What do you consider "Downtown"?

[warreng88]

I have heard people refer to the Hideaway on Broadway and 8th as downtown and the whole 9th Street District as downtown. I consider downtown to be where the Crosstown used to be on the south, EK Gaylord on the east, Classen on the west and 6th Street on the north. Everything else, I refer to as Midtown, Bricktown, Deep Deuce or just general cross streets. What does everyone else consider to be downtown?

[Pete]

The area you describe is the Central Business District.

The Downtown OKC Inc. website lists the following as Downtown Districts (in addition to the CBD): Deep Deuce, Arts District, Automobile Alley, Bricktown, Film Row and Park Plaza.

[Mel]

A song by Petula Clark.

[RadicalModerate]

^^^ (excellent)
Oh . . . i dunno . . . how about between Broadway/EK Gaylord on the east to Western on the west and from 10th St. on the north to the former crosstown on the south (sheridan, reno, whatever).

re: Petula Clark quip . . . and any place contained within those geographical boundaries where one might stop into an intimate, smoky club and encounter Bobby Darin singin' . . . "when the snark bites . . with his teeth dear . . . etc." =)

[Praedura]

A song by Petula Clark.

Dang!!! You beat me to it.

Anyway... I like to consider downtown a place where the "lights are much brighter". A place where you can "forget all your troubles, forget all your cares..."

[BBatesokc]

I tend to refer to anything within the following borders as 'downtown' - works for me and nobody has ever questioned it.

North: NW 12

South: The river

East: Centennial Exp

West: Western

All the districts are fine when someone wants that sort of detail, but I find most people have no idea beyond downtown, Midtown and Bricktown.

[CCOKC]

I tend to agree with you Brian on your boundaries. My office is in Midtown and I usually refer to it as such, but all of my employees (most of whom live in the burbs) refer to it as downtown.

[OKCisOK4me]

I consider downtown as anything that is in the CBD, but honestly from where I live in NW OKC, anything down there in a 2 mile radius from the center of downtown is downtown...lol.

[Mel]

Dang!!! You beat me to it.

Anyway... I like to consider downtown a place where the "lights are much brighter". A place where you can "forget all your troubles, forget all your cares..."

Downtown can be a feeling too.

[JayhawkTransplant]

I love this topic. Everyone in my office lives in Edmond or Piedmont, and they refer to my house as being 'downtown.'

I live at 23rd and May.

My mental boundaries are 10th, Reno, Gaylord, and Walker, I'd say.

And I was actually thinking about this the other day--I consider 10th to be the southern boundary of 'midtown,' in contrast to Kansas City, where I consider 39th to be midtown. Then I wondered if I could somewhat accurately compare the sizes of cities relative to where midtown begins.

[OKCisOK4me]

And I was actually thinking about this the other day--I consider 10th to be the southern boundary of 'midtown,' in contrast to Kansas City, where I consider 39th to be midtown. Then I wondered if I could somewhat accurately compare the sizes of cities relative to where midtown begins.

I'd love to overlay a KC on an OKC and see how they compare to one another.

[mkjeeves]

I love this topic. Everyone in my office lives in Edmond or Piedmont, and they refer to my house as being 'downtown.'

I live at 23rd and May.

My mental boundaries are 10th, Reno, Gaylord, and Walker, I'd say.

And I was actually thinking about this the other day--I consider 10th to be the southern boundary of 'midtown,' in contrast to Kansas City, where I consider 39th to be midtown. Then I wondered if I could somewhat accurately compare the sizes of cities relative to where midtown begins.

Ditto, except Classen on the west side.

[BoulderSooner]

i would use the Urban Neighbors boundaries ...

river on the south 13th north 235 east and Classsen on the west

[Larry OKC]

I think of OKC downtown as being a very compact area, basically a 1 or 2 mile radius...presumably the CBD???

[Of Sound Mind]

I think of OKC downtown as being a very compact area, basically a 1 or 2 mile radius...presumably the CBD???

I think you're in the small minority when it comes to how most people in the metro think of it.

[OKCisOK4me]

I think you're in the small minority when it comes to how most people in the metro think of it.

That's what I said too...basically.

[Teo9969]

I think of OKC downtown as being a very compact area, basically a 1 or 2 mile radius...presumably the CBD???

1 or 2 mile radius? The CBD is like 4 blocks east to west and 8 blocks north to south

[Teo9969]

Definitely what Boulder said.

235/13th/Classen and then either Boulevard or the River.

[Praedura]

You know you're in downtown if you see a streetcar gliding smoothly past...

Oh wait, can't use that definition yet.

[OKCisOK4me]

You know you're in downtown if you see a streetcar gliding smoothly past...

Oh wait, can't use that definition yet.

Awwwwwwwwwww shucks

[Praedura]

Hey, that could be a Foxworthy-esque routine.

"You know you're in downtown if...."

[ljbab728]

Obviously it's

"Where all the lights are much brighter"
"Waiting for you tonight"
"Where the neon signs are pretty"
"Where you can forget all your troubles and forget all your cares"
"Where everything's waiting for you"

[Spartan]

i would use the Urban Neighbors boundaries ...

river on the south 13th north 235 east and Classsen on the west

Yeah, this.

I guess I have a broader sense of downtown, but it's definitely more than just the CBD which honestly doesn't even register that much with me.

[Larry OKC]

1 or 2 mile radius? The CBD is like 4 blocks east to west and 8 blocks north to south

I didn't look at a map to check out how big the CBD is and didn't mean to imply that downtown was only the CBD, but that it included it (sorry if that was unclear)...when talking about a very compact area I was thinking along the lines of a 1 to 2 mile radius (in agreement with OKCisOK4me) in relationship to the 620+ square miles (mol) that comprise OKC...as spread out our city limits are, that doesn't extend to what most would consider to be Downtown...but there are going to be different opinions on that as evidenced by the posts in this thread.

The compactness of our downtown was brought up in the MAPS 3 Streetcar "downtown circulator" discussions. Since it IS so small, do we even need such a thing?

[HOT ROD]

the CBD is compact right now but downtown OKC is not compact as it includes numerous districts that surround the CBD. Therefore, it is essential for there to be some sort of reliable (and predictable) transit to connect the districts; hence the streetcar component of MAPS III to which an overwhelming supermajority of the voters of OKC approved.

I don't get why there is a minority trying to back out of it when all of the above is true. Anyways, I consider the CBD to be more than just where the skyscrapers are TODAY:

CBD: N 4th/5th - RR tracks - Crosstown alignment - Hudson/Walker/Dewey depending on the section
Entire Downtown: N 13 - I-235/Lincoln - River - Classen