Oklahoma City, Explained

[@eryngo.urbanism]

What surprised you most? Personally, I did not expect Sheridan Ave. to be so important to this story.

[@notcarrotnose258]

As a Detroiter, this whole story sounds quite familiar. It's a common one across the country, of course, from the days of the FHA to the urban renewal and such. We also have a Grand Boulevard (that fortunately remains today and is also being paralleled by a great mixed use greenway), and have had similar downtown troubles, but a number of decades earlier on, which meant urban renewal had a much more damaging impact. Our bricktown, though, is also pretty much the liveliest and interesting part of downtown today, and I guess the equivalent of OKC's sales tax is that we just have billionaires dumping money into downtown. Unfortunately that means there's little public say in how money gets spent, leading to artefacts like our streetcar doing not much more than upping land value, but it's better than nothing. There's definitely more motivation for greater public involvement on these kinds of matters, but there's a long way to go.

[@OssWiX]

There's a tram running there? I didn't know much about the place yet. I wasn't sure if it had a system and throughout the video I started wondering, and then there was one riding behind you. For all the banter we throw at America from Europe, it is really cool actually seeing the states bit by bit redevelop in a more human centric place.

[@N_g_er]

@@notcarrotnose258I'm gay nigga

[@Doug-lw5gf]

@@OssWiXThank you, but our tram only runs in the downtown area. We need mass transit links to the suburbs and outer parts of OKC proper. We’re supposed to have a vote on a light rail line next spring (hopefully).

[@reborn1995]

I thought the original street car system that used Classen was also a low-key con to advertise residential development in areas that were (at least at the time) outside the core. Is that not right?

[@AL5520]

The fact that I love your videos about a place like Oklahoma even though I'm from Spain and never been there shows that you make great videos.

[@eryngo.urbanism]

Glad you enjoyed! Oklahoma may not be as interesting as Spain, but so much to learn from even the most uninteresting places.

[@StaraptorEagle]

I hope you can come someday! You are always welcome here! “My state is your state.”

[@keefgtp]

Your videos managed to convince an Ohioan to actually think about Oklahoma for the first time in my life. I'm going to stop now, but it was an interesting 16 minutes.

[@DadgeCity]

Great to see this video pop up in my recommendeds, and it's so well done. I've been aware that Oklahoma has been transitioning from one of America's most unpopular states to one of its hippest, so it's nice to learn a bit about why that's happened.

[@chrispowell6880]

I’ve lived in Oklahoma County all my life and worked in Bricktown in the early 90s. Bricktown was already booming when MAPPs started. Midtown is another area that took off without MAPPs help. Additionally, the streetcar has very low ridership because it doesn’t really go anywhere that makes it competitive in getting people to use it instead of driving themselves. The urban planning of the modern day is just as much top-down central planning of the 50s and 60s, they just haven’t had the same boom-to-bust economic cycle to expose them. Other than misattributing growth to MAPPs and conflating the streetcar with progress, your presentation of the history of OKC’s layout and development is very good.

[@GobbiExists]

Ngl, I wish this vid was longer! I learned more about Oklahoma City than I’ve ever learned about it ever! Subbing now

[@StaraptorEagle]

OKC is so beautiful! Thank you so much for covering it! I live outside it, but I always feel happiness when I see the downtown or the Devon Tower.

[@whokodthelonghorn]

I have spent my entire life on the outskirts of Oklahoma City and seeing all of the constant development that the city has been getting makes me really happy. I'd love to see a video on the modern suburban development in the Metro, especially in Canadian and Cleveland Counties.

[@kaymart8703]

super well-researched video. nice work! love from LA - another city built on total chaos 🤘

[@Noles.Explores]

I’m from Pittsburgh and I read Boomtown last year after a guy from Norman recommended it to me. It’s a fantastic book and I learned so much about how strange the whole story of Oklahoma is. I was thinking about doing a video on it on my channel at some point. Good content, I’ve subscribed!

