NewsOK: Innovative brainstorming sessions could produce a new type of...

[rdj]

Innovative brainstorming sessions could produce a new type of development along Oklahoma River
Developers of The Wheeler District are accepting ideas from many on the shape the neighborhood will take.
by Steve Lackmeyer Modified: July 14, 2014 at 10:51 pm •  Published: July 15, 2014

Some of the most extraordinary accomplishments are born out of delays and failures.

When Grant Humphreys first unveiled his vision for The Waterfront in 2006, the plans showed a mixed-use development at the former Downtown Airpark site, 1701 S Western Ave., along the south shore of the Oklahoma River.

The former Downtown Airpark and most of the property shown to the east will be redeveloped as Wheeler, a new urbanist neighborhood that will tie into the Oklahoma River and downtown. Photo provided
The plans were ambitious, but also based on residential and commercial development trends of the time. The economy crashed, the project was put on hold, and Humphreys went on to developing property acquired at Lake Eufaula that is now the innovative and successful Carlton Landing.

Grant Humphreys' brother, Blair Humphreys, spent those interim years obtaining his master's degree at MIT in Boston and overseeing the Institute of Quality Communities at the University of Oklahoma before agreeing to take on the airpark project in January.

An entirely new approach – one that could revolutionize mixed-use development statewide – is emerging from Humphreys' work with Miami-based planning firm Dover-Kohl. About 300 people from throughout the metro area accepted Humphreys' invitation to join his planning team at a kick-off "charrette" Wednesday night at The Grill on the Hill in Capitol Hill.

Having covered urban development for the past two decades, I've never seen such interest and excitement for what amounts to an exercise in urban planning, albeit one that has a real shot at becoming a reality.

The emerging young professionals in Oklahoma City are clearly wanting change. They don't want gated suburban apartment complexes and the Dallas-style country-cottage brick homes with brick mailboxes they are seeing in many new neighborhoods.

The hundreds who attended the charrette all talked about mixing retail in with housing. They want bike and walking trails. They want public spaces, not just pocket parks, and most importantly, they want the sort of communities that disappeared when cars and roads took priority over the rules that had created cities throughout the world for centuries.

Humphreys, well wired into the planning community thanks to his studies and work at OU, became familiar with Victor Dover and his firm's work with El Paso. "Plan El Paso" had won accolades and was named "America's Best Smart Growth Plan" in 2011.

The airpark development, rechristened "The Wheeler District," started off with 24 different lists of proposals submitted by participants Wednesday night. Over the weekend, Dover-Kohl, working with a team assembled by Humphreys, turned those ideas into draft plans that, if realized, will create a community different from any other in the state.

In a city where traffic roundabouts are built only grudgingly to address multi-street intersections, Wheeler envisions the intentional creation of two such junctions with streets replacing Western Avenue that provide multiple south and northbound traffic options and other streets leading to adjoining housing and retail. The street grid could also benefit nearby neighborhoods by increasing access to the river and downtown with new east-west connections to SW 15 and Walker Avenue.

The street grid is connected, but is in no way is it boring. The streets wind their way through the envisioned neighborhood, creating vistas of downtown, Mount St. Mary High School and the Oklahoma River. If the draft plans are embraced, multistory buildings with retail on the first floor and housing on the upper floors will line up quite a few of the streets.

Neighborhoods may include low-, moderate- and upper-income housing on the same blocks, potentially even allowing for a simple 800-square-foot home on the same stretch as a 2,500-square-foot home.

In the middle of it all will be the Santa Monica Ferris Wheel the Humphreys bought at the very start of this dream. Some of the draft renderings suggest the Ferris wheel should be located in a public plaza on the edge of the Oklahoma River.

The plans aren't going to be easy or quick to implement. Longtime city assumptions about traffic flow, street design and planning are being challenged with this effort. I challenge the traffic engineers and the city planners to consider how such roundabouts and efforts to slow traffic have performed in Midtown.

Boring will not revive the south half of the urban core. The potential of this development, if done successfully, if done in a daring way, will spark a revival of struggling nearby neighborhoods and Capitol Hill.

Areas to the north, west and east of downtown have all enjoyed a revival thanks to Oklahoma City's urban renaissance. When proposals from the Wheeler charrette are formally unveiled Wednesday, will city leaders ask how they can best make this the start of a south-side resurgence, or will they resort to saying why it can't be done?

http://newsok.com/innovative-brainstorming-sessions-could-produce-a-new-type-of-development-along-oklahoma-river/article/4998781

[rdj]

How great would it be if the UCAT land north of downtown was redeveloped in this style?

