Please, Tulsans, do not click on this link. You might come away with the impression that there are already cool and fun things to do in Tulsa for trendy young adults. And then you might not believe that we are desperately in need of spending another $600 million in tax money to make Tulsa cool enough to attract young adults.
Avital Binshtock and Jen Haft have obviously led a sheltered existence living in Los Angeles and driving around the western U. S., because they were too easily impressed by Tulsa's Blue Dome District:
We didn't know a thing about Tulsa, except that it existed. What we found was a town clearly on the rise; industrial-chic brick buildings encased galleries, shops and restaurants worthy of any major arts-concerned metropolis. But the vibe here, hipness and good taste notwithstanding, is unmistakably small-town. Tulsans could easily qualify as our nation's friendliest people.
Come back in six years when we have islands -- islands, do you hear me?!? -- in the middle of the Arkansas River. Then you'll have something a young hipster could write home about. A busy pub with a long list of imported beers and live music, a chic new home furnishings shop, and a Cuban art exhibit at a gallery housed in an old bordello -- every podunk town has that sort of thing.
</sarcasm>
Comments (6)
Can you imagine the price of FLOOD INSURANCE on any
business or home that is built on the Arkansas
island if any insurance company is willing to gamble on providing that type of insurance with the 1986 river flood. The safety is definitely another realistic factor. Risk Management
would see that as a negative.
I also don't think riverfront CASINOS considered as "FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT" is a positive influence. Gambling is addictive and is definitely NOT a positive model to teach young children or teens.
Parents should be teaching children how to get a good education instead of pushing "gambling" "cockfighting -- animal cruelty in Oklahoma" as a way to provide entertainment or make money. I can't see any
reason why Brad Henry would be sitting on the fence on that issue except for only one reason during the Largent/Henry campaign and that was to win the votes for bad a very bad purpose.
I do think Istook should have the opportunity to lead Oklahoma on this next election.
Posted by susan | September 20, 2006 8:26 PM
Posted on September 20, 2006 20:26
i thought that article was great. especially coming from two girls from las angeles.
if i am not mistaken, the same island residential thing happened in ft. worth, or some place in texas, and from what ive heard, it was a big hit.
Posted by coleman david | September 21, 2006 1:07 AM
Posted on September 21, 2006 01:07
Bing Thom has designed something for Fort Worth which reroutes the Trinity River to reclaim 800 acres of flood plain north of downtown for residential/mixed use development. It's called Trinity Uptown. That project will cost $600 million as well -- about $750,000 per acre, compared with $15,000,000 per acre for The Channels. Because it is a flood mitigation project, the project is getting $110 million in Federal funds. The Fort Worth project won't create islands -- there will be multiple road connections passing through the area -- but the last phase would create a lake on the oxbow of the Trinity. If all the approvals go through, construction would begin in 2008. Time will tell if it's a big hit.
Posted by MichaelBates
|
September 21, 2006 2:22 AM
Posted on September 21, 2006 02:22
Y'all are just jealous of Bricktown.
Posted by See-Dubya | September 21, 2006 12:33 PM
Posted on September 21, 2006 12:33
I always enjoy hearing others opinions of Tulsa, and Oklahoma - they see things that we overlook all too easily.
While searching for the stormwater map you mentioned a few days ago, I came upon this (from the INCOG site)
http://www.incog.org/ark%20river/july%2005%20web%20powerpoint%20good%20rk.ppt
Did I miss something over the last year or so? Why aren't we talking about *this* plan, instead of the lunacy of "The Channels"?
Posted by SarahL | September 21, 2006 11:00 PM
Posted on September 21, 2006 23:00
Bricktown can shove it where da sun don't shine. Here's a flood mitigation project worthy of federal funding. Dig a BIG ditch by expanding Crow Creek right through Maple Ridge and Millionaires' Row. Use eminent domain to condemn everything east of Riverside, south of 21st Street, west of Harvard, and north of I-44. The whole area is in a federal designated flood plain. You people in there are TOAST and need to MOVE north of the 38th Parallel, to the "wrong" side of da tracks and the brownfields.
Posted by Paul Tay | September 22, 2006 7:26 AM
Posted on September 22, 2006 07:26