Strawberry Fields

[Laramie]

Several people upthread have absolutely **** on this concept, disregarding the fact it has worked in other cities. If you want to speculate and reap the benefits of both public and private investment in the community, you need to contribute more to the community. Personally, I would much rather see a lot be developed into something positive for the community rather than left vacant for 30 years. I understand that the real world is not Sim City/City Skylines, things have to be developed and expanded at a rate that the market allows. If property owners like Mazaheri are allowed to simply disregard the terms of their agreements with the city what is the point of all of this? He is sitting on some of the most desirable real estate in the entire state. Can any of you honestly say that an outside group would not develop his holdings on the West side of the park? The entire point of MAPS was to increase the quality of life of the residents of this city and to make it more marketable. Many of the projects we have all voted for have been passed because the citizens of this city have in good faith believed if they are willing to invest in this city so would private investors.

Agree 100% - Good post.

[Rover]

Not every starchitect is the right architect for the job, and cities with visionary leaders know how to select the right one.

Cities don't select everyone’s architect for private jobs. They don’t even do that in China.

[Oski]

^^^ You don't get my point. The 'right' architect lays out the guidelines for architectural designs submitted and helps make a city beautiful or not. Not every starchitect is the right choice for every city. For example, I wouldn't wish for OKC to hire Bjarke Ingels for the job, but I would be super happy if they chose Robert A.M. Stern. Btw, beautiful cities have only ever been created when governments impose strict and ambitious regulations to keep the rich, dull, and greedy developers in check. Actually, I don't think we should call those guys developers, destroyers may be more appropriate.

[PhiAlpha]

Agree, the city needs a world-class chief architect who can envision how to transform it into an elegant urban space. I don't think our city leaders have that world-class vision. OKC still has a lot of undeveloped land in prime locations, and it's a waste that these areas are being used for short-sighted or unattractive projects like Robert Square and Broadway Park. Even projects like the Hub and the Muse are just fill-in-the-blank developments (projects that nobody would care if they would be demolished to make space for something better). Copenhagen, for example, is beautiful not only because of its old buildings but also due to its creative and aesthetically pleasing new developments. This is because their city leaders and residents have good taste. I've watched many OKC city council meetings, btw, so I can tell.

If only we had taken this exact approach a long time ago…….

[Rover]

^^^ You don't get my point. The 'right' architect lays out the guidelines for architectural designs submitted and helps make a city beautiful or not. Not every starchitect is the right choice for every city. For example, I wouldn't wish for OKC to hire Bjarke Ingels for the job, but I would be super happy if they chose Robert A.M. Stern. Btw, beautiful cities have only ever been created when governments impose strict and ambitious regulations to keep the rich, dull, and greedy developers in check. Actually, I don't think we should call those guys developers, destroyers may be more appropriate.

You want another architect to create a master plan for OKC like Pei did? And, by the way, the master plan doesn't dictate design on all the buildings, just creates aspirational drawings. And, you want to eliminate developers and replace them with the city government? Who do you think takes financial responsibility for all these great designs? The city doesnt do the work of developers. Wheeler wasn't created by city starchitects… but by private developers with profit as a motive.

The city has a chance to influence design in the city with the new arena and other public edifices. We will see how they do and how much support for cool designs and big budgets we get.

[traxx]

I M Pei

U R not

O S I R
C M wings

L I B
U R Pei

[mugofbeer]

Please no more Pei plans but yes, l do believe a city can make a point of the type of development the city would like to see on important parcels. For example, mid and hi-rise residential along Scissortail Park, multi-family or brownstone type single family, etc..... then work with the developer to make it happen.

[PhiAlpha]

Strawberry Fields for never

Dammit I came here to say this LOL.

[HFAA Alum]

Dammit I came here to say this LOL.

I personally prefer "Strawberry Fields; Forever (Undeveloped)" but this will do. It's sad that a few wealthy oligarchs can hinder the progress of an entire city, much less one single development.

[Rover]

So we do like or we don't like tifs and government incentives? I get confused. We do like zoning, or we don't? We do like influential architects to hold sway over other architects’’ designs, or we don’t? We like eminent domain, or we don’t? We like planned communities, or we don’t? We like government spending, or we don’t? We like central planning, or we don’t?

[mugofbeer]

I personally prefer "Strawberry Fields; Forever (Undeveloped)" but this will do. It's sad that a few wealthy oligarchs can hinder the progress of an entire city, much less one single development.

