Tulsa Now Forum

[Hoss]

Thanks!  It's been long enough since I've lived in Tulsa that I sometimes feel like a carpetbagger on the forum--but where I can contribute, I will.  I'm still in town 4-6 times/year and keep up, so maybe I get grandfathered in.

At least you provided that information up front, unlike a certain hot dog/bratwurst topping we see around here...

[custosnox]

Thanks!  It's been long enough since I've lived in Tulsa that I sometimes feel like a carpetbagger on the forum--but where I can contribute, I will.  I'm still in town 4-6 times/year and keep up, so maybe I get grandfathered in.

we haven't ran Dback off yet, so I think your good

[sgrizzle]

Wow. Got banned ay ?
I seem to remember a FriendlyBear and a Bicycle nut being banned. Are there any others that I dont know about ?
Seems that could be another topic starter....hmmm

Davaz was banned a few dozen times. He used to live here and got cut off in traffic once so felt the need to complain for 3 years about how Tulsa sucked.


There was also some Doctor Disco guy who would show up every few months and would almost immediately send me a PM or reply to my comments with "F___ you!" for reasons I still don't understand. I think he was an OKC person.

[Townsend]

There was also some Doctor Disco guy who would show up every few months and would almost immediately send me a PM or reply to my comments with "F___ you!" for reasons I still don't understand. I think he was an OKC person.

Well now I know how I shall greet you at ever meeting.

[Conan71]

Davaz was banned a few dozen times. He used to live here and got cut off in traffic once so felt the need to complain for 3 years about how Tulsa sucked.


There was also some Doctor Disco guy who would show up every few months and would almost immediately send me a PM or reply to my comments with "F___ you!" for reasons I still don't understand. I think he was an OKC person.

One member had a penchant for sending personal messages that said: "Eat me sh!tlicker" and "Go love your whore".  Nice guy.

JDB (rest his soul) had a fairly foul temper on him as well.

[Gaspar]

Because I use my real name, I've gotten some fun personal emails from folks that think gmail and yahoo are anonymous.   I guess it's fair.  They know who I am, and now I know who they are.

I try not to offend anyone and though I love good political banter, my goal is to learn and offer my opinion, that's all.  I enjoy everyone's participation.  I learn from the thinkers, and am entertained by the rest.  Like minded people are boring.   

[godboko71]

Like minded people are boring.   

+1 and if people can be adults and not resort to name calling even better 

[SXSW]

The higher education probably warrants a whole web site by itself, but definitely right.  Tulsa has received the short end of that stick for a hundred years.  Lot of it is the (justified) jealousy of the rest of the state for northeast Oklahoma.  Plus the efforts of TU (and even OU) to prevent the competition.

We finally have OSU branch here, but it was a long painful trip.

Full disclosure;  I have attended both OSU and TU and like both, so don't take my comment about TU as a disparagement.  I am thinking about enrolling in some OU classes so can complete the "tri-fecta".

This is one of my primary issues with Tulsa and one I really want to see the city prioritize.  The OSU campus downtown has great potential but it needs more community support as well as support from the OSU administration in Stillwater.  For a time it looked like that was the plan and things were moving forward to have 20,000 students downtown by 2020.  Can you imagine how awesome that would be??  Well it's 2010 and there are only 6,000 students, all commuters.  Something changed and growth slowed down while other local universities like OU-Tulsa, TU, and NSU expanded greatly but not in the way OSU could as far as its impact on downtown.  OSU-Tulsa is our only true 4 year public university that serves as an urban complement to the programs in Stillwater with more of a graduate/research/health sciences focus.  I would go so far as to say the ultimate sustained success of downtown depends on OSU-Tulsa.  The more discussion we can have here about it the better, and then hopefully we can affect some change or influence.

[nathanm]

I would go so far as to say the ultimate sustained success of downtown depends on OSU-Tulsa.

I would go farther to say that the ultimate sustained success of our city as something more than a place to go when you're about to have kids depends on it. Down that path lies ever increasing suburbia and an ever draining tax base in Tulsa proper.

[Conan71]

I would go farther to say that the ultimate sustained success of our city as something more than a place to go when you're about to have kids depends on it. Down that path lies ever increasing suburbia and an ever draining tax base in Tulsa proper.

Not entirely true.  There are a lot of young families living within the midtown area. 

[Renaissance]

I would go farther to say that the ultimate sustained success of our city as something more than a place to go when you're about to have kids depends on it. Down that path lies ever increasing suburbia and an ever draining tax base in Tulsa proper.

Disagree--I view Tulsa as a place where you can actually live in the city with kids, moreso than Dallas, Houston, Chicago, and of course SF, LA and NYC.  But I definitely agree that for this forum to be successful, it needs to focus on how the city is changing for the better in all these regards.

[nathanm]

Disagree--I view Tulsa as a place where you can actually live in the city with kids, moreso than Dallas, Houston, Chicago, and of course SF, LA and NYC.

