The real problem for Tulsa's revitalization

[nathanm]

You want to know what the real problem is? Why it is we don't have sky-high demand around Cherry Street and downtown? Look no further:



Fix this, and we'll get/keep young people, even with our backwards (to the sort of people who like to live in urban-type environs, anyway) politics.

[Red Arrow]

You want to know what the real problem is? Why it is we don't have sky-high demand around Cherry Street and downtown? Look no further:



Fix this, and we'll get/keep young people, even with our backwards (to the sort of people who like to live in urban-type environs, anyway) politics.

Is that the number of positions for each specialty as local City employees?

[Teatownclown]

Dagnabit Nate! Tulsa's not a social democracy....

[nathanm]

Is that the number of positions for each specialty as local City employees?

Job openings.

[Ronnie Lowe]

Yeh, it's not the Fluff like BOK Center, it's Meat and Potatoes -- like Jobs that really count.  Remember Bartlett was going to be the "jobs gettinest mayor."  Apparently, it hasn't worked.  The transfer of postal center jobs to OKC is just more of Tulsa's drift into irrelevance.  But we love the old girl, huh.

[Red Arrow]

Job openings.

Do you have any idea of the number of existing positions?  As a percentage of the population or some other metric?

[nathanm]

Do you have any idea of the number of existing positions?  As a percentage of the population or some other metric?

Nope. A then-soon-to-be-former-Tulsan made this list when he was looking for work earlier this year. He ended up moving to Portland, apparently.

FWIW, I think that the fluff is also important. If we want to have a vibrant nightlife downtown to help spur residential development there, we have to have fluff.

[erfalf]

In some fairness, those are business services/marketing that generally ... follow the business. If there are no businesses selling their wares, no matter how creative the population is, those jobs won't be there. So I would say that this is more of a trailing indicator as opposed to a leading.

That's not to say Tulsa is not struggling. I'm just saying that's all.

[dbacks fan]

According to careerbuilder there are 53 web development jobs in the Tulsa area.

http://www.careerbuilder.com/Jobseeker/Jobs/JobResults.aspx?IPath=QH&ch=&rs=&_ctl0%3A_ctl1%3AucQuickBar%3As_rawwords=web+development&_ctl0%3A_ctl1%3AucQuickBar%3As_freeloc=Tulsa%2C+OK&_ctl0%3A_ctl1%3AucQuickBar%3As_jobtypes=ALL&qsbButton=Find+Jobs

[nathanm]

Once you filter out the non-local jobs and the not-web-development jobs you get one, plus an entry level web design job that pays $30,000 and requires a bachelor's degree.

[patric]

Nope. A then-soon-to-be-former-Tulsan made this list when he was looking for work earlier this year. He ended up moving to Portland, apparently.

FWIW, I think that the fluff is also important. If we want to have a vibrant nightlife downtown to help spur residential development there, we have to have fluff.

I'm willing to bet there are a lot of young professionals who would prefer not driving across town after a night out (and contributing to the DUI industry revenue stream), but really, what options are we giving them?   We're just not geared for being a "cool" city to work and live.
(that, and we seem to be brutally overzealous with enforcing park curfews...)

[cannon_fodder]

I will readily admit Tulsa doesn't have the number of job openings as DFW (5 million people) or Boston (7 million) or Seattle (3 million).  That's not news.  However, I know plenty of people in those positions in Tulsa - your friend isn't very good at networking.

And the BOk and such is not fluff.  It is a quality of life factor.  Did Portland become cool, hip, expensive, and attractive to young people because there were lots of jobs?  NO.  It drew the jobs because it was a place creative, educated, and affluent people wanted to live, start their businesses, move their headquarters, and work.

Start up business leave Tulsa all the time to go somewhere else and grow.  Established business can be bought by other places.  Businesses and most of Tulsa's population doesn't have any pride, doesn't have a solid identity, and offers little loyalty.  Minneapolis, Seattle, Portland... these cities have a culture and have developed to draw people in - NOT by being overtly business friendly.  But by being damn nice places to live.

Quality, educated people want to live there.  Quality jobs are established by them or move there to attract that workforce - with terms and development strictly dictated by the cities in order to keep that quality.  Here, in Tulsa, we beg for any crap job that we can get and do little to encourage new or maintain old startups.

We try to pull jobs by being "business friendly" (read giving away money, making illogical ordinances, and refusing to structure development), they try to pull and develop talent with quality of life that draws in business.

[nathanm]

I will readily admit Tulsa doesn't have the number of job openings as DFW (5 million people) or Boston (7 million) or Seattle (3 million).  That's not news.  However, I know plenty of people in those positions in Tulsa - your friend isn't very good at networking.

Yes, it wasn't a count of positions existing, it was a count of positions available. And it's not my friend, just some former Tulsan on another forum who was complaining about having to leave.

The point is that we can have all the quality of life stuff we want (and we should, it's very important), but without available jobs, we won't get anywhere when it comes to attracting new blood. People who are already here and want to stay are being driven out because most of our high tech up and left town. It's also an appearance thing. If the positions are available, but not being advertised, as is often the case, we look bad. Someone just moving here isn't going to stand a great chance of being immediately plugged in to the behind the scenes hiring.

[TheArtist]

I will readily admit Tulsa doesn't have the number of job openings as DFW (5 million people) or Boston (7 million) or Seattle (3 million).  That's not news.  However, I know plenty of people in those positions in Tulsa - your friend isn't very good at networking.

And the BOk and such is not fluff.  It is a quality of life factor.  Did Portland become cool, hip, expensive, and attractive to young people because there were lots of jobs?  NO.  It drew the jobs because it was a place creative, educated, and affluent people wanted to live, start their businesses, move their headquarters, and work.

Start up business leave Tulsa all the time to go somewhere else and grow.  Established business can be bought by other places.  Businesses and most of Tulsa's population doesn't have any pride, doesn't have a solid identity, and offers little loyalty.  Minneapolis, Seattle, Portland... these cities have a culture and have developed to draw people in - NOT by being overtly business friendly.  But by being damn nice places to live.

Quality, educated people want to live there.  Quality jobs are established by them or move there to attract that workforce - with terms and development strictly dictated by the cities in order to keep that quality.  Here, in Tulsa, we beg for any crap job that we can get and do little to encourage new or maintain old startups.

We try to pull jobs by being "business friendly" (read giving away money, making illogical ordinances, and refusing to structure development), they try to pull and develop talent with quality of life that draws in business.

Well said.

[TheArtist]

   I think some of it is that so many here don't think the government could or should do anything job wise other than "stay out of it".  Yet, we sit here as a prime example of our city/region not diligently working to create and expand "nodes" (high tech, telicom, nano/materials science,  new energy, medical, tourism, etc.).  I hear talk of it from time to time, but don't see any follow-up or results.  Are we just to crappy a region to attract or build up those nodes and thats why we arent seeing results?  Or is it because we aren't trying hard enough or well enough?  OKC has done a decent job of building up its medical complex with state and local help. 

  What are we doing?  What are the different nodes we are trying to build up?  How well are we doing it?