Brady District

[DTowner]

The renaming committee came up with the following names:

- Bridge Arts District
- NoDo Arts District
- Boomtown Arts District

How about just keeping it Brady.  I guarantee no one will ever use these ridiculous new names, and it will only confuse people especially visitors.

For a district full of artists, those names lack any hint of creativity.

[hello]

A friend of mine last night suggested naming it the Busey Arts District.

I'm gonna go with that from now on.

I know it's a joke but they don't want to name it after anyone.

The reason the Brady exists is due in large part to the railroad. Underground Arts District? Eh. If it must be changed go with Tulsa Arts District or Greenwood Arts District over those three choices and leave it at that.

[cannon_fodder]

We can skip the sniping on if the name should be changed, because it's happening. The owner of the Mayo theater has said he has no intentions of renaming it for the time being.  The City has made no indication that it intends to again change the name of the street.  Really, the question is what should the name of the business association be - which is the de facto name of the district:


NoDo is supposed to mean North of Downtown.  I'm not a fan because every district in the 1990s was named some similar concoction of syllables.  Once South Park has made fun of a archetype, its well and truly played out.  In fact, Omaha named their north of downtown the NoDo District...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downtown_Omaha#North_Downtown


Boomtown is "meh" to me.  There is already a Boomtown district in some town in West Virginia and dozens of businesses around the country named "Boomtown" this or that.  Including Boomtown Tees in Tulsa, which is not in the Brady District.  To me, it kind of sounds like an old west amusement park, mimicking the old west boomtowns that usually went bust.  Boomtown isn't unique to the Brady District or to Tulsa and only marginally describes the district.

Tulsa Arts District is far too generic.  Greenwood is already taken, I doubt they'd appreciate having their name taken over by a neighboring district that is distinctly different.  

I think the Bridge District is better than the other choices on the table.  You basically have to go over or under a bridge to get to the district (generally defines the borders of the district), it "bridges" cultural norms  or stereotypes or whatever, and there isn't a Bridge District in the US that I can find.  Brady and Bridge are similar enough to flow the same.  The district could use the name as a reason to improve the bridges and underpasses to be something interesting (Center of the Universe is already there, plus the Boulder Bridge has art and several of the underpasses have murals already).  

I heard several other options, some I liked better - but ultimately whatever the new name is a few people will like it, most won't really care, and some people will be hostile.

[swake]

We can skip the sniping on if the name should be changed, because it's happening. The owner of the Mayo theater has said he has no intentions of renaming it for the time being.  The City has made no indication that it intends to again change the name of the street.  Really, the question is what should the name of the business association be - which is the de facto name of the district:


NoDo is supposed to mean North of Downtown.  I'm not a fan because every district in the 1990s was named some similar concoction of syllables.  Once South Park has made fun of a archetype, its well and truly played out.  In fact, Omaha named their north of downtown the NoDo District...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downtown_Omaha#North_Downtown


Boomtown is "meh" to me.  There is already a Boomtown district in some town in West Virginia and dozens of businesses around the country named "Boomtown" this or that.  Including Boomtown Tees in Tulsa, which is not in the Brady District.  To me, it kind of sounds like an old west amusement park, mimicking the old west boomtowns that usually went bust.  Boomtown isn't unique to the Brady District or to Tulsa and only marginally describes the district.

Tulsa Arts District is far too generic.  Greenwood is already taken, I doubt they'd appreciate having their name taken over by a neighboring district that is distinctly different.  

I think the Bridge District is better than the other choices on the table.  You basically have to go over or under a bridge to get to the district (generally defines the borders of the district), it "bridges" cultural norms  or stereotypes or whatever, and there isn't a Bridge District in the US that I can find.  Brady and Bridge are similar enough to flow the same.  The district could use the name as a reason to improve the bridges and underpasses to be something interesting (Center of the Universe is already there, plus the Boulder Bridge has art and several of the underpasses have murals already).  

I heard several other options, some I liked better - but ultimately whatever the new name is a few people will like it, most won't really care, and some people will be hostile.

I have a feeling that most of the people that are hostile never go there, so who cares what they think?

[heironymouspasparagus]

How about "Wrong Side of the Tracks" District?

Just kidding.... don't hate!


Seems like Archer and Cameron or a combination of the two would be at least as good as Brady District.

Archer-Cameron District   Kind of defines the area talked about - 'sound' is good.
Archer District                Doesn't "roll of the tongue" very well - don't really like that.
Cameron District             This has a good 'sound' to it, too.