[@lowesmobiledj]

OKC resident here. I enjoyed this vid. One thing that needs some more detail is just how bad the city had become following the oil bust and the quality of life issues. OKC had been a finalist for United Airlines to build a new facility that would have brought 18k new jobs. They lost and the UA execs cited the declining quality of life as their main factor. Mayor at the time Ron Norick had convinced citizens to even build their factory for them with the .01 sales tax. When they didn’t come, the idea became to invest in the MAPs plan instead. To this day, MAPs continues and will soon build a new NBA arena, has built new schools, senior centers, a large tribal museum, and soon to be a world class MLS ready soccer stadium.

[@dwightanderson8331]

The tribes provided most of the funding for the native American museum not MAPS. Mayor Norwick went to Indianapolis after losing the United facility bid saw the downtown reinventing itself and got inspired. In okc he and his staff came up with an idea to have the citizens vote on a limited penny sales tax to fund needed improvement and also asked for ideas on what to build and added a committee to make sure the money went to projects. The vote barely passed but once it did it proved to be a success to the point a 6 month extention was voted in . The MAPS projects have transformed the city and is currently been voted on and approved 3 more times as well as spurring private investment. The success there has caused other cities officials to visit and see how it could work in their communities. Tulsa voted and passed an intuitive that wasn't as extensive. With Tulsa's natural geographic location if they had had the same overall voting success and investment as okc that city would be ungodly incredible especially when you see what they already have like the Gathering Place Park.

[@karlrambo2987]

Very impressive production/graphics and interesting information. Thanks!

[@tlslawncare]

That’s makes sense. I’ve lived jn OKC most of my life and could never understand the logic of Grand all over the city. This makes more sense now.

[@CavanalK5]

WOW 🤯 Excellent work, Sir! I grew up within sight of the world’s highest hill Cavanal, in Poteau in eastern Oklahoma if you’re familiar it, and still live here. My wife graduated at McAlester, but before then they moved throughout OK as my FIL was a deputy warden with ODOC. We are in OKC, Norman, and all over eastern OK & T-Town quite often for work and we’re also doing our Masters @ OU. My brother lives near Quail Springs area. So it’s safe to say we get around the Sooner State. There are a lot of cool things to see around these parts that so many people overlook. The moment I typed “overlook” you said “overlooked” on your ‘Main Streets Suck’ video that is playing on the TV. 😳😳 Anyway, it’s intriguing to see the why and how behind the layout of OKC. There was a ton of info in this video that either answered looming questions I had, or had me thinking WOW. I’ve already shared it with several people. The visuals are also very helpful. Question: What software or platform is it that you are using in the screen captures for that 3D/satellite view? Seems pretty solid. I’m going to share this with some friends/family who are teachers and encourage them to share with students. This kind of stuff is engaging and interesting, and I think your style and the content would catch students’ attention well enough for them to soak in some of it-a feat that is nearly impossible these days. I definitely need to check out your Tulsa work. My great grandparents lived just north of TU before moving to LA during the Depression era then back to Tulsa in the 70s through 90s. They lived between the landmarks of The Outsiders. Keep up the great work, and feel free to reach out if I can ever help with anything in our area. ✅ SUBSCRIBED! 👊🏼

[@eryngo.urbanism]

Glad you’re enjoying! The satellite views were created with Google Earth Studio.

[@Trisilverfire]

I'm so glad I found this channel. This is the only video I've watched so far. As an OKC area native who moved to Tulsa for several years, I'm very interested in this kind of stuff!

[@highway2heaven91]

This was a pretty good Johnny Harris-style video. It was nice to learn more about OKC and a little sad to find out that despite the unique history of the city, it fell victim to many of the unfortunate American trends that eventually became very unpopular today (such as redlining, downtown parking lots, etc.) I’m glad that things are starting to rebound though. Hopefully there’s more in the future! Will you do a video on the proposed OKC metro commuter rail line?

[@eryngo.urbanism]

Glad you enjoyed! And yes, the RTA stuff is definitely on our radar. Stay tuned!

