Originally Posted by
betts
I do think Oklahoma City, with as much attention to attractions as "we've" paid to the Convention Center, coupled with a huge marketing push, could get better name recognition. We will have the river activities, we will (hopefully) ultimately have the Native American Cultural Center. Those are the kinds of things that look great on brochures and may pique people's interest. And we do have the Adventure District, which too has a lot of appeal. We've got other hidden gems that would be appealing to a visitor, such as the Paseo and the Stockyards District. What we don't have is easy access to them for someone without a car.
Very few people who travel to a convention want to rent a car. It's not fun driving in a city where you don't know your way, even with GPS. What we, as a city need to do, if we're going to try to appeal to a broader range of people, is come up with a comprehensive transit plan that can be used to link all these attractions. It would be amazing if we could have a streetcar line to each of those places, but that's not going to happen in the near future unless the city wins a big federal lottery. Without fixed transit, we have to look at buses and/or rail. Which comes back to the fact that very few people in a position of influence in this city have recognized the importance of mass transit. Were I in the Chamber, I'd be as interested in the streetcar, the Adventure line and improving our bus system as I would be in getting a few big rooms in a new building. Again, once you're in a convention center, the carpet choice is about the only noticeable difference between them. I think that to attract more people and more groups we have to promote our city as a fun, interesting destination that is easy to navigate.
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