Big employer taking hard look at OKC

[ou48A]

It's about what brings the community the most prosperity...and creating the right environment for it.
Many other jobs are then created on their own and without the incentives that the very high wage jobs receive....

[OKVision4U]

1) We don't know it is Amazon, so quit acting like that's fact.

2) You haven't met anyone on this board who wants OKC to give up on trying, or stop growing, or quit building new/better things. But you have no sense of reality or scale when it comes to anything you've posted. 10 towers would be great, but it won't happen. Probably not in my lifetime and I like to think I've got another 60 years in me. From where we were 20 years ago, the one we have is incredible. The one announced is only adding to it and there may be some evidence we are getting a third (BoA drive-thru site). Being excited for that doesn't mean people who don't care because we aren't clamoring for 10 towers.

I don't fault your enthusiasm; it's great to have people excited about OKC. Your problem is that you degrade anyone who doesn't believe your pie-in-the-sky proclamations. OKC will not die without 10 towers, or just because we didn't land this facility. Just like OU won't wither on the vine if they don't immediately expand their stadium. We aren't idiots. We definitely don't love OKC less than you, so stop acting like that.

Brett, you missed the 10 tower point... it is one of positive hopes for Oklahoma. But before we get that far, we need to have a very HEALTH Economy..... diversified. You may not grasp that concept, but that's ok, the class will move on w/o you.

[BrettM2]

Brett, you missed the 10 tower point... it is one of positive hopes for Oklahoma. But before we get that far, we need to have a very HEALTH Economy..... diversified. You may not grasp that concept, but that's ok, the class will move on w/o you.

Ahhh, my apologies. I simply can't keep up with the brilliant intellect you so obviously possess. I grovel and humble myself at your feet.

[catch22]

Another thought: it is not in OKC's best interest for Tulsa to wither and die. We need Tulsa to start catching up a bit. The two cities, led by OKC, are what will ultimately lead this state into the current century. Don't like the backwater backwardness of our Okie Legislature? Curse and moan about liquor laws and other silly things? If OKC AND Tulsa become vibrant economically dynamic cities, and experience major population growth, the rural influence in our government will begin to wane. Right now, we have a rurally dominant legislature.

We need Tulsa to do better than it is doing right now for our own self interest.

You make an excellent point here.

[Steve]

Another thought: it is not in OKC's best interest for Tulsa to wither and die. We need Tulsa to start catching up a bit. The two cities, led by OKC, are what will ultimately lead this state into the current century. Don't like the backwater backwardness of our Okie Legislature? Curse and moan about liquor laws and other silly things? If OKC AND Tulsa become vibrant economically dynamic cities, and experience major population growth, the rural influence in our government will begin to wane. Right now, we have a rurally dominant legislature.

We need Tulsa to do better than it is doing right now for our own self interest.

Dead-on. OKC is doing good at expanding it's workforce base. If we've got to lose, we should celebrate losing to the Tulsa market. OKC needs Tulsa to thrive.

[OKVision4U]

Dead-on. OKC is doing good at expanding it's workforce base. If we've got to lose, we should celebrate losing to the Tulsa market. OKC needs Tulsa to thrive.

We are expanding, but we don't want / need Tulsa "Thriving" at OKC's expense.

[bchris02]

We are expanding, but we don't want / need Tulsa "Thriving" at OKC's expense.

I agree. Tulsa has some built in advantages and if they really got their game together they could easily pass OKC. Maybe not in population right away but in desirability and eventually population after a few years of population boom. It could become San Antonio vs. Austin on a smaller scale. We don't want to give them a leg up if we can possibly prevent it.

[lasomeday]

It's a distribution center not a multi national corporate headquarters. I think we will be OK.

[OKVision4U]

we don't want to give Tulsa / or any other competitor an advantage by have 1,000 jobs. Let's not scoff at this distribution center, it would have brought in ( wages only ) over $1/3 Billion dollars in 10 years.

