Lesson Learned this week

[s00nr1]

I will be making my first trip to Portland next month on business and am really looking forward to seeing it.

[Urbanized]

Jealous

[Teo9969]

I don't recall being that impressed by Raleigh, but it's been awhile since I was there. What did you find rock solid?

There's a lot I have not enjoyed about RDU, particularly in how they've developed their suburban areas and how sprawled out they are overall, but when it comes to downtown, while theirs is significantly smaller in land area (and what will ultimately hold them back), they have done a great job at filling holes, laying out their streets, building a convincing format and highlighting a wide array of architecture. I was super uber duper impressed with the following picture and it made me sad that OKC has nothing remotely this cool on a small scale in our entire downtown area.





It's maybe just a bit disheartening because I feel like OKC could be so much further along and better planned. I think we'll make significant progress soon, but knowing that Raleigh doesn't have near the potential that OKC does and seeing that they've bested us at this point, is sobering.

[bchris02]

It's maybe just a bit disheartening because I feel like OKC could be so much further along and better planned. I think we'll make significant progress soon, but knowing that Raleigh doesn't have near the potential that OKC does and seeing that they've bested us at this point, is sobering.

I feel the same way about places like Memphis, Louisville, and Richmond. Those cities are all similar in size to OKC, are behind from an economic perspective, yet they all have urban districts that are much farther along than anything in OKC. Question is, why?

In my opinion, the top culprit is the lack of respect and desire to preserve history in this city. All of these "cool" districts in these other cities are at least partially comprised of historic building stock. OKC could have had that but because so much was destroyed this city is having to build a downtown from scratch. It doesn't help that what little history is left is facing the same disregard as what was destroyed in the urban renewal days. In addition, the DDRC needs to get more of a backbone. Things have improved tenfold since the days of Lower Bricktown and Legacy at Arts Quarter but some things are still getting a green light that leave me shaking my head (Staybridge Suites).

[TU 'cane]

Great post, thanks for the insight.

All I have to say is this, if we want OKC to be that next big thing, the people, particularly the younger gens, have to remain involved in what they want done for the future.
OKC has made some enormous strides, let's not downplay them. But, in the same respect, it has a ways to go before becoming what it has the potential to become. The more OKC grows in terms of population, the more developments and interests there will be, particularly in places like downtown and BrickTown where visitors will see most of.

Just take pride in your city.

[bchris02]

Great post, thanks for the insight.

All I have to say is this, if we want OKC to be that next big thing, the people, particularly the younger gens, have to remain involved in what they want done for the future.
OKC has made some enormous strides, let's not downplay them. But, in the same respect, it has a ways to go before becoming what it has the potential to become. The more OKC grows in terms of population, the more developments and interests there will be, particularly in places like downtown and BrickTown where visitors will see most of.

Just take pride in your city.

Great points.

When thinking about this city in 2005 its amazing how far it has come. Think about it. Back then, both the Plaza and Midtown were still almost entirely run down and dilapidated. Automobile Alley was dead. There was no Thunder and the Chesapeake Arena was the Ford Center. Bricktown was OKC's one and only entertainment district. Most new development was happening in Lower Bricktown and we all know what kind of development it was. There was no Devon tower and I am pretty sure the Skirvin had not yet been revitalized. There were only a few places a person could even live downtown. This was just a decade ago. Personally I get frustrated even today because this city still pulls below its weight in many ways but its almost unfathomable how it was 10 years ago. Go back 20 years and it was even worse. No Bricktown, no arena, and no ballpark. There was virtually no reason to go downtown period unless you worked there.

All of that said, OKC is competing with other cities for jobs and young people. As much as OKC has to be proud of compared to its not so distant past, it still has some ground to cover. Comparisons to places like Raleigh, Nashville, Austin, and Louisville are healthy because it gives the city the incentive to demand better. I really think OKC has reached a point where the DDRC should stop green-lighting every subpar development that gets proposed or otherwise the city may never see its potential.

[Just the facts]

I feel the same way about places like Memphis, Louisville, and Richmond. Those cities are all similar in size to OKC, are behind from an economic perspective, yet they all have urban districts that are much farther along than anything in OKC. Question is, why?

