Recommend a driving tour route of Tulsa

[Celebrator]

I have lived in OKC for a year and a half and have not checked out Tulsa. My wife and I are going to have some time the week after Christmas to do some exploring there for the day.

So, those of you familiar with T town, if you could lay out a complete turn by turn driving tour of the city that would include drive-bys of the city's highlights. We LOVE old neighborhoods with beautiful architecture as well as checking out the downtown core and any must-see art deco buildings.

I have two requests for drive-bys on the route...
1) the Philbrook Museum (probably go back to actually view the collection/gardens another time)
2) University of Tulsa campus

My wife has two requirements though, she wants to stop by the Whole Foods and Utica Square, so please include those locations along the way. We will be taking the turnpike from here this time, although some beautiful spring day we would love to do the trip by rag top along Route 66!

I hope this will be fun for someone out there to do, we just want to print it off and follow along!

Thanks and Merry Christmas.

[EricGarcia]

I might recommend sending you to City-Data forums (specifically the Tulsa page) to get more Tulsa people to respond. Also, Tulsanow.org/forum is a good site to get recommendations.

Thanks for your interest in Tulsa. You will enjoy your visit!

Merry Christmas!!

[Floyd]

I'd refer you to this thread on TulsaNow: http://www.tulsanow.org/forum/index.php?topic=13657.0

[Urban Enthusiast]

Here would be my recommended route. It starts downtown and finishes downtown. Follow the black line, then the blue line (continuing south on Yale), then the red line, then the purple (south) to the yellow line and make a loop back onto the purple (head north) and finish on the green. I have added some thumb pins for the major points of interest. I would simply use this as a major travel route and recommend you get off of the beaten path to explore the major points of interest better. Feel free to comment with any questions.

[BG918]

From I-44 get off at Riverside and go north. All of the nicer midtown neighborhoods are located east of the river north of 41st, most concentrated in the Maple Ridge area (15th to 31st, Riverside to Peoria), Terwilleger Heights (21st to 31st, Peoria to Lewis) and Bryn Mawr/Ranch Acres (21st to 31st, Lewis to Harvard). There are also nice neighborhoods full of bungalows and WWII-era homes in the Swan Lake/Cherry Street area (21st to 15th, Peoria to Utica), Yorktown (21st to 15th, Utica to Lewis) and Florence Park (21st to 15th, BA Expy. to Harvard). Philbrook is located in Terwilleger Heights at 27th & Rockford, between Peoria and Utica. TU is located north of Florence Park on 11th between Delaware and Harvard. Utica Square is located at 21st & Utica in the heart of midtown. The other districts in midtown for shopping/restaurants are Brookside (Peoria between 31st and 41st) and Cherry Street (15th between Peoria and Utica). The Whole Foods is in Brookside at 41st & Peoria.

Downtown is worth checking out to see historic buildings, art deco and the BOK Center. There are restaurants all over but the concentrated areas are around 5th & Main (for lunch places) and in Blue Dome around 2nd & Elgin, and in Brady around Main & Brady. Just remember Tulsa's midtown is more vibrant than downtown. There are also really nice 60's-70's era homes in the hilly neighborhoods around Southern Hills country club (61st to 81st, Lewis to Harvard) that are worth a drive through. If you have time Gilcrease is also a nice museum and is located northwest of downtown.

[Celebrator]

WOW, what a great response...thank you all. We look forward to exploring!

[Celebrator]

Thank you for taking so much time with this Urban Enthusiast, really, I know how valuable time is (especially this time of year!!!) and for you to do this is really generous! I'll let you know when we get back what we thought. Thank you so much.

[Urban Enthusiast]

LOL, no problem. I used my lunch hour to map that out. I have actually taken several people from out of town/state on that tour before. It shows off the best of the city in my opinion. So, where did you move here from?

[Celebrator]

We moved here from Orlando, FL. Loving OKC and Oklahoma in general!

By the way, could you give me turn-by-turn directions to get up to your starting point from I-44 coming from OKC? Thanks.

[Spartan]

When you come into Tulsa on 44 don't veer off to stay on 44, keep left (straight) and follow the signs to I-244/Downtown Tulsa. Take the first exit once you cross the river which is the South IDL 64/75/51 going EAST and then on that, take the first exit which is Denver. Cross the freeway into downtown on Denver and keep going until you turn right on 10th which turns into 11th. The starting point is on 11th leaving downtown. You should definitely explore Downtown Tulsa before starting off on the midtown slalom. Plan to get lunch somewhere in Brady or Blue Dome, which will force yourself to explore for cool restaurants and stuff.

I was in Orlando over the summer for a conference and was actually surprised that there is a tolerable downtown amidst all the blah. Orlando was a fun city actually (I stayed as far away from the Disney/family stuff as possible).

[Urban Enthusiast]

What Spartan said - take I-244 towards downtown and you could take the Denver exit, or you can simply take the 7th Street exit at the end of the Arkansas River bridge and have your way with downtown before you head out on 11th Street. I would recommend driving around and then parking the car and getting out for a stroll - weather permitting of course. Eat somewhere downtown. . . most establishments are local and then head off on the driving tour. I would also encourage you to venture into any of the neighborhoods you drive by that look appealing. There are lots of cool neighborhoods to explore, including my own - Florence Park (mostly 1920s and 1930s cottages), which is located north of 21st Street between Harvard Ave. and the Broken Arrow Expressway (you'll drive past it just after the Golden Driller). Anyway, I hope you enjoy Tulsa. . . it's actually quite a bit different than OKC.

