(PROJECT) The Metro/Tribune Lofts Expansion

[sgrizzle]

I agree downtown isn't for kids. I think "family-minded" people would be more apt to buy apartments and lofts than rent, which is the majority of the options.

[Double A]

Does anybody know what the demographics of the current population are? What is the current make up of people living downtown? What are the ages and income levels of our current downtown dwellers(besides the homeless and the residents at  the DLM)?

[ttown_jeff]

quote:Originally posted by OurTulsa

Wonderful project.  I had heard about some time ago so I'm wondering if this is just an announcement for a project that they are waiting around for the right timing.  I hope this is going up soon.  It will add nicely to the Brady.  

Downtown isn't yet suited for kids...no good parks, very little for families to walk to yet, not enough family services around (in my mind: bakery, grocery, convenience store...).  Just south of downtown is wonderful for kids, great elementary school.

Adults need all the above services regardless of whether they have kids.  So there must be something else that doesn't suit downtown to kids.  I don't think my kid has ever been to the a bakery. Tulsan's have to get over this suburban mentality.

Sgrizzle:  They have kids in N.Y., Chicago, L.A. San Fran, Paris, London, Hong Kong, Manila, Tokyo, Sydney, Caracas...

[sgrizzle]

Yea, not sure if a bakery is it, but I think wider sidewalks, parks for kids, etc are more important.

Lack of the basics will keep families, and kids, away. One would assume kids won't move downtown by themselves.

[Chicken Little]

quote:Originally posted by Conan71

...Personally, it is getting old being asked for more projects when we don't take care of what our parents paid for 30 years ago...

That is the sentence that I ponder, too.  I think I know what voters and policymakers are trying to achieve.  They are hoping that they can catapult Tulsa forward in a new way that solves all of our problems: new residents, businesses, shoppers, students, etc.  It's a long shot, but it's a more palatable choice than facing up to our previous mistakes...i.e., doubling our taxes just to make Tulsa "average" again.  To tell you the truth, the long odds sound pretty good to me, too.

One reason is because I think it's possible.  Other cities are continually reinventing themselves, and it's working for them.  For instance, our neighbor Kansas City is repopulating it's core and it's working.  They've added about 30,000 new residents around the city center in just the past few years.  There's a new vitality there.

Tulsa's arena was a "miss" in my opinion, so was the Channels, but I think other ideas, big and small, could be right on target.  Downtown residential is one of those ideas.  I think Double A is upset because this one's exclusively upscale.  That bothers me, too.  We should create some diversity for students and families of various incomes...perhaps that's where the subsidy comes in.

Anyways, I think it's fine to complain about the condition of the infrastructure in this town, but there are only two ways out at this point:  grow the city or raise taxes.

Some of you conservative types will continue to advocate "trimming the fat", and that's nice rhetoric and all, but it's not realistic.  We've already cut too many corners and it's finally caught up with us.  I see beat up streets and overgrown parks and I think we're scratching and skimping too much already.  A few more years of this and we'll be looking very dumpy.

[swake]

quote:Originally posted by inteller

that clock thing on the top is useless.  universities still put them on buildings and it makes them look like they are stuck in the past.

i'm for this as long as it is privately funded.  this gets rid of one more surface lot and builds more demand for parking decks.

You know inteller, I see your name on a thread and you never disappoint.

[DwnTwnTul]

Is the possibility of ARG working with the new downtown Wal-Mart development going to derail this project?

[sgrizzle]

quote:Originally posted by ttown_jeff


Sgrizzle:  They have kids in N.Y., Chicago, L.A. San Fran, Paris, London, Hong Kong, Manila, Tokyo, Sydney, Caracas...

And you can BUY apartments in those places..

[aoxamaxoa]

I agree with all my advesaries on this board and add that if we have many daze like today we will need a dome over downtown just to breath.[:[!][xx(]

[jne]

We don't have kids, but we're animal people.  If there were safe places for my girl to walk our dog and my cats got the thumbs up, then we would be serious about living downtown. Especially if there were options to buy.

[lsimmons]

The current Lofts are about to be sold as condos. Any day now from what I hear. I think that's a good call for them and for the area. Let people actually own a piece of downtown. Once that happens I think we'll see a lot more interest in making it a more "well rounded" place to live.

[sgrizzle]

I have a (fairly short) list of things I want available before I move downtown. Affordable downtown ownership is #1.

[cannon_fodder]

I thought some apartments in the complex that includes the giant yellow phallic building were condos?  Or maybe you are not considering that really downtown.

Either way, I agree.  Ownership is a HUGE incentive to care about the neighborhood.  Its both a commitment and an indication of goings going on.  If Condo sales are skyrocketing we will see more go in.

[sgrizzle]

Central Park (the towers) are condos but not very central.

[carltonplace]

Cannon Fodder is referring to University Club Tower (The Hypodermic Needle) which is in "uptown"