Ninth & Broadway

[shane453]

I believe they start blowing the whistle somewhere around where the tracks pass by the Canal, so California St. I know that you can hear it very loudly from the canal level, so if they are actually blowing around 2nd or 3rd street then the noise (at a distracting/annoying decibel) is carrying pretty far.

Last year I lived near the Santa Fe tracks in Norman (about 3 blocks away maybe) and every now and then things would rattle around in my room a bit, and I would hear it but not in my sleep. However, as someone else mentioned, certain drivers are WAY worse than others.

Norman just implemented a quiet zone at Constitution St, where there are a lot of student housing and apartment complexes along Classen and 12th St. I think if Norman can handle quiet zoning for a couple thousand student apartments, OKC can finish out the process for an area where there are at least 500 expensive residential units existing and probably 700-1000 more planned within very close proximity to the tracks.

[LakeEffect]

The City IS dropping the ball on this one. It's baffling actually.

Can you explain this? I'd like to hear why you think they are dropping the ball.

[LakeEffect]

My husband, a train aficionado, says there is a sign telling the engineer precisely where to blow the whistle, but I've not seen it.

They are little white sign posts with a W painted on them - one before each crossing.

[Steve]

Cafe, here's a question I can't seem to get answered in this regard (and I'm going to try again this week): why has the city been so quick to tap TIF funds to buy up property in Core to Shore for a park that isn't funded and where there is no development and yet has been unwilling (from what I'm told) to spend TIF dollars to pay for the quiet zone where there is ample development?

[jbrown84]

Good question.

[RedDirt717]

I lived in Crystal City in VA (DC) for a short time and the entire city is basically built around the idea of apartment complexes with shopping centers/restaurants/bars on the bottom floor and built next to small cozy parks. I would go down to the first floor watch an OU game and have a few drinks at mackie's, pick up crab cakes from the farmers market, whip up some dipping sauce and read the post in the park, walk home and take a nap on the couch. That was a typical Saturday.

Somehow get the city to work public transit into that and you've got yourself a pretty nice little residential community.

I always thought something like that would go over really well in Oklahoma City.

[LakeEffect]

Cafe, here's a question I can't seem to get answered in this regard (and I'm going to try again this week): why has the city been so quick to tap TIF funds to buy up property in Core to Shore for a park that isn't funded and where there is no development and yet has been unwilling (from what I'm told) to spend TIF dollars to pay for the quiet zone where there is ample development?

That is a good question...

[metro]

Can you explain this? I'd like to hear why you think they are dropping the ball.

As Steve pointed out, they can find funds to run the boats to nowhere on the Oklahoma River or purchase land in Core To Shore (which hasn't even been passed in MAPS 3 yet), and other projects, but they can't come up with a measely $3-$4 million for this project, that is already in our most concentrated area of development in the City, when the ROI's on this would be far greater and bring in much more in tax revenues with future developments. In another thread (quiet zone thread), I actually posted more information and clarified this statement to a greater degree, might want to check out that thread.

Back to the topic of this thread, just East of Sara Sara, the house that will feature a bar/restaurant looks about done, and it looks like they either moved (or I never saw) a smaller house next to it (2 houses east of Sara Sara, buts right up to train tracks) and they have been rehabbing it, and it has come along very nicely!

[warreng88]

Once-decrepit Oklahoma City street blooms into retail, restaurant area
GROWTH HOMES THAT WERE IN BAD REPAIR ARE BEING MADE INTO STORES, STUDIOS
BY STEVE LACKMEYER
Published: November 14, 2009
Just three years ago, the stretch of NW 9 just east of Broadway was a blighted mess lined with boarded up houses masked by overgrown brush and trees and homeless folks living in parked cars.

Now, the street is home to a popular restaurant, a cupcake bakery and soon a home accessories gift shop, photography studio, sushi restaurant and even a Christmas tree lot.