In my opinion, the top culprit is the lack of respect and desire to preserve history in this city. All of these "cool" districts in these other cities are at least partially comprised of historic building stock. OKC could have had that but because so much was destroyed this city is having to build a downtown from scratch. It doesn't help that what little history is left is facing the same disregard as what was destroyed in the urban renewal days. In addition, the DDRC needs to get more of a backbone. Things have improved tenfold since the days of Lower Bricktown and Legacy at Arts Quarter but some things are still getting a green light that leave me shaking my head (Staybridge Suites).

The main problem is we have to many elected leaders, city employees, and community activist that never recognized or bought in to the shift to urban density and walkability. Like the hippies who never mentally left the '60s, this group never mentally left 1980 (and for some reason it seems OKC has more people in this group than any other city in America).

[bchris02]

The main problem is we have to many elected leaders, city employees, and community activist that never recognized or bought in to the shift to urban density and walkability. Like the hippies who never mentally left the '60s, this group never mentally left 1980 (and for some reason it seems OKC has more people in this group than any other city in America).

I don't always agree with you but I definitely agree with you fully on that. "1980s mentality" is a great way to put it. I think a big part of it is there is still a tendency for more progressive people to leave for other cities rather than stay here and make a difference. OKC needs to get to that tipping point where it offers enough of an urban lifestyle to keep people for whom that is a priority from leaving for DFW, Seattle, Denver, etc. It is getting closer but there is still more ground to cover.

[Just the facts]

I don't always agree with you but I definitely agree with you fully on that. "1980s mentality" is a great way to put it. I think a big part of it is there is still a tendency for more progressive people to leave for other cities rather than stay here and make a difference. OKC needs to get to that tipping point where it offers enough of an urban lifestyle to keep people for whom that is a priority from leaving for DFW, Seattle, Denver, etc. It is getting closer but there is still more ground to cover.

I don't know if 'progressive' is the correct word for it because I am the biggest right-wing tea partier I know and I am all about walkability and investing in people - not corporations. New Urbanism is not a political movement - it is a human movement. What OKC is seriously lacking is enough people in positions of power who value humans more than corporations.

[Dubya61]

I don't know if 'progressive' is the correct word for it because I am the biggest right-wing tea partier I know and I am all about walkability and investing in people - not corporations. New Urbanism is not a political movement - it is a human movement. What OKC is seriously lacking is enough people in positions of power who value humans more than corporations.

I think that's Oklahoma, too.

[BDP]

When thinking about this city in 2005 its amazing how far it has come. Think about it. Back then, both the Plaza and Midtown were still almost entirely run down and dilapidated. Automobile Alley was dead. There was no Thunder and the Chesapeake Arena was the Ford Center. Bricktown was OKC's one and only entertainment district. Most new development was happening in Lower Bricktown and we all know what kind of development it was. There was no Devon tower and I am pretty sure the Skirvin had not yet been revitalized. There were only a few places a person could even live downtown. This was just a decade ago. Personally I get frustrated even today because this city still pulls below its weight in many ways but its almost unfathomable how it was 10 years ago. Go back 20 years and it was even worse. No Bricktown, no arena, and no ballpark. There was virtually no reason to go downtown period unless you worked there.

I think our successes are actually what makes our recent mistakes more frustrating. There are so many examples of how to do things right in Oklahoma City now and that actually makes it harder to swallow all of the things that keep happening that undermine the good things. It's like consistently losing by a last second field goal because of a bad coaching decision. The most interesting thing to me is that it seems, more and more, our mistakes are engineered by people with the most power and influence and our most significant improvements occur organically on a smaller scale piece by piece. The best example of this is the propaganda piece for destruction of the Preftakes block. It specifically recognized many of the the great districts that have emerged in the city, while lobbying for doing the exact opposite of what has made those areas successful. I will never understand why many seem to keep wanting to do exactly what the city has invested over a billion dollars in itself to reverse.

The reality is that OKC is a much better place to live now than it has been my entire life and, honestly, I feel like it's outsiders that recognize it more than we do. It's always interesting to me how impressed friends and family from much larger markets are with some of our districts. If there is any consistent negative observation I hear it's about the gaps in the urban fabric and then I have to tell them that despite all these open spaces, we still tear things down and then they get even more confused.