Wheeler District

[Pete]

This community is really starting to take shape:

[HangryHippo]

What are the foundations south of the office building in picture 2?

[Pete]

What are the foundations south of the office building in picture 2?

More homes.

[David]

They look like more row houses to me. Garage in the back, kind of tiny looking first floor living space up front next to the road.

[onthestrip]

Glad to seeing it taking shape and looking nice, because we need to always remind ourselves that they got $120 million in tif funds to make this happen. I know a chunk of that is for the school but still will never understand why it deserved that much help.

[GoGators]

Man this development really stirs up the comments on social media. This really angers a lot of people to their core for some reason.

[Pete]

Man this development really stirs up the comments on social media. This really angers a lot of people to their core for some reason.

No kidding.

I had to stop reading the comments.

[David]

Wow, no kidding. I just went and looked at the comments on the tweet Pete put out a bit ago with some of these new pictures and so much anger.

[Pete]

Wow, no kidding. I just went and looked at the comments on the tweet Pete put out a bit ago with some of these new pictures and so much anger.

Don't look at Facebook. Much worse

[AP]

The first 2 comments on insta say:

1. "I bet anyone that'll live there will be too scared to venture one mile south."
2. "love the *gentrification*"

Where is the lie, though? It's Carlton Landing in the middle of OKC. It's for wealthy white people. No shame in wanting to live there, but don't be mad when people call it out for what it is. If there is any question, just look at the stunts the charter school tried to pull before OKCPS declined their application.

[David]

Well, it sure as hell ain't gentrification to build a new neighborhood in the middle of an empty field. Do these people even know what words mean?

And the first comment is just baseless stereotyping.

[wsucougz]

Somebody's trying to do something. So it's no surprise a bunch of crybabies on the internet have a negative opinion of it.

[Plutonic Panda]

Pete, is the dirt work to the left in the bottom photo where the school will go?

[Pete]

Pete, is the dirt work to the left in the bottom photo where the school will go?

Yes, they have already started to move ground.

[Plutonic Panda]

Yes, they have already started to move ground.

Oh sweet! Are there any renderings or plans?

[David]

Somebody's trying to do something. So it's no surprise a bunch of crybabies on the internet have a negative opinion of it.

There's a pretty huge online movement that is hostile to nearly all new housing development in the name of opposing what they see as gentrification, pretty much regardless of any of the actual details of any given development.

[Pete]

A big part of the backlash is that this project is it is being done by a very wealthy family, the leader of which having been a mayor of OKC and who espoused all types of controversial and at least slightly racist statements. Fair judgment or not, people don't forget and have a general distrust for politicians.

It is also getting a huge amount of public subsidy and therefore people feel more entitled to weigh in.

And at least to date, it is very expensive per square foot which is going to cause plenty of people to 1) not understand the value; 2) deride others willing to spend that much; and 3) feel left out by 'elitists'.


I find the entire development fascinating mainly around how people are reacting to it, both positively (lots of home sales) and negatively (and the reasons for that negativity).

[GoGators]

I think it also just offends a lot of people's sensibilities. This development is pretty much flying in the face of the conventional suburban mindset of what is considered desirable (design, layout, location, land use) When people see this and then find out people are happily paying 2-4 times the money to live there, it elicits a negative emotional response.

[Plutonic Panda]

This has nothing do with people in suburbs being jealous. Lol

[Pete]

I think it also just offends a lot of people's sensibilities. This development is pretty much flying in the face of the conventional suburban mindset of what is considered desirable (design, layout, location, land use) When people see this and then find out people are happily paying 2-4 times the money to live there, it elicits a negative emotional response.

And many have said it is nothing more than an Edmond subdivision with a few amenities and a location that allows rich white people to feel less guilty for living in an exclusionary environment.

(This exact point was just made to me yesterday when discussing Wheeler.)

[AP]

And many have said it is nothing more than an Edmond subdivision with a few amenities and a location that allows rich white people to feel less guilty for living in an exclusionary environment.

(This exact point was just made to me yesterday when discussing Wheeler.)

Summarized my feelings pretty well. And I’m definitely not a jealous suburbanite.

[David]

Maybe it's more of a philosophical argument, but what Wheeler has built so far doesn't look like any Oklahoma subdivision I have ever seen.

[dankrutka]

Gentrification is often used in broader ways than the literal definition. Is a bunch of wealthy, white people (whose powerful families have made racist remarks) moving into a working Latinx community and immediately demanding they should get a school on their terms gentrification? Absolutely. Their approach reminds me of the "Nice White Parents" podcast where wealthy white NYC parents "choose" an underresourced school with Black and Brown families and immediately demand a French language class for their children while claiming it's for everyone. Those parents only improved the school if it was in their interest and their vision. They ignored the interests and bilingual skills of families and students already in the school. It's depressing to listen to.

I say all this as someone who generally loves the design of the development. But to describe this development as gentrification is fair.

[Pete]

Maybe it's more of a philosophical argument, but what Wheeler has built so far doesn't look like any Oklahoma subdivision I have ever seen.

There are a few in Edmond these days. Less dense, but similar.

[Plutonic Panda]

Gentrification is often used in broader ways than the literal definition. Is a bunch of wealthy, white people (whose powerful families have made racist remarks) moving into a working Latinx community and immediately demanding they should get a school on their terms gentrification? Absolutely. Their approach reminds me of the "Nice White Parents" podcast where wealthy white NYC parents "choose" an underresourced school with Black and Brown families and immediately demand a French language class for their children while claiming it's for everyone. Those parents only improved the school if it was in their interest and their vision. They ignored the interests and bilingual skills of families and students already in the school. It's depressing to listen to.

I say all this as someone who generally loves the design of the development. But to describe this development as gentrification is fair.

What is the end game with this mentality? How does an area get nicer? Are we just going to give free money to disadvantage people so they can live in the same type of lifestyle those who have money(many who work their asses off for) are able to live? Are we just going to let these areas rot and decay? Gentrification, when the factor of race is removed, is literally a person going in and restoring a build to its former glory. Well, it’s really when a bunch of buildings are remodeled. Yes the rent is raised because new money is invested and the world isn’t a charity case.

But again, what should happen?