For the rest of Steve's article go to:

NewsOK

[betts]

Thanks for putting this article in the right place. I shouldn't have started a new thread, but, it was early and I wasn't thinking clearly. Regardless, what has happened on 9th Street is incredibly exciting and shows that a building doesn't necessarily have to be historic to be worth renovating.

[UnclePete]

A quiet zone still has whistling, but the sound comes from a loudspeaker on the sign post. It is still pretty loud, but is directed at street traffic from either direction

[LakeEffect]

A quiet zone still has whistling, but the sound comes from a loudspeaker on the sign post. It is still pretty loud, but is directed at street traffic from either direction

Actually, that's only one form of quiet zone control. It's the least desirable, in my opinion, because it still causes noise pollution for housing/retail.

[betts]

I actually went by BD Designs yesterday. It's a very nice space and they've got both furniture and decorative items for the contemporary home, although there are plenty of things that could be used in a home with a more eclectic design incorporating some contemporary elements. It's a great addition to the area.

[okclee]

Where is the Sushi restaurant to be located?

[Platemaker]

The building directly west of the tracks on the north side of 9th.

[warreng88]

Patience, hope pay off for developer of NW 9
BY STEVE LACKMEYER
Published: November 17, 2009

Three years ago, Steve Mason was still just getting started on renovation of the historic former Cadillac dealership building at 1015 N Broadway when he insisted on walking across the street and on to NW 9.

The street was a disaster. An old brick garage was the only building that wasn’t overrun with brush and trees. And even it looked like a building best left to the fate of a bulldozer.

The three old houses along the north side of the street looked like an oversight of either Urban Renewal from the 1970s or more recently the city’s neighborhood services department. By any standard, the houses were blighted and were dangerous to the public.

Read the rest of Steve's article at:

NewsOK

[betts]

More to come too, I've been told! Another restaurant or two, and possibly a music venue.

[wsucougz]

More to come too, I've been told! Another restaurant or two, and possibly a music venue.

Would Mel's Towing be the music venue?

[betts]

That's what I've heard.

[warreng88]

Is the BD Designs open yet? When is the sushi restaurant set to open?

[Steve]

BD Home is open.

[betts]

I seriously recommend the nostalgic go by and see the 9th St Christmas Tree lot. It looks like something out of an old movie...a real urban Christmas tree lot. I love it.

[metro]

Noticed this place when I was at Sara Sara a few nights ago, looks like they are almost open. Also saw this article in today's OKC Biz.

Automobile Alley

Chef Eric Smith soon will open Pachinko Sushi Parlor, an Asian-inspired restaurant at 1 NW 9, situated two doors east of his Sara Sara Cupcakes.

Renovations are near completion in the old, abandoned home, where Smith will take 1,400 square feet of space and feature patio-seating areas.

“Our restaurant will have an urban, sultry, kind of new-century theme, featuring an open space, sushi bar and long banquet hall,” he says. “I like for it to feel like people are going to someone’s house for dinner. The interior will be subliminally Asian.”

Smith says his menu will include traditional sushi rolls, but its specialty rolls will distinguish Pachinko from other sushi sites. He plans to feature between 10 and 12 specialty rolls, including the Italiano Roll, made with marinated buffalo, mozzarella, roasted tomatoes, and a balsamic glaze; a Curry Chicken Salad Roll with mango chutney; and a Mexican-inspired roll made with chorizo, cream cheese and avocado on the inside with crushed tortilla chips and salsa verde placed outside of the roll, among others.

“It’s exciting on multiple levels,” Smith says. “We’ll even deliver our sushi all the way up to Crown Heights at no extra charge, and in Smart cars.”

Restaurant hours will be 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. weekdays, and 11 a.m. to midnight Fridays and Saturdays.

[Pete]

Sounds excellent!

What a fantastic little enclave this has become.

[jbrown84]

I haven't seen it in any articles, but St. Anthony's ad agency recently moved into a building just to the east of the tracks.