[DowntownDan]

I'm all for the name change if the business owners want it, but these choices are terrible, and I'm not one to be critical for the sake of being critical.  Tulsa Arts District is generic, but better than these three.  I don't think at all of bridges when I think of that area.  I get it, kinda, but I call them "overpasses" and what comes to mind for me is that they are a pain during downtown running events.  Boomtown I guess would be my choice by default, but it's just not a fit in my opinion for an arts district.  NoDo is a no go, and the fact that it's even proposed surprises me because it's super lame.  I know they don't want to choose a person, but Guthrie Arts makes sense because the city has already chosen Woody for the park.  

[DTowner]

We can skip the sniping on if the name should be changed, because it's happening. The owner of the Mayo theater has said he has no intentions of renaming it for the time being.  The City has made no indication that it intends to again change the name of the street.  Really, the question is what should the name of the business association be - which is the de facto name of the district:


NoDo is supposed to mean North of Downtown.  I'm not a fan because every district in the 1990s was named some similar concoction of syllables.  Once South Park has made fun of a archetype, its well and truly played out.  In fact, Omaha named their north of downtown the NoDo District...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downtown_Omaha#North_Downtown


Boomtown is "meh" to me.  There is already a Boomtown district in some town in West Virginia and dozens of businesses around the country named "Boomtown" this or that.  Including Boomtown Tees in Tulsa, which is not in the Brady District.  To me, it kind of sounds like an old west amusement park, mimicking the old west boomtowns that usually went bust.  Boomtown isn't unique to the Brady District or to Tulsa and only marginally describes the district.

Tulsa Arts District is far too generic.  Greenwood is already taken, I doubt they'd appreciate having their name taken over by a neighboring district that is distinctly different.  

I think the Bridge District is better than the other choices on the table.  You basically have to go over or under a bridge to get to the district (generally defines the borders of the district), it "bridges" cultural norms  or stereotypes or whatever, and there isn't a Bridge District in the US that I can find.  Brady and Bridge are similar enough to flow the same.  The district could use the name as a reason to improve the bridges and underpasses to be something interesting (Center of the Universe is already there, plus the Boulder Bridge has art and several of the underpasses have murals already).  

I heard several other options, some I liked better - but ultimately whatever the new name is a few people will like it, most won't really care, and some people will be hostile.

I get that it's their business association and they can call it whatever they want, but the city, Chamber, etc. spent a lot of effort and money over the years helping to promote the Brady District brand.  Even worse, they are casting off their brand after those 20+ years of effort are finally paying off.  Each of these proposed names is nondescript to the place specifically or to Tulsa generally and will leave most of us struggling with what to call it.  I assume people believe it is important for an area to have an identity and a name given how every area works so hard to promote a name and an identity.  But now we are left scratching our heads.

What are people in south Tulsa going to say when they propose to their friends to go downtown - "hey, let's go to that area that used to be called The Brady District but now is something about bridges because you have to go over or under a bridge to get there, unless you enter from Elgin because then you just have to cross some railroad tracks and hang a left on Brady, except we're not supposed to say Brady, because of history, or something."

If they're going to rename/rebrand it, call it the "Bars, Cars & Drunks District" or, even more fitting, "The Jailhouse District."   At least then we will know to where they are referring.

[SXSW]

Yet we still have the Brady Theatre, the Brady Heights neighborhood and the Brady Street.  It's Brady and always will be. 

This will go over as well as some realtors who wanted to change the name of the areas south of I-44 and north of 71st to Outer Midtown.  Or the business group that wanted to change the name of Riverview east of Boulder to Uptown.  Or when they wanted to change the residential area north of Cherry Creek to NoChe.  I really, really hope they don't choose NoDo..

[Townsend]

  I really, really hope they don't choose NoDo..

The signs are already designed:

[dsjeffries]

Some names I came up with last night based on the area containing some of the oldest buildings in town, a place that's really a part of early Tulsa history and that helped pave the way for Tulsa's future... and names I could imagine myself saying to other people without laughing:

Heritage Arts District - A lot of Tulsa's 'firsts' happened in the area. Heritage has a nice sound to it. "I hear that new restaurant in the Heritage District is really great!"
Legacy Arts District - Similar to heritage, also has a nice sound.
Founders Arts District - Since we tore down the oldest buildings in Tulsa for the Williams Center complex, this is really the last piece of town that our founders built that still exists.
The Roots District - Similar to the previous in that this is where Tulsa's roots are (minus the Council Oak Tree), but 'roots' is more down-to-earth than either 'heritage' or 'legacy', somewhat relates to Guthrie & Dylan, Cain's is where the roots of Texas swing are, and the whole district is where a lot of new roots have begun to take hold.
Tribune Arts District - The Tulsa Tribune building is a local landmark, and was one of the first residential projects downtown in decades. Tribune also means 'a champion of the people'.

