Getting Personal
While I liked the redesign of this blog a few weeks back, I must confess something: I hated having my three-year-old photo replaced by a new one taken for the paper’s redesign (one that was taken with me pulling off every bit of passive resistance imaginable against the order to do so).
Yeah, in the last couple of years the big guy got bigger. And that’s not good. Now bear with me, while this post is more personal than usual, it’s very much about downtown and our city.
I’m trying to reverse the damage I’ve done. I have to – I have two wonderful sons I want to enjoy life with for a very, very long time. So I’ve joined Weight Watchers, I’m getting back to excercising.
To date, I’ve lost 20 pounds. I have a lot more to go.
Anyway, one of the challenges for me is that part of what makes my job enjoyable is visiting with those who work downtown, who are making things happen. I get the best stories not from formal sit-down interviews with the notepad and digital recorder out, but rather through getting to know folks as, you know, normal human beings do (this is a radical shocking concept for way too many in my profession).
A lot of times that means visits at the coffee shops (I’m still mourning the loss of Uncommon Grounds) and lunch at downtown’s many great local restaurants.
And that’s why I’m posting today. I’m hoping to exploit you the readers a bit – and also maybe in turn help out fellow “losers.”
To date, I have nuitritional information for just two restaurants downtown – Subway and Spaghetti Warehouse – and I’d like to start giving my business back to the locals. So I’m hunting for the downtown scoop on calories, fat, fiber, sugar and sodium (or at the very least calories, fat and fiber).
As I do so, I’ll post the information here at www.okccentral.com under the category “downtown healthy choices.” And maybe we can all continue to work and play downtown – and get healthy while doing so.
P.S. – I can’t wait to get rid of that stupid photo of me in the right column!
- Steve
The Positive Press Continues…
Great write-up today about Oklahoma City’s support for the Thunder in USA Today…
For Oklahoma City faithful, Thunder claps are sweet sound
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By Chris Colston, USA TODAY
OKLAHOMA CITY — To some, this game might be a meaningless blip in the NBA’s 1,230-game regular season. But inside Ford Center on Sunday, it doesn’t feel that way. Overhead speakers rumble with recorded thunder, and nearly all game the pale-blue-clad crowd roars when the home team scores.
It’s Oklahoma City’s ninth sellout in 23 games — and third in its last four. Even with the NFL conference championship games on TV, the upper deck is packed, going we-just-won-the-NBA Finals crazy when team star Kevin Durant hit a three-pointer to cut the Miami Heat’s lead to five with 9:44 left.
Don’t the people know their team has the NBA’s worst record (9-34)?
Read the rest of the story here.
The Lost Ogles Are Odd
Does this look like a powerplayer to you? I’m not even going to comment on the whole disturbing thing about running through the Myriad Gardens with Dean A. McGee. But the pajama bit… well, that would be kind of cool. Maybe Chad Huntington at Oklahoma’s Red Dirt Emporium can add them to his stock.
This weekend I’m getting out the Lego set with my 7-year-old…
Redefining/Defining a Neighborhood
Oh my, oh my. I would not have wanted to be John Yoeckel today.
For those of you who don’t know John, he’s a well respected civic leader and a member of the city’s Board of Adjustment.
It’s his job to make someone very, very happy or very, very unhappy. Sometimes his vote, along with three other board members, can end up with both results.
Today was one of those days. And oh, how difficult it was to face disappointing either side.
On both sides you had top notch attorneys and well-known architects and urban pioneers.
Both sides represent residents of a MidTown neighborhood who clearly love their community, are doing everything to bring it back to life, and yet can’t even agree what to call it or what it should be.
Yeah, this was a fun case – and the stakes were nothing less than the redefinition of a neighborhood.
The neighborhood in question is defined as follows by the MidTown Association:
Located in the west central portion of MidTown, the Cottage District is characterized by older single family cottages and bungalows. This area contains Red Andrews Park and Municipal Gym, Emerson
School, and considerable amounts of vacant land.