[@ryanevans2655]

This explains so much on why OKC’s is arguably the most hollowed out in a region of the country full of hollowed out downtowns.

[@masoncoe2649]

A very concise well thought out video explaining our cities history! Well done 🫶

[@wesleytuttle8320]

I love what you’re doing here. It would be awesome to see you. Do some other American cities. I’ve been wanting a channel like this for years. I spent most of my life in Dallas and I’ve always wanted to see someone really going to the history.

[@eryngo.urbanism]

We’ll probably do some more of these, but you should also check out Daniel Steiner! The format of this video was inspired by his videos.

[@wesleytuttle8320]

@@eryngo.urbanism absolutely I’m on it

[@wesleytuttle8320]

If you ever decide to come down and do one about the DFW area, feel free to use me as a resource as we have similar hobbies you can imagine I know quite a bit about the history of this place and would be more than happy to assist. I have even considered doing my own video but due to my work schedule it’s just not feasible.

[@ValhalQcoholic]

Do a Tulsa, Explained video.

[@eryngo.urbanism]

Excellent idea

[@patriot9487]

@@eryngo.urbanism Maybe a Norman one, too?

[@noahclaycameron]

@@eryngo.urbanismas a Tulsa person I do think I need a few things explained to me

[@okcboomer87]

I would watch that too. I loved this one.​@@eryngo.urbanism

[@dannyblankets7182]

Lived in Tulsa for a year… trust me you might not want that…lol

[@patriot9487]

I love watching your videos and being able to instantly recognize the street or part of town. I also agree there is an insane amount of vacant land. One of my favorite things to do a year ago was get a little bakey and then ride around and just find all the vacant lots and think of how it could be so much better.

[@patriot9487]

I watched the whole video. Yep, as a bike rider, I would not suggest it because of the lack of infrastructure. I have ridden across the entire city and back in an ebike a couple of times, and it's intense, you gotta be bold and be willing to take risks; which not many people are willing to do. However, people are generally friendly here, even motorists, so mean drivers are kinda rare.

[@JohnShumate-y9x]

Born and raised in Oklahoma City. But I learned a lot about the city from this video.

[@andre86w]

Really love your videos. As an OKC resident, I learned a few things from this!

[@Stickbiscuitss]

Holy shit Im a born and raised okc girlie and im shocked at how much history I didnt know about my own city, thank you so much for the video and insight!

[@karina_bikes]

Thank you for the great explainer! I won't argue about the bike bit at the end, I get around by bike easily but I'm probably too brave for my own good

[@buddyryeSE]

As an OU alum and a resident for 25 years, I really enjoyed this history. I am still a fan of Oklahoma and consider myself an Okie in Oregon. Even though you highlight some of Oklahoma’s ugly past, I still love the kind people there.

[@MexicanChih]

I used to live in Oklahoma (in enid) and i can relate to this last time I was in okc as 2021 (I live in mexico) I love Oklahoma

[@natevomhof9780]

Great video!

[@Savepointgaminglounge]

This was great!!!

[@timmysmith6467]

Anyone that lives in Okc knows that Reno is the divider. Who cares what the maps says

[@TulsaPoolBoys]

super informative. great video

[@christyfournet2679]

Great video as always!

[@TylerMcLaughlin-yb8hj]

I like Oklahoma City I’ve only been two or three times I just like the skyline in the architecture there and I’m going there in November for my birthday to eat at the restaurant at Devon tower

[@petuniaskunk2316]

Fun fact: Oklahoma City Boulevard used to be the old I-40 Crosstown Expressway

[@eryngo.urbanism]

That could be a whole Eryngo Urbanism video

[@scottjohnson358]

Growing up in the 1970's The NW side of town was middle and upper class. The NE side had African Americans. The SE side had working class people and people who worked at the air base. The SW part of town was working class and latino people.

[@mheltcel]

Love the book collection Huge Timothy Zhan fan. Also live in OKC

[@TheOkstate]

Boomtown is awesome. I love the direction we are moving as a city

[@Ranman242]

Ok, this might be my favorite video you've made! Would love a similar video about Tulsa.

