Asian District

[Spartan]

And then you can also piss mostly everyone off and show zero regard for what everyone generally wants for downtown..

[decepticobra]

All I would ask is that they build up to the sidewalk so you can go to multiple stores and restaurants. Some have, most haven't...not sure about this one.

..and how bout building a light rail in the district to connect Little Saigon to the rest of OKC once a light rail system gets developed. They could call it the Orient Express.

[decepticobra]

They at least have Asian elements... look a modern Asia... they aren't build recreations of Himeji Castle or the Forbidden City... we can't expect the same.

why would they build those in OKC to begin with? Little Saigon is chiefly Vietnamese,... not Japanese, Chinese, or any other Asian ethnicity.

[Spartan]

Except nobody has called it Little Saigon since 1990.

[okclee]

Nice article about the Okc Asian District.

http://www.okc.biz/article/11-24-201...olling_on.aspx

Asian District improvements, renovations just keep rolling on
Pamela A. Grady
11.24.2010

During the past two decades, Oklahoma City’s Asian District, which stretches along Classen Boulevard between NW 23 and NW 30 streets, has undergone numerous transformations.

Many buildings in the area have changed ownership time and time again as residents and business owners continue to invest in the community. Some structures have undergone major renovations, while other dilapidated buildings have been torn down, with new buildings constructed in their place...........read more...........

[Spartan]

Glorifying the good and the bad. The bad being that a lot of the development in the Asian District has been pretty emblematic of a city that doesn't encourage dense, cool development.

[soonerfan_in_okc]

hopefully the district continues to thrive in the future. W/O any major asian immigrations on the horizon, the strength of the community will depend on the kids of these people deciding to live and interact in the area, and not take their talents elsewhere.

[okclee]

Not to completely disregard how far this district has come, but the city has put millions into cleaning up this area and in return has only seen a few "asian style" strip malls for new development. With future demolition for another strip mall coming soon, 30th and Classen.

It's seems like another example of how this city as a whole keeps missing the mark. After reading the Okc Asian District Plan, http://www.okc.gov/planning/document...ict%20plan.pdf , written in Oct 2005, the plan looks very good but once again the execution is average.

It seems like Okc.gov held up to it's end of the plan, but private developers haven't completely lived up to theirs, and are constantly trying to degrade their new developments, with only a few exceptions.

My question is, Why does this happen regularly? Or does Okc need to face the facts.

[krisb]

Developers don't like the city trying to tell them what to do or how to build, even though city planners likely have the community's best interest in mind.

[leprechaun]

If at all possible, the time is now for putting an end to bait and switch tactics by developers.

[Spartan]

Developers don't like the city trying to tell them what to do or how to build, even though city planners likely have the community's best interest in mind.

How could that be, when surely city planners trying to tell developers what to do are part of the Obama-Pelosi-UN cartel? It's all a big conspiracy out to get us.

I don't want to say the Asian District is a joke, because the city has done a really good job with the streetscape, and there are a few really good developments. The Super Cao Nguyen Market thing is pretty awesome. There are other good things. I think Sun Moon Plaza will eventually be a +, even though the building materials certainly seem pretty shoddy, but that's almost too much to ask for.

In other cases you almost cringe to see another development happen in there. This isn't supposed to be a recreation of Houston's Little Saigon area, which is waaaay out in the burbs. This is 3 miles from downtown, about as inner city as it gets. This was an opportunity given to them. The city didn't have to do that streetscape. OKC rarely does, it must have taken a lot to compel them to invest in Classen.

It's the only nice part of Classen (streetscape-wise) and it has the worst development of anywhere along Classen.

[okclee]

The Asian District needs to do something with housing and making this area that people choose to live. The neighborhoods on both sides of Classen between 23rd and 36th are a little sketchy. Once again we have another example of Okc having a good place to visit but not a great place to live, being the Asian District.

Many of us visit this area for various reasons (restaurants, shopping, grocery, offices space) but how many of us really would want to live in this area?

[ljbab728]

The Asian District needs to do something with housing and making this area that people choose to live. The neighborhoods on both sides of Classen between 23rd and 36th are a little sketchy. Once again we have another example of Okc having a good place to visit but not a great place to live, being the Asian District.

Many of us visit this area for various reasons (restaurants, shopping, grocery, offices space) but how many of us really would want to live in this area?

What would you suggest that they do? Is the Asian District an entity that it able to make decisions about the housing areas surrounding it?