Patience is a virtue.......

[HFAA Alum]

Patience is a virtue.......

I can see the slim margin of optimism you're seeing. Problem is that we shouldn't have to wait until the family inherits the land along with the playbook a certain parking lot pariah in order to see matters through to the end.

[The]

The free market always works its magic.

Debatable. And it’s certainly not a “free” market, but a highly manipulated one.

[traxx]

So we do like or we don't like tifs and government incentives? I get confused. We do like zoning, or we don't? We do like influential architects to hold sway over other architects’’ designs, or we don’t? We like eminent domain, or we don’t? We like planned communities, or we don’t? We like government spending, or we don’t? We like central planning, or we don’t?

Depends on what day of the week it is.

[stlokc]

Depends on what day of the week it is.

Not the day of the week. Depends on the situation presented. The world is infinitely more nuanced than it is black and white.

[Rover]

Not the day of the week. Depends on the situation presented. The world is infinitely more nuanced than it is black and white.

In reality it is very nuanced. However, on this and most opinion boards it becomes a matter of whether one likes what is happening or who is doing it rather than the methods or ideologies. Investors and developers generally deal with pragmatism, not idealism. Most investors don't support risk they cannot afford.

[Mississippi Blues]

Not the day of the week. Depends on the situation presented. The world is infinitely more nuanced than it is black and white.

It’s also the Reddit effect where different people say different things depending on their view of the situation and the distinct nuances that come with each individual person expressing those opinions. So not only is each situation unique but each person’s view can be unique and they can express those views at different times.

[dankrutka]

It’s also the Reddit effect where different people say different things depending on their view of the situation and the distinct nuances that come with each individual person expressing those opinions. So not only is each situation unique but each person’s view can be unique and they can express those views at different times.

I hate to tell you, but people holding different points of view precedes Reddit by a few thousand years.

[Mississippi Blues]

I hate to tell you, but people holding different points of view precedes Reddit by a few thousand years.

No, I’m pretty sure disagreements were invented when I joined Twitter, I mean X. Jk

I know you jest but to clarify, I’m referring to the perception that the same people change their minds on the same topic when in actuality it’s different people stating their opinion. It happens across social media but Reddit is notorious for it in larger subreddits where multiple threads with the same topic can have vastly different takes. That’s influenced even more by the upvote/downvote system which can lead to the top comments sounding the same and when you bring multiple threads into it, sometimes those top comments can contradict one another, leading to difficulty in deciphering what is actually true, especially if you’re someone that struggles to separate truth from popular opinion when a distinction exists.

That’s probably more explanation than needed but just wanted to add that clarification.

[Anonymous.]

While nothing is being built in this entire strawberry field, the city should go and burry all of the utility lines. It would be very easy and disrupt basically nothing.

[Pete]

While nothing is being built in this entire strawberry field, the city should go and burry all of the utility lines. It would be very easy and disrupt basically nothing.

SF was in line to get a big TIF grant for utilities but they couldn't get their act together and the City revoked it.

[Southsider2]

Are these new renderings? Feel free to delete if already shared but just happened to glance at their website today. Still see no movement from them but.

https://www.strawberryfieldsok.com/

[citywokchinesefood]

While nothing is being built in this entire strawberry field, the city should go and burry all of the utility lines. It would be very easy and disrupt basically nothing.

It costs a lot of money to bury utilities, literally hundreds of thousands if not over a couple million dollars per mile depending on the area. That is hardly nothing.

[HFAA Alum]

Those appear to be new. And as grandiose as it looks, it's amounts to as much as a wet paper fan trying to blow away a tornado in El Rino. What good does the image serve other than spark imagination to that of a rotting corpse? It would mean something if that lawsuit gets settled out and things start moving, but right now this is just a bunch of developer fanservice to appease investors. At least to me that's what it feels like.

Realistically speaking, how long have they been putting this stuff out? Now compare that to how long these lots sat empty. That's a 20 year plan that takes 10 years to sketch out, and you're basically 9 years deep with nothing to show for it.

[Plutonic Panda]

That was my first though as well. Didn't we get this grand vision of this place over a decade ago? They haven't even been able to restore a single building. I hope they pull it off but damn. Those are nice renderings though. Looks like they added some height to that tower on the NE part of the development.