Street closing denied

At last night's City Council meeting, the Indian Health Care Resource Center (IHCRC), on the northwest corner of 6th and Peoria, applied to have Owasso Avenue vacated by the city, so that it could close the street, and expand its surface parking lot.

My friend Jamie Jamieson, developer of the Village at Central Park, and a guiding light of the 6th Street Task Force, spoke in opposition to the closing, making a very eloquent case for keeping urban streets open and showing how other measures could address the needs of the IHCRC while still allowing pedestrian and vehicular traffic to pass through on Owasso Ave. (Thanks to Steve Roemerman for posting the outline of his remarks.)

The Council sided with the neighbors and voted unanimously to deny the street closure.

Way back in 1999, I served on the committee that selected Jamie's team to redevelop the area between Central (Centennial) Park and Oaklawn Cemetery. One of the things I liked about the Village at Central Park plan was the determination to keep the new development connected to the surrounding areas, like a real city. Many new developments are walled enclaves, with private streets, but there are no walls around the Village, and the streets and alleys are all public ways.