Better Block OKC - May 18-19

[Praedura]

Tomorrow's the big day.

Breakfast, brunch and lunch plans at Better Block tomorrow!
The Crepe Brewers, Moto Chef Mobile Diner, Roxy's Ice Cream Social, Native Roots Market
and Wild Als all have special brunch plans for you! 8am-4pm

https://www.facebook.com/BetterBlockOKC

[Praedura]

This plant hoop house to be repurposed:




Also, some scientific experiments at hand:
"How far can a 10 minute walk get you?"



A printed google map photo, a few nails, and some yarn. Simple.

[ljbab728]

OKC Central: Better Block OKC at the Farmer's Market | NewsOK Videos

[Praedura]

OKC Good has a (well) good video on this:



I like the suggestion board.

[metro]

I went, shopped and ate. I must say that surprisingly and unfortunately I was a little disappointed (cue usual haters) with this year's Better Block. In fairness, I think the cold weather contributed to that a decent amount. I'd love nothing more than to see a true Farmers and Food Market in OKC, and this area has some historic charm. Some of my observations were as follows.

Weather - sucked, can't help that
Foot Traffic - was severely lacking, again probably due to weather. Area is also too spread out. Maybe should have tried to concentrate efforts into a smaller area a little more.
Design - seemed underwhelming. Not trying to hate, as I loved supporting the event and some good ideas were implemented. Just compared to the 7th street BBOKC, it didn't shine near as much. Beer Garden was empty (prob due to weather), Food Truck area was lacking more options, loved the kids play area, needs to be bigger though. I know they put fresh coats of paint on some of the storage shed buildings, but didn't notice it. I went to the Farmer's Market the week before for the Earth Day fest for comparison, and it had more people and more to do IMO. I'm not sure if it was just too large an area to tackle, not enough volunteers, not enough budget or what. Seems like the area was very trashy, lots of tall weeds, boards falling off buildings, grass needing to be mowed, etc. would go a long way. Regular vendors didn't tidy up their spaces any. A $20 gallon of paint would go a LONGGGGGGGGG way.
Pros- community dining and MotoChef in the Urban Agrarian kitchen was a success. Enjoyed the community dining and live entertainment. Overall it's still a win for OKC. I'd like to see a BBOKC Farmer's Market reboot with better weather to fairly judge it. Will be interesting to see how this area adapts to the suggested changes compared to how 7th St followed and still is.

[RickOKC]

I went, shopped and ate. I must say that surprisingly and unfortunately I was a little disappointed (cue usual haters) with this year's Better Block. In fairness, I think the cold weather contributed to that a decent amount. I'd love nothing more than to see a true Farmers and Food Market in OKC, and this area has some historic charm. Some of my observations were as follows.

Weather - sucked, can't help that
Foot Traffic - was severely lacking, again probably due to weather. Area is also too spread out. Maybe should have tried to concentrate efforts into a smaller area a little more.
Design - seemed underwhelming. Not trying to hate, as I loved supporting the event and some good ideas were implemented. Just compared to the 7th street BBOKC, it didn't shine near as much. Beer Garden was empty (prob due to weather), Food Truck area was lacking more options, loved the kids play area, needs to be bigger though. I know they put fresh coats of paint on some of the storage shed buildings, but didn't notice it. I went to the Farmer's Market the week before for the Earth Day fest for comparison, and it had more people and more to do IMO. I'm not sure if it was just too large an area to tackle, not enough volunteers, not enough budget or what. Seems like the area was very trashy, lots of tall weeds, boards falling off buildings, grass needing to be mowed, etc. would go a long way. Regular vendors didn't tidy up their spaces any. A $20 gallon of paint would go a LONGGGGGGGGG way.
Pros- community dining and MotoChef in the Urban Agrarian kitchen was a success. Enjoyed the community dining and live entertainment. Overall it's still a win for OKC. I'd like to see a BBOKC Farmer's Market reboot with better weather to fairly judge it. Will be interesting to see how this area adapts to the suggested changes compared to how 7th St followed and still is.

I have to agree, Metro. I didn't know what to expect, seeing as this was my first BBOKC event. I had just heard others on the site talk it up. So, I went; I also shopped and ate. I'm sure the weather affected the turnout, but the bigger issue I sensed was that the "transformation" I found was underwhelming at best. I don't mean to discourage anyone who was involved with the project--because it certainly seems like a great concept that is worthy of effort. But I stopped by the area a few days before the event to see a "before" shot of the area prior to the "after" shot I would see Saturday. Apart from additional people and vendors, I didn't sense much visual difference. If anything, it felt like people were awkwardly trying to create a vibe that didn't naturally exist, which is, I suppose the whole BBOKC concept. Again, don't get me wrong--I think the whole concept has great potential; I'm just not sure this event was the best execution of the idea.

[CuatrodeMayo]

Feel free to volunteer every spring Tuesday evening next year to make BBOKC the way you think it needs to be. We welcome any and all comers. Bring your ideas and work ethic.

[metro]

I would have, but we just had a new baby a few days before the event, so the best I could do was to buy a tshirt and support the event this year. I still think our criticisms are meant as healthy and constructive that can be learned from. We all have the same end goal in mind, which is to see this area succeed as a viable district and farmers/food market.

[OKC plaza]

I think the comparing the two events is difficult. The state of NW 7th and Hudson was far, far better than the state of FMD in regards to building structures, weeds, trash etc. We also had terrible weather every Tuesday worknight, which made our volunteer efforts difficult. The weather had a huge effect on the turnout, including non-profits who backed out of providing kids activities. Another issue we encountered was the difficulty in getting produce vendors...too many markets spread across the metro competing for farmers.

It was definitely too spread out, but we were hoping for nice weather and a great crowd. We are looking to perhaps put on smaller, more focused events throughout the year in different areas...the scope was probably too big this year.

We all put a lot of work into it. I think NW 7th was more a playground for ideas, and tackling the FMD we encountered the true grit of how much work needs to be done. All the more reason for the community to become more involved in the many grassroots revitalization efforts going on across OKC.

[shopcrawlr]

Unfortunately, if you went by a few days before the event, you likely saw an already transformed Farmers Market District. The updates to the district started several months before the event. The striping on 2nd street & paint on all of the McAnally's buildings are two examples of changes that took place over a much longer period of time than we implemented with last year.

[heyerdahl]

Wow, someone actually complained about something that a lot of talented people gave up their valuable time and resources to.

Better Block isn't all about throwing a big festival to entertain random people- it is about building connections within a neighborhood and trying to create social capital for permanent change. It is also about creating a representation of an "average day" (NOT a festival) in a neighborhood by testing simple, temporary improvements.

The Farmers Market District is a much stronger place, poised for change, because of the months of planning that went into Better Block.

[RickOKC]

Unfortunately, if you went by a few days before the event, you likely saw an already transformed Farmers Market District. The updates to the district started several months before the event. The striping on 2nd street & paint on all of the McAnally's buildings are two examples of changes that took place over a much longer period of time than we implemented with last year.

That's a super-helpful explanation - not just the blasting of an outsider who offered a reasonable (albeit uninformed) perception. If the goal is to reveal the potential in an otherwise semi-blighted area, then those involved succeeded. Maybe my expectations were made unreasonable by the way the previous event was described. By the way, I would gladly volunteer for this if I were available on Tuesday evenings.