Your OKC Wish List

[Faith]

A south terminal for Will Rogers to house hub operations for an airline.

A domed stadium to exceed NFL standards.

A REAL theme park. Disney or Universal.

A metro wide rapid transit system with links statewide. (the rts includes Shawnee, El Reno, Purcell and Guthrie)

A major motion picture studio including tours. This would include many back lots.

A major symbol of Oklahoma City (like the Arch is to St. Louis).

A better freeway system.

Good Suggestions! I would agree with all of the above.

I would like to add more Adult Entertainment places like "Dave & Busters" in San Antonio.

[SoonerDave]

A REAL theme park. Disney or Universal.

There's a legend that claims the Disney co was staking out property for a "mid-America" style Disneyworld somewhere in the midwest, and that a region of land roughly halfway between OKC and the Red River was the choice, but it fell through. I'd love to know if that story was actually true, or was just wishful thinking/urban legend.

It would be great to have something like that in Oklahoma, but given the current dynamics of the amusement park industry of late, I'm not sure it will ever happen...

-SoonerDave

[shane453]

I heard the same Disney rumor, except it was land between Tulsa and Missouri.

[jdsplaypin]

In response to the OKC-Denver road. I've heard from a little birdie that Tulsa will become connected to Wichita which will become connected to denver via a brand new interstate. How will this affect OKC getting a "northwest passage"?

[writerranger]

In response to the OKC-Denver road. I've heard from a little birdie that Tulsa will become connected to Wichita which will become connected to denver via a brand new interstate. How will this affect OKC getting a "northwest passage"?

Very interesting. I would love to hear more if you have the info! George Nigh's hope for a 'Northwest Passage' is history. There's no matching money and I haven't heard of the idea discussed much in years. Too bad, too. It was short-sighted on the part of the Oklahoma legislature to have passed that by when it was a realistic possibility.

----

[mranderson]

When George was Governor, Oklahoma was a state that would not vote for anything that was beneficial. The state could have been guaranteed the headquarters of United or American Airlines pending a vote of the people and the voters would have said no.

Today we would say a very loud yes. Too late.

[metro]

One thing I'd like to see is an Italian district in OKC. I know they've had an Italian festival the last 2 years but not an authentic district. We've got a Asian District, a Japanese district, a Hispanic district, and what some call "the Black side of town" which is referring to the East side of OKC. I know we have lots of diversity but I'd like to have a bonafide district as well.

[writerranger]

One thing I'd like to see is an Italian district in OKC. I know they've had an Italian festival the last 2 years but not an authentic district. We've got a Asian District, a Japanese district, a Hispanic district, and what some call "the Black side of town" which is referring to the East side of OKC. I know we have lots of diversity but I'd like to have a bonafide district as well.

Italians here don't want - or feel the need - to live together in a segregated "district." These ethnic districts are either real - or they are not.

----

[The Old Downtown Guy]

1. Sidewalks along every street. Yes that includes Northwest Expressway, May Avenue, Lincoln Blvd., Memorial . . . every street.
2. More sidewalks.
3. Still more sidewalks.

1 actual neighborhood, self contained, with full services and shops within walking distance of each other.

Quail Creek would be such a neighborhood if there were any damn sidewalks. Yes the walk would be several blocks in some areas, but that's the price of big lawns. So would all of the neighborhoods that surround Penn Square, but there aren't any sidewalks. It's a long list with a simple solution. Quit building four lane roads to no where and build sidewalks for the next few years.

[jbrown84]

In response to the OKC-Denver road. I've heard from a little birdie that Tulsa will become connected to Wichita which will become connected to denver via a brand new interstate. How will this affect OKC getting a "northwest passage"?

That is ridiculous. Wichita does not need a direct interstate to Denver. All you do is drive an hour north to Topeka and catch I-70. That would be like an interstate connecting Purcell with Little Rock. Completely unnecessary.

REI does stand for many things... my fault... I was thinking since we had a Bass Pro downtown, that an Economic Agency was what you might be referring to... even though they are rural, they take great interest in furthering the economic climate of OK.

Sorry to use an acronym, but it's not like saying KM instead of Kerr McGee. REI is the only name they are known by.

And this is not just another Bass Pro. REI has gear for backpacking, kayaking, mountain biking, snow skiing, mountaineering, etc. Stuff they don't have at Academy or Bass Pro or Sportsman's Warehouse or even Dick's Sporting Goods (which I wouldn't mind getting either). The only place to get that kind of stuff is Backwoods, but they are tiny compared to and REI store.

[metro]

Italians here don't want - or feel the need - to live together in a segregated "district." These ethnic districts are either real - or they are not.