[bradh]

I agree. Tulsa has some built in advantages and if they really got their game together they could easily pass OKC. Maybe not in population right away but in desirability and eventually population after a few years of population boom. It could become San Antonio vs. Austin on a smaller scale. We don't want to give them a leg up if we can possibly prevent it.

The jokes just write themselves

[bchris02]

The jokes just write themselves

It's not a joke.

Tulsa is greener and hillier and has slightly less extreme weather. That is a built in advantage OKC can never match because of its geography. Tulsa is also on a major river and their downtown is directly on it. That's another built in advantage. They have the world class museums and the arts culture already established and are the live music capital of the state. Tulsa, with the right investment, could be much better than it is. Because of lack of vision their riverfront is a bed of mud for a better part of the year and their downtown is one of the nation's biggest parking craters. Their economy is also not growing near as fast as OKC's. If Tulsa were to land a corporate relocation or two, if they were to develop those parking craters with low-rise mixed use development like OKC is doing in Midtown, and if they were to dam up the Arkansas river to make it visually appealing year-round and properly develop it, then yes the tables could turn in Tulsa's favor. We don't want Tulsa to whither and die, but they are still very much a competing city with OKC and I have no doubt many Tulsa civic boosters would like nothing better than to see OKC lose its momentum. An Amazon distribution center is not that big of a deal though so this topic has gone more into hypothetical territory. It's still 1,000+ jobs though and even with all the exciting things coming to OKC, this city shouldn't start taking stuff for granted and letting opportunities pass.

[ljbab728]

It's still 1,000+ jobs though and even with all the exciting things coming to OKC, this city shouldn't start taking stuff for granted and letting opportunities pass.

Do you have any evidence that we should think that is happening?

[soonerguru]

It's not a joke.

Tulsa is greener and hillier and has slightly less extreme weather. That is a built in advantage OKC can never match because of its geography. Tulsa is also on a major river and their downtown is directly on it. That's another built in advantage. They have the world class museums and the arts culture already established and are the live music capital of the state. Tulsa, with the right investment, could be much better than it is. Because of lack of vision their riverfront is a bed of mud for a better part of the year and their downtown is one of the nation's biggest parking craters. Their economy is also not growing near as fast as OKC's. If Tulsa were to land a corporate relocation or two, if they were to develop those parking craters with low-rise mixed use development like OKC is doing in Midtown, and if they were to dam up the Arkansas river to make it visually appealing year-round and properly develop it, then yes the tables could turn in Tulsa's favor. We don't want Tulsa to whither and die, but they are still very much a competing city with OKC and I have no doubt many Tulsa civic boosters would like nothing better than to see OKC lose its momentum. An Amazon distribution center is not that big of a deal though so this topic has gone more into hypothetical territory. It's still 1,000+ jobs though and even with all the exciting things coming to OKC, this city shouldn't start taking stuff for granted and letting opportunities pass.

OK. True. But not by much. Tulsa used to be a real looker. It's fairly rough around the edges these days.

[bchris02]

OK. True. But not by much. Tulsa used to be a real looker. It's fairly rough around the edges these days.

Have you been to South Tulsa recently, near the Utica Square area and the square miles surround it? Unfortunately, OKC has nothing yet that comes close. Its a true gem, reminiscent of the upscale neighborhoods in larger cities in the East Coast. I will definitely applaud Tulsa on having such an area. On the other hand, the Broken Arrow retail corridor is probably the ugliest suburban area I have ever seen. It makes OKC's Quail Springs area on Memorial look downright attractive.

I will say metro-wide, OKC is actually more aesthetically pleasing, even though Tulsa has a few square miles that completely blow away even OKC's best areas. Tulsa's climate though allows for tall, majestic trees with a thick canopy. OKC doesn't have that to work with.

[ErnestA]

Reports of Tulsa's demise are greatly exaggerated.