[AquaMan]

Or the once vibrant area south of downtown to 18th. Now looks like a suburban shopping center ......without the shopping center.

Lets hire that guy in spite of the fact he's an OU grad and let him see what real obstinance to smart planning looks like.

[SXSW]

Both the UCAT land and parts of Riverview would be perfect for this type of development.  Both have fewer challenges than this site in OKC which is pretty far removed from downtown and surrounded by lower income neighborhoods and industrial sites.  Humphreys is also building a New Urbanist town on Lake Eufaula called Carlton Landing.

http://www.carltonlanding.com

[rdj]

I've been following the Twitter account for the development and Steve Lackmeyer's (Oklahoman RE reporter) twitter and if they pull this off it will be an incredible development.

The TYPros Street Cred event is a nice weekend.  But, how great would it be if an organization took an area like UCAT or west river bank or wherever and did a design charette like Wheeler did this weekend?

[TheArtist]

 New Comprehensive Plan.     Have any of you seen it?   Some great stuff if we could get it implemented.  Has some really neat "design charities" out the wazoo that thousands of Tulsan's worked on.   

The powers that be DONT WANT IT. 

Go ahead and design some more have the Typros design some more, aint gonna make any difference until YOU stand up and make a difference.

[Townsend]

  aint gonna make any difference until YOU stand up and make a difference.

Some of us on here did.  Our efforts were swept away in a sea of "nope".

Personally, I gave up.  Started looking at other cities to live.

Right now, I'm using my time in other pursuits.

[AquaMan]

Ask the people who criticize the leaders who killed forms based zoning in the Pearl. Ask those who are surprised that the comprehensive plan has been largely ignored. Ask those who are stunned at why OKC is outpacing us in many categories. Ask them who they voted for in key positions. Mayor, congressmen, senatorial, schoolboard, and councillors. You will find dual personality disorder manifested.

[rdj]

I'm not talking about a city-wide plan.  I'm talking about developing in greater detail a small-area plan which is a component of Plan It Tulsa...

[patric]

Ask the people who criticize the leaders who killed forms based zoning in the Pearl. Ask those who are surprised that the comprehensive plan has been largely ignored. Ask those who are stunned at why OKC is outpacing us in many categories. Ask them who they voted for in key positions. Mayor, congressmen, senatorial, schoolboard, and councillors. You will find dual personality disorder manifested.

Correct me if im wrong, but wasnt Form-Based Zoning just shrunken in size so that objectors like QT and car lots wouldnt be inconvenienced by their community?

[heironymouspasparagus]

Correct me if im wrong, but wasnt Form-Based Zoning just shrunken in size so that objectors like QT and car lots wouldnt be inconvenienced by their community?

God forbid we should inconvenience the convenience store.....


Have noticed that QT is rapidly becoming an example of what happens with "next-generation-running-the-show"-itis that hits so many places!  Since the boy took over several years ago (2002), they are starting to slip.  The most noticeable is the fountain drinks.  They have slowly dialed up the ratio over the last few years to the point where now, they are just not worth the effort.  Kum and Go and OnCue (OKC area) are both better.  I don't do 7-11 so don't know about theirs.  It is these little details that, while getting them a huge margin, once the "frog in the pot" realizes what's going on, will have a long term affect.

And while they have made some potentially very good upgrades to facility/menu, they just haven't executed very well.  Donuts - mediocre at best.  The deli food - about the same - not impressive at all.  If gonna get "McDonald's" quality and taste, then shouldn't have to pay more than McDonalds' prices.  Shouldn't pay a Jimmy John's price for McD style food.

And quite by accident, I found out last weekend that they will not allow you to fill your fuel tank more than twice a day....needed to fill 4 cars on Sunday (yeah - that by itself is crazy!!) but QT wouldn't allow it.  Got the "See the cashier" message, and when I asked about it, the only thing they could think of was that I must have entered the wrong 'pin' number....right...like I mess that up 3 or 4 times a week at the pump!!  Conoco on 33rd West Ave had no trouble taking my money...

[Townsend]

God forbid we should inconvenience the convenience store.....