[@ptuller99]

Wow great job

[@Modorange322]

Nice presentation. I think your sweeping generalization about bicycles is wrong, though.Having grown up in Oklahoma City before bike lanes were ever even thought of, we used to ride all over Oklahoma City from the northwest all the way downtown and back. Because the land is fairly flat it makes for incredibly good bicycle travel-one just needs to explore the plentiful possible neighborhood routes rather than going on major city streets which has the congested automobile traffic. The Maps projects have brought in trails around Lake Hefner as well as along the Oklahoma City river through the middle of town east to west. Overall though I think your short presentation was very Good. I feel like OKC has a lot to look forward to. It’s been improving quite a bit over the years. I think it be great if you would post a follow up video with some of the destination restaurant neighborhood such as Paseo, midtown, plaza, district, etc. so that people visiting the area I can find a good restaurant or a coffee shop to visit!

[@eryngo.urbanism]

You would probably appreciate our video on bike infrastructure - OKC definitely has made a lot of progress in this area recently, but it still has a long way to go.

[@greggreeves8721]

MAPS was initiated because the 89ers couldn’t keep playing in All Sports Stadium and it would have been too costly to bring up 1991 ADA standards. City leaders decided to use the opportunity for a new baseball stadium to bundle other projects (arena, canal, library) together. They knew the new stadium measure would pass almost unanimously so they beefed up the proposal

[@dwightanderson8331]

MAPS didn't happen because of all sports stadium issues. MAPS came about because after losing bids for major job creating projects to other cities the last straw being losing the United Airlines maintenance facility mayor Norwick asked United officials why okc lost even though they had by far the best bid. He was told they came to town looked at downtown in late afternoon and decided there was nothing to do for potential employees to move for. With that Norwick went to Indianapolis toured there came back and with his staff came up with MAPS which has been highly transformative. Bricktown Ballpark was mearly one of the projects not the reason for it.

[@greggreeves8721]

@@dwightanderson8331 The All Sports Stadium replacement discussions initiated first. Losing out on bringing United, American and Micron Computers to OKC all within about a 2 year span encouraged Mayor Norick to pursue a downtown investement and bundle all the projects together.

[@AlyCatDotGames]

your videos are produced very well. this channel is gonna blow up eventually. it's too good to stay hidden.

[@KelvieCarlile-cf8em]

Everytime I see an address on Grand I never have any idea what part of the city it's in. Now I know why I've lived my life in mystery with regards to this specific right of way.

[@kennyxkazuki713]

Watching a local KZbinr is strange lol 15:43 right here is the path i used to walk every day to get to school, ive moved since then but its still incredibly memorable

[@Sud0F1nch]

as a fellow Oklahoman, i felt i had to watch this. and yes, this all makes sense, Oklahoma and its building/roads have always been. haphazardly placed wherever as if it was a child playing a game and just spamming the 'place building' button until it worked.

[@Sud0F1nch]

one more note, oklahoma by bike -suicide. our sidewalks may as well be . . well. . not. . they often just do not exist

[@eryngo.urbanism]

Glad you enjoyed! And as for your point about bikes, if you’re curious about how we recommend making Oklahoma more bikeable, check out our video on the topic! We can get there, but you’re right. Currently not very safe.

[@Sud0F1nch]

@@eryngo.urbanism I’d love to see the change. I’ll get behind it.

[@marjorieanderson8626]

Could venture a guess as to why OKC's prosperous areas expanded northwest as opposed to northeast originally. I can see why it didn't go south because downtown was on the north side of the river...

[@definitelynotacrab7651]

Man what an awful decision to destroy so many buildings

[@MrAflac9916]

I like OKC and really like Norman. Impressed with how much progress they’re making for a red city in a deep red state

[@eryngo.urbanism]

It sometimes feels like an uphill battle, but there’s so many people working to make these places better every day. Lots of potential

[@ladymacbethofmtensk896]

The trouble is that all that so-called progress is being made by the crop of Republicans who try to hard to copy Democrats. Get the central planners out of the picture, and let greedy individuals build Oklahoma City up!

