Jim Cowan on MAPS 3 – the Lost Post
I hate database conversions.
It’s painful. And sometimes things get lost. I could explain everything that happened. Instead, I’ll let the smart guy do it:
Alright, the blog is back up. We had to move all of your posts and images from the former resting place to a new installation and just clone the look of the old OKCCentral.
Here is a quick rundown of what happened. Due to the fact that we had to move all of your content as quickly as we did I haven’t had time to look into all the factors leading to the problem. Basically, the JavaScript that was used to embed the video player from News 9 was interfering with JavaScript that controlled several parts of your blogs (the search area, tabs, and multiple admin features). When troubleshooting the issue I began deactivating all of the sidebar widgets to make sure it wasn’t something in one of those that was causing the issue.
After deactivating all of the sidebar widgets I pulled down the News 9 video post. When I went back to the widgets to put them back up after figuring that the JS in that post was the problem I found that all of the widgets in the admin had disappeared and were not available to repost. I looked for about 20 to 30 minutes for an answer to this new problem but decided to go with the backup plan and export all of your blogs content, create a new blog and then import it back in.
Upon doing this we lost some of the posts, among these was the post that had the News 9 video JS. Sorry about that. I think there were other drafts that didn’t make it over as well, but I didn’t take thorough inventory before making the switch.
You have all the rest of your content ready to go. Let me know you are missing anything else.
Nick
Nick Tankersley
Web Editor
NewsOK.com
This left us without one of the most interesting posts of the week. The post in question here consisted of just the video, and it was really nothing spectacular. But as is often the case, it was the comments that followed that were most interesting.
A reader helped recover some of the comments. After doing some more online sleuthing, etc., I’ve recovered the rest. What follows is the entire conversation that followed the rather dull video:
Comment by Doug Loudenback on September 19, 2009 @ 3:44 am That was a pretty shallow interview, in my opinion, perhaps the main fault lying with the interviewer for failing to aske the right questions, I don’t know. A fairly halting (in speech) Jim Cowan was never asked about the location of the convention center or other specific impacts of the MAPS III proposal upon Bricktown, and he only gave glossy generalizations which shed no light upon a MAPS III/Bricktown analysis. Weak. Very weak.
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Comment by Jim on September 19, 2009 @ 7:33 am
Doug:
Every Friday I do a segment on News 9 to talk about “what’s going on in Bricktown”. It is usually in the Bricktown Studios, but occasionally I do it in studio like this. It is always very casual in nature.
The intent of the interview was not Maps 3, but since it had just been announced the day before, it made sense to discuss it.
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Comment by Doug Loudenback on September 19, 2009 @ 9:08 am Well, maybe it was just that the right questions were not being asked.
It did come up, of course, and so in the discussion it was a natural (to me) go consider the matter of the convention center location, given concern about that by former mayor Humphreys and others. It isn’t clear to me whether the convention center location is fixed in the Maps III proposal. Sorry if I was overly critical, no foul intended. But that’s how it sounded to me. Lots of smiles, little substance.
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Comment by Nick Roberts on September 19, 2009 @ 9:54 am I thought the interview would have been a lot better had Jim been allowed an opportunity to discuss why moving the proposed convention center to the better location would help Bricktown avoid becoming the next West End.
Not only is it better from Bricktown that the convention center be moved just south of Bricktown, but also it’s better for Core to Shore in my opinion, because I don’t want the park to turn into a ‘front lawn’ for the convention center.
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Comment by Doug Loudenback on September 19, 2009 @ 10:14 am Jim, listening again, I see that you made an opportunity when you began talking about the new convention center and then quickly went to street cars and then your visit to Charlotte and discussion about the white water rafting area there.
So, you did give yourself a place where the convention center location could have been brought up — perhaps you thought this wasn’t the time or place, or perhaps convention center location isn’t that important to Bricktown?
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Comment by steve lackmeyer on September 19, 2009 @ 12:35 pm Guys, why don’t you come up with a lit of questions for Jim and maybe he can answer them on this site.
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OK. Here are mine, keeping the list simple:
Jim, if you will, here you are:
1. Is it your understanding that the convention center’s location is settled?
2. If so, what is your understanding – south of the Ford Center or south of Lower Bricktown in the Cotton Oil area?
3. Whether or not the location is settled, which location would better serve Bricktown’s vitality and growth? Why?
- Doug Loudenback
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Doug asks some great questions. To avoid duplicating them I’ll just copy his as my first three.
1. Is it your understanding that the convention center’s location is settled?
2. If so, what is your understanding – south of the Ford Center or south of Lower Bricktown in the Cotton Oil area?
3. Whether or not the location is settled, which location would better serve Bricktown’s vitality and growth? Why?
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4. If MAPS1 was about Bricktown and MAPS3 ends up being about an area that currently does not exist south of downtown, does this pose a major threat to Bricktown’s long-term vitality?