One shouldn't focus on the city alone. The Tulsa region is recovering well enough, and frankly, citizens of the region think too much of themselves to let their city fade. The city government is one thing, but the Tulsa establishment and the regional private sector will always see to it that Tulsa's livable and keeping up with the Joneses.

Metro Monitor - September 2013 | Brookings Institution

[BG918]

Having OU in the OKC metro is a big advantage. Large state universities are massive economic engines. The full potential of OU is currently unrealized but getting close with their investment in the Norman research campus and the OKC medical campus. Connecting OU/Norman to downtown OKC by rail and building more density on each end should be a higher priority.

Tulsa doesn't have the same favorable higher ed situation which limits its potential. Though with the right leadership TU could be a larger growth engine as the highest ranked university in the state, but not at its current size.

[Pete]

^

Having the OU Health Sciences Center in OKC is massive as well, especially in terms of high-paying employment.

And with the addition of GE, it seems as if momentum is building.


But I completely agree about better linkages between the Norman campus and downtown in particular. It's only 20 miles and there are already existing rail lines and stations.

This should be a much bigger priority than connecting Edmond IMO.

[OKVision4U]

Having OU in the OKC metro is a big advantage. Large state universities are massive economic engines. The full potential of OU is currently unrealized but getting close with their investment in the Norman research campus and the OKC medical campus. Connecting OU/Norman to downtown OKC by rail and building more density on each end should be a higher priority.

Tulsa doesn't have the same favorable higher ed situation which limits its potential. Though with the right leadership TU could be a larger growth engine as the highest ranked university in the state, but not at its current size.

This is a MUST. HSR w/ our metro fully integrated w/ easy access to Edmond w/ Norman - Yukon w/ MWC would help all parties involved.

[Teo9969]

It's not a joke.

Tulsa is greener and hillier and has slightly less extreme weather. That is a built in advantage OKC can never match because of its geography. Tulsa is also on a major river and their downtown is directly on it. That's another built in advantage. They have the world class museums and the arts culture already established and are the live music capital of the state. Tulsa, with the right investment, could be much better than it is. Because of lack of vision their riverfront is a bed of mud for a better part of the year and their downtown is one of the nation's biggest parking craters. Their economy is also not growing near as fast as OKC's. If Tulsa were to land a corporate relocation or two, if they were to develop those parking craters with low-rise mixed use development like OKC is doing in Midtown, and if they were to dam up the Arkansas river to make it visually appealing year-round and properly develop it, then yes the tables could turn in Tulsa's favor. We don't want Tulsa to whither and die, but they are still very much a competing city with OKC and I have no doubt many Tulsa civic boosters would like nothing better than to see OKC lose its momentum. An Amazon distribution center is not that big of a deal though so this topic has gone more into hypothetical territory. It's still 1,000+ jobs though and even with all the exciting things coming to OKC, this city shouldn't start taking stuff for granted and letting opportunities pass.

World-Class museums?

Berlin has world-class museums, D.C. has world-class museums, Paris has world-class museums.

Tulsa may be ahead of OKC in the Arts, but they're nowhere near approaching world-class and could quickly be taken over if OKC ever really began investing money in that area.

As to the rest…the city is still in Oklahoma, and it's not so much prettier than OKC. Yes it is prettier, but they're behind in urbanization, where natural-topography really doesn't play a determining factor in how beautiful a city is. And the economy up there alone will keep Tulsa out of the running for the next 10 years.

People talk about OKC's economy as being not diversified enough…we've at least got a host of government jobs and notable companies in several other categories to go along with the energy hub, the latter fact being the biggest barrier to Tulsa's growth. What does Tulsa do? Where does it have a competitive advantage over any city in the US? OKC is a Top 5 city in the US for energy companies…so we actually have a chance at landing major companies like Enable, when they come around…and corporate relocations whenever companies like CLR and DVN get big enough to start buying up other sizable companies. Not to mention all the small companies that are built and brought in related to the large companies.

