SandRidge Energy Development in OKC

[dsjeffries]

Just write a short email, it can be one or two sentences. Talk about how you're tired of being bullied around by property owners with no vision for the city, how you wish Tulsa had the ordinances OKC had, how we have the potential to make a stance and be a significant example in the fight against urban renewal.

The email address is kathe.casula@okc.gov and all emails she gets are logged and put in the public record. SandRidge is coercing letters of support from everyone they can.

Sent my letter a few days back (when I started the thread). I pulled a lot of arguments from Jane Jacobs--pretty substantial arguments, I think. I'll do all I can.

I would really appreciate some help from people in Tulsa who care about downtowns. I have cared about you guys' downtown, I have supported a lot of your local businesses, and I've posted thousands of photos of Tulsa on other urban forums. It would be great if we could get some support from up the turnpike.

That's why I created this thread and have been posting all over facebook about it. It's sickening that this kind of stuff would happen in 2010. Did we not learn our lessons in the 60s and 70s?

People with power already razed 50 blocks for their superblock urban renewal projects.

Are you talking about current-day things or what went on decades ago?

I nominate "Uprising" by Muse as the preservationist theme song.

spartan, keep us informed on the latest, and let us know what else we can do.

[SXSW]

I sent a letter too.  I lived in Oklahoma City for a time and really enjoyed seeing downtown come alive with Bricktown and other areas getting revitalized.  Just like Tulsa it seems like it's always one step ahead and two steps backwards on urban-related issues.  Who knows we may need OKC's help saving the Tulsa Club building one of these days...

[heironymouspasparagus]

I guess I will have to go back through Bricktown - haven't been there since Christmas.  At that time it was a half empty shell - lots of vacancies, so all that development didn't lead to lasting enterprise.  Kind of like the Riverwalk thing in Jenks was about the same time.

Sad.

[spartanokc]

I guess I will have to go back through Bricktown - haven't been there since Christmas.  At that time it was a half empty shell - lots of vacancies, so all that development didn't lead to lasting enterprise.  Kind of like the Riverwalk thing in Jenks was about the same time.

Sad.

You might give it another chance, I think you'll be pleased. Bricktown is extremely seasonal, too. The retailers and restaurants that have embraced that have lasted a long time.

[heironymouspasparagus]

Don't get me wrong (at least too much...).  I like Bricktown area and the Riverwalk area in Tulsa both very well.  And I definitely wish the people with shops there (especially the restaurants!!) well, because I like to frequent those type of places.

The problem I have with both relates more to the hype surrounding them from the respective city officials.  Playing one against the other as sales point to get big, stupid spending/taxing things going.  "Next big thing" syndrome for the 21st century.  Blechh...

[dsjeffries]

You might give it another chance, I think you'll be pleased. Bricktown is extremely seasonal, too. The retailers and restaurants that have embraced that have lasted a long time.

The fact that it's seasonal is part of why I don't think it's a very sustainable district--it's not just seasonal, it's truly only thriving on weekends. In any development or redevelopment like that, if it's to be successful over the very long term, there HAS to be a substantial mixture of uses and users over the period of a day and week. That means it can't just be retail and entertainment--it has to include substantial residential, office and service components, as well. 'Substantial' is the key word. Without a good mix of those things, any development is only going to thrive on the weekends... and most businesses (services, entertainment, offices, retail, restaurants, etc.) cannot survive on a weekend tidal wave alone.

Anyway--what's the latest word on SandRidge, Spartan?

[spartanokc]

The fact that it's seasonal is part of why I don't think it's a very sustainable district--it's not just seasonal, it's truly only thriving on weekends. In any development or redevelopment like that, if it's to be successful over the very long term, there HAS to be a substantial mixture of uses and users over the period of a day and week. That means it can't just be retail and entertainment--it has to include substantial residential, office and service components, as well. 'Substantial' is the key word. Without a good mix of those things, any development is only going to thrive on the weekends... and most businesses (services, entertainment, offices, retail, restaurants, etc.) cannot survive on a weekend tidal wave alone.

The problem with that is that nobody is willing to do anything. For some reason we just can't get the same level of potential infill projects that Tulsa is getting right now. I think the main reason is all of the change in downtown that has everything up in the air and making people less willing to invest in projects until they see how the dozen or so gamechangers currently in progress will pan out. Other reasons..OCURA isn't making the big push for infill that the TDA is, and we lack the incentives to push for infill that Tulsa has. We all know exactly what Bricktown needs, a huge long laundry list..how to get it is a different problem that we're all trying to figure out. We've made a lot of expensive mistakes there (Bass Pro, blocking Bricktown Village). It's worth noting though that Bricktown is getting a lot more active during the daytime, not just evenings.

Anyway--what's the latest word on SandRidge, Spartan?

No gnus. Last week, their attorney's comment that "SandRidge may need to reconsider if downtown is appropriate" for their HQ blew up in the media, newspaper, and TV news. I think they regret that their attorney said that in a heated moment and they've been no comment ever since. Waiting for them to come out with some statement dealing with that.. but they are looking very bad right now.