Have noticed that QT is rapidly becoming an example of what happens with "next-generation-running-the-show"-itis that hits so many places!  Since the boy took over several years ago (2002), they are starting to slip.  The most noticeable is the fountain drinks.  They have slowly dialed up the ratio over the last few years to the point where now, they are just not worth the effort.  Kum and Go and OnCue (OKC area) are both better.  I don't do 7-11 so don't know about theirs.  It is these little details that, while getting them a huge margin, once the "frog in the pot" realizes what's going on, will have a long term affect.

And while they have made some potentially very good upgrades to facility/menu, they just haven't executed very well.  Donuts - mediocre at best.  The deli food - about the same - not impressive at all.  If gonna get "McDonald's" quality and taste, then shouldn't have to pay more than McDonalds' prices.  Shouldn't pay a Jimmy John's price for McD style food.

And quite by accident, I found out last weekend that they will not allow you to fill your fuel tank more than twice a day....needed to fill 4 cars on Sunday (yeah - that by itself is crazy!!) but QT wouldn't allow it.  Got the "See the cashier" message, and when I asked about it, the only thing they could think of was that I must have entered the wrong 'pin' number....right...like I mess that up 3 or 4 times a week at the pump!!  Conoco on 33rd West Ave had no trouble taking my money...

You use QT for a lot more things than I do.

[TheArtist]

Correct me if im wrong, but wasnt Form-Based Zoning just shrunken in size so that objectors like QT and car lots wouldnt be inconvenienced by their community?

There is still no Formed Based Zoning other than the small area in and around the park, south of 6th and West of Peoria.

[heironymouspasparagus]

You use QT for a lot more things than I do.

My experience with them goes back to the mid 60's....worked on some of their signs (also Git-N-Go) so felt obligated to support them at times, since they were supporting me.  Old habits die hard.  It was probably only about a year ago that I went to Kum and Go for the first time.  Have been to Fiesta Marts on occasion.

When you want a quick breakfast and need fuel, it is a pain to go to McD for Egg McMuffin, run down the street to the donut shop for dessert, then across the way to get fuel and a drink.  Drags that out to 20 minutes, when 1 stop can be 2 1/2 minutes....  But much of the time, I take the longer route, just to get better results.  Daylight or Paradise are decent donuts when I am nowhere near Merritt's bakery....

QT's VISA policy added about 35 minutes to what should have been a 5 minute adventure.  And the other thing I missed on the first note is that they stop the pumps at $100.00!!  What a pain in the bu$$ that is - I always need more than that - most of the time!!  So, I can restart the pump from scratch, or just go to some other place that doesn't play that nonsense game!  They try to blame it on VISA - and of course THAT is a lie!!   Hmmm...the more I think about this, the more irritated I get with them!  Strew 'em!!  I'm going somewhere else!!   At least for a while....  They are still pretty convenient for a lot of the small stuff I do.

[saintnicster]

QT's VISA policy added about 35 minutes to what should have been a 5 minute adventure.  And the other thing I missed on the first note is that they stop the pumps at $100.00!!  What a pain in the bu$$ that is - I always need more than that - most of the time!!  So, I can restart the pump from scratch, or just go to some other place that doesn't play that nonsense game!  They try to blame it on VISA - and of course THAT is a lie!!   Hmmm...the more I think about this, the more irritated I get with them!  Strew 'em!!  I'm going somewhere else!!   At least for a while....  They are still pretty convenient for a lot of the small stuff I do.

Not an outright lie, just a bit fuzzy. https://www.google.com/search?q=visa+gas+pump+limit
Visa/Mastercard will only reimburse so much in case of a disputed charge or other fraud.  From this search, the popular answer is 75$, but there are a couple of sources that say $125, so QT may be playing it safe.

As far as this bit

And quite by accident, I found out last weekend that they will not allow you to fill your fuel tank more than twice a day....needed to fill 4 cars on Sunday (yeah - that by itself is crazy!!) but QT wouldn't allow it.  Got the "See the cashier" message, and when I asked about it, the only thing they could think of was that I must have entered the wrong 'pin' number....right...like I mess that up 3 or 4 times a week at the pump!!

Do you even know it was actually QT that declined the charges?  Declining after 4 moderate-to-high transactions at a single place reeks of fraud protection that a bank would do.  "See the cashier" is just a super-generic message sent by the pump, and the person that you were talking to either couldn't, or didn't bother checking the error logs provided.  You can probably call your bank to see if they have access to those logs.