I really can't believe the three finalists are the best of the bunch that all the creative folks in the area could come up with.

[Townsend]

Some names I came up with last night based on the area containing some of the oldest buildings in town, a place that's really a part of early Tulsa history and that helped pave the way for Tulsa's future... and names I could imagine myself saying to other people without laughing:

Heritage Arts District - A lot of Tulsa's 'firsts' happened in the area. Heritage has a nice sound to it. "I hear that new restaurant in the Heritage District is really great!"
Legacy Arts District - Similar to heritage, also has a nice sound.
Founders Arts District - Since we tore down the oldest buildings in Tulsa for the Williams Center complex, this is really the last piece of town that our founders built that still exists.
The Roots District - Similar to the previous in that this is where Tulsa's roots are (minus the Council Oak Tree), but 'roots' is more down-to-earth than either 'heritage' or 'legacy', somewhat relates to Guthrie & Dylan, Cain's is where the roots of Texas swing are, and the whole district is where a lot of new roots have begun to take hold.
Tribune Arts District - The Tulsa Tribune building is a local landmark, and was one of the first residential projects downtown in decades. Tribune also means 'a champion of the people'.

I really can't believe the three finalists are the best of the bunch that all the creative folks in the area could come up with.

I agree, all of yours are much better.

The HAD, The LAD, The FAD, and The TAD are all easy for signage and to text your friends where you are.

"I'm at the TAD."

[TulsaGoldenHurriCAN]

Yet we still have the Brady Theatre, the Brady Heights neighborhood and the Brady Street.  It's Brady and always will be. 

This will go over as well as some realtors who wanted to change the name of the areas south of I-44 and north of 71st to Outer Midtown.  Or the business group that wanted to change the name of Riverview east of Boulder to Uptown.  Or when they wanted to change the residential area north of Cherry Creek to NoChe.  I really, really hope they don't choose NoDo..

I agree. It won't go over well. It is enshrined in the name "Brady" quite well and it will always be the Brady Arts District to me and many other Tulsans. I will continue to call it that and so will my friends.

Look at the results for the Tulsa World poll: http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/local/which-proposed-name-for-the-brady-arts-district-do-you/poll_4de21718-995a-11e7-8891-ebc81ffceb98.html

Looks like 3 to 1 against the new name.

"Brady Arts District" is dominating the user-submitted names too (especially when you take out the joke names): http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/local/readers-came-up-with-suggestions-for-a-new-name-for/poll_fd954b8a-9969-11e7-a670-a7135fdd3d73.html

[TulsaGoldenHurriCAN]

We can skip the sniping on if the name should be changed, because it's happening. The owner of the Mayo (BRADY?) theater has said he has no intentions of renaming it for the time being.  The City has made no indication that it intends to again change the name of the street.  Really, the question is what should the name of the business association be - which is the de facto name of the district:

No, it hasn't happened yet. It's not absolute. If enough people voice their concerns and enough people keep calling it the "Brady Arts District" then that will remain the "de facto" name. They may be able to hang up banners and pass out pamphlets but people will call it what it is: the Brady Arts District.

If they wanted the name to change, they shouldn't have picked such terrible names. They would have picked something that at least most people could embrace.

[erfalf]

To 99% of the population it is just a name. No connotation, just a part of the city and a theater that also bears the name.

[TulsaGoldenHurriCAN]

To 99% of the population it is just a name. No connotation, just a part of the city and a theater that also bears the name.

Well, apparently about 25% seem to care now that someone was able to scrape up some dicey evidence that Tate might have been involved with KKK at a young age (~20) even though he is quoted denouncing the KKK. Basically anyone from any influential family would've been seriously courted to join back then and would've been tough for anyone in his shoes to understand how bad it was in those early years and stay away.

So no absolute proof and now they educated far more Tulsans that the name "Brady" could've maybe had some ties to the KKK at some point in time, bringing that to the public's attention while it would have otherwise remained an unknown "maybe".