So, let’s meet the two sides:
SoSA (South of Saint Anthony) Neighborhood: Architect Dennis Wells coined the proposed renaming of “the Cottage District,” noting its eclectic mix does not match its name. And indeed, long before this battle began I wrote a story noting the diversity of this neighborhood. Wells allies include architect Bryan Fitzsimmons, who like Wells has recently built a modern home in area that certainly isn’t your standard Dallas style suburban home in Deer Creek.
Cottage District: Randy Floyd and Michael Smith were pioneers in this neighborhood long before Wells and Fitzsimmons. They took a chance on a row of territorial era homes, and their renovations showed that the neighborhood once overrun with drug dealers and prostitutes was ready for a revival. And now for some history:If you go to Bricktown, there is enough urban fabric (brick warehouses) that one can say “this is the area’s character, here’s how it should guide designs for new construction and renovations.” Same can be said for Automobile Alley and the Asian District. But how does one judge the Cottage District/SoSA?Do we judge the area and set design guidelines based on the neighborhood’s original housing stock? That’s a problem for some because so many of the homes were torn down and left as either empty lots, or rebuilt as …
Modern Design Homes.
Yep, the neighborhood has plenty of it. The Classen Glen condominiums set the tone a quarter century ago and Fitzsimmons put an exclamation point on it with his own new home a few years back.
Then came Wells, and now comes yet another proposed modern home.The home, designed for Bill Lovallo by Fitzsimmons, is a two-story, 1,730-square-foot house that would sit atop a sloped lot at 825 NW 7. And while the home lines up with others on the street, a second level fronted with glass panels would face out closer to the street than most of the other homes.
Smith and Floyd argued at a November meeting of the Urban Design Commission that the project violated the neighborhood’s setback requirements. But Lovallo and Fitzsimmons responded that it was in line with at least one other home at NW 7 and Shartel.
That home, an older structure that went through a renovation deemed substandard by many in the neighborhood, was promptly declared an anomaly by Smith and Floyd as they sought to overturn the design committee’s ruling to the Board of Adjustment on Thursday.Smith and Floyd were represented by attorney Leslie Batchelor, who is also a well known innercity advocate and civic leader.
Lovallo and Fitzsimmons, meanwhile, were represented by high-powered and respected attorney Michael Laird, who is also no stranger to urban issues.
Watching the proceedings, I knew that John Yoeckel would end up being the first guy to show his hand. He spoke of his admiration for both sides, and then he announced his vote – he would uphold Randy Floyd’s challenge. He cited the city’s original zoning intent and setbacks as being more important than the anomaly at 829 NW 7.
Next up, board member Stephen Dobbs, who noted there is no allowance for exclusions of “anomalies.”The vote is 1-1. And the deciding vote is left up to Rod Baker, who was absent, and David Wanzer, who had to recuse himself due to ties to Fitzsimmons.
And so we wait for yet another day on this matter to be decided. And one can only imagine the fun John will have at the next downtown social.
Blog Awards
Thanks to Doug Loudenback for letting me know OKC Central is nominated for best commercial blog in the 2008 Blog Awards. For those fellow Okie bloggers who want to vote for – or against – this blog, go here.
Sometimes it's True
Ok, it’s time for me to fess up; when I first met Kevin and Charifa Smith, their effort to open a cafe and market in Deep Deuce seemed to good to be true. After all, they are among the nicest people I’ve met over these many years covering downtown (and I’ve met a lot of nice people). Their vision of a combined organic market and upscale cafe in the heart of Deep Deuce, is the sort of thing downtown residents have been clamoring for. Their story is both sad and yet a perfect display of taking a tragedy (the death of their first child) and finding a way to turn that grief into something good.
Like any significant downtown venture, delays were to be expected, and they did occur. And yet construction is well underway, and now the couple are giving a full view of what’s to come at their new website, www.sageokc.com.
With the Wedge and the Deep Deuce Grill already drawing in customers and a furnishings store for corporate relocations already operating in the district, Deep Deuce is rapidly transforming into what can truly be considered downtown’s first truly mixed-use neighborhood.
Favorite Bloggers
I have a few – my good friend Doug Loudenback, for one, who hosts www.dougdawg.blogspot.com. Add to that Charles Hill’s www.dustbury.com and Blair Humphreys’ www.imaginativeamerica.com. But today I want to draw your attention to a voice that should not be stiffled – Michael Bates, who has opened my eyes to alternative ideas and views pertaining to urban issues and planning. If you’ve not visited www.batesline.com, do so.