The longer it takes Tulsa to develop that competitive advantage in something, the distance between OKC and Tulsa will become increasingly insurmountable.

[Bellaboo]

Not too sure Tulsa's museums are better than ours. I sat next to someone on a jet plane associated with the Western Heritage Museum a few years back and I brought it up if Tulsa's were better. She went on to tell me that OKC museums were better.......maybe she's a little biased, maybe not. She convinced me she knew what she was talking about though.

[bchris02]

Tulsa may be ahead of OKC in the Arts, but they're nowhere near approaching world-class and could quickly be taken over if OKC ever really began investing money in that area.

I agree for the most part. The Philbrook is arguably world class but Tulsa as a whole is not a world class arts city. OKC could easily overtake Tulsa in the arts if some money was invested in that area. Live music as well if we could ever get the Tower Theater up and running.

As to the rest…the city is still in Oklahoma, and it's not so much prettier than OKC. Yes it is prettier, but they're behind in urbanization, where natural-topography really doesn't play a determining factor in how beautiful a city is. And the economy up there alone will keep Tulsa out of the running for the next 10 years.

People talk about OKC's economy as being not diversified enough…we've at least got a host of government jobs and notable companies in several other categories to go along with the energy hub, the latter fact being the biggest barrier to Tulsa's growth. What does Tulsa do? Where does it have a competitive advantage over any city in the US? OKC is a Top 5 city in the US for energy companies…so we actually have a chance at landing major companies like Enable, when they come around…and corporate relocations whenever companies like CLR and DVN get big enough to start buying up other sizable companies. Not to mention all the small companies that are built and brought in related to the large companies.

The longer it takes Tulsa to develop that competitive advantage in something, the distance between OKC and Tulsa will become increasingly insurmountable.

I do agree that as a city Tulsa for the most part isn't that much prettier than OKC, with Midtown Tulsa being an exception. OKC doesn't have anything that comes close to Midtown in Tulsa. Heritage Hills is the closest I can think of but its tiny in comparison and lacks a Cherry St commercial/entertainment district. OKC also doesn't have a Utica Square.

Outside of that, the remainder of Tulsa and its metro is really nothing to write home about, and in fact much of it is actually much UGLIER than most of OKC. For instance, I would say the Memorial area is way nicer looking than the Broken Arrow retail corridor. Where the real beauty advantage comes in is that Tulsa is in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains, and they have a slightly more moderate climate.

Economically speaking, you make a great point. Tulsa doesn't really have anything it leads in or that its near the top in. Without that, it's much less likely to take off and boom than OKC is. OKC economic development, lead by the GE Research Center seems like it is about to snowball. I really think in 10 years, nobody will be able to legitimately argue that Tulsa is ahead in anything except maybe the climate and natural beauty which it has been blessed with.

[hoya]

In addition to a rail-based mass transit connection to Norman, I'd like to see OKC partner with OU more to help them achieve AAU status.

[bchris02]

It looks like according to NewsOK its a Macy's distribution center and it will be going to Tulsa.

[Pete]

It was Macy's!

Macy's to open distribution facility near Tulsa employing more than 1,000
By RHETT MORGAN - Tulsa World • Modified: December 17, 2013 at 6:37 am • Published: December 17, 2013

National retailer Macy's Inc. is expected to announce Tuesday that it is opening a distribution center that will provide more than 1,000 new jobs near Cherokee Industrial Park, according to multiple sources.

Gov. Mary Fallin is expected to visit Tulsa for a 1 p.m. press conference to make the announcement.

Macy's will locate a distribution center — known as a "fulfillment center" — east of the industrial park, which is located near U.S. 75 and 76th Street North. No one would comment publicly Monday on whom the employer would be or provide details about the jobs.

[modernism]

And people really thought this was Amazon, slowly beginning to realize people on here really don't know anything...