5. What has been keeping Bricktown from growing into the kind of “complete” urban district with an even mix of housing and business?
6. Does Bricktown actually need an even mix of housing in order to sustain neighborhood growth in the long-term?
7. The Canal Extension proposal put out by the Bricktown Association, was that the route merchants were most comfortable with?
(I really like the idea of a canal extension but that proposal just made me cringe from an urban planning perspective)
8. Do you think a canal extension down Sheridan, into the Myriad Gardens would achieve the same desired result of “finishing the canal” and connecting it to the action across downtown?
- Nick Roberts
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Doug/Nick, great questions…
1. From what I have heard said publically, the site hasn’t been determined.
2. It sure seems like the City is leaning towards the site just South of the Ford Center.
3. The Cotton Gin site would be better for Bricktown, but the other site would work if there is a plan on how to connect it to Bricktown.
4. I don’t think it’s fair to say that Maps 1 was “about” just Bricktown. The Canal and Ballpark were just two of nine projiects. The renovations to the Cox Center and building of the Ford Center both had positive impacts on Bricktown, but also helped all of Downtown.
The Core to Shore project can be a huge asset for all of downtown, depending upon how it is developed. It’s the details on “how” that many merchants in Bricktown will be interested in following.
It’s really this simple, as major development happens all on all sides of Bricktown, we believe it’s in the district’s best interest to maintain or create some form of Connectivity to it. That is the best way for Bricktown to grow long term.
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Comments
Since this version has a different address link than the previous version, don’t know if the person (Damon??) that asked the question will end up seeing it but here it goes…
In response to his question about the status of some of the housing in the downtown area, Steve had an excellent article that may answer his questions (Once Hot properties are now on Ice 9/23/09)
I’ll try but I don’t remember Nick’s questions. But the best part, of course, were Jim’s answers and I wouldn’t presume to try to restate what he said.
First, the video which cannot apparently be embedded here is located at this address should anyone want to have a look at it.
As well as I recall, my questions were something like this:
(1) Is it your understanding that a specific location for the convention center has or has not been identified … south of the Ford Center or south of Lower Bricktown?
(2) I can’t remember #2 … it may have been a rephrasing of #1 into 2 parts.
(3) Whether or not a convention center location has been identified, which would be more beneficial to Bricktown and why?
Larry,
thanks a lot fot that post. Can’t believe I missed that article. I was pretty sure it was the economy that had caused the slow down. I hope these projects can rebound as the market does.
Damon, no problem, glad to help
Doug: although easy to miss because the regular formatting of the posts got stripped out, your questions (and Nick’s) are still here in this rebuilding above. Jim’s answers aren’t there though.
The rebuilders may have done the same thing I did, I googled the title of the original blog entry and went to the “cached” version, but sadly it was the abbreviated ones we see here.
Larry, here were Jim’s answers, also in the rebuilding.. yet I think my questions were mainly evaded. That was probably in Jim’s best interest though to evade my questions..I’m not sure if he’s the best guy to ask about city planning and try to put on the spot with a Bricktown v. Core to Shore issue.
His responses
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Doug/Nick, great questions…
1. From what I have heard said publically, the site hasn’t been determined.
2. It sure seems like the City is leaning towards the site just South of the Ford Center.
3. The Cotton Gin site would be better for Bricktown, but the other site would work if there is a plan on how to connect it to Bricktown.
4. I don’t think it’s fair to say that Maps 1 was “about” just Bricktown. The Canal and Ballpark were just two of nine projiects. The renovations to the Cox Center and building of the Ford Center both had positive impacts on Bricktown, but also helped all of Downtown.
The Core to Shore project can be a huge asset for all of downtown, depending upon how it is developed. It’s the details on “how” that many merchants in Bricktown will be interested in following.
It’s really this simple, as major development happens all on all sides of Bricktown, we believe it’s in the district’s best interest to maintain or create some form of Connectivity to it. That is the best way for Bricktown to grow long term.
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I can at least appreciate that Jim Cowan is being very diplomatic about Bricktown’s interest in this. Obviously Bricktown doesn’t benefit at all from preventing the rest of downtown from doing well, but Bricktown still needs to be thrown a bone. There are projects Bricktown could still use and we should try and maturate the neighborhoods we already have before we get gung ho about neighborhoods that don’t even exist yet.
Just my opinion at least.
Nick, What I meant to say “Jim’s COMPLETE answers…” As I recall, answers to the original 8 questions…that last reconstructed post only goes through #4 is what I was trying to say. Then there are all of the subsequent back and forth that are gone as well. 
IT guys, you love ‘em and you hate ‘em. Since I’m my OWN IT guy, I love ME and so I never have this sort of crappy problem. Can you stick in Jim Cowan’s video in this post, Steve, so that recreation is a little easier?