[dcsooner]

OKC's asian population really is relatively small for a"district". Area really needs greater population of asian citizens to truly become a district. OKC as a whole needs a more diverse populous to become a interesting city with multiple cultural options

[Bunty]

The Asian District needs to do something with housing and making this area that people choose to live. The neighborhoods on both sides of Classen between 23rd and 36th are a little sketchy. Once again we have another example of Okc having a good place to visit but not a great place to live, being the Asian District.

Many of us visit this area for various reasons (restaurants, shopping, grocery, offices space) but how many of us really would want to live in this area?

Maybe some of the small apartment buildings need to be remodeled into single family homes.

[Spartan]

OKC's asian population really is relatively small for a"district". Area really needs greater population of asian citizens to truly become a district. OKC as a whole needs a more diverse populous to become a interesting city with multiple cultural options

OKC actually has a significant history of Vietnamese immigration. And a significant Vietnamese population.

[Reggie Jet]

In fact, dcsooner, Oklahoma City's Vietnamese/Southeast Asian community is quite well known. A few years ago, National Geographic did a profile of Little Saigon as part of their Zip Code snapshots. You can find it online here...

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ng...re6/index.html

[wsucougz]

In fact, dcsooner, Oklahoma City's Vietnamese/Southeast Asian community is quite well known. A few years ago, National Geographic did a profile of Little Saigon as part of their Zip Code snapshots. You can find it online here...

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ng...re6/index.html

Interesting article. I've been to see the old doc a few times. One of the questions on the patient questionnaire is "you want shot?"

[bombermwc]

I'd agree that it's housing. The area has some really awesome homes in it, and some really bad ones. The Paseo is just down the road with an equal issue. Unfortunately, unless you want to start tearing down homes, you don't really get much of an option to change...and who/how does it get decided that one house goes but another can stay?

[Spartan]

I'd agree that it's housing. The area has some really awesome homes in it, and some really bad ones. The Paseo is just down the road with an equal issue. Unfortunately, unless you want to start tearing down homes, you don't really get much of an option to change...and who/how does it get decided that one house goes but another can stay?

Well that's not how neighborhood improvement is carried out anyway.

[SSEiYah]

The neighborhoods on both sides of Classen between 23rd and 36th are a little sketchy. Once again we have another example of Okc having a good place to visit but not a great place to live

I live in the area. It is a great place to live for a 20 or 30 something year old with no kids. No crime, good neighbors. Just west of Edgemere park is a great place to live if you are in your 20s/30s or retired. Obviously if I had kids I would move to Edmond or far NW OKC however since I have no kids this area is perfect. It is diverse ethnically and near many good restaurants.

I cant say the same for the neighborhoods west of Western Ave, they get shady quick as you head toward Penn. I would say anything west of western is cool, however east of western gets ghetto until you get to Nichols hills on the north or mesta park on the south.

[Bunty]

I live in the area. It is a great place to live for a 20 or 30 something year old with no kids. No crime, good neighbors. Just west of Edgemere park is a great place to live if you are in your 20s/30s or retired. Obviously if I had kids I would move to Edmond or far NW OKC however since I have no kids this area is perfect. It is diverse ethnically and near many good restaurants.

By the way, are you missing a black, stray cat in your neighborhood off NW 26th and Classen since last month? If so, don't worry. I made friends with him, grabbed him, took him to a vet to have him fixed, checked and vaccinated. He's mine now. His picture is below:

[Spartan]

You probably saved him from being dinner in the Asian District.

[MikeOKC]

I've had more than one cop tell me the Asian District is one of the safer areas to live. Fewer burglaries and robberies at the business establishments as well. These people work for a living as it's part of their culture to work hard and not expect government handouts. They say certain criminal elements that terrorize Oklahoma City stay away from the Asian District. The Asians aren't intimidated by the gangsta ways of these groups and don't put up with it. Those gangstas also know most all of the business people in the AD are ARMED and aren't afraid to defend themselves. One officer said he worked in two divisions and the difference was startling: for every one call in the Asian District there are dozens and dozens in the Lyrewood area alone. Two cultures, two outcomes.

[Spartan]

Well, the Asian District is not a ghetto, it just has some streets that are still rundown, and a main corridor that has had some disappointing development mixed in with awesome development. Lyrewood is a ghetto. And the south side would be more like the Asian District if people would leave the Latinos alone. Very similarly strong cultural values.