PLANiTulsa... & Why You Care about the Comp Plan!

[PonderInc]

There are a lot of reasons why I'm excited about being involved in our comprehensive plan update.  It will be a chance for the citizens of Tulsa to determine what we want our city to be.  Once the plan is done, we'll need to  update our ordinances and zoning codes to achieve our goals (as defined in the comp plan).

I have been fortunate to be named to the group of advisors and partners who will be working to help get people involved in the PLANiTulsa project.  It strikes me that a lot of folks don't understand why the Comp Plan matters, and how it will affect Tulsa's future.  People need to understand why it matters, so they will be willing to show up for the community meetings where your voices will be heard.

I think one of the things that Tulsa needs to start thinking about is that the way you attract jobs and a better workforce is by making Tulsa an extraordinary place to live.  

Nobody will move here b/c we have smooth roads.  Nobody will move here b/c we have high salaries (because we don't).  In fact, Tulsa acts as sort of a training ground for other companies across the nation who can easily recruit our talented workers away by offering cooler cities to live in...and a lot more money.

Earlier this week, we got to hear a presentation by Jon Roberts who's the CCO of TIP Strategies (the business/economic development firm that will be sub-consultanting under Fregonese on PLANiTulsa).  He mentioned the book, "The World is Flat" by Thomas Friedman.  His point was that, in the global economy, talent flows freely...so it moves to the places with the best quality of life.  And since the number of working-age people will be tanking in the next few years (thanks to the baby boomers reaching retirement age), all cities are going to be competing for the same small handful of people.

Roberts believes that the most important thing to generate economic development is the presence of young, educated, talented people...because it will be the entrepreneurs and "free agents" who drive future growth.  (Take note, Tulsa!  Call centers and "back office" services won't cut it!)

According to Thomas Friedman, cities need to create a "quality of environment that attracts knowledgeable people; investment laws that encourage entrepreneurship; education; and infrastructure."

The Comp Plan can't address state laws, but it can influence land use and infrastructure investment.  The cool thing about Fregonese, et al, is that they will give us tools to help us make the best decisions for Tulsa's future.  We can come up with multiple visions of what we want our city to be, and they will be able to run economic models to show us the ramifications of our choices.  Then, given this new information, we can pick the best of the scenarios that our citizens come up with.

I think it sounds like a fascinating and exciting experience.  The first of the community workshops will be September 22 and 23rd.  The best thing that could happen would be if a thousand people turn up to share their thoughts and ideas for making Tulsa great.

By the way, you can view the presentations by John Fregonese and Jon Robers that were given at the PLANiTulsa advistors and partners meeting.  The TIP Strategies presentation starts on page 77.  http://www.planitulsa.org/files/pdf/plan-update.pdf