Core to Shore Meeting - April 10th

[Patrick]

I-40 meeting planned
3/26/2007 OKLAHOMA CITY – A community meeting on Oklahoma City’s Core-to-Shore planning process is scheduled at 6 p.m. April 10 in rooms 16-18 on the second floor of the Cox Business Services Convention Center.
The plan includes the 1,375 acres south of downtown Oklahoma City affected by the realignment of Interstate 40. Boundaries include the area from Reno Avenue to the Oklahoma River and from Western Avenue to Interstate 235.
“We expect to nail down the major elements of the Core-to-Shore plan in the next few months, thanks to a great amount of input from steering committee members and these public meetings” said Russell Claus, project manager. “Over the past six months, the Steering Committee has discussed some exciting prospects in the areas of public transportation, downtown housing and retail, and expanded convention center facilities.”
A major portion of the plan includes the development of a three-quarter-mile-long boulevard that extends from Walker Avenue to Oklahoma Avenue. It calls for major retail development to the north of the boulevard and a community park to the south.
Construction on the boulevard is expected to begin in 2012, after the Oklahoma Department of Transportation completes construction on the realignment of Interstate 40. The April 10 session will be the second of three public meetings. The last meeting will be scheduled this fall. A steering committee made up of 35 stakeholders and community leaders has been meeting monthly since October.

[metro]

Don't forget about tomorrow's CORE TO SHORE meeting!

[writerranger]

metro, Are you going? I can't -- but would would love to hear what all is discussed at this meeting. If somebody going could tape the meeting, I would be glad to get it from you and turn it into an mp3 and post it at one of the media storage sites and stream it/make it available for download so everybody who wanted can hear what all was discussed. After all, it's a community meeting and in many ways the Internet is the new town square.

On a side note: I read in some magazine - maybe Fast Company? - about a very progressive small town somewhere streaming their city council meetings, all important city functions, live on the web. If it can be aired on cable TV, it can just as easily be streamed or recorded and made available for download on the net. Citizens can then watch whatever that want, whenever they want to, as opposed to tuning it at a certain time, etc. I was impressed with the forward-thinking ways of that town - and the transparency it fostered.

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[CCOKC]

I hope there will be some new information about the Core to Shore project at this meeting. This is just so huge and has the potential to change our city like nothing else has. I really hope they truly think big and the projects don't get scaled down. I personally would like to see a huge central park in the middle of the CBD. Think NYC, Chicago, Paris, London. I know we are not on the level of those cities but 20, 30, or more years for now our city will have many more people, (just with normal population growth) and won't our descendant's be glad for this gift? I will be out of town tomorrow and if I were in town I would be at work but I feel very passionate about this issue. I just wish I knew how better to get involved as a citezen.

[John]

I'd be there if it wasn't for the next to last Hornets game...

[metro]

writeranger unfortunately I probably won't make this one. I've made several in the past but I've got so much going on this week. If I get away early, I'll attend part of it. In the future I plan on going to more of these meetings so if someone wants to let me borrow their voice recorder, I'll record and let someone post the mp3 for everyone!

[jbrown84]

I wish they would make it a HUGE park, but so far they seem to be thinking more Enid than London. I'm very disappointed.

[okclee]

I think that the Core to Shore is a done deal, and all of the developers are in place. For all of you Hogan fans, I think that he will be in on this as one of the major players.

[Flatlander]

Did anybody attend?Any info?

[jbrown84]

I was going to go, but I completely forgot.

[metro]

I was unable to go to this one. If someone wants to loan me a recorder, I'll voice record the next one.

[okclee]

Has anyone heard how the Core to Shore meeting went?

[okclee]

I should have looked at the city website before I asked the question. Looks like all of the meeting agenda is listed, along with some very cool new sketches.

City of Oklahoma City | Core to Shore Meetings & Events

[jbrown84]

The concept I do like is that there's a pedestrian "path" leading from the Memorial, through the CBD, through the Myriad Gardens, through the new retail development, through the park, over I-40, and down to the river and possibly across another pedestrian bridge to an ampitheatre.

I prefer the Alternative A for the location of the Convention Center.

It was also good to see the pictures of what they are thinking for the pedestrian bridge. Very cool.

[okclee]

Yes the new pictures and drawings are impressive. To me this could be the greatest project that Okc has ever been a part of, at least in the last 50 years.

It looks like there will only be two more meetings one June 27 and then the final meeting is noted as "project launch" on Sept. 26.

Everyone mark your calendars for the dates if you plan on attending the next meetings.

[writerranger]

Here is a direct link to the latest presentation (quite impressive). This is a pdf file:
http://www.okc.gov/planning/coretoshore/documents/070411_steering_presentation.pdf

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[BDP]

I think their ideas are great and the concept of having the pedestrian bridges double as landmarks is dead on, imo. I hate to get too excited given some of the compromises we've seen in the past, but if this is implimented, even with some compromises, it could dwarf anything we've seen so far. It would certainly kick the crap out of "lower bricktown". This is some serious city planning we haven't seen since urban renewal and if they actually pull it off, it will really round out Oklahoma City nicely.

[Luke]

Very cool stuff... Visionary.

[floater]

Wow. I was worried they wouldn't dedicate enough space to parkland, but it's there. I think there HAS to be MAPS III money dedicated to providing the best central park we can get. Like the bridges and icons, the park is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to give it a panache that other city parks don't have. After these initial funds, there will have to be some "Friends of Redbud Park" nonprofit or partnership committed to its development, programming, and upkeep. The park must be engaging.

That plan is a sight to see. I also love the middle axis to the shore. It's great that we're all young enough to be able to see this plan evolve into shape.

[Nixon7]

What is a timetable for all of this to be done? 10-20 years?

[betts]

There's another public meeting September 26th from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Cox Convention Center, Rooms 9-11. I'm going to try to attend.

[betts]

What is a timetable for all of this to be done? 10-20 years?

If you look at the Framework portion of the PDF file, it shows the order in which they're planning on doing things. What I like is that it looks like all parks will be created immediately after the Boulevard is done, to be followed by retail, and then the high density housing adjacent to the park. Sadly, I suppose that housing is 7 to 10 years away, as I'm ready to move downtown within the next couple of years.

[metro]

There is plenty of housing available now downtown.

[betts]

I know. I'm actually going to look at Maywood Park this week. But the prospect of owning a home that faces the proposed park directly is really appealling. Just pop out your door and go for a walk in the park with the option of connecting with the trails along the Oklahoma River. That sounds like heaven. Do we know who owns the land west of Hudson that is in the proposed high density housing area? If it's Randy Hogan, then I'm not interested.

[betts]

I went to the public meeting tonight. They presented the entire plan in conceptual form. The things I took away from the meeting were that the bond issue in December will allow them to start land acquisition, specifically the post office, and land to the east of the park that is designated for a new convention center. They are hoping that they can develop the "Central Park" and the other park who's name I've forgotten simultaneously with the Boulevard and perhaps even earlier, so that they will both be done by 2014. It is possible they will be able to use monies from the sale of the parking lots behind the Redhawks stadium to help with land acquisition, but that will be up to the City Council. The City Council passed a resolution to acquire said land in their meeting yesterday. If the bond issue passes, the City Council will vote on the proposed plans for the area, perhaps as early as January, and it may be they will zone the area this coming spring. That will open it up to developers, who might be willing to start developing earlier, if the land is acquired and the appropriate zoning is in place. All the plans look amazing, and if it happens, Oklahoma City will be a showpiece of intelligent urban design.