Comments on: Dead or Alive?

By: Ed

Ed — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 21:59:16 +0000

Build a new convention center and convert the old center into a large tax exempt movie production studio. A large building like the GM plant could have been used unless the noise in the area was to great. This would help create a new industry and bring thousands of new creative jobs. May even lure some movie producers from California to move here with there equipment.

By: Joe

Joe — Sun, 17 May 2009 23:49:06 +0000

Nick, I’ve lived in several large cities. The last time I was in the downtown area was last Wednesday. I hate to break it to you, but you really have no idea how expensive a transit system is. When I was working in DC before I moved back the state of Virginia (Not DC, or Maryland included) spent 500,000 dollars on the inauguration of president Obama. The DC area is asking for 10 BILLION dollars to renovate their metro system. Not to make it…to renovate it.

Now I “hate to break it to you” but public transportation does not pay for itself with passenger fees. Large cities utilize public transportation as an investment in their infrastructure and economy, but only because there is a large return on the investment to get people into the city. I was in OKC for the big 12 mens tournament on a Tuesday and even with such a large event there was no one in Bricktown. I know people in Oklahoma are excited about the progress that’s been made in the city but you have to be realistic. OKC’s human traffic in and outside the city is nothing even close to the a Houston, Dallas, Kansas City or even San Antonio. To have public transportation it needs to be an absolute necessity and let’s be honest here, OKC’s motor traffic is pretty tame. Not only that but there are still parking lot vacancies in the city, it’s not difficult to get into the city and not hard to get out. Sure you have a few 20 somethings that have a few too many to drink and decide to drive home but the volume of people needed to ride the system to make it effective is huge. Unless there are people in the streets of Bricktown every single night of the week and we have a huge concert every night of the week and maintain the NBA there is no point for a public light rail system. It works in places I lived like DC and NYC because there are several million people that live within such a small proximity. Dont get me wrong I’m on Oklahoma native, and am back here for the time being but the local leaders need to be careful not to bite off more than they can chew, or all this will comes to a screeching halt.

Right now there isn’t a problem with parking or even getting downtown…if it’s not broke dont fix it. OKC needs an identity, core to shore should be at the forefront of any initiative, that project is going to be what pushes for a public transit. C2S I think, doubles the traffic to the downtown area a day, quadruples the housing, and the Lord only knows how many new businesses will make their way downtown as well. That is when OKC becomes a “big league” city, when we have to deal with “big league” problems.

By: Nick Roberts

Nick Roberts — Sun, 17 May 2009 18:46:10 +0000

Are you blind to all of the reasons to go downtown right now?

Joe, I hate to break it to you, but downtown is doing very well right now. There are a lot of businesses in downtown, art museums and galleries, there are huge events going on each night that bring thousands of people in, there is the Ford Center and Bricktown Ballpark still (they haven’t gone anywhere) and the neighborhoods around downtown are filling up with residential development. Joe..when was the last time that you were in downtown?

“We have to have the reasons to go downtown before building mass transit.” What more reasons are you looking for? There are probably close to 100 restaurants once you figure up each downtown district. There are shops galore. Parks and recreation. There are huge events each night. Near 50,000 people work there each day. I think 10,000 people go to church in downtown. 20,000 people go to see the Thunder play every other night during basketball season. Are you for real that we all need more reasons to go downtown??

By: Joe

Joe — Sun, 17 May 2009 05:36:52 +0000

Bob you’re right on track, you have to have an oven to bake a cake. We have to have the reasons to go downtown before building the mass transit.

By: Joe

Joe — Sun, 17 May 2009 05:23:59 +0000

All core to shore. Public transit should be looked at 10 years from now when we truly see the fruits of the MAPS 3 labor. Dont bite off more than we can chew and take care of the most important thing right now which is, the I-40 facelift, core to shore, and the new convention center. Then and only then when the steady stream of new money is being pumped into our local economy and thousands of new jobs are being created can we start to invest in a ferociously expensive transit system that may not get much use outside of
Friday and Saturday night.

By: Nick Roberts

Nick Roberts — Sat, 16 May 2009 00:47:18 +0000

True.

By: bob bekoff

bob bekoff — Fri, 15 May 2009 22:06:31 +0000

The new convention center must have an accompaning number of new hotel rooms to stay in balance. The Cox Center didn’t get fully utilized until the number of acceptable downtown hotel rooms came on line.

By: Nick Roberts

Nick Roberts — Fri, 15 May 2009 20:27:50 +0000

Well OKC’s current convention center turns a pretty big profit for us. Last year OKC experienced the largest growth in convention business in the NATION. There are so many conventions that come to OKC because they’re loyal to us that really need more space than we have at the present, and so many more that would like to come and see what the rave reviews are all about, but we don’t have facilities that are even close to being big enough for them. It’s not as if this convention center won’t be bringing in business.. even if there are still operating cost losses, I would not worry about that because the taxes collected from the millions of visitors that would be brought through our city would more than recoup those losses. The intangible benefits of increased name recognition, better image, more national prominence, and being more attractive to corporate relocations really has to just about seal the deal in my opinion.

By: George

George — Fri, 15 May 2009 17:08:35 +0000

When considering some of these projects, I believe we should keep in mind the difference between up-front capital costs (funded by MAPS 3) and potential ongoing operating losses (requiring funding from an as-of-yet unspecified source). For example, many convention centers generate ongoing operating losses after they are built. Large mass transit projects generally (always?) generate ongoing operating losses. We need to be careful that some might think MAPS 3 is “buying the house” when all it might really be doing is “making the down payment” — and leaving us to find additional tax sources to make good on the mortgage.

By: Colin

Colin — Fri, 15 May 2009 09:50:03 +0000

A real, fully operational and multimodal transit system is really the one thing that OKC could build that would have the most public benefit. The downtown trolleys were a terrible idea in the first place and have been poorly implemented. They need to be scrapped. I think the proposal for a streetcar loop and commuter rail is sensible, and that it should be augmented with an improved bus system. Why have a huge convention center if there’s no way to move visitors around our city? And as for no one using public transit in OKC, I use it and I can tell you why no one else does. Our system sucks. It’s that simple. Build a good transit system and people will use it.