America's Most Beautiful City 2.0

[Teatownclown]

Speaking of billboards, what's with Bill Stokley flying his copter around Arizona public lands burying gasoline while changing his id tail numbers? Has he gone over the edge? (sorry, KOTV reported the story but has no linkage)

[Hoss]

Maybe it's just personal preference, but to me sprawl and beauty can't co-exist. The most beautiful cities are always going to be those that have more buildings than parking lots and brownfields.

But that shouldn't stop us from trying to make our city more attractive.

The Great Tulsa Land Grab of 1966 increased the sprawl immensely.  Tulsa city limits went from about 50 sq miles to about 165 or so virtually overnight.

You can thank Sand Springs (sort of) for that.  They acquired fenceline for about 110 sq miles of land west towards the Keystone Dam.  Tulsa's knee jerk reaction was to protect that land they felt was within the city's interest.

[RecycleMichael]

Here is a link to the beautification report. I would be very interested in comments.

http://metrecycle.com/category/reports/

[Ed W]

I served on that task force and helped write the report. I will put a link to the full report on my website later today.

We actually talked quite a bit about all signs, including billboards. One of our task force members was very clear about this topic and used the sign on 75 highway entering downtown that ruins a wonderful view of the skyline. We even discussed using private dollars to buy it and tear it down.

I thought our report was good. We had a few difficult tasks, but overall felt like most of our recommendations were affordable and possible. We had many meetings, took a van around town looking at problems, met with city planners and beautification folks and got our report out in just a few months time.

A grand entrance can do much for a city's image.  It would be beneficial to do a bit of photo editing magic showing the skyline as it would appear if that billboard were removed, Michael.   

Take a look at this grand entrance into Pittsburgh through the Fort Pitt tunnel.

 

[carltonplace]

Here is a link to the beautification report. I would be very interested in comments.

http://metrecycle.com/category/reports/

We should include SH11 as a corridor from TIA to downtown, since roadsigns direct people that way. 

[Vashta Nerada]

One of our task force members was very clear about this topic and used the sign on 75 highway entering downtown that ruins a wonderful view of the skyline. We even discussed using private dollars to buy it and tear it down.

Condemn it under Eminent Domain.  Cheap, easy.

[dsjeffries]

Something I think would really help is simply painting the retaining walls and guard rails that line our expressways, arterial streets and some neighborhood streets. A good example that needs attention is the wall along 31st Street between Yale and the Broken Arrow Expressway exit. It looks like the wall itself hasn't been maintained or repaired in about 40 years, and the guard rail above is rusting. The rust is running down the wall. The stop light poles are almost as rusted as the guard rails. Here's a Google Street View.

The retaining wall along the BA definitely needs some fresh paint, and ODOT needs to trim back the trees and shrub overgrowth FOR REAL. They do a really poor job of maintaining that, and the trees often protrude beyond the exit signs.

Can we incorporate murals on some of our retaining walls? At exits like the westbound BA at Yale exit, could we incorporate some kind of cool, painted directional signage ("<--Yale, that way!" for example, or a fancy, "Thirty-first Street")? Sometimes, it's just something that says, "someone cares about me" that really can make an area look nice. For a more artistic approach (and why not?), here are a few ideas from Calgary: http://c4-yyc.tumblr.com/post/33776177992/design-challenge-wednesdays-1

Most of the bridge overpasses also haven't been painted in decades and look like piles of rust. Paint them. Replace or repair rusted fences and guard rails.

All of those things make an impact on me every time I drive through town, and they're everywhere. They're things that can look 10000x better almost overnight.

[RecycleMichael]

There are examples all over town of walls that could use a coat of paint. That would be a good project for a bunch of civic minded volunteers.

We chose the 1-244 corridor because we knew that there was already some plans to work on it and we wanted to find a project that we had partners and offered high visibilty to visitors. The plans are to stain the concrete overpasses and to paint all the steel supports. We hope to try some real visible gardens and continue to plant trees and shrubs.

One of my favorite parts of the plan is to try to bring flowers downtown. We envision hanging baskets and planter boxes on every block with dedicated funding from private and public sources for regular watering and maintenance.

[dsjeffries]

There are examples all over town of walls that could use a coat of paint. That would be a good project for a bunch of civic minded volunteers.

Sign me up. Right now.

We chose the 1-244 corridor because we knew that there was already some plans to work on it and we wanted to find a project that we had partners and offered high visibilty to visitors. The plans are to stain the concrete overpasses and to paint all the steel supports. We hope to try some real visible gardens and continue to plant trees and shrubs.

One spot along 244 that I'm really surprised isn't maintained is the Delaware overpass. It's the welcome spot for anyone visiting TU, and I'm surprised it looks as bad as it does. Right now, it's a rust bucket like most other bridges in town, the fences are rusted and collect flying debris, and the one tree planted in the median on Delaware looks like it was an accident. I'd think the University would want to make that first impression a good one, especially for prospective students and their families. Paint, stain and plantings are sorely needed there.


I worked on a couple examples of what the 31st/Yale exit from the BA could look like:
Current:


Just paint:


Paint and shrubs with some vintage Tulsa murals:

[sgrizzle]

A grand entrance can do much for a city's image.  It would be beneficial to do a bit of photo editing magic showing the skyline as it would appear if that billboard were removed, Michael.   

Take a look at this grand entrance into Pittsburgh through the Fort Pitt tunnel.

 

That looks like the route I took once driving to Boston. I came out of the tunnel at night and had a pancakes? moment.

Apparently I should pay more attention to the interim map points when I drive.

[rdj]

One of my favorite parts of the plan is to try to bring flowers downtown. We envision hanging baskets and planter boxes on every block with dedicated funding from private and public sources for regular watering and maintenance.

St Louis has a large number of decorative plantings in their downtown.  Hanging baskets, large curb planters, window boxes, etc.  It brings a real organic feel to downtown and (assuming it is maintained unlike the shrubs along the Kennedy Building Bumgarner can't seem to grow) shows there is life in the urban core.

[carltonplace]

How do you include/draft the public? I've often thought that I wouldn't mind spending a couple hours painting the railing on the Main Street Bridge over 51, or maybe transplant some decorative grasses and throw some mulch on the bare median at 11th and Boulder. I'm just worried that someone might fine me for taking things into my own hands. 

[sgrizzle]

How do you include/draft the public? I've often thought that I wouldn't mind spending a couple hours painting the railing on the Main Street Bridge over 51, or maybe transplant some decorative grasses and throw some mulch on the bare median at 11th and Boulder. I'm just worried that someone might fine me for taking things into my own hands. 

Citizens and even private entities are not allowed to "fix up" ODOT property. You are free to pay ODOT to do it however.

[RecycleMichael]

How do you include/draft the public? I've often thought that I wouldn't mind spending a couple hours painting the railing on the Main Street Bridge over 51, or maybe transplant some decorative grasses and throw some mulch on the bare median at 11th and Boulder. I'm just worried that someone might fine me for taking things into my own hands. 

I don't believe there are clear cut rules. The smart thing would be to include the city Councilor in writing early and invite them to help.

[carltonplace]

Citizens and even private entities are not allowed to "fix up" ODOT property. You are free to pay ODOT to do it however.

Sounds OK to me.