Clear Water Carwash on Cherry Street....

[Red Arrow]

Yet I seldom have to park further away than 3 blocks. Whenever I have gone to Cherry Street for lunch, I don't think I've ever parked further away than 2 blocks. 

Taking advantage of the automobile centric subsidized parking.

[cannon_fodder]

Taking advantage of the automobile centric subsidized parking.

Kind of. Almost always on-street parking.

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Kind of. Almost always on-street parking.

I was thinking "Free roads and highways (use taxes like tolls, the gas tax, and tags only pay 50% of road costs)." might be involved.

[cannon_fodder]

Hence the "kind of."

[dsjeffries]

Michael Overall: New Cherry Street Development Sets the Gold Standard for Tulsa

I remember, years ago, getting a window seat at the old Bourbon Street Cafe and looking out across the street — Cherry Street, in reality, not Bourbon Street — and mentioning to my wife that it was only a matter of time before the car wash over there would disappear and be replaced by some kind of restaurant or retail development. You can put a car wash anywhere, so why waste valuable real estate in a trendy area like Cherry Street?

It took longer than I expected, with the car wash outliving Bourbon Street, which is now a restaurant called Smoke. But my prophecy did finally come true last year when bulldozers turned the northwest corner of 15th Street and Trenton Avenue into a patch of dirt.

My first reaction when driving past the newly vacant lot was, "Yep, I knew it." But my second reaction, about half a second later, was "Uh-oh, that's what I was afraid of."

For one thing, I used that car wash all the time, so where am I supposed to vacuum the crumbs out of my son's car seat? But more important, I was worried about what kind of monstrosity was going to be built there.

The old car wash wasn't exactly gorgeous, but it could have been worse. An architect who fancies himself to be an artiste might see a traditional, historic area like Cherry Street and want to drop a giant glass cube in the middle of it, or maybe a windowless LEGO block or an oddly shaped Guggenheim wannabe. Worse yet, the developers might want to go the cheap route and build a generic strip mall with an ugly parking lot in front.

So I waited nervously for months to see what kind of damage might be inflicted on the neighborhood's urban fabric. But now, with the final touches being put on the new building, it's safe to say that the developers have gotten it right. In fact, they may have set the new gold standard for infill projects in Tulsa.

Two stories of red brick with subtle and well-crafted details — coming right up to the sidewalk, with parking in back — the $6.5 million building will fit comfortably next to its older neighbors without drawing much attention to itself. But when people do notice it, they will see a handsome and dignified edifice that will look as good a generation from now as it will on the day it opens — which should be sometime this spring. With 22,000 square feet of space, it will house three restaurants, including a Prohibition-themed craft-beer pub called Roosevelt that sounds like it might become my favorite place in the entire world.

For Tulsa to be the vibrant city that we all want it to be, midtown and downtown are going to need a lot more infill developments in the years ahead. Hopefully, investors will visit Cherry Street to see how it's done.

[AquaMan]

Weird. I was sitting at Smoke Thursday night thinking the same things. Nice addition. Great to see some franchise didn't scoop it up or a strip center. BTW, there is a pretty decent car wash about a mile away on 11th and Birmingham.

[LandArchPoke]

I don't mean to bust people's bubble - but they is still a far cry from "A Gold Standard of Development". A move in the right direction? For sure. The parking lots behind this building still encroached on housing. If this truly was a Gold Standard Development then were the surface parking lots are going in there would have been housing instead - and the parking would have been underground. So no, this is not a gold standard of development and a neighborhood like Cherry Street can do better still.

[swake]

And I dislike his need for all the architecture to be similar to other buildings in the area.

[davideinstein]

I don't mean to bust people's bubble - but they is still a far cry from "A Gold Standard of Development". A move in the right direction? For sure. The parking lots behind this building still encroached on housing. If this truly was a Gold Standard Development then were the surface parking lots are going in there would have been housing instead - and the parking would have been underground. So no, this is not a gold standard of development and a neighborhood like Cherry Street can do better still.

Gold standard for Tulsa. 😐

[DowntownDan]

Cherry Street definitely needs a shared parking solution.  I think it's at critical mass that it could support a parking structure in a strategic place.  I'm all for transit, but reality is that people use their cars and need a place to park.  Lets find a middle ground solution between no parking and oversized lots. 

[davideinstein]

Cherry Street definitely needs a shared parking solution.  I think it's at critical mass that it could support a parking structure in a strategic place.  I'm all for transit, but reality is that people use their cars and need a place to park.  Lets find a middle ground solution between no parking and oversized lots. 

Bike lanes...

[dbacksfan 2.0]

Well it sounds like if I bring my father back I won't be visiting these areas with him and my aunt since you want no parking and nothing but bike lanes, we won't  visit  since they are wheelchair bound. Guess you just want able bodied people and not the handicapped.

[Red Arrow]

Bike lanes...

How many people are going to get dressed up for a fancy dinner and ride a bicycle to dinner?  A casual bar stop maybe unless it's 98º at sunset in the summer.

[johrasephoenix]

No one is taking away anyone's right to drive.  There isn't a single place in Tulsa where parking is challenging by the standard of a major US city.  You can go downtown, Cherry Street, or Brookside at peak business on Friday night and have no trouble parking as long as you are willing to walk a few blocks. 

The problem is when we make every single store have sufficient on-site, off-street parking for peak business.  Taken together it results in a sea of parking.  What makes the Brady District and Cherry Street so great is that their urban forms are pre-parking.  It feels like a small town Main Street meant to be experienced on foot.

Finally, I challenge anyone to name a single great urban space in the United States where parking is plentiful and easy.  The greatest, most popular spots in every city - where you take out of towners and have your wedding photos - are universally built around people and not parking.

[TheArtist]

Cherry Street definitely needs a shared parking solution.  I think it's at critical mass that it could support a parking structure in a strategic place.  I'm all for transit, but reality is that people use their cars and need a place to park.  Lets find a middle ground solution between no parking and oversized lots.  

Uber

I bet you would be amazed at the number of out of towers that stop at my store downtown (granted many are from Europe) and when they ask about Cherry Street and how far away it is they go "Oh not far, we will walk."    So really, even Tulsans could use the ample parking around say the Boston Avenue Church and nearby to easily walk to the heart of Cherry Street.  Are we really so lazy that that is not an option?  That is actually a fairly pleasant walk from there.