Oklahoma City, In the Press

[JohnH_in_OKC]

I applaud your insight on OKC and America. Our conservative friends are so myopic, they can't see the forest for the trees!

I can't believe that some state legislators and our governor want to decrease taxes on the very wealthy before fixing our state Capitol building!

Our nation and the world would be better off if we taxed the rich a lot more (since the top 2% of the wealthy NOW own half of America's wealth), and spent more money investing in the American people like we did in the 1950's when we built America's Interstate Highways, built Tinker AFB, started the space program, paid for humongous World War II debts, the Korean War, the MacArthur Plan to rebuild Europe, the GI bill to pay for college and homes for returning Veterans and BALANCED the federal budget. The inequality of our current tax system (where the rich are paying proportionally less than ever) is really screwing up America's goal of a strong middle class. The wealthy's opulence is not trickling down. We need to bring back the economy and truly graduated taxation of the 1950's and 1960's. If we reversed our idiotic tax structure, America could start reinvesting in itself and our middle class.

Sorry I got political in a forum about OKC in the press. In spite of my taxation opinions, I'm a big supporter of all the MAPS programs that are dedicated to making OKC's infrastructure so much more aesthetic & useful and is our gift to future generations. I am really proud that my city of birth is setting an example to be emulated by many other of our nation's cities.

John Hite, retired, Oklahoma City

Note: After posting this comment here, I started a similar post in the POLITICS OKC Forum. Here's a link if you want to reply: http://www.okctalk.com/politics/3217...ervatives.html

[UrbanNebraska]

Funny what you run across in the New York Times. You guys will love this article, I certainly enjoyed it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/11/ma...anted=all&_r=0

It is way more than just basketball.

[Skyline]

A good article here, not specifically about Okc but it does mention many things that people at Okc talk discuss daily.

Do Millennials Want to Call Your City Home?
Here is an excerpt.

Here are the facts most people know: For the foreseeable future, the so-called millennials (currently ages 18-30) will drive both the housing market and the fast-growing innovation economy. It’s a huge cohort of about 70 million people. And as I mentioned above, they are gravitating toward a select group of metros and small cities........

........So if you’re not one of the hip places today, you have only a few years -- the length of one real estate cycle and the time horizon for planning an infrastructure project -- to become hip enough to keep your kids and attract others.

This might seem like a daunting, if not insurmountable, challenge, but frankly I’m encouraged by what I see. Over the last six months I’ve been to many second-tier cities -- Omaha, Neb.; Oklahoma City; Richmond, Va.; Syracuse, Buffalo and Rochester, N.Y.; and Manchester, N.H., among them -- that would not to be good candidates for a hip urban core. Yet they’re all developing one.

Nebraska’s conservative Republican governor, Dave Heineman, took the opportunity of hosting a National Governors Association event in Omaha to show off downtown lofts and restaurants. In Oklahoma City, Republican Mayor Mick Cornett, who lives a block from City Hall, has championed urban reinvestment -- one of his latest projects is a streetcar line. In Manchester, the old mills bordering downtown are being refurbished. In Syracuse, where the urban core is adjacent to a prominent research university, several hundred housing units have been created in historic buildings, attracting many new downtown residents, including my onetime roommate, who moved back downtown after 20 years of living in a ritzy, cutesy suburb.

Click the link for the full article.
Do Millennials Want to Call Your City Home?

[Skyline]

Funny what you run across in the New York Times. You guys will love this article, I certainly enjoyed it.

The Oklahoma City Thunder?s Fairy-Tale Rise - NYTimes.com

It is way more than just basketball.

Wow! Front page of the NY Times magazine and an 11 page write up touching on everything that Okc has experienced in the last 25 years.
The Oklahoma City Thunder's Fairy-Tale Rise - NYTimes.com

[Dustin]

^^^ That is huge. Yay for OKC.

[stlokc]

Just read the NYT article. One of the best things I've read in a while. Thank you for posting - I shall be sure to procure a printed copy on Sunday.

[Pete]

Love this:

Durant, in other words, seems to have been invented in a laboratory beneath the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce to serve as the international face of Oklahoma — a state known for its citizens’ kindness, levelheadedness, work ethic, community spirit and, above all, humility. (The mayor of Oklahoma City told me that he thinks Oklahomans are humble because of their proximity to Texans, who will never stop bragging about anything.)

[workman45]

Wow! Front page of the NY Times magazine and an 11 page write up touching on everything that Okc has experienced in the last 25 years.
The Oklahoma City Thunder's Fairy-Tale Rise - NYTimes.com

Six years ago who would have believed this kind of positive press was possible for OKC?

[Teo9969]

I loved this quote from the article:

"This, then, is part of the city’s love affair with the Thunder. It’s more than just a basketball team: it’s the culmination of 20 years of civic reinvention, and the promise of more to come. Over the last five years, the city and its team have undergone a perfect mind meld, so at this point it’s impossible to talk about one without talking about the other. After all of that sacrifice — the grind of municipal meetings and penny taxes and planning boards, the dust and noise and uncertainty of construction, the horror of 1995 — the little city in the middle of No Man’s Land has finally arrived on the world stage. While it’s there, it fully intends to put on a good performance."