[@LawrenceKincheloe]

@@eryngo.urbanism Videos like this, help educate and inform locals about their history and the way things are. Thanks for doing them!

[@ryanevans2655]

For some reason I thought you were in Tulsa, did you move down to OKC? Would be interested in your take on urbanism comparison between the two cities

[@eryngo.urbanism]

I’m from Tulsa, but have been living in OKC for the past year and a half. And that’s a good idea! Don’t worry, there will certainly be more Tulsa-related content from us coming in the future.

[@ryanevans2655]

@@eryngo.urbanism heck yeah! 🫡

[@LawrenceKincheloe]

Bartlesville and the debacle leading up to the fleecing of the iconic frank lloyd wright building would be interesting. It's been done before, but it's a good one. The influence of socialism in oklahoma would be interesting as well, with farm and electric co-ops role in shaping our utilities and rural communities. Plus the state motto, and the first state flag. Another one would be the dams around the state, the impact they have and how the promise of economic growth did or did not pan out, based on where they're located. As well as the ecological and social cost of such projects.

[@eryngo.urbanism]

All great suggestions! We’ll definitely be adding them to the list

[@dylanwright625]

Good stuff! I wished there'd been more at the end though, I'm curious about the botanical gardens, baseball stadium and canal being built (outside the boat tour crap). Also the golden dome bank that might be gone soon. Thank you for this though! My wife works downtown as a server so the knowledge of Sheredan will be fun to share with customers.

[@johnnyparrish2443]

grand blvd is my favorite street in the city. its not a flat straight line like everywhere else.

[@Saturdayz_In_The_Fall]

As a Oklahoma City native since birth, I have always wondered myself why Oklahoma City is mapped out the way it is because it is indeed very odd lol

[@JustinCastleberry117]

I remember writing to the Transportation Ward councilmember about Interstate 44 near Penn Square Mall and how it should be downgraded to a boulevard with high-capacity transit in the center to help realize the vision of the Grand Boulevard Loop. He replied that it's up to ODOT and the USDOT to make those determinations.

[@eryngo.urbanism]

ODOT is unlikely to go for that unfortunately. They’re a little too car-brained over there

[@JustinCastleberry117]

@@eryngo.urbanism that is true unfortunately. But we can fix that with our votes when the next governor elections come. I worked closely ODOT last year and every project was either a highway rehabilitation project or rural highway widening project. I wanted to roll my eyes 😫

[@Doug-lw5gf]

@@JustinCastleberry117It would more honestly be called the Oklahoma Department of Highways, or O D’OH!

[@cpfink1242]

Was Classen a part of the parks and boulevards project? I’ve always thought it was weird how it crosses/joins with Western.

[@eryngo.urbanism]

Classen was originally a streetcar route! That’s partially why it has such a wide median today.

[@Madmom70]

You did really good with this, check out a another book called “ Born Grown: An Oklahoma City History” by Stewart, Roy P. Goes into even more detail of its early birth.

[@Not_Sal]

I think investing in a light rail system, even if it’s just one or two lines in the end can do wonders for the city

[@Doug-lw5gf]

Last I heard, we will have a vote in the spring for our second BRT line and first light rail line. The first BRT (opened last December) is supposedly doing quite well.

[@timothys3119]

@@Doug-lw5gfcrazy that y’all are closer than we are in Nashville to getting that and Nashville is a much bigger city.

[@Doug-lw5gf]

@@timothys3119 Maybe by metro area. By population of the city proper, OKC is one spot (20th) ahead of Nashville.

[@timothys3119]

@@Doug-lw5gf well yeah, that’s what most cities go by. Atlanta has a city prosper of 500k and they’re not small

[@118Combination]

Let's GOOOOOOOOO

[@tornadokegan]

You Beat KWTV To the same topic. However your content is much better to the point where I would watch yours before theirs

[@crumcramhd1242]

Thunder up!

