New shopping center planned for Tulsa

[zstyles]

Well at least there is no Cartridge Word, UPS store or Shoe Store look going on here...

[sgrizzle]

It's more than mildly annoying there are no sidewalks on Olympia in Tulsa Hills.

There are sidewalks on both sides of Olympia through the entire length of phase 1

[inteller]

Well at least there is no Cartridge Word, UPS store or Shoe Store look going on here...

no those will be going in next to the "quality development" at Cell Phone Corner.  Because you know, transcribing text onto wood pulp is the way of the future and you can never be without ink!  And of course, then you are going to need to overnight those stacks of wood pulp because that email thing is a passing fad.  And all that running around wears out a pair of shoes fast so....

[nathanm]

There are sidewalks on both sides of Olympia through the entire length of phase 1

That's good news. Somehow I missed them. We still need to require that when a street is built, sidewalks go in at the same time and not wait on future development. That just leads to a disconnected mess of sidewalks like what is going on south of Phase I.

[inteller]

there should also be a rule that you can't add fake meanders to sidewalks to make it look "natural" or whatever...just look at those on the east side of that center.  It looks like a drunk built them.

[DowntownDan]

I live in midtown and I rarely go out south, but I don't mind Tulsa Hills because it is at least much more accessible than the 71st and Memorial area, and I like Buffalo Wild Wings and it is closer than the one in BA.  What I don't like about the development is that all of the major stores are on the outside of the development, and the center seems to be the parking lots.  The stores I most often visit are Target and Best Buy and sometimes Lowes.  They are all on opposite ends of the development, which means it makes more sense to get in my car three times to get to stores in the same shopping area.  And no, I'm not a person who is opposed to walking, but it's not like Utica Square or Brookside or Cherry Street which is walker friendly.  I don't mind walking all over Utica Square because I like the area.  But to walk from Target to Best Buy to Lowes and back to Target, you're crossing nothing but parking lot.  Not really worth it.  For what it is though, a big box chain development, it is the only one I don't dread in the southern parts of town.

[nathanm]

And of course, then you are going to need to overnight those stacks of wood pulp because that email thing is a passing fad. 

You may not have realized this, but some of us have to overnight things that aren't made of wood pulp. I fairly regularly overnight these thin black rectangular or squarish shaped things made of glass, plastic, magnesium, and lithium, for example. Fedex is cheaper of late, though.

And it's OK that the sidewalk was built by a drunk. The road also looks like it was built by a drunk. I prefer trees to curves, but I think that's just me.

[Gaspar]

I hope there will be some square towers on the corners of each building.  We need to remind everyone of the "Tulsa Architect's Keyboard."

[inteller]

your keyboard is outdated.  It is missing the cornice facade and low pitch roof buttons.  You need to upgrade to TulArc 2010.  It comes in a special 10 key size now so you don't have to waste any desk space.  If you buy before Febuary you get GeneriTenant Standard for free.

[jne]

I live in midtown and I rarely go out south, but I don't mind Tulsa Hills because it is at least much more accessible than the 71st and Memorial area, and I like Buffalo Wild Wings and it is closer than the one in BA.  What I don't like about the development is that all of the major stores are on the outside of the development, and the center seems to be the parking lots.  The stores I most often visit are Target and Best Buy and sometimes Lowes.  They are all on opposite ends of the development, which means it makes more sense to get in my car three times to get to stores in the same shopping area.  And no, I'm not a person who is opposed to walking, but it's not like Utica Square or Brookside or Cherry Street which is walker friendly.  I don't mind walking all over Utica Square because I like the area.  But to walk from Target to Best Buy to Lowes and back to Target, you're crossing nothing but parking lot.  Not really worth it.  For what it is though, a big box chain development, it is the only one I don't dread in the southern parts of town.

You do realize we have all those stores in Mid-town?...

[TUalum0982]

there should also be a rule that you can't add fake meanders to sidewalks to make it look "natural" or whatever...just look at those on the east side of that center.  It looks like a drunk built them.

thats actually the west side....the reason it meanders is because thats where tulsa transit busses pull over to drop off passengers that use those sidewalks.  If you are looking at the picture, to the left of the intersection you can see the tops of the red umbrellas at smashburger.  There is also that same meander near the AT&T store in front of Lowes on the east side that isnt in the picture above.

[SXSW]

I wish Tulsa Hills could've been executed better but there is not a lot you can do when creating a big box shopping center.  Though they could've concentrated the big box in one area and creating more of a shopping village along Olympia, with stores facing the street, in another. 

I rarely go to Tulsa Hills so I'm not really bothered by it.  I do like that it is creating growth opportunities in the area and that all of the sales tax revenue is staying in Tulsa.  It is also helping to grow a section of Tulsa that was pretty empty for years, helping boost the city's population numbers (even if the kids go to Jenks..).

[sgrizzle]

You do realize we have all those stores in Mid-town?...

There is now BWW, Lowes and Best Buy are almost 3 miles apart and in a construction zone.

[inteller]

thats actually the west side....the reason it meanders is because thats where tulsa transit busses pull over to drop off passengers that use those sidewalks.  If you are looking at the picture, to the left of the intersection you can see the tops of the red umbrellas at smashburger.  There is also that same meander near the AT&T store in front of Lowes on the east side that isnt in the picture above.

uh....smashburger is on the west side of olympia, north is on the top of the photo....horrible sidewalks are to the east of olympia.....i'm not talking about the bus lane that is along olympia.

[TheArtist]

  Ok, I am tired and not going to be very detailed.  But spoke to a city person a while back who mentioned that they had spoken to the developers of Tulsa Hills.  They mentioned how they had been showing the developers that with the new Comprehensive Plan, they could now (or I suppose once the plan passes) add a lot more retail on the same property and potentially make the area more pedestrian friendly.  Lets hope there will be some "infill" in the future.