I have never cried because of a sports event (well, maybe when I was a kid cause I though the other team was cheating Wayne Gretzky during the playoffs). I teared up during the WCF, and I'm convinced that the day the Thunder win a title, I will shed several tears. It will be the only time (hopefully) that a sports moment causes me to cry...but it will be because of the city's mythos the Thunder embody.

[stlokc]

So I just purchased my printed NYT, which itself will be a rare treat of hours of reading tonight, and I slowly re-read every word of that article, and it was better the second time around. It's absolutely dripping with delicious quotes, not just about the Thunder, but the city. I particularly loved how it made references to things like "smoky clubs" and "hipster pockets" and the gourmet grilled cheese restaurant and it did it in a non-condescending way. No talk of far-right crazies or gunfights or rednecks. It validates to the world's intellectual audience that OKC belongs in big- league modern America. The Thunder parts are a bonus. Loved it. Loved it. Loved it. You couldn't buy this press for 10 million dollars.

[ThomPaine]

Excellent piece. Pretty timely too, as millions of New Yorkers probably had different thoughts about the city on Wednesday. Thanks for sharing the link!

[Urban Pioneer]

I am relishing my printed copy of this paper. The rainstorm soaked all of the ones delivered to Starbucks. Had to go get one at the Shell station downtown on Broadway. Glad I did.

[MikeLucky]

Wow! Front page of the NY Times magazine and an 11 page write up touching on everything that Okc has experienced in the last 25 years.
The Oklahoma City Thunder's Fairy-Tale Rise - NYTimes.com

This article clearly articulates the proper response for when someone says "it's just a game."

Since the day I have a memory, I have been and Okie and I have been a Sooner and I will be for the rest of my life. The Thunder are now on that list for me. When I go through the dramatic ups and downs of OU football, I often hear people say "it's just a game." But, when I watch OU football it represents my FAMILY to me. My grandmother died in 1991, but when OU loses I can still hear her in my mind's eye cursing Switzer and all those damn fumbles. My Mom and Dad and I still share the OU football experience every game, every year... but, someday they too will be gone. And, when that happens, I will still see my Mom smiling and clapping when a football player wearing the Crimson and Cream cross the goal line... and it'll still feel like my Dad is there to high-five me at the same time.

So, it'll never just be an 18 year-old scoring a meaningless touchdown for me. And, the Thunder will never be just some over-paid millionaires making baskets. They represent MY CITY to me and to the world in a way that some people will never understand. This article clearly encapsulates this feeling in a very good way. The writer should be applauded for not only his brilliant crafting of words, but also his ability to use those words to paint an exquisite creation.

[Praedura]

An interview with Sam Anderson, the writer who penned the NY Times article, is also a good read:

Behind the Cover Story: Sam Anderson on the Civic Magic of the OKC Thunder - NYTimes.com

[ThomPaine]

An interview with Sam Anderson, the writer who penned the NY Times article, is also a good read:

Behind the Cover Story: Sam Anderson on the Civic Magic of the OKC Thunder - NYTimes.com

Thanks for posting this, excellent read.

[BDP]

USA Today. OKC is referenced twice and Devon's green space is used for the cover photo:

American cities fighting to keep Millennials from moving to suburbs.

[Pete]

USA Today. OKC is referenced twice and Devon's green space is used for the cover photo:

American cities fighting to keep Millennials from moving to suburbs.

Awesome... Great pub.

[HangryHippo]

But Devon's green space is a waste! MUST.HAVE.NEW.TOWER.THERE.

[Bellaboo]

But Devon's green space is a waste! MUST.HAVE.NEW.TOWER.THERE.

Nope, they need a spot for that oversized ornament, they can go accross the street to the West.

[ljbab728]

Nope, they need a spot for that oversized ornament, they can go accross the street to the West.

I think Only was making fun of others who have seriously expressed that sentiment.

[Naptown12713]

Here is another article about that tout the success OKC has experienced with developing a strong private and public partnership to improve the QOL.


Downtown Oklahoma City office market thriving - Milwaukee - The Business Journal

[Plutonic Panda]

This is local, from The Edmond Sun, but I thought it was worth sharing.

In the shadow of the skyline » Opinion » The Edmond Sun

[Plutonic Panda]

Hmm another article I came across. It's a bit old though. Rebuilding America's Infrastructure

[G.Walker]

http://www.naisullivangroup.com/OKNe...tatemarket.pdf

[Praedura]

Another one, this time from Fort Wayne, Indiana:

Emulating other cities | The Journal Gazette

Mike Packnett, formerly a health system executive in Oklahoma City and member of the OKC Chamber of Commerce, now lives in Fort Wayne and is trying to boost development there based on his experiences here.

Packnett, who is leading local streamlining, wasn’t always gung-ho about grand plans.

“I was part of that public that had to be convinced,” he said about Oklahoma City’s dams.

Before moving to Fort Wayne to become president and CEO of Parkview Health in mid-2006, Packnett served on the board of the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce.

“It’s unbelievable to me,” he said of Oklahoma City’s success with river development. “It turned around, really, the whole psyche of the community.”