QuikTrip/Entry to the Pearl?

[tulsa1603]

OK, this made me chuckle a little - I just saw that the new Quik Trip at 11th and Utica has a huge brick monument sign on the corner marking the entrance to the "Pearl District".  Does anyone else see the humor in this, considering the outright hostility so many Pearl District backers had towards this new QT store and it's massive parking lot, which flew in the face of everything the Pearl District was supposed to be about??  Is this some sort of effort by QT to appease the district..by putting in a monumental suburban subdivision entry sign??  Was it something they agreed to in order to get the parking lot/street closing approved?  I guess it really is the thought that counts....   

[patric]

OK, this made me chuckle a little - I just saw that the new Quik Trip at 11th and Utica has a huge brick monument sign on the corner marking the entrance to the "Pearl District".  Does anyone else see the humor in this, considering the outright hostility so many Pearl District backers had towards this new QT store and it's massive parking lot, which flew in the face of everything the Pearl District was supposed to be about??  Is this some sort of effort by QT to appease the district..by putting in a monumental suburban subdivision entry sign??  Was it something they agreed to in order to get the parking lot/street closing approved? 

Pearl District hostility towards QT?   
I think the public records document something more the other way around, as in organized opposition to the Form Based Code.

[davideinstein]

I like it. I also like a QT being there instead of a crackhouse. Call me crazy.

[BKDotCom]

I like it. I also like a QT being there instead of a crackhouse. Call me crazy.

I need to see the crackhouse's proposal before making an informed decision.

Are Tulsa's only two development options now QT or CH?
If those are the only two options, then yes, I'll take QT everytime.

[davideinstein]

I need to see the crackhouse's proposal before making an informed decision.

Are Tulsa's only two development options now QT or CH?
If those are the only two options, then yes, I'll take QT everytime.

I just don't get the gripe on having a QuikTrip there of any size. Until we have established ourselves as a bicycle friendly city, that's what you're going to get. We need to work on basic things like bike lanes and getting great homeowners in that neighborhood before we tell QT what they can and cannot do with their property.

[TheArtist]

  Per my usual rant, thing is we already tell people what to do with their property and currently the laws/zoning in most of the Pearl, and the city in general, makes pedestrian friendly/transit friendly (and bike friendly) developments illegal.  I would rather have Houston style "no zoning" than the harmful zoning we have now.  Harmful to everyone but companies like QT apparently, who fight against zoning changes that would make areas in our city more pedestrian friendly, even though doing so will harm our city as a whole in the long run. 

[sgrizzle]

The gripe was closing 10th street, which happened because QT wanted to build the new store next to the old one. Also because it didn't conform with a non-binding plan and a code that didn't apply to the area.

[davideinstein]

The gripe was closing 10th street, which happened because QT wanted to build the new store next to the old one. Also because it didn't conform with a non-binding plan and a code that didn't apply to the area.

Blocking 10th is a legitimate gripe. But that VAST majority of traffic would be coming in and out of QT anyway. I use that back route all of the time to get there via bike and car.

[carltonplace]

I don't think anyone has a problem with QT or the fact that they are in the Pearl District. The issue was that QT came out at the last minute and quashed years of work by the neighborhood by putting together all of the car centric businesses in the area (whether they were actually in the Pearl or not). They didn't look at the proposal or provide productive input, they simply opposed it outright and vocally and used their clout as a revenue producer to get their way. They flexed the same muscle to get their way on Brookside to remove a building to expand their parking in spite of huge outcry from the neighborhood.

QT could design a street front style store with pumps and parking in the back if they were interested in such a thing. Form based codes simply mean that you design based on form over use. QT has a terrible history of tearing down a structure, building a QT and then abandoning that store in favor of a better location. Look at the Riverview neighborhood. They left a store at 15th and Main in favor of a store at 14th and Denver only to abandon to move across the street to 15th and Denver.

Re the Pearl District marker: I think it's glib. I'm sure that QT thinks they are doing a favor to the neighborhood, but the neighbors are in favor of density, not unused parking expanses.

[DowntownDan]

I like the new entrance.  I didn't have a problem with closing the street or even the expansion, and since it is a gas station and on the corner, I don't even mind the parking.  But their new footprint is beyond massive and goes way beyond what they need for fill-ups and store patrons.  I just don't understand why there is so much pavement on either side of the store.  Not only is it ugly but it's going to lead to dangerous conditions when a bunch of people are driving in the lot without any rules.  I don't know why they couldn't have just replaced the original store instead of moving it north by the length of the old store.  They did a teardown and replace in Sand Springs so its feasible, even if inconvenient for the few months it takes to construct.

[YoungTulsan]

If I had my guess the seemingly excessive parking is due to the quick lunch crowd that sits in their cars and eats in the parking lot.

[custosnox]

Had to make a QT run over on Gilcrease and noticed it had this out front.  Seems it was something they wanted to start doing before the whole Pearl district fiasco.

[Conan71]

I don't think anyone has a problem with QT or the fact that they are in the Pearl District. The issue was that QT came out at the last minute and quashed years of work by the neighborhood by putting together all of the car centric businesses in the area (whether they were actually in the Pearl or not). They didn't look at the proposal or provide productive input, they simply opposed it outright and vocally and used their clout as a revenue producer to get their way. They flexed the same muscle to get their way on Brookside to remove a building to expand their parking in spite of huge outcry from the neighborhood.

QT could design a street front style store with pumps and parking in the back if they were interested in such a thing. Form based codes simply mean that you design based on form over use. QT has a terrible history of tearing down a structure, building a QT and then abandoning that store in favor of a better location. Look at the Riverview neighborhood. They left a store at 15th and Main in favor of a store at 14th and Denver only to abandon to move across the street to 15th and Denver.

Re the Pearl District marker: I think it's glib. I'm sure that QT thinks they are doing a favor to the neighborhood, but the neighbors are in favor of density, not unused parking expanses.

So far, they have occupied three out of the four corners of 51st & Union.  Their last old home is still vacant.  Might be a great place for a strip club or used car lot.  I just love creative adaptive re-use!!

[Hoss]

So far, they have occupied three out of the four corners of 51st & Union.  Their last old home is still vacant.  Might be a great place for a strip club or used car lot.  I just love creative adaptive re-use!!

That's called infill, C!