Doctor of Osteopathy), while having the same privileges and similar training to an MD, is a different approach from your typical allopathic MD. There are only about 50 DO schools in the country, so I'm not surprised Tulsa topped the list. Remember though DO's are still physicians like MD's.....a lot of people get that confused and think DO's are less qualified than MD's....that just isn't true.

NSU, like swake mentions is building a BA campus. I'm willing to bet it will be larger than the Tahlequah campus.....afterall the Tahlequah campus isn't that large. I'm guessing it may attract up to 10,000 students someday. I see it being more like UCO in Edmond, a large regional university in a strong wealthy suburb.

Anyways, swake, you're right on.

Hope this doesn't disappoint you Nuclear. I wouldn't mind seeing a few more OU 4 year undergrad campuses as well, but in a state this small, it just isn't planned, nor would it happen. The regional universities pretty much have a hold on the areas outside the two major cities and Stillwater and Norman, and OSU is planning the larger campus in Tulsa.

Hope this info. helps clarify some things.

[Nuclear_2525]

You're probably right, but like I said, I know several other people, my cuz and a few of my friends that had heard about this plan before I had. That is why I figured it had some truth to it.

About the state being too small to have several OU 4-year campuses, I disagree. Take University of Wisconsin. Wisconsin only has about 1,000,000 more people that OK and I think U of Wis has around 5 or 6, 4 year campuses all over the state.

[BG918]

I'm an OU student but I don't know much about our expansion plans. I would love to see OU become a larger university in Norman but also a more selective one. My degree will be worth more! I think a minimum 26 ACT and 3.2 high school GPA should be required for in-state students.

As for OU's Tulsa campus, it's not just health programs. They also have some business, education, and architecture graduate programs. I'd like to see OU continue to have a presence at the Schusterman Center, maybe expand their business and education offerings and add other programs while enhancing that small campus. I think it would be great for OU and OSU to team up and create a state-of-the-art medical complex in west Tulsa where OSU currently has their DO med school. It would give both schools room to expand and really enhance that area by the river. OU's architecture programs in Tulsa should be downtown in an architecturally-significant building. I've always thought it would be cool to have those programs downtown in say the first few floors of the Philcade with a small Tulsa architecture/Art Deco museam on the first floor.

About OSU-Tulsa, yes they have openly stated they want to have 20,000 students by 2020. If that happens, they will have to really expand their campus. But that will be great for that area because it's a very bad part of town and this will help change that. It will also be great for downtown having thousands of college students basically next door and many wanting to live in downtown. I hope as they grow OSU buys out those apartments to the north of its campus and that high rise apartment tower. They would make good student housing (amazing skyline views) and help solve the drug and crime problem that originates from those apartments.

[Patrick]

You're right BG...the Tulsa campus is mostly health sciences programs but they do have a graduate college there, and college of architecture and fine arts, I believe. The parts they're expanding though are the health sciences and graduate college.....especially the health sciencesas I've already mentioned.

In regards to Oklahoma not being able to support multiple OU campuses.....it's not really that we're too small to support multiple campuses, it's more that we already have a strong regional university set up, which Wisconsin really doesn't have....they use the univesity of Wisconsin to fill that void instead. I suppose our state could just change the name of all of the regional universities. Instead of UCO have OU-Edmond, instead of Northeastern have OU-Tahlequah, instead of Southwestern have OU-Weatherford, instead of East Central have OU-Ada, etc. I guess that's kind of what OSU has done with the Tulsa campuses, OKC campus, Okmulgee campus, etc.