Good Bye downtown Coney Island

[TheTed]

There's a sign up on the newly expanded garage, main street side by the overpass over the tracks, offering $2 parking Thursday-Saturday evenings, aimed at Brady District visitors.

So I'd hope it's open past 9pm. But given the way we roll up the sidewalks, I wouldn't be surprised if it did close at 9.

[erfalf]

 See, now I would say that in a downtown that your wanting to be pedestrian/transit friendly, a parking lot for cars would be the about the same as the gas station in the residential neighborhood.

I agree with you, but I don't think everyone will. Obviously or we wouldn't have to convince anyone. The train of thought is not accepted as conventional wisdom yet.

I am still a huge believer in mass rail transit. Not the Dallas DART kind either, but close in mass transit. It has been done on small scales to start and worked in other places. Tulsa has an incredible Urban center (except at the vary center, but they're working on that) that is extremely compact. We spend a boat load on roads and parking, why not spend a boat load on transit?

And seriously, no bike lanes yet? Insanity. This has got to be the most inexpensive thing the city could do to get people out of their cars (and maybe loosing some weight).

[GJusSayin]

 

For those interested - you can get your coney fix tomorrow.  They officially re-open!

[TheTed]

For those interested - you can get your coney fix tomorrow.  They officially re-open!

Same M-F lunch-7pm hours?

I saw elsewhere on the internet that the Atlas Grill is gonna be open weekends until 2pm starting in a month or so.

[custosnox]

Same M-F lunch-7pm hours?

I saw elsewhere on the internet that the Atlas Grill is gonna be open weekends until 2pm starting in a month or so.

Just went by, still closed.  Did get a shot of the destruction though

[custosnox]

For those interested - you can get your coney fix tomorrow.  They officially re-open!

ahhh I missed the tomorrow when I read that.  Doh!!

[ARGUS]

The bldg was never ever going to be anything more than a run down eyesore. If I owned it and had to pay the taxes I would demo it too. You would too.

[BKDotCom]

There's a sign up on the newly expanded garage, main street side by the overpass over the tracks, offering $2 parking Thursday-Saturday evenings, aimed at Brady District visitors.

So I'd hope it's open past 9pm. But given the way we roll up the sidewalks, I wouldn't be surprised if it did close at 9.

I used that "$2" parking last week..   I approached from the south and it was $5 BOK event parking.
As I walked to the Brady theater I turned back to confirm that there's a big banner advertising $2 Brady event parking..
It's either bait-n-switch or the pricing depends on the direction you approach from.   I think I should have asked for the Brady discount.

[DTowner]

I'm not sure this fits perfectly in this thread, although all downtown threads eventually turn into a discussion about parking, so here is as good as anywhere.

Article in today's T.World about Councilman Ewing's idea of a moratorium on razing buidlings to build surface lots while the city looks at zoning changes.  Have I mentioned lately how glad I am he is my city councilor?  It also reads as if they interviewed Artist.

Tulsa councilor fears downtown getting too many parking lots; wants zoning policy

By P.J. LASSEK World Staff Writer
Published: 3/29/2012  2:33 AM
Last Modified: 3/29/2012  8:26 AM



Read continuing coverage of Tulsa's City Council.


Planning experts across the country agree that a sea of surface parking lots can kill the vibrancy of any downtown.

Surface lots repel pedestrians, create heat islands and are ugly dead spaces, urban planners say.

Downtown Tulsa is not immune - large parts of the urban landscape are dominated by asphalt.

"We need to figure out how to turn surface parking lots into structures, not how to turn structures into surface parking lots," said City Councilor Blake Ewing, whose district includes downtown.

The councilor plans to "float the idea" on Thursday of a temporary moratorium on the demolition of structures for the creation of surface parking lots until a zoning policy is in place.

"When you look at downtown, it has been stated over and over again that the surface parking lots are breaking up the flow," he said.

Ewing said now is the time to have a discussion about surface parking with all of the current development activity along with zoning code updates, the hiring of a planning director and the establishment of PlaniTulsa.

City Planning Director Dawn Warrick said a moratorium should have a specific purpose and timeline, "because you don't want it to take on a life of its own and last for an extended period of time."

She agrees that surface parking lots are an issue, "but I think it is a resolvable one."

"We need to understand exactly what the expectation is from the council and how quickly we can we get something in place to address the issue," she said.

Ewing said he doesn't intend to ban demolitions but wants "to ensure that what comes in its place must be a structure. It can be a parking structure. We don't want one level of asphalt."

He said a moratorium would prevent people from pre-empting the enforcement of a new parking policy by demolishing structures for surface parking while a policy is being developed.

The councilor said it "is well-established that a plan for a vibrant urban area is increased density and that surface parking lots are actually counter to that plan."

"Walking past nothing is the biggest thing to kill walkability," Ewing said. "People will walk for days if they are walking past activity. But as soon as you're walking past nothing, it seems like a burden."

The councilor said he is not targeting parking companies, because "we couldn't have what we have downtown without them."

But "the government must consider the good of the entire community, and there is a point in which the parking business can extend beyond its value," he said. "I think we're getting to that point."

Ewing, who owns businesses in the Blue Dome District, said one parking structure on one lot "would change everything as it relates to the core of the downtown."

Warrick said PlaniTulsa calls for preservation and revitalization of structures as the first choice.

"A lot of the architecture downtown is very usable unless there is some safety concern," she said.

"I think it is in our best interest to understand what is going to go in its place before we take it down."

The zoning code that establishes the Central Business District, which is located within the Inner Dispersal Loop, "does not respond to a sea of asphalt because it's about having an active and vital economy thriving within downtown," Warrick said.

Ewing said he is just trying to reverse what he thinks has been a negative trend downtown.

"We have not been as judicious as we should be as it comes to demolishing great buildings," he said. "Compare Tulsa's skyline from 1960 and now. We had a better skyline then, and that's not OK."

Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=689&articleid=20120329_16_A11_CUTLIN464767#

[carltonplace]

Thankyou Blake. I've had this discussion with your three predecessors (Baker, Barnes, Gomez, Barnes) and nothing was ever done even though they all agreed with me.

[Cats Cats Cats]

Can't do what you want with your own property?  Sounds like communism to me.

[OSU]

Can't do what you want with your own property?  Sounds like communism to me.

Elected officials putting forth legislation that their constituents want? Sounds like democracy to me.

[DTowner]

Can't do what you want with your own property?  Sounds like communism to me.

It's called zoning.

[Red Arrow]

It's called zoning.

Or maybe mob rule.

[erfalf]

Say I already own a parking lot/garage downtown. Would I not be psyched about this? I mean, keeping the supply down only guarantees a steady income to those that already have spaces to rent. Or does more supply not effect prices that much?

Purely an economic question.