[@ladymacbethofmtensk896]

In the end, all the problems arise from brilliant intellectuals trying to plan a city from the top down. The truth is that cities are built from the ground up by INDIVIDUALS, not intellectuals.

[@jelletje8]

Interrupting that really heavy native peoples history with "CAT" is certainly something. (2:20)

[@eryngo.urbanism]

Marigold just wanted to learn about the Trail of Tears

[@oishyundai]

is this negative or positive

[@SavageScientist]

What to expect from a place with a name like the CITY of OKLAHOMA CITY

[@HeartWerk]

"The mother strode"

[@cspriggs96]

Cains 🤘

[@tromo03]

Come to Omaha. You’d be interested to know there is currently 2.3 BILLION dollars of development which has and is currently being built within its downtown core area (including a new Streetcar line and construction of a new 44 story, 677ft skyscraper- The Mutual of Omaha Tower). Not inclusive of this, is the nearly 1 BILLION cost of the current expansion of the Omaha airport. Omaha development is fire right now…

[@dyffryn330]

...wait, so it's not Reno?

[@AMPProf]

Tornado

[@Goliad_Respector]

Lol. Yeah, we’ll buy that book immediately. Why don’t you come to Texas and see how well you’re presuppositions hold up.

[@eryngo.urbanism]

What a strange thing to say…

[@coreyrunnels5880]

Midwest city

[@MoreisMor]

Surprisingly 🤣

[@HamburgerAmy]

skipped right on over that jim crow era lmao

[@eryngo.urbanism]

True, this video was focused mostly on the urban geography aspect, but if you want to know more about how the Jim Crow era came to an end in OKC you should definitely look into Clara Luper and her sit-ins during the Civil Rights movement. Would be a great topic for a future video.

[@HamburgerAmy]

@@eryngo.urbanism you're not gonna believe this but buddy, i live in clara luper's neighborhood and can look outside my kitchen window and see the NAACP Youth Chapter building that the KKK members from Grand Ave tried to bulldoze to the ground in 1994

[@HamburgerAmy]

can also tell you about the 2020 racist biker rides and cops intimidating the eldery with machine guns during the GF protests.

[@dipdip7250]

I wish I could go back and walk in the ‘historic’ OKC just to see what it was like

[@eryngo.urbanism]

Absolute chaos.

[@charlesmcgarraugh9595]

I would say that calling it red lining is inaccurate. It is true that what you described caused the issues with crime in particular areas, but it's driven by the market as you described and not prejudice against any group of people. Just like the market doesn't care if things get worse in a particular area it also doesn't care if it gets better, thus there's also gentrification happening in bad areas and turning them into good ones. This shows that it is the effect of a market that only cares about profit and not individuals.

[@eryngo.urbanism]

Redlining is the name of the practice of creating these maps. It has since grown to encompass a slightly broader meaning, but this is where it came from. And yes, the decline of certain neighborhoods was market driven, but the market was also influenced by the information they were provided.

[@charlesmcgarraugh9595]

@@eryngo.urbanism so then the question would be is the information bias or accurate?

[@charlesmcgarraugh9595]

@@eryngo.urbanism from what I see based on definitions online, redlining is the practice of not selling certain homes or businesses to people based off race. From what I can tell you're talking about business loans for high risk and low risk areas based off factors like the crime rate. That doesn't prevent businesses from opening up in the area in general. Sure you won't have as nice of businesses in dangerous areas. That's how it works, just like how companies like Walgreens and CVS are leaving from places like Chicago and San Francisco.

[@eryngo.urbanism]

People would get mortgages and loans denied based on what was drawn on these maps. It made upward mobility within the red zones much harder than it needed to be. If someone living in south OKC wanted to open a business within their own neighborhood, maps like these required them to jump through more hoops to get the financing to do so. This is one of the main reasons these areas are often food deserts with fewer job opportunities today, causing people to resort to crime. People also had insurance denied based on these maps, which made it harder for them to have a stable and secure life. Why were the borders drawn where they were? Who knows exactly. But the city used to be more racially segregated than it is today, and even now, these are the areas that are considered the heart of various minority communities. It’s not that much of a stretch to suggest that the creators of these maps were likely biased against certain groups of people.

