Can You Spare a Dime?
Couple of thoughts today…
Expect the city council to consider once again a sale of space inside the Journal Record Building to the Oklahoma City Public Schools administration. This will fill up a large amount of space that has sat vacant since the city bought the building after it was damaged by the 1995 bombing of the nearby Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.
The sale will bring hundreds of workers to north downtown, and will almost certainly be a nice bump for nearby businesses like Markee’s Deli.
Today’s Main Street column looks at panhandling and how downtown Oklahoma City is trying to do away with what is regarded by most merchants as a threat to continued development. And in many cities, enforcement to eliminate such solicitation is stepping up as far as the courts will allow.
I’ve provided some examples of what’s being done in other cities. What have you seen that you think might be effective in Oklahoma City? Or do you think panhandling should be allowed?
-Steve
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Comments
When I visited Memphis, one of the cities you mentioned, I saw steel deposit boxes in areas the panhandlers would congregate. If you felt sympapthy for them, the city encouraged you to donate money to shelters (where the cash and coin would go) instead of giving to individuals.
In San Francisco and D.C. there are a lot of public spaces, such as parks, in the middle of the city where crowds are always passing by or through. Performers often gather in these areas to play garbage can lid drums or break dance , which are not threatening activities. I have lived in both these areas and have not seen panhandling to be as much of an issue because those who are looking for money and attention are doing so in an entertaining fashion, and people strictly begging for money with nothing to offer cannot compete.
I read about the potential move of the OKC school administration but for some reason never considered the impact of the employees moving to the area. I wonder how many would be moving to the Journal Record building. Definitely good for the area and probably good for the 10th St area as well, only a few blocks away.