BOK Park Plaza

[Plutonic Panda]

Shadid submits appeal resolution on bus station demolition | Red Dirt Report

I like Shadid for this. Hopefully something will come of it!

[Pete]

The DDRC made the decision on this, has the City Council even had a say in it yet?

The Council does not typically have a role in this process which is why Shadid is going this route.

The DDRC makes the decision and the only other hurdle would be an appeal to the Board of Adjustment. This is what happened with Stage Center, but the BoA narrowly voted not to overturn the DDRC's vote.

[Spartan]

Similarly with Stage Center, the SandRidge block demo's were much more heavily scrutinized by BOA than DDRC. DDRC doesn't really make nuanced critiques like you'd see in other cities.

[LakeEffect]

Similarly with Stage Center, the SandRidge block demo's were much more heavily scrutinized by BOA than DDRC. DDRC doesn't really make nuanced critiques like you'd see in other cities.

Because the ordinance language regarding demolition is so broad and weak... DDRC would be allowed to be more critical if the ordinance a more clear definition of the demolition criteria.

[Teo9969]

I have said this before, Shadid is the only member of the council who speaks the language of urbanism.

Well he's 1 of 2 (Salyer) who represents a ward that has any sort of urbanism in its boundaries…It's going to continue to be a very difficult fight for urbanism outside of districts that are self-contained for the most part: Deep Deuce, Midtown, Film Row, etc. The CBD is certainly addressed in the context of the whole of OKC more so than the other districts.

[Bellaboo]

I have said this before, Shadid is the only member of the council who speaks the language of urbanism.

Then why did he try to can the streetcar ?

[Pete]

Well he's 1 of 2 (Salyer) who represents a ward that has any sort of urbanism in its boundaries…It's going to continue to be a very difficult fight for urbanism outside of districts that are self-contained for the most part: Deep Deuce, Midtown, Film Row, etc. The CBD is certainly addressed in the context of the whole of OKC more so than the other districts.

Pettis (Ward 7) has all of Bricktown, Deep Deuce and a good chunk of Core to Shore.

[Teo9969]

1 of 3, then, and with the caveat that the absolute vast majority of his ward's constituency is another demographic entirely. That will change over time as DD and Bricktown, and the very-inner-NE-side get a massive influx of residents, but for now it remains that the couple thousand residents there are negligible compared to the tens of thousands of residents in the rest of his ward.

The real question ought to be whether or not Meg Salyer is the person to be the real representative for the Urban Core. She seems to be one of the good-guys, but is she really the best that Ward 6 can do?

[Village]

If only 499 would've ended up looking something like this.... (A new highrise for denver)

Its on the street, theres no public plaza, parking is incorporated.

[BDP]

From a local retail consultant and the founder of Better Block OKC:

Commentary: Community vitality | Oklahoma Gazette

[krisb]

Then why did he try to can the streetcar ?

Because he reads great authors like Jarrett Walker who understand that true urbanism means having a public transit system that works for everyone. I hope the streetcar is the start to a real transit system, but some suggest it is merely symbolic transit.

[soondoc]

From a local retail consultant and the founder of Better Block OKC:

Commentary: Community vitality | Oklahoma Gazette

That was a very good article and spot on. It is amazing how these older people are so out of touch and that was basically a little proof. The need to be replaced and some bright, young and energetic minds needs to prevail.

[Bellaboo]

Because he reads great authors like Jarrett Walker who understand that true urbanism means having a public transit system that works for everyone. I hope the streetcar is the start to a real transit system, but some suggest it is merely symbolic transit.

Me too, and since they are already in the mix for central Ok governments for consideration then it's possible, even though it's probably a ways out.

But no, in reality Ed was trying to pull a power (I think for Mayoral race) play that eventually failed.

[PhiAlpha]

Because he reads great authors like Jarrett Walker who understand that true urbanism means having a public transit system that works for everyone. I hope the streetcar is the start to a real transit system, but some suggest it is merely symbolic transit.

Well again, he should've voiced his concerns without coming off like a jackass and getting David Slane involved to completely overthrow MAPS after failing to stop the streetcar.

[Rover]

That was a very good article and spot on. It is amazing how these older people are so out of touch and that was basically a little proof. The need to be replaced and some bright, young and energetic minds needs to prevail.

It's not older or younger that makes people out of touch. There are plenty of unrealistic and uninformed young as well. The article is right though...replace out of touch persons with Ina-touch persons on committees, commissions, and council seats. It takes effort. We will see if the millenials are willing to organize and work to make it happen or just complain and wait for it to be given to them.

[kevinpate]

Not for nothing, but how many seats on the council are coming up for grabs in a few weeks? if the truly motivated want to stretch themselves and begin to improve their sphere of influence, it's worth getting even more organized on horseshoe seats than some have been on buildings and roadways.

[Pete]

Here are the council seats up for election in early March:

Ward 2 (Shadid)
Ward 5 (Greenwell)
Ward 6 (Salyer)
Ward 8 (Ryan)

[Spartan]

Because the ordinance language regarding demolition is so broad and weak... DDRC would be allowed to be more critical if the ordinance a more clear definition of the demolition criteria.

Why aren't the standards regarding urban massing assumed to outline a policy against demo-ing that massing? I know you've posted the ordinance before, but what is the specific issue?

I'm really curious... I have a hunch that however strong the ordinance were ever to become (not politically realistic though), it would still be considered "too weak" to give the DDRC cover to challenge the growth machine.

Honestly I thought we had the right case against SandRidge back when I was a kid. I still think we had the right case. No additional amount of ammo would have overcome the challenge we were up against. Most people today have to agree we were right about that plaza.

[Pete]

OKCTalk - Preservation group will not appeal downtown demolitions

[jn1780]

You have to wonder what's the point of their existence if they won't even try.

[CuatrodeMayo]

They probably got their funding threatened again...

[David]

They might have just cut out early on this one to avoid the threats being made in the first place.

[Rover]

Why don't we gather facts before making assumptions that may or may not be right? I know it is more fun to be cynical, but let's get the truth first.

[Urban Pioneer]

The real question ought to be whether or not Meg Salyer is the person to be the real representative for the Urban Core. She seems to be one of the good-guys, but is she really the best that Ward 6 can do?

I talked with Meg at length yesterday. Preservation and urbanity is close to her heart. Folks forget that she personally spent her own money to preserve and restore a significant part of Automobile Alley. She also helped get people like Steve Mason and Mickey Clagg to continue that vision to the rest of the buildings north of her property.

We talked a great deal about preservation and this proposal specifically. She explained to me the real problem is that preservation is a 3-legged stool. It particularly requires the property owner to have a vision for adaptive reuse. The city didn't have much of a negotiating tool as the aren't any Tif dollars involved in the project.

We talked at length about the bike lanes. I didn't see the council meeting this morning but apparently the bike ordinance failed. I am not sure if there was discussion about the bike lanes but it's safe to say that she was alarmed that they might be taken out.

[David]

Why don't we gather facts before making assumptions that may or may not be right? I know it is more fun to be cynical, but let's get the truth first.

How dare we speculate.