[@lrvracer3515]

@charlesmcgarraugh9595 - "I would say that calling it red lining is inaccurate...." Was that statement sarcasm, or something which originated from a low-information source ?? In the context of both commercial and residential real estate development "Redlining" is a defined term, the practice of which (going back to the early 1900s) by both municipal governments AND private business was strictly based upon racial segregation (primarily toward African-Americans). It is the very reason why the Fair Housing Act of 1968 was enshrined into U.S. Law - to outlaw the practice of "Redlining". The law remains in effect to this day.

[@timothylittle1227]

Nicely put together video, except there's a few things that weren't exactly correct.

[@eryngo.urbanism]

Research is hard

[@3bydacreekside]

Please study Pittsburgh Please study Pittsburgh Please study Pittsburgh

[@eryngo.urbanism]

Pittsburgh is a city I’ve never been to! A research trip might be in order for that one 🧐

[@wheresmywrench3219]

Are you a Marino?

[@eryngo.urbanism]

No

[@scottjohnson358]

The Oklahoma State Capitol used to be the only capitol in the nation with no dome. They ran out of money. Eventually in the late 1980's they completed the dome. It was also the only state capitol that had oil derricks in the lawn in front of the capitol. Eventually they took them down in the late 20th century.

[@eryngo.urbanism]

Isn’t there still a derrick there?

[@Doug-lw5gf]

Actually the dome was added in the early naughties.

[@ChudSonOfChud]

Guy who started saying “Tulsa Race Massacre” in 2020, “Phillip Sheridan is problematic.”

[@eryngo.urbanism]

Never a bad thing to keep leaning, reevaluating, growing, and improving

[@johnja9017]

I moved here 2 years ago because it's MAGA country.

[@eryngo.urbanism]

We do seem to love gerrymandering and misinformation around here

[@jerrycaughman6324]

You’re from Tulsa, opinion invalid do not watch. Just kidding…..maybe.

[@AntiActionFox]

You said that okc is werid and not a great city. Can you explain why it's weird ? Because you failed to do so. If anything this city is too normal. Regarding how you said it was not a great city , it's not great because YOU think it's not great. If you're looking to raise a family, Oklahoma city is a great place for people who want a relatively low crime across the board place with plenty of room for expansion. Our education system is our worst trait. But people here seem more level-headed than on the coasts so it's about perspective. Much like how yours colors this whole video in an almost passive aggressive light. I'm a native american resident that votes on my tribe's elections , and I somehow am less offended by Sheridan street than you are. Once again ,all perspective. I hope to learn what about this place is so strange to you.

[@eryngo.urbanism]

To clarify, “weird” wasn’t meant as an insult. As you pointed out, it’s also definitely an opinion. Some of the things that could be considered weird are: the city’s founding taking place in a single day, the overall street layout (mostly a grid, but with many subtle yet notable exceptions), pockets of vibrancy hidden among wide swaths of vacancy, and a general lack of housing downtown (although this one is starting to reverse). Boom Town also goes into a lot more weirdness about the city, including minor outlaws, sonic boom jet testing, the OKC Thunder, and Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips. It’s a great read if you want to learn more about the city. And as for Sheridan, it’s less about it being offensive and more about it being strange not to change the name to something that better reflects the priorities of the city today when it wasn’t ever intended to be named after the guy in the first place. The hotel is gone, and now we’re just left with a weirdly named street. For the record, I like OKC and all of its weirdness. But, as a design person, I’m always going to be suggesting ways for places to further improve.

[@UrbanScroll125]

Im sorry that you used to live in Tulsa and Norman. yikes

[@eryngo.urbanism]

I’ve had good and bad experiences all over the state. Tulsa will always feel the most like home to me

[@UrbanScroll125]

@@eryngo.urbanism RE - yikes

[@highway2heaven91]

@@UrbanScroll125OKC may get all of the glory in Oklahoma but there are some amazing things going on in Tulsa that OKC just doesn’t have.

