OKC desperately needs beautification

[soonerguru]

I spent the last week in Eastern Oklahoma, where there are trees everywhere, so imagine what I was thinking when driving along I-40 today between OKC and the airport.

It is desolate and extremely UGLY. There is nothing growing along that stretch except a handful of pathetic, small, half-dead trees.

We do not live in a desert! We get plenty of rainfall to support vegetation of multiple varieties, but the mentality of our city fathers -- to destroy our downtown and historically valuable buildings -- and to lay waste to any vegetation has left this city looking like a wasteland.

Perhaps Maps III should be about beautification and transportation. These are two vital missing links in our urban makeover.

Can we just plant some trees and shrubbery? The ride in from the airport is hideous compared to other cities.

[vxt]

I agree, the airport is out in the middle of nowhere. First impression is very important and I don't think the airport and the surronding area does very much to improve the already bad image okc gets. I know Okc has some very nice area but they are usually hidden from view from the highways.

[Karried]

I agree 100%... it is dismally depressing on that drive into town from the airport. We can only imagine what impression we leave when people don't get to visit anywhere else other than that stretch of scenery and then leave town.

[HKG_Flyer1]

I agree that more beautification is needed, but at the same time, we should appreciate that the city has made some great stride forward (MAPS downtown projects, Lake Hefner, Bricktown, 23rd Street, State Capitol/Lincoln Blvd., Oklahoma River, etc.).

The effective destruction of the soul of Oklahoma City took place over 30 years ago, leaving a dirty, dusty heckhole behind. I'd like to hope that the "city fathers" responsible for that reckless and quasi-criminal act are long gone.

Admittedly, things are far from perfect, but we are making progress. I would, however, love to see a MAPS III which would include beautification as a significant component.

I agree that the ride in from the airport is particularly unremarkable and quasi-depressing.

[mranderson]

I spent the last week in Eastern Oklahoma, where there are trees everywhere, so imagine what I was thinking when driving along I-40 today between OKC and the airport.

It is desolate and extremely UGLY. There is nothing growing along that stretch except a handful of pathetic, small, half-dead trees.

We do not live in a desert! We get plenty of rainfall to support vegetation of multiple varieties, but the mentality of our city fathers -- to destroy our downtown and historically valuable buildings -- and to lay waste to any vegetation has left this city looking like a wasteland.

Perhaps Maps III should be about beautification and transportation. These are two vital missing links in our urban makeover.

Can we just plant some trees and shrubbery? The ride in from the airport is hideous compared to other cities.

I have flown into many airports in my life and I can honestly say, ours is not as bad as you portray. Case in point. Sacramento International Airport. It is 20 miles north of downtown in an area that has no development... Including hotels. Unless it has changed, so is Denver International. So, although we need a lot more work at Will Rogers, it could be worse.

[soonerguru]

Mr. Anderson, I'm not talking about the airport. I'm talking about the treeless expanse of urban wasteland between the airport and downtown.

If you are not from OKC, and this is what you would see, you would wrongly conclude that we can't grow plants here, which is entirely not the case.

No sense in making it out to be any better than it is. It is quite simply a depressing eyesore, and a poor representation of our city.

[diesel]

everything south of i-40 on i-44 just seems to be very undeveloped or old... and/or riddled with gang members... i hate driving down that way just to get to i-240....

[adaniel]

All these suggestions are great but slightly unrealisitic. The fact remains that OKC is in the Great Plains and you just can't throw up a bunch of trees in this climate. Between the constant ice storms and wind storms theres a reason why central OK isn't heavily forested. It holds like the argument that some people give that OKC is flat. Its not something you can change and you just have to make due with what you have. Places like Denver and Kansas City are flatter and more treeless than we are and they look great. You can't alter the climate just so OKC can have some trees. Not trying to bash or anything but thats just the way god made it.

