"The Pearl" an area that will go down in History as a turning point in Tulsa

[TulsaRufnex]

What do we do with all of the awful houses between 6th and 11th? I am a huge fan of renovating old anything, but most of these houses don't stand a chance of being flipped.

There's a soccer guy who posts on this forum... I bet he has an idea... or two...  

[JCnOwasso]

Hmmm.  I really hope this area doesn't become a "rival" of Cherry Street... let Cherry Street be... well... Cherry Street.
I really hope 6th & Peoria develops its own contrasting identity. 

I don't mean rival as is take business away, I just mean in terms of popularity and stuff to do.  Cherry Street will always be Cherry Street.  The area is already developing its own identity... even if for only 2 blocks.  The people I have encountered are awesome and that is business owners/operators, to those individuals just walking down the street.  Everyone is happy to see what is happening with the area.

Fun thing I found while chatting with a couple ladies.  One of them had moved from NM to tulsa to continue her art.  She chose the Brady Arts District because of the "artist" draw.  She regrets it as the building she is in is mostly lawyers and doctors and after walking around she found the only artistic thing going for the area was the Glass Blowing place.  Now I am not sure if she had visited the Zarrow yet, or even if she knew about AH HA.  She just seemed disappointed in the area. 

[DTowner]

Any concern that the Pearl will hurt Cherry St. is misplaced.  Cherry St. is moving into a mature development phase that will likely be dominated in the future by chains and those with heavy financial backing.  Most of the businesses to open in the Cherry St. area the past couple of years fall into this category.  While many of us view chains negatively, they represent an approving stamp that this area has arrived.

While much of its building stock differs from Cherry St., the Pearl represents the lower cost and easier entry point for those with a new business idea (similarly with 11th St.).  As these few new businesses gain a foothold and draw in people, the development of the Pearl is likely to accelerate.

Rather than rivals, these two areas will become complimentary to each other, connected by the developing Peoria corridor.

The area hurt the most by the successes of downtown, the Pearl, Cherry St. and Brookside is the 18th & Boston area.

[Conan71]

Pearl= Brady 5-10 years ago.  Hell even before all the new construction started two years ago.

[JCnOwasso]

There's a soccer guy who posts on this forum... I bet he has an idea... or two...  

I am not a huge soccer honk, but I like the thought of that. 

[DTowner]

Pearl= Brady 5-10 years ago.  Hell even before all the new construction started two years ago.

More like 15 years ago when the Brady's options consisted of Sp. Warehous, Snooty Fox, Mexicali Border and Caz's (the bar, not the chow house).  Then Hercules Motor Co. opened up and I thought the Brady was about to turn the corner....

For that matter, I remember in the late 80s when there wasn't much on Cherry St. other than Arnie's, Chimi's (in the original location) and 15th Street Grill.  We were excited when Full Moon opened so we didn't have to drive to Outer Urban any more after happer hour at Hoffbrau (and then back to SRO before closing time).

[Conan71]

More like 15 years ago when the Brady's options consisted of Sp. Warehous, Snooty Fox, Mexicali Border and Caz's (the bar, not the chow house).  Then Hercules Motor Co. opened up and I thought the Brady was about to turn the corner....

For that matter, I remember in the late 80s when there wasn't much on Cherry St. other than Arnie's, Chimi's (in the original location) and 15th Street Grill.  We were excited when Full Moon opened so we didn't have to drive to Outer Urban any more after happer hour at Hoffbrau (and then back to SRO before closing time).

Invoking SRO, Hoffbrau, and OuterUrban in the same post?  Sounds like you and I are from the same era.  Did you ever go to an event at the Open Door Arts Coop that was just west of where Full Moon is now?  They had some real off-beat one act plays and poetry readings.  Smoke up in the car on a side street, take in a six pack and laugh your donkey off.

[Townsend]

Invoking SRO, Hoffbrau, and OuterUrban in the same post?  Sounds like you and I are from the same era.

I was a fan of the loft in the Snooty Fox.

Remember the band Bellevue at Hoffbrau?

[DTowner]

Invoking SRO, Hoffbrau, and OuterUrban in the same post?  Sounds like you and I are from the same era.  Did you ever go to an event at the Open Door Arts Coop that was just west of where Full Moon is now?  They had some real off-beat one act plays and poetry readings.  Smoke up in the car on a side street, take in a six pack and laugh your donkey off.

That is something with which I'm not familiar - of course, I was supposed to be studying during this period in my life.  I was in Tulsa from 1987 to 1990, but then returned in 1997.

[Conan71]

I was a fan of the loft in the Snooty Fox.

Remember the band Bellevue at Hoffbrau?

Bellevue, Glass House, Nixons, etc.

Louie's Tavern at the Farm was a great venue for live music as well.

[Townsend]

Bellevue, Glass House, Nixons, etc.

