Bricktown belongs to all of us, affluent or not. That's my opinion.
Whoa… I don't think anyone said that only expensive restaurants should be in bricktown. I have no idea why some people seem to think that the desire for unique destinations in bricktown equates to an elitist and snobbish attitude. That's very knee-jerk and unfounded.

The entire point of the original post was simply that without unique establishments exclusive to bricktown or the region, it loses its competitive advantage. The motivation for someone to leave their comfy house and spend money to travel and park at a destination is greatly diminished if that destination offers nothing different from where they just came. It losses all of the added value necessary to justify the added expense.

Outside of its club scene, Bricktown is resting totally on the laurels of its unique packaging (even then it is unique only to Oklahoma, as many cities in the southwest offer similar packaging), and that has been severely watered down by the design of lower bricktown, which is both unoriginal and a departure from Bricktown itself. Forward thinkers have to be asking themselves, will this novelty last?

People are drawn in by the idea of an urban destination and its inherent synergy. The idea that you can do a lot of things in one area that is full of people and energy is enticing. However, if you get there and realize that the majority of what is available can be found within 15 minutes of every suburban home, what’s your motivation for return?

There is absolutely nothing that says you can not have unique restaurants that serve interesting and tasty cuisine for the same price as the mid-range industry food chains that are in bricktown. Crap, even most well run local places serve the exact same thing, but much better for the same price (Cattlemen’s will kill any steak downtown for the price) There is absolutely nothing that says a local restaurateur can’t serve original and good breakfast fare better and at a comparable price to IHOP (VZDs, Beverly’s, and Classen Grill seem to kick IHOPs ass in selection and originality for the same price). And they are more likely to model their establishments with respect to the area and its culture, as opposed to forcing their model on the area as corporate chains do.

In Bricktown’s gestation period, the major developers have been pretty open about favoring prepackaged restaurants as opposed to unique local ones. As that period comes to an end, I see nothing elitist or snobbish in saying, “hey, you guys have benefited greatly from the investments made by the people of Oklahoma. How about giving back a bit and taking a chance on some its entrepreneurs? They took a chance on you.” Did we really tax ourselves, beautify your property, so that you could bring us another IHOP or Hooters?

Malibu is right when he says chains are a necessary evil. However, if OKC is serious about expanding its draw beyond Oklahoma weekenders and wants to use Brciktown to do it, it has to offer a critical mass of unique destinations. In fact, this may be just as important to maintaining and improving the frequency of visits by locals, and much needed weekday traffic.

In most senses, Oklahoma is playing catch up with just about every market within a days drive. Even when Brciktown lands a coveted chain (and even most new restaurants there), it is nothing new to the region and often times not even the city, resulting in no real long term accomplishment. Hopefully, we will recognize this and realize that our real opportunity to actually leapfrog competing markets and to improve our quality of life lies within our own people, their own ingenuity, and their own desire to bring something new and unique, not only to Oklahoma, but beyond.

And there is nothing that says, or even suggests, that access be limited to only the affluent and, in reality, the more chains that occupy Bricktown the less it belongs to us. It becomes less of a vision of Oklahomans and more of one by outsiders.