As a side note the road coming out of the airport isn't all that awe-inspiring and needs some sprucing up. In fact the MAPS III project, if it comes to pass, needs to focus on the southside. Its really starting to look bad.

[bmrsnr]

Actually, I was reading on an OKC.gov the other day and there was a great article with a horticulturist that was talking about several different types of trees that do extremely well in the central OK environment. No climate change is necessary. Planting of trees (or something besides the laying of sod) is necessary.

[okcpulse]

I should be studying for my A+ Cert test right now, but I have to respond to this. Folks, none of us have any room to complain about this because the tools to change our aesthetic problems are right at our finger tips. Instead of making something happen, we just sit around and complain about how unsightly parts of Oklahoma City are.

Beautification is what Oklahoma City Beautiful and the Oklahoma City Garden Club are for! These organizations have easy programs for sponsoring and donating to beautification projects. You yourself can even propose a beautification project and Oklahoma City Beautiful will go through the appropriate channels to get the project approved and create a fund for that project. Another tool is right here, at OKCTalk.com. We as a forum can form a group to get a beautification project going. It just needs momentum, and having everyone on the same page, and together we can accomplish something.

I wouldn't jump to soon on street-scaping I-44 from the I-40/I-44 Interchange (I hate calling it the Amarillo Junction. Amarillo is no where near here) to Airport Road. Resurfacing is being eyed for this stretch of freeway. I know Meridian from the Airport Terminal is not much to look at, however quite a few saplings have been planted along this stretch. It's expensive to plant mature trees, much less difficult.

Our former city fathers made serious mistakes for which we are still suffering the consequences, but complaining isn't going to accomplish anything. Write our city leaders vigorously. Let them know you really want to see beautification in a MAPS III. But let it be a unified effort. For writing a letter here and an e-mail there will only sprout an idea that will be filed away in some cabinet.

Things are not as bad as you believe, soonerguru. Many of Oklahoma City's new road projects include streetscaping and sidewalks. And you can't complain about I-40 from downtown west to I-44. I-40 is preparing to be relocated, and the new stretch of highway will include stamped art on the retaining walls and ornate fixtures to better Oklahoma City's drive on I-40. And there are other examples of better street building with greenery...

23rd Street project
10th Street project
5th Street project
Lincoln Blvd. project
Western Avenue project

I also understand that Meridian Avenue improvements and beautification were on the 2000 General Obligation Bond Issue list of projects. The city is working to speed up the completion of those projects.

However, the empty land around the airport is something you'll just have to deal with. It was once farmland, and much of it has been zoned for industrial. Planting hundreds of acres of trees out there is not only expensive but pointless. You can only take terraforming so far, and airport premises is not a place to do that. Eastern Oklahoma is full of trees, yes, but the eastern part of our state is out of the Rocky Mountain rain shadow, which Oklahoma City sits right on the boundary. Have you ever noticed that terrain on the east side of Oklahoma City is covered with trees while terrain on the west side of Oklahoma City is open and gently rolling? That's not a coincidence.

As I said, the tools and resources are right there in front of our face. Who's willing to step up to the plate? I'm doing what I can. My rendering is near completion for planting trees along the Lake Hefner Parkway. I plan to present it to them this summer.

[Patrick]

I think okcpulse make an interesting point. The tree line does run directly through the middle of our city, so part of our problem is due to nature itself. You'll notice that the eastern parts of our city are forested, whereas the western parts of our city are not. To completely forest the western parts of our city would cost a fortune.

One of the main problems with our airport is location. Unfortunately, slums exist between our airport and downtown. Not really sure what we can do with it. We could've moved the airport, but that's really out of the question. I suppose we could look back to the past, and wish OKC would've chosen Wiley Post as its airport instead of Will Rogers, but that's all done with.

