Lincoln Square

[mugofbeer]

No kidding. I'm reminded of this every time I look at old photos of the city before the highway was put in.

Do you drive l235? l bet those who use it would argue against your opinion pretty loudly.

[mugofbeer]

The only way we are going to get affordable housing in the core is with a ton of government subsidy.

I disagree. While prices in the core are rising, if developers would simply build dwellings that weren't aimed at the luxury market, you could have more affordable housing. Not everything needs to be built for a Hollywood lifestyle. Land prices here in Denver are far higher than OKC, yet developers of recently announced condo projects in OKC want to charge Denver-level prices. Someone just needs to build simple construction and let the ownefs deck them out in OKC. As for affordable housing, there are plenty of other alternatives in OKC but just not in the core.

[Pete]

^

More affordable is nowhere close to 'affordable'.

[hoya]

If they can sell a 3000 sq foot, 3 story townhouse for $550K and make a profit, then they can sell each floor individually for $185K. At that point it's just a question of layout, and whether there's enough buyer demand.

Edit: If the land cost is too high, you could even go up to 4 or 5 floors and stay stick-built.

[turnpup]

Do you drive l235? l bet those who use it would argue against your opinion pretty loudly.

As a matter of fact, I do drive it just about every day, as we live in the downtown core. It is convenient for making the morning and afternoon commutes to drop the kid off at school and husband at work on the NW side of town. However, if it had never been built I'd still be able to take Classen, Western or Lincoln to my destinations. But yeah, it's here, so of course I use it.

[Plutonic Panda]

As a matter of fact, I do drive it just about every day, as we live in the downtown core. It is convenient for making the morning and afternoon commutes to drop the kid off at school and husband at work on the NW side of town. However, if it had never been built I'd still be able to take Classen, Western or Lincoln to my destinations. But yeah, it's here, so of course I use it.

But it’s important to keep an open perspective about the usefulness of it as well. It serves a ton of people and though it could be rebuilt and better designed to lessen the negative effects of division created by the super structure, removing it is not a smart move.

[turnpup]

But it’s important to keep an open perspective about the usefulness of it as well. It serves a ton of people and though it could be rebuilt and better designed to lessen the negative effects of division created by the super structure, removing it is not a smart move.

I'm not sure why you're quoting me. I haven't ever said anything about removal, or redesign for that matter. Just said it made me sad to see the old pictures of contiguous neighborhood before it was built.

[Plutonic Panda]

Pete. has there been any movement on this project? It is it still moving forward?

[Pete]

No recent movement.

This is a land acquisition/consolidation project like Strawberry Fields.

[Plutonic Panda]

No recent movement.

This is a land acquisition/consolidation project like Strawberry Fields.

Thanks for the response. Do you think this group is more organized than SF or more of the same? It seems like they would want the city to pay for the street extension through a TIF if I had to guess.

[Pete]

They are speculators, a point I made 4 years ago when this was "announced".

They will almost certainly flip the properties to others for development and still have lots of property they don't own in that area, just like Strawberry Fields.

[warreng88]

Kind of related: The Oklahoman reporting that a $1 million grant to kick off repairs at the Jewel Theatre has been obtained. It was from Mellon Foundation. I would hope this would jump start some sort of development in the area, but who knows...

https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news...t/70244247007/