I agree with you, personally. A lot of people see anything north of about 71st as crime-ridden and Tulsa Public Schools as lacking, though. Hence the housing developments growing like weeds in south Tulsa, Bixby, Broken Arrow, Jenks, and Owasso. The lion's share of new rooftops has been in the outlying districts mainly because the school districts are seen as better.

[dbacks fan]

we haven't ran Dback off yet, so I think your good

I didn't know you guys were trying to run me off.    Wow miss a day, miss alot!

Like Floyd I haven't lived in Tulsa for a number of years but still have alot of friends and family in the metro area that I try to stay in touch with, and even though the sying is "You can't go home" Tulsa will always be my home being born and raised there in '63 until I moved to Phoenix in '98.

As for the very few I disagree with here, I just try to make my point and discuss it, and if I'm wrong, I'm wrong. When I bring something up I try to support it with facts, and if someone tries to call me out on some thing I just ask them to give me an example. (And there is proof enough in a certain thread)

Anyway, I enjoy seeing whats going on in Tulsa and glad to see the changes in the downtown area for the postive, Drillers, BOk, Blue Dome, the Brady District and especially the rebirth of the Mayo Hotel. If I can swing it when I come out in September, I'm hoping to stay there.

[heironymouspasparagus]

Where to start....
I started pitching that grumble about 1968.  Like I said, Tulsa has always been short changed for higher ed.  On a bigger scale, the entire state secondary system has always been shortchanged.  What isn't short changed is football.  OU football.

There has been talk in this state ad nauseum since the dustbowl about how to create jobs, economic development, getting our kids to stay, etc.  Well, right to work sure didn't do it, now did it?

We have known for a FACT that every dollar invested in higher education pays back starting immediately and continuing for life!  Yet, we still load our kids up with massive debt for a degree.  While OKC spends about a quarter of a billion dollars to buy a basketball team.  And Tulsa does just about the same.

Yeah, I hear we are getting some money back on the Crashship.  We could get 10 times that on a few thousand college educated kids.

Suppose we paid for kids tuition.  $200 million like for 2025.  OU costs $7500 for 30 hours, so BS degree is about 30k.  Double that for all the other costs.  3,330 kids paid to go through school.
Heck of a bargain.

[dbacks fan]

Where to start....
I started pitching that grumble about 1968.  Like I said, Tulsa has always been short changed for higher ed.  On a bigger scale, the entire state secondary system has always been shortchanged.  What isn't short changed is football.  OU football.

There has been talk in this state ad nauseum since the dustbowl about how to create jobs, economic development, getting our kids to stay, etc.  Well, right to work sure didn't do it, now did it?

We have known for a FACT that every dollar invested in higher education pays back starting immediately and continuing for life!  Yet, we still load our kids up with massive debt for a degree.  While OKC spends about a quarter of a billion dollars to buy a basketball team.  And Tulsa does just about the same.

Yeah, I hear we are getting some money back on the Crashship.  We could get 10 times that on a few thousand college educated kids.

Suppose we paid for kids tuition.  $200 million like for 2025.  OU costs $7500 for 30 hours, so BS degree is about 30k.  Double that for all the other costs.  3,330 kids paid to go through school.
Heck of a bargain.

You are pretty much right on when the change to Tulsa took place. During that time is when bussing was begining to start in TPS. Downtown and midtown were forever changed with the construction of the IDL, 244, and the BA. It basically diveded mid town from the IDL to Lewis and 15th street to Admiral into islands of population. You had what was called "White Flight" from the arear north of downtown to the south and east. During that time Northland suffered a roof collapse from which it never recovered, South Roads and Southland were built draining retail from downtown as well. They built East Central, then Mason at 61st and Peoria, and the new Central High School near Gillcrease Hills as well as other schools to the east and south as this area was growing, and things settled for a period of time. They started building Eastland Mall in 74 or 75. At the same time Ford built the glass plant and Woodland Hills started construction. At that time if you went to Union, I think after 7th grade you had to go to Tulsa or BA for highschool. (I could be wrong) Ford and Woodland really fueld the growth to the south and to BA, Eastland failed when almost all of the anchor stores pulled out and went to Woodland, and the area stopped growing right at that corner. In 1979 TPS closed Mason do to a lack of enrollment, sophomores and juniors were divide amongst Edison and Memorial, the seniors got to choose the school they wanted and whenthe football coaches went to Nathan Hale, the team followed, and won the 4A Championship against Mid West City. (I graduated Hale in 81) Any way it was during the time of the late 70's into the 80's that TPS lost students to Union, BA, then Jenks, and in the 90's to Owasso. They had newer schools and more money than TPS.  To me that's what hurt TPS, and from that population shift it's hard to recover and the percieved notions, I remember when goining norht of 11th street was bad and as everyone wnet southeast so did the notion, to me that is why Southroads/Southland had to reinvent themselves.

Anyway, just my $.02