What are the boundaries of "midtown" to you?

[RecycleMichael]

This discussion has come up in threads and I am curious as to what people think would be an acceptable definition of the boundaries of "midtown".

I would start with the borders of I-244 to 31st and the river to Memorial.

That would include Maple Ridge, Utica Square, Lortondale, Johansson Acres, Rogers High School and the fairgrounds.

It does not include Brookside, Whiteside Park, Promenade Mall, Tulsa Technology Center, etc.

Wadda ya'll think?

[pmcalk]

Hmmm--I don't think I would go further north than 15th, maybe 11th, and I would definitely include Brookside.  My boundaries probably would be 11th to 41st, Riverside to Yale--SOBO to the Promenade.  Memorial is a little too far east for midtown, IMO.

[waterboy]

I would especially like to hear from someone in the real estate biz. They are the ones presenting the city and describing it.  My real estate sales experience even from the late 70's would have included areas outside of the CBD. That would have been primarily east of Peoria and south of 18th. We often referred to the entire area as "the old part of town". Quaint.

I was corrected by a prominent broker as late as 2000 that Holiday Hills at 51st & harvard to yale was absolutely a "mid-town" neighborhood.
His presentation was that mid-town was the area between south Tulsa (61st) and Maple Ridge. They sell Maple Ridge as a separate entity that includes up to 31st & Peoria and Utica Square as a separate entity.

But in my mind I hate it when they are all lumped into mid-town because its confusing. I prefer area descriptions like Brookside, Cherry, etc. For what all that's worth.

[Breadburner]

11th to 51st....Riverside to Yale.....

[charky]

We recently moved to Holiday Hills. Can we still be considered midtown? Great neighborhood btw.

I'll say 15th to 61st...Riverside to Yale.

[Dana431]

The Arkansas River on the west boundary. To the south, I-44.  East Boundary is Yale.  North boundary is I-244.  That's what I think of when I think of midtown.

[Dana431]

I hope there are some realtors looking at his thread.  Clients who ask to live in midtown what boundarys are they giving you realtors?  It's kinda sounding like everyone's got their own boundaries.

[AVERAGE JOE]

South of I-244. East of the river. North of I-44. West of Sheridan.

Downtown is the northwest corner (but its own thing), Promenade Mall is the southeast corner. That area includes neighborhoods from the 1910s all the way up to the ranch houses of the late 50s.

I always felt that when you crossed I-44 at Yale, Harvard, and Lewis, you were moving from one distinct part of Tulsa to another (especially Yale).

[chlfan]

15th and Peoria to 51st and Memorial

[MichaelBates]

quote:Originally posted by AVERAGE JOE

South of I-244. East of the river. North of I-44. West of Sheridan.

Downtown is the northwest corner (but its own thing), Promenade Mall is the southeast corner. That area includes neighborhoods from the 1910s all the way up to the ranch houses of the late 50s.

I always felt that when you crossed I-44 at Yale, Harvard, and Lewis, you were moving from one distinct part of Tulsa to another (especially Yale).

I agree with Average Joe. As you come down the hill to Sheridan, you're at the boundary of the Mingo Creek valley. 244 and the River are significant psychological boundaries. I-44 is like the Berlin Wall -- it's far easier to conduct your life entirely on one side of it or the other than to have to cross back and forth.

Another way you could look at it -- midtown is that part of "Tulsa proper" (the part of Tulsa within the pre-1966 boundaries, when the city tripled in size overnight) which isn't downtown, west Tulsa, or north Tulsa.

[SoonerRiceGrad]

I've always referred to everything from 244 to Skelly, and Riverside Drive to Sheridan as Midtown.

This does not include The Farm Shopping Center. lol []

[Double A]

I'd pretty much agree with Average Joe's assessment(at least since I was born). I've always considered the fairgrounds to be more or less the geographic center of Midtown.

[SoonerRiceGrad]

The fairgrounds are about as Tulsan as it gets. The Driller. Expo Square. Bell's.

Oh wait. Nevermind.

[TheArtist]

I think there could be at least two definitions of midtown.  A realtor is definitely going to call anything geographically centered as midtown in order to sell a property.  But what I call midtown is, well, basically a feel.  Its the older, more established, part of town. Usually has or is starting to have a "gentrified", or old but nice, feel to it. From near downtown and the river, south to around 41st and 51st, then east to around TU.  


Basically the visual heart of midtown is the area around 21st and Utica.  As other areas start to have the "look and feel" of that area, they become midtown. As areas become denser, more established, start having more infill, homes that are fixed up, made larger, etc. around the edges of midtown,,,, Midtown will grow.

I live near 41st and Yale.  Its midtown to a realtor, but not really midtown to me.  Kind of juuust past the far border, not quite old enough yet, but not really what many would now call South Tulsa either. Midtown geographically but not yet in "feel". As the OU college expands, the nicer neighborhoods slowly move towards my area, homes fixed up and mixed in with newer, nicer, and larger ones, my area will slowly become more midtownish. lol

[iplaw]

If you're a realtor, midtown goes as far north, south, east and west as you can get away with.  Every house on the market in Tulsa says "great midtown location."  It means nothing anymore. []