----

I agree. The Italians have not felt they need to be segregated in this city and that is fine. They blend in nicely, BUT this thread is about a WISH LIST of what we would like to see, and that is what I would like to see.

[writerranger]

I agree. The Italians have not felt they need to be segregated in this city and that is fine. They blend in nicely, BUT this thread is about a WISH LIST of what we would like to see, and that is what I would like to see.

Point taken, Metro. I would like that too! Something like "The Hill" in St. Louis.

----------------

[metro]

Thanks for understanding my point of view. That is one thing I wish for although it is probably not going to happen for awhile.

[jbrown84]

An Irish pub would be cool. I guess we don't have any Irish people here.

[davido]

There's a legend that claims the Disney co was staking out property for a "mid-America" style Disneyworld somewhere in the midwest, and that a region of land roughly halfway between OKC and the Red River was the choice, but it fell through. I'd love to know if that story was actually true, or was just wishful thinking/urban legend.

It would be great to have something like that in Oklahoma, but given the current dynamics of the amusement park industry of late, I'm not sure it will ever happen...

-SoonerDave

It's in the works NOW. and it isn't disney at all.

[metro]

An Irish pub would be cool. I guess we don't have any Irish people here.

Not true. I'm part Irish. I know a ton of people full blood Irish. As far as Irish pub's, I'm not sure. I'm not too much into the Irish culture. If I remember right, they had an Irish festival a few months back.

http://www.okctalk.com/okc-metro-are...ighlight=Irish

[soonerliberal]

It's in the works NOW. and it isn't disney at all.

Details?

[stlokc]

1. A general realization that Oklahoma City is a BIG city; which means embracing what it means to be an urban area. A realization that this means you will sometimes have to pay to park, and walk a few blocks, to patronize urban neighborhoods with unique shops, resturants. Support great one-of-a-kind places, and grow them. There's always a market for Memorial Road,but don't automatically default to an Applebee's for dinner when independents are struggling. The readers of this forum understand this, but there's a lot of education to be done.

2. As a BIG city, as big as Austin or Charlotte or Portland or Memphis, recruit sophisticated places that exist in cities our size: examples might be Nordstrom, Hyatt Regency, Brooks Brothers, Whole Foods. Don't have a that-can't-be-supported-here mentality. The more of these places that exist in OKC, the more will follow. Nothing against rural OK, but get beyond the mentality we are an overgrown "cow town." This extends to culture: live theater, ethnic neighborhoods, festivals that don't always involve cowboys and indians (not that there's anything wrong with that, in moderation, but we should be looking for inspiration at Kansas City, Dallas, Indy, not Wichita or Abilene)

3. Recruit large corporations that employ well-educated people. Fortune 1000 companies provide prestige and spin-off creative enterprises that attract the "creative class." College graduates need more high-paying job opportunities. Devon and Chesapeake are FANTASTIC but we have to expand beyond the energy industry or we're asking for trouble in the future. And provide real incentives for these companies to locate downtown. DELL is also fantastic but college graduates won't stay in the city for a $10-an-hour call center job.

4. Continue the excellent momentum of downtown housing and retail. Make sure Bricktown/Deep Deuce grows the right way and does not become another outlet for boring chains. If national chains open, as much as possible they should be one-of-a-kind in Oklahoma. IMAX theater, for example or a state-of-the art aquarium as an anchor for a neighborhood between the river and downtown. A Hispanic marketplace to showcase that thriving community. Above all, mixed-use neighborhoods that create real 24-hour neighborhoods.

5. Continue the forward momentum of the excellent health sciences center, support this with science-friendly state policies. Actively promote bio-tech and use our natural location to attract agriculturally-oriented biotechs such as Monsanto, Con Agra, pharmaceuticals, etc.

6. Support mass transit, ideally with a rail network linking the entire metro area. If this is not feasible at the moment, at least realize that more and more highways just invite more and more sprawl, which is not healthy for the vitality of the city.

7. Beautification. The highways in OKC look awful. For a few million dollars, you could lanscape the medians along I-44, I-40, etc. with trees. Realize that for tens of thousands of daily travelers, that's the impression they have of OKC.

This is more than 3, but all these things come to mind. OKC is at a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to leverage momentum and oil money into really being the next great American CITY. (Not the next great American SUBURB)

[Bobby H]

I'm against planting trees in the medians of the Oklahoma City area Interstate highways. There is a safety issue to consider.

Superhighways are supposed to be designed to have minimal obstructions for drivers to hit if they lose control of a vehicle. This is why we have guardrails around bridge supports and concrete Jersey Barriers separating narrow highways like the turnpike portions of I-44. Even the ground mounted green signs have breakway supports that allow a runaway vehicle to travel through them rather than being stopped suddenly and potentially causing a fatal accident. Some trees will not move when hit at high speed by a car.