Louie's Tavern at the Farm was a great venue for live music as well.

Yup, we rubbed elbows with the same drunken idiots (me).

[46hudson]

Did anyone attend the workshop last night? The TW article this morning didn't indicate how productive the meeting was.

[DTowner]

Did anyone attend the workshop last night? The TW article this morning didn't indicate how productive the meeting was.

Officials explain form-based code for Pearl District
Property owners are given a chance to hear about and debate the merits of the city's proposed code plan.By KEVIN CANFIELD World Staff Writer
Published: 1/30/2013  2:15 AM
Last Modified: 1/30/2013  4:09 AM

City officials on Tuesday night took another crack at explaining exactly what property owners within the Pearl District can expect should the form-based zoning code be applied there.

At the end of the hour-and-a-half meeting - held at the Family and Children's Services building at Sixth Street and Peoria Avenue - that goal was accomplished.

Charts were exhibited, experts were made available and questions were answered.

Less clear is whether Pearl District property owners, informed of the code's details, will embrace it.

Planning Director Dawn Warrick, for one, thinks that moment has not yet arrived.

"We're not there yet," she said of finding common ground with opponents of the plan.

The city's form-based code is an alternative to the traditional use-based zoning code that separates properties by use types, such as residential and commercial. It is intended to create pedestrian-friendly environments such as those common in urban settings.

The form-based code focuses less on a building's use and more on its form - including the use of doors and windows, location on the property and height.

But it is just those types of specific regulations that have dogged the new code since it was first established in 2011 and continued to irk some property owners Tuesday night.

"We just want to get something that is flexible enough to accommodate everybody," said Charlie Keithline, who with his wife, Nancy Keithline, owns two dental practices in the Pearl District.

The code is currently applied to a small section of the district. The Tulsa Metropolitan Area Planning Commission rejected in September a proposal to expand it to the entire district, which runs from Interstate 244 to 11th Street and from U.S. 75 to Utica Avenue.

The latest proposal calls for the district to run east-west along the Sixth Street corridor from Peoria Avenue to Utica Avenue, then north-south from the corner of Sixth and Peoria north to Interstate 244.

The proposal includes properties north and east of the area in which the form-based code now applies.

Charlie Keithline said the code seems to have been designed to replicate the Sixth and Peoria area, where buildings are multilevel and built up to the street.

"They wanted to make sure that could be repeated throughout the entire Pearl District," Keithline said.

Vic Sherrell's family has owned a paint and auto body shop on Peoria between Fifth and Sixth streets since 1959. He said he is concerned with the new code's requirement that certain expansions of existing structures adhere to the code's standards.

Those standards, including building up to the street line, just won't work with the type of business he operates, Sherrell said.

"In the real world, you never know what you are going to do," he said.

Tuesday's meeting began with a brief explanation of the form- based code. The crowd then sat around tables and peppered city planners with questions and concerns.

Joey Toler, who with his wife, Shannon Toler, owns businesses in the Pearl District, stood back and listened as the conversation got heated at times.

"I'm all for it," he said of the new plan.

If the city wants to grow and make progress, he said, "you have to make some changes."

City officials plan to hold two more public meetings before presenting their findings and recommendations to the Planning Commission, which will then consider recommending to the City Council that the code's use be expanded.



Form-based code meetings slated
The city has two more public meetings scheduled on the latest proposal to expand the use of the form-based code within the Pearl District.

When: 6 p.m. Feb. 6 and Feb. 11

Where: Family and Children's Services, 650 S. Peoria Ave.

Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20130130_16_A7_Cityof848815

[JCnOwasso]

It seemed to be that more people were concerned about what happens if they want to expand their business, than expanding and improving the area itself.  These businesses are the ones that wouldn't necessarily benefit from a revitalized pearl district.  A dentist, an auto body shop, several Disaster restoration companies... these are places that don't care if the Pearl gets shined or gets lost (not to say that the people would, just that their business structure doesn't really point to small, pedestrian friendly area).  But their points are just as valid, even if I don't like the reasoning.   

[DTowner]

It seemed to be that more people were concerned about what happens if they want to expand their business, than expanding and improving the area itself.  These businesses are the ones that wouldn't necessarily benefit from a revitalized pearl district.  A dentist, an auto body shop, several Disaster restoration companies... these are places that don't care if the Pearl gets shined or gets lost (not to say that the people would, just that their business structure doesn't really point to small, pedestrian friendly area).  But their points are just as valid, even if I don't like the reasoning.   

These are the types of businesses hurt by an improving Pearl District.  They are there for the cheap land that the area offered for years.  Improvement in the area will cause land values to go up along with property taxes with no benefit to their businesses.  While all property owners have a voice, these squeaky wheels are not the only ones with a vested interest in this area or its rehabilitation to its potential.  At some point after everyone's voice is heard, its time to count the votes and let the chips fall where they may.