Urban Outfiters coming to Omaha's budding North Downtown entertainment district..

[HOT ROD]

Omaha does have Lincoln and Des Moines nearby tho. But it appears their situation ist different from ours with Tulsa and Dallas.

As Cowboy said, Lincoln is sometimes considered an exurb of Omaha and really sort of adds to it unlike Tulsa which often siphons anything away from OKC it can. And Des Moines is a non-factor to Omaha unlike the bohemith to out south is to us.

Yeah, I'd say Omaha has No-Competition other than KC and it is far away enough for Omaha to still be viable in its region. Here, we have two (at least) major players to contend with but nonetheless I would expect OKC to be more creative because of the competition.

The really only thing we've done uniquely is Bricktown, but some argue it is a follow of Dallas's West End or deep Ellum.

What I'd like to see, is A-Alley truly emerge as the gritty yet upscale urban retail leader with Midtown and Flatiron as the two local town centers. I'd like to see the Arts district become a true arts district and not just a collection of municipal halls, and I'd like to see Downtown South and West Downtown develop;

All along with the CBD expansion and Bricktown (and a more urban/dense LOBRICK) not to mention a more verticle deep Duece. Add to that uptown, asia district, paseo, cap hill, capitol campus, plaza, ocu, 23rd-Eastside, Adventure District, and OHC - all should become true urban neighbourhoods with individual character, class, and amenities that make them viable.

While we have a great start with what we've done in Bricktown we should not become complacent - because we only need to look to cities smaller than us (like Omaha, Tulsa, and Little Rock to an extent) to see that we have a while to go now before we can separate ourselves from our Tier III former brotheren.

OKC is burgeoning Tier II but we really need to Continue this Renaissance (and speed it up in many cases) so that we can differentiate ourselves. I think the SONICS and the NBA will assist with that - because although the NBA brand might not be as stellar as it was 10 years ago, it is nonetheless major league and provides national exposure.

I suspect when it is announced that the SONICS are indeed moving to OKC - lots of these retailiers will open up to OKC much easier than before, ala Salt Lake City; but we need the blue prints in place to make our central city as urban and progressive as possible. Only then will OKC truly become the same league as the Denvers and Dallas's of the world.

[metro]

Don't forget Film Row and Uptown too!

[HOT ROD]

Hi Metro.

I said Uptown, and I also said West Downtown - which you could dump Film Row into part of.

[metro]

true......oh well I'll just throw those names out there since most people aren't familiar with those districts.

[BDP]

Is the Centennial's retail space all spoken for?

That could be a good place for Urban Outfitters, imo. It certainly would help Hogan make his stuff more legit and more like the developments he's alluded to in the past. I think it would also increase the demand to develop the other pad between Toby's and Earl's.