In the meantime, what we need to do is lobby for a program similar to what our very own Proactive Volunteer is pushing for. She's pushing for a MAPS III which she'd call MAPS for Neighborhoods, which would pay for a lot of the landscaping projects we propose here. At the present time, the best thing we can do is help her with her upcoming council campaign, here in a few years.....I believe she's gonig to try to run for Ward 2 again. Although Sam Bowman hasn't been bad, I'd love to see Susan Johnston in there instead. She spends countless hours volunteering for OKC Beautiful. She knows exactly what our city needs.

Unfortunately, it all costs money.....but we need to start today.

Unfortunately also, remember that we haven't been blessed with natural forests like other cities, so we're going to have to fork over money to establish forests like those we mention here.

[soonerguru]

Both Pulse and Patrick are correct. The crosstimbers cut through OKC and the eastern part of the city is more naturally forested than the western part.

That being said, you're overlooking the forest through the trees in my argument.

Despite its natural prairieness, there are dozens of varieties of trees, shrubbery and annuals that can and will grow well in western OKC. That is a fact.

We don't need to create a forest, we just need to plant some hardy trees and add some spreading vines and shrubs along the entryways to make this place look somewhat less like Amarillo.

There are cities that receive far less rainfall annually than OKC, such as LA and San Diego, Pheonix, Tuscon, etc. that have integrated more vegetation along their roadways. Ours looks like it has received little to no attention, which we all agree is the case.

We just need some trees, flowers, shrubs, ivies, etc. -- hell, even Eastern Redcedars if we have to -- to give our city a little more TLC.

I'm frankly less concerned about the slummy areas. Every city has slummy areas in the inner city.

[Karried]

I would love to see a plan for the drive from the airport to the city. It is amazing to see the change on 35 or 74 as you travel North. The scenery changes, I have to have trees, I'm from CA, I can't do flat dirt without trees.

okcpulse, you are absolutely right, we have to stop complaining. I think I signed up a while back, tell me where to bring my shovel... I'll be more than happy planting trees, I can dig a hole with the best of them. Don't forget to let us know when and where we can meet up to help plant around Lake Hefner.

[HKG_Flyer1]

okcpulse was right on the money. As an aside, here is the link to the website for Oklahoma City Beautiful:

www.okcbeautiful.com

[Curt]

I agree, the airport is out in the middle of nowhere. First impression is very important and I don't think the airport and the surronding area does very much to improve the already bad image okc gets. I know Okc has some very nice area but they are usually hidden from view from the highways.

Although the area could use more trees, and I am used to alot of trees where I live, the first time I came to OKC and drove into Edmond from the airport I liked what I saw, and that is what has kept me comming back 13 times now, it is what makes me want to live in the OKC area, wide open spaces.

[Patrick]

I think soonerguru brings up a good point. It isn't necessarily the neighborhoods that make us look so bad. Instead, it's our entryways along our highways. Planting shrubs in the medians, and along the sides of the interstates would be nice. Planting LARGE trees along Lake Hefner Parkway would be nice. Along I-44 from the airport north, I've always wondered why we didn't try to grow vines on the concrete walls. Vines seem to grow well along the walls on the Bricktown canal. I see soonerguru's point.

Also, at the present time, the fairgrounds look like an eyesore from the interstate. Tearing down the ugly chainlink fence, and replacing it with a nice iron and brick fence with nice landscaping would help. Currently, the fairgrounds could use some huge landscaping. It looks like a mass of weeds and concrete.

[Pete]

The airport and the surrounding area is often the first impression a visitor has of any city. It's precisely why $100 million is being spent to refurbish the terminal.

As someone that flys into OKC and rents a car about once a year, I can tell you I'm always shocked by the desolate nature of the area just north of the airport and along the Airport Expressway.

If there are trees there, they are very small. It's not at all a good first impression and always leaves me a little depressed.

[Karried]

I led a client to the car rental area (Avis/Enterprise?) North of the airport so he could find it okay and get to his plane on time - oh my. I am surprised he ever came back and bought a house in Oklahoma after driving through that neighborhood. It was downright scary and sad to me that people had to live in such squalor.