[@nuansd]

Norman's honestly nicer to bike in and go around than a lot of OKC -- if they only kept the main street style construction and pedestrianized it better we'd be in great shape.

[@OrionTheOwtlaw]

I clicked on this video to try to understand why I don't like OKC or Tulsa. Two of the lamest cities I've ever been in. No cultural appeal or unique entertainment value at all.

[@eryngo.urbanism]

That can definitely be the case, especially if you’re not sure where to look

[@Ryan-gx3hs]

I hate OKC for its urban sprawl. It just feels like most of it is strip malls and parking lots, and lacks an urban fabric that'd give it more character

[@garlandhadley2159]

I see very many homeless people! Why not eliminate homelessness?

[@eryngo.urbanism]

Great idea.

[@MountainDewComacho494]

Cats make your video better.

[@kennixox262]

Hard Pass! Too MAGA.

[@eryngo.urbanism]

?

[@spenceraxbot1261]

Clearly you never been here if you aren’t aware MAGA is declining here

[@markrichards6863]

I used to go to OKC for business. It's a real yawn. It's a much smaller Dallas but minus the fun. So much of downtown is surface parking, the city is unwalkable. Families should think twice before moving to Oklahoma. Homes are cheaper, but public schools are near the bottom of the heap.

[@jdwilmoth]

You have no idea what you are talking about Oklahoma City is actually larger than Dallas landwise not population wise

[@markrichards6863]

@@jdwilmoth It's very suburban in nature, spread out, strip malls, neither attractive, nor interesting, no unique identity of its own.

[@jdwilmoth]

@@markrichards6863 it sounds like you haven't been to Oklahoma City in a while they are building all over Oklahoma City it has changed big time and yes there is a lot of strip malls because most of your regular malls are obsolete now because people like Walmart and Amazon are putting them out of business and I don't know what you mean when you said I don't have their own identity that makes no sense whatsoever what are you even talking about? And you're right it is spread out but that's one thing I like about it we have plenty of room we are not packed in here like sardines and it's actually pretty safe here because we have the right to protect ourselves and our property and we don't have a problem doing it we do have a problem with violent crime but most of that is coming from these wannabe gang bangers but that's okay because most of them either winds up dead or in prison no great loss and I would much rather live in Oklahoma City than one of those liberal Democrat run s*** hole cities where you don't even have the right to defend yourself or your property we have a lot of people moving from the woke Coast to Oklahoma City because they have turned the cities they was living in and complete shitholes but that s*** won't be tolerated in Oklahoma City they call us racist and homophobic because we don't bow down to the alphabet Mafia or black lives matters but oh well we don't really give a damn what people thinks about us

[@jdwilmoth]

@@markrichards6863 and you're wrong about most of Oklahoma City being surface parking lots most of them has been bought and developed it sounds like you haven't been to Oklahoma City in a while

[@stannous]

OKC is the worst city in Oklahoma and maybe the nation.

[@eryngo.urbanism]

It’s a city with lots of potential for growth and improvement for sure

[@paul66766]

Don't forget about the Sonic Boom testing of the late 60s and 70s en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_City_sonic_boom_tests

[@eryngo.urbanism]

Yeah that’s another fascinating rabbithole of its own - didn’t make the cut for this video as it didn’t necessarily leave a mark on the layout of the city. But I enjoyed learning more about that and the Thunder and Wayne Coyne and some of the outlaws of early OKC when reading Boom Town.

[@alanstahl1970]

I remember the Penn Square Bank collapse! One of the oldest and biggest banks here in Chicago, Continental Illinois National Bank, collapsed soon after due to huge write-offs of loans purchased from Penn Square. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penn_Square_Bank

[@nathanthedford3727]

do you know anything about the master plan??

[@eryngo.urbanism]

Which one? BikewalkOKC?

[@nathanthedford3727]

there is still a grand ave. btw

[@eryngo.urbanism]

Wait, really? Where?