Some Thoughts About History
If you’ve not visited Blair Humphreys’ blog, www.imaginativeamerica.com, do so. He’s had some great posts about the city’s earlyday planning efforts.
Though the 1930s, city fathers had some pretty high ambitions about what this city should look like. They envisioned a string of parks connected by a grand boulevard. They designed and built ornate bridges and public works projects. They aspired to have this city look … special.
Something happened. After World War II, everything became very utilitarian, very … boring. And it stayed that way, all the way through the 1990s. We’re still building bridges and streets that, for the most part, are boring. They serve a function, and that’s it.
So what happened? I’ve got a theory, and it’s just that. The Great Depression happened. And maybe, just maybe, the leading citizens who really cared about what this city should look like, ended up leaving for elsewhere. And the leadership that was left, God bless them, did what they could to keep things running. But they no longer gave much thought to design, to pedestrian needs, to community.
It’s just a theory… and now I’m opening it to debate. What do you think?
For Those Who Might Be Interested – Bricktown
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More Looking Back…
I couldn’t help but laugh reading this as I was doing some searching in the archives…
A Message To Minors: No Vacancy
By John Rohde
| Friday, July 20, 1990 Edition: CITY, Section: SPORTS, Page 23 |
Oklahoma City doesn’t have a Statue of Liberty. Perhaps the Olympic torch runners in front of the Myriad will suffice. And like the Lady on Liberty Island in the New York Harbor, perhaps our torch runners could bear an inscription.
Graven on a tablet at the base of the Statue of Liberty is a poem that reads: “. . . Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free . . .” Perhaps Oklahoma City’s inscription could read: “. . . Give me your tired, your poor, your minor league franchises yearning to breathe . . .” Welcome to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma minor league capital of these United States.
Have a sports franchise yearning to breathe? Haul it on in here and we’ll try to make it work.
Forget the fact OKC’s business world is yearning to breathe.
Forget the fact the Oil Boom was about a decade ago.
Forget the fact downtown Oklahoma City had an office vacancy rate of 33.2 percent through March. Finding downtown office space was nearly impossible in March 1981, when the vacancy rate was 0.5 percent.
I realize some of these franchises hope to give Oklahoma City’s economy and its morale a swift kick in the rear, but it seems to me some of these franchises are putting their mouth where their money needs to be.
Of course, I’ve been told it’s pessimistic thinking such as my own that’s truly hurting Oklahoma these days.
All these franchises need the support of sponsors. However, several local sponsors still are trying to recover from U.S. Olympic Festival-’89, last summer’s multimillion-dollar extravaganza.
And yet there seems to be a Land Run toward Oklahoma City for sports franchises.
Pick a sport, any sport.
There’s baseball with the Triple-A 89ers. There’s basketball with the CBA Cavalry. There’s football with the Twisters. There’s outdoor and indoor soccer with the Spirit and Warriors. Thursday’s Oklahoman mentioned the possibility of an Arena Football League franchise coming.
There’s also semi-pro football with the Golden Mustangs. Women’s football departed with the Oklahoma City Dolls (darn it all). Minor league hockey could return to OKC if Dallas is granted an NHL franchise (and Dallas is being mentioned as a leading candidate).
These might be different sports and different seasons, but they tend to lose their identities when they’re lumped together.
Is there enough support morale and financial to go around?
If one franchise fails, is another soon to follow?
Cavalry president Chip Land and Twisters owner Ed Watkins are long on enthusiasm. They’re also long on hope and curiosity.
“I don’t think they’ll hurt each other,” Watkins said of the numerous franchises. “I think they can complement each other. We’ve got some crazy football fans out there who are pretty much committed.
They’re going to see football come hell or high water.”
Land recently received information about an American Basketball League franchise possibly looking into OKC. “And I’ve never even heard of the ABL,” Land said.
Maybe Oklahoma City doesn’t need a plaque to greet sports franchises. Maybe it needs a flashing neon sign.
“No Vacancy.”