And then there's the issue of law enforcement and traffic control. It is sometimes necessary for OHP cruisers to cross over the median to the other direction of traffic. Tree and other stuff may block the view of the opposing lanes and obstruct access to them by police or emergency crews.

I think there's other approaches that can be made to improve the look of area highways. Well maintained grass goes a long way. Decorative bridge supports and sound walls can improve visual quality as well. In the end, highway function and safety must always take precidence.

[writerranger]

I'm against planting trees in the medians of the Oklahoma City area Interstate highways. There is a safety issue to consider.

Superhighways are supposed to be designed to have minimal obstructions for drivers to hit if they lose control of a vehicle. This is why we have guardrails around bridge supports and concrete Jersey Barriers separating narrow highways like the turnpike portions of I-44. Even the ground mounted green signs have breakway supports that allow a runaway vehicle to travel through them rather than being stopped suddenly and potentially causing a fatal accident. Some trees will not move when hit at high speed by a car.

And then there's the issue of law enforcement and traffic control. It is sometimes necessary for OHP cruisers to cross over the median to the other direction of traffic. Tree and other stuff may block the view of the opposing lanes and obstruct access to them by police or emergency crews.

I think there's other approaches that can be made to improve the look of area highways. Well maintained grass goes a long way. Decorative bridge supports and sound walls can improve visual quality as well. In the end, highway function and safety must always take precidence.

Bobby, Have you ever been to the Washington DC/Virginia area? Beautiful, tree-lined Interstate highways and I don't know that their troopers have any problem with it. In fact, I think about California and their Oleanders separating the lanes on Interstate highways. The "nanny state," can protect us to death, but risks will always be with us and tree-lined freeways are a part of the landscape that make them acceptable in many cases.

-------------------

[Bobby H]

Parts of I-40 here in Oklahoma have trees in the median as well. But the difference is those medians are very wide, and some of those medians have drop offs, deep drainage canals and other features which block any emergency or police vehicles from entering.

None of the superhighways in OKC are wide enough to permit the planting of trees.

I've lived in Northern Virginia (even graduated from high school there) and am familiar with the roads there. They pretty much follow the same sorts of rules you see here. In many cases HOV lanes are swallowing up medians of many freeways there. That's also happening in California. And that's another reason not to plant trees in the median. What's the point if they'll have to be dug out or killed a few years in the future?

[jbrown84]

There's no reason why we couldn't have trees on either side of the interstate. writerranger, I don't think I've ever seen an interstate that had trees in the median.

[soonerliberal]

I think having trees along the freeways would be a nice asset. I-95 in VA is lined with trees, and yes some are in the median at places. It is possible. However, I would still compromise for at least some shrubbery or something that is more than just plain unmowed grass.

[writerranger]

we should be looking for inspiration at Kansas City, Dallas, Indy, not Wichita or Abilene)

I'm telling you, we are under-estimating Wichita (and Omaha!) at our own peril. I have detailed why in this and other threads. Today, CNN/Money Magazine released their annual "Best Places To Live" issue. This year, you had to have a population of under 300,000. But, they had a, "Ten Best Big Cities" section and here is the Top Ten:

1 Colorado Springs, CO 369,800
2 Austin, TX 690,300
3 Mesa, AZ 442,800
4 Raleigh, NC 341,500
5 San Diego, CA 1,255,500
6 Virginia Beach, VA 438,400
7 Omaha, NE 414,500
8 Columbus, OH 730,700
9 Wichita, KS 354,900
10 New York, NY 8,143,200

Complete Details on this year's rankings:
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/money...006/index.html

------------

[Bobby H]

It's kind of funny that Colorado Springs is at the top of the "big cities" list.

I just drove back to Oklahoma from there today (my parents and a few other relatives live there; I was up there visiting my grandmother after she had a close call medical situation). After 600 miles and nearly 10 hours of driving I'm punchy and ready for bed.

Colorado Springs is really nice. But it's pretty expensive to live there. I'd move there if I could land a job paying me at least triple what I'm making now. To accept anything less would mean me taking a significant step down in living standards. I don't care how nice the scenery is in anyplace. I'm not taking a backward move just to move somewhere more pretty.

My parents live in the Black Forest area and its a pain to do all that driving just to get some little things done. I really have to seriously fault the 'Springs on its road infrastructure. It's the biggest city I can think of which doesn't have any freeway loops. US-24 should be a six lane Interstate-class facility from I-25 to I-70 in Limon. Instead, it is a hellish two lane blacktop with lots of grisly, fatal accidents.

In the end, I can't help but wonder if the folks at Money Magazine donned some rose colored glasses from all that scenery and overlooked some other glaring problems.