Wheeler District

[Celebrator]

I wish there was something we could do. I love trees.

100%. You and me both.

[TBD]

In all fairness, they are planting a ton of trees in the neighborhood. No reason to think they won't do that on the east side of the development once it starts.

[HOT ROD]

I wish there was something we could do. I love trees.

I know, I'm still not following why the trees are being cut. If anything, we should be planting trees not cutting them with the lot setting empty for 10+ years. Makes no sense to me.

If it's a homeless issue, then they need to secure their property not cut down the trees. But that's my opinion.

[Pete]

From this (Saturday) morning:

[catcherinthewry]

Well that sucks. I hope they are planning on doing something soon in this area. Otherwise it just seems senseless to remove the trees.

[Pete]

^

You can see the huge piles of trash.

I'm sure this was to do something about the huge, incredibly trashy homeless camp that was growing by the day.

When I recently stumbled upon it, it was pretty shocking. I bet people using the path felt unsafe and I saw a bunch of trash being thrown/blown into the river.

[king183]

I can confirm the people who were camping in there have been a consistent problem. As others have mentioned, they were throwing a ton of trash into the river. I started complaining to the city about it—and the amount of trash in general in the river—after I saw dead water fowl stuck in a bunch of the trash in that inlet. And when I say it was a lot of trash, I mean it was effectively a dump. The people have been stealing items from various areas, returning here to strip them down for metal, and then throwing the rest into the river. The camp has also been a source of drugs and violence.

I learned about much of this after I visited a nearby homeless encampment to see if they needed anything before winter and through the course of a rambling conversation the residents told me that particular camp pictured above and another one right off Walker are known amongst the homeless population as places to avoid because of issues of violence. Depending on your perspective, either out of curiosity or stupidity, I visited both of those camps and I could immediately tell it was different than the other camps and the people here were clearly “rougher,” to say the least. There were literally dozens of stolen bike frames stacked up and stripped of their components, people making drugs in large holes in the ground, makeshift weapons laying around, etc. At the time of day I went (I think it was Sunday morning), there were only a few people present and they mostly ignored me (this is an interesting story I could tell some other time).

Anyway, I agree that it is a major shame the trees have been taken down. I don’t know if the camp is the reason they were taken down, but I can confirm that camp has been an issue on multiple fronts.

[Plutonic Panda]

Of course oklahomas only way of dealing with it was destroying more nature.

[Pete]

^

There are also massive liability issues for both the Wheeler District and the city.

I try very hard to be compassionate and nonjudgmental, but when I walked through that area it was one of the very few times in my life that I've felt unsafe.

I should have taken photos because it was nothing less than appalling.

[Pete]

Here are some closer looks at the mountains of trash:

[Plutonic Panda]

^

There are also massive liability issues for both the Wheeler District and the city.

I try very hard to be compassionate and nonjudgmental, but when I walked through that area it was one of the very few times in my life that I've felt unsafe.

I should have taken photos because it was nothing less than appalling.

It just sucks that they couldn’t have cleared the underbrush and left the trees. That could alleviate some security issues and preserve the area for a future park when the Wheeler District gets extended east.

[catch22]

Clear the underbrush and install bright lighting. A few of those temporary job site diesel-run light arrays (they even make solar) run every night for about a month would move them along somewhere else. Senseless and maddening to not pursue some other recourse before literally a scorched earth approach. Those trees had to have been 20-30 years old?

[Plutonic Panda]

At least. Probably 30+ some of them.

[king183]

Clear the underbrush and install bright lighting. A few of those temporary job site diesel-run light arrays (they even make solar) run every night for about a month would move them along somewhere else. Senseless and maddening to not pursue some other recourse before literally a scorched earth approach. Those trees had to have been 20-30 years old?

The lighting equipment would be dismantled and sold for parts within 12 hours.

[catch22]

As opposed to dismantling 30 years of beautiful trees within 12 hours to toss in a landfill. They really showed us...

[Pete]

Wheeler will end up planting hundreds of trees on this parcel, just as they already have done on the other side of Western.

[Pete]

[Plutonic Panda]

Wheeler will end up planting hundreds of trees on this parcel, just as they already have done on the other side of Western.

It doesn’t hurt to have existing semi mature tree growth. What they planted will take 10+ years to reach the tree cover these old trees did. I don’t mean to keep beating this horse but I’m sick of seeing constant clear cutting around the metro. At least Edmond implemented a tree cutting policy. There’s a tree genocide happening in LA everywhere I look a massive, beautiful tree is being cut down.

[Pete]

Keep in mind that purposely planted trees live longer, look better and can grow very quickly. They often replace trees that are prone to disease, are not very attractive, etc.

I remember the outrage about Bicentennial Park and now the trees are very nice and will be much nicer than what was there before.


Like everything else, we simply know much more about landscape design and trees/plants than we did even 20 years ago. Look how awesome the Myriads Gardens is now, and those were all planted trees and plants.

It can suck in the short term, but beyond that professionally landscaped areas are always going to be better.

[Plutonic Panda]

Yes I suspect the current planted trees will grow faster but hopefully still be resilient to higher winds and storms like native trees. I don’t think this patch of trees was watered or maintained so I’d guess they were at least 30 years. Any trees that are planted and watered should reach this growth quicker.

[andrew]

I frequently use that trail and at least a dozen times have had run-ins with dogs that would come out of that wooded area and bark and chase me down. It was quite frustrating and a little scary. Hopefully these occurrences will decrease with this demolition…

[Southsider2]

This is the inlet right by Pete’s pics above from tonight. A few of the campers have migrated over under the Western Ave bridge.

[soonerguru]

From this (Saturday) morning:

I really, really hate this for our city. It has happened dozens of times.

Other cities manage to be giant and awesome and pro-business and pro-growth and protect trees, like ATLANTA! You have to obtain a variance there to fell a tree anywhere in city limits. As a result, the city has a beautiful mature canopy of various hardwood and pine trees that resembles some of the greatest wilderness areas of southeastern Oklahoma.

By contrast, Oklahoma developers seem content to scar and denude the land, creating barren landscapes while increasing the intensity of the urban heat island, planting only the bare minimum landscaping required to shimmy past city code.

This city has been indiscriminately felling trees for generations. It is literally ingrained into the psyches and culture of the city. Shame on Blair Humphreys and his family for this utter lack of imagination. And pity the dwindling wildlife in our city that are seeing their habitats rapidly and systematically destroyed. I would love to watch him pontificate about this at some ULI convention.

[soonerguru]

Yes I suspect the current planted trees will grow faster but hopefully still be resilient to higher winds and storms like native trees. I don’t think this patch of trees was watered or maintained so I’d guess they were at least 30 years. Any trees that are planted and watered should reach this growth quicker.

Sorry to break it to you, but it will take well over a decade to establish anything remotely resembling that grove of trees. And native trees that have survived our harsh weather are genetically superior to something from a nursery.

Again, the worst aspect of this is the loss of urban wildlife habitat.

[Plutonic Panda]

Sorry to break it to you, but it will take well over a decade to establish anything remotely resembling that grove of trees. And native trees that have survived our harsh weather are genetically superior to something from a nursery.

Again, the worst aspect of this is the loss of urban wildlife habitat.

You aren’t breaking anything to me I already said that lol. I agree with you this is horrible. It’s beyond frustrating.