Small world. . . My cousin moved to Edmond from Orlando a couple of years ago.

[Celebrator]

Urban, Spartan...thanks!

[Spartan]

What Spartan said - take I-244 towards downtown and you could take the Denver exit, or you can simply take the 7th Street exit at the end of the Arkansas River bridge and have your way with downtown before you head out on 11th Street. I would recommend driving around and then parking the car and getting out for a stroll - weather permitting of course. Eat somewhere downtown. . . most establishments are local and then head off on the driving tour. I would also encourage you to venture into any of the neighborhoods you drive by that look appealing. There are lots of cool neighborhoods to explore, including my own - Florence Park (mostly 1920s and 1930s cottages), which is located north of 21st Street between Harvard Ave. and the Broken Arrow Expressway (you'll drive past it just after the Golden Driller). Anyway, I hope you enjoy Tulsa. . . it's actually quite a bit different than OKC.

Small world. . . My cousin moved to Edmond from Orlando a couple of years ago.

Florence Park is a great neighborhood. One of the things that separates Tulsa from OKC is how neighborhoods that are pretty much small homes are still nice neighborhoods. In OKC, the majority of historic homes worth preserving are the ginormous mansions, for the most part. Florence Park just has a lot of well-done charm, and it's mostly nice, smaller homes.

[Spartan]

Urban, Spartan...thanks!

You may also want to check out some of my photo tours from last year when I was in Tulsa a lot:

Downtown
http://www.okctalk.com/showthread.php?t=22290

Midtown
http://www.okctalk.com/showthread.php?t=22253

Sadly my downtown pics are really just the districts on the edge of downtown and none of the art deco core itself. But there are some really treasures in there, like the Adams Bldg which you literally have to touch and feel (both a visual and tactile masterpiece). My Midtown pics really didn't even go into any of the beautiful neighborhoods.

My pics also didn't really cover the Uptown/Riverview area, which is a very cool area. South Boston is kind of right in that area though, but Riverview is an eclectic area that might be interesting to you (I've never seen it in the winter).

If you go into the suburbs, just be ready for all of South Tulsa to be like Edmond but with skyscrapers and more traffic. There are some main suburban skylines you might watch for.. around ORU (Lewis from 71st to 81st), along Yale is a nice skyline, and along Skelly Drive/I-44 at 41st/Yale.

[Urban Enthusiast]

Just an FYI Spartan. . . they have recommenced work on this project. The exterior is nearly complete I believe.

[Spartan]

1st Avenue Lofts?

[Urban Enthusiast]

I'm not sure what they're called, but they are located on Trenton just north of 15th Street.

[BG918]

I'm not sure what they're called, but they are located on Trenton just north of 15th Street.

Have you seen them recently? Bright is an understatement. Better than an unfinished building though.

[Urban Enthusiast]

Have you seen them recently? Bright is an understatement. Better than an unfinished building though.

I was going to mention that. They are quite bright, but yeah, much better than an unfinished building.

[Spartan]

Just an FYI Spartan. . . they have recommenced work on this project. The exterior is nearly complete I believe.

Oh the metrolofts one in Cherry Street that looked like it was shuttered for a year. Awesome news. Maybe someone got a deal on a Cherry Street loft, the lucky bastards.

[BG918]

Oh the metrolofts one in Cherry Street that looked like it was shuttered for a year. Awesome news. Maybe someone got a deal on a Cherry Street loft, the lucky bastards.

Metrolofts built some nice and some not-so-nice infill in this area. The best new infill projects were the ones designed by Kevin Stephens and Shelby Navarro. The recession pretty much put an end to all new construction in that neighborhood though. This building is the only one currently U/C.

If you want to see the highest concentration of contemporary residential design in Oklahoma this is the place. It's a small area from Peoria to Utica, 14th to 15th next to Cherry Street. A good place to go for a walk.

[Spartan]

The project you mention, I believe, is also the highest certified LEED residential building in Oklahoma. I agree it was very nice, but I'm not as critical of some of the metroloft projects as others. Yeah, they're blocky and weird-looking, but it's good density and so far as we know it's quality construction for sure. It will all come together in an eclectic mix of styles, as the neighborhood builds density, and I suspect a few of the more unique existing old homes will probably stay and compliment the lofts.

[Urban Enthusiast]

So, were you and your wife able to make the trip to Tulsa Celebrator?

[Celebrator]

Not yet, we stayed a bit closer to home and explored Stillwater and Norman in consecutive days...checking out the college towns. We liked them both for different reasons, and are proud that our state's two largest universities have beautiful campuses in nice towns.

We look forward to getting out to Tulsa sometime soon. I will post a trip report here so you know how it went.

I actually typed out turn-by-turn directions using your map and cut and pasted bits from Wikipedia about most of the landmarks...should make it an interesting introductory tour of the city...thanks again.

[Urban Enthusiast]

It's really sad, but I have never been to Stillwater. I have lived in Oklahoma all of my life, less four years spent in Indiana, and I have never even been to the OSU campus. . . nevermind that I even applied for and was accepted to OSU. I really need to get over there. I have no excuses either, as I have a good friend who is a graduate student there.