Grand Rapids gets it: http://www.wimp.com/grandrapids/

American Pie Boulevard!

Agreed. We don’t have to put the words “Oklahoma City” everywhere – even though it seems like that is what the plan is.

My first thought is:

Tornado Alley Boulevard,

[...] already gone on record regarding “Oklahoma City Boulevard.” To my amazement, Brian Winkeler thinks even less of the notion than I do: Do you ever get tired of hearing fabulous tales of the star-studded goings-on that take place on [...]

“We’ve even got Portland Avenue here in town (though it’s thankfully free of suicidal, caffeinated hipster douchebags).”

Bob Mills and the Mathis Brothers between them qualify as 3 out of 4 of those criteria. (They make too much money to be suicidal.) Doesn’t that count for something?

Naming a major thru-street in your town after the town itself is so lame it’s painful. It’s like people who ‘Like’ their own posts on Facebook.

Interesting tidbit: when I first posted about this on OKC Central, Charles Hill at Dustbury theorized the name of “Oklahoma City Boulevard” is intentionally dull and uninspiring and suggested (humorously?) that it’s Cornett’s intention to create a name that could at a future date be changed to “Mick Cornett Boulevard.” I’ve heard several others suggest the same – I’m not quite that cynical. Though there are those who still have a bitter recollection over the naming of Thelma Parks Elementary.

The Mick Cornett Memorial Restroom…has a ring to dontcha thank. Steve I really am that cynical. After the outrageous debacle of the naming of the school people have a right to be suspicious and aloof.

This was an excellent guest post. As for the generic name leaving the possibility of Mick Cornett Blvd at a later date….I guess I AM that cynical. It’s the only thing that could possibly make sense (to Mick).

Again, nice post from Brian at Robot House.

The name “Oklahoma City Boulevard” is beyond sad…. I couldn’t begin to fathom why Cornett would propose something so stupid. The whole “place holder” idea does, however, make sense as part of a cynical ploy for self-aggrandizement.

Hopefully that’s not the case. But whatever the motivation— this name needs to die a quick death.

Avenue of the West
Avenue of the Plains
Energy Ave

If it is going to border the park, how about name it Park Drive. Rename Park Avenue already downtown something else.

As long as we don’t name it “Heartland Boulevard.”

Ellison Ave. gives tribute to one of our city’s finest writers, Ralph Ellison. It is classy, well deserved, and it will remind citizens and visitors alike of just one of the great minds this city has produced.

How about Renaissance Blvd?

Spot-on criticism of the self-aggrandizing nature of this supposed ‘renaissance’ occurring here. It’s very tryhardy.

But you had me until the unnecessary Portland quip. As somebody who has lived in both OKC and Portland, I have to say that as much as OKC is home to me, it still has absolutely nothing on Portland, culturally speaking. It’s definitely trying, for sure, but frankly, in the cities that have really made it in the realm of culture and quality of life, they did it organically because the people living there were of the type to mould the city into something unique. Oklahoma City is trying to emulate other cities and force this type of culture here, although it’s remarkably unnatural and anybody with experience living in a place like Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, etc., can see right through it. If the people haven’t made a city awesome, why should their tax dollars make it awesome? We’re improving, but we have a long way to go. Right now the city’s situation is comparable to buying a really nice outfit several sizes too small and hoping you’ll lose enough weight to fit into it someday.

Note: it’s those caffeinated hipster douchebags and their ilk that keep a vibrant city like Portland from sinking to the level of a cowtown like Fort Worth.

The ‘suicidal’ description belongs a bit farther up I-5, in Seattle.

“Hall Of Fame Boulevard”
You can place stars hand prints, foot prints, etc. on the walkable sidewalks for people inducted into the Oklahoma Hall Of Fame. The name creates a new tourist destination.

And the winner is/was?

@Jeremy: I actually love Portland. I’ve got a ton of friends up there and unfortunately don’t visit it often enough. I was hoping that simply by assembling the phrase “suicidal, caffeinated hipster douchebags” it would be obvious that I was joking about the stereotype (and, yeah, I know Seattle owns suicide in the Northwest but I chose to take some creative license). And I honestly think OKC could use more caffeinated hipsters. I think we’ve already got plenty of douchebags.

Does anyone think that 17th-Century Dutch settlers summoned a group of creative directors to develop a unique, inspired name for what at the time was a broad footpath.

I don’t disagree that a good name is a vital launch pad/rejuvenator for civic projects but the posturing that the aforementioned names magically brought prosperity is bogus. It took time for these geographically significant thoroughfares to build their identities, our boulevard whatever the name will need to do the same.

The shortsighted definition of a “creative professional” nearly diminishes the effectiveness of author’s point of view. Can an engineer not be creative professional? A banker? A school teacher? A politician? It will take a creative community to make the Core to Shore project an evergreen success not just a group of street naming robots.

Can’t figure out the rush to name a boulevard that doesn’t even exist yet and isn’t even funded. Somebody explain why this is even a topic now.

Tell that to our unillustrious Mayor. He is the fool that is pushing this thru.

With an 8-1 vote in favor of that terribly lame name,
it’s really not possible to hang all the blame on your mayor. He’s got lots of company this go around.

Excellent points. Did Mr. Winkeler speak at today’s Council meeting by chance? I take it that he didn’t since they approved it with only 1 dissenting vote (unfortunately, not form my Councilman).

To WMH, there was an article a while back that said the funding is in place and it is on ODOTs 8 year plan now, but the oklahoman stated that the money isn’t really in hand yet and wont be until after it is built (believe it or not). They are expecting the money from anticipated increased funding in 2016? The Boulevard is supposed to be open in 2014!

@Brian: apologies for not picking up the joke. The general sentiment in this area of the Portland type is generally negative (except among our own hipsters and alternative types), so I wasn’t sure about discerning between that and your joke.

We definitely do need more hipsters, metalheads and liberals in general. As much as people may want to turn a blind eye to this, conservative places simply do not thrive as cultural hubs. There may be fine arts and orchestra in such places, to cater to the wealthy snobbish folks that litter conservatism, but as you may know it’s the underground arts that keep the otherwise-rotten core of a city going. OKC has one band that gives it any credibility (the Flaming Lips), and the rest are largely generic indie crap, noise filler. The vast majority of the Paseo art I’ve seen is weak and uninspired.

Something I noticed growing up here is that although there are loads of people who would strike you as more of an L.A., PacNW or Austin type, the universal attitude is cliquish. I’ve always been a metalhead, and when trying to engage with other metalheads on the street (wearing t-shirts of bands that I dig), snubbing was usually the reaction. Cliquish tendencies do not a successful scene make, and without successful scenes you don’t have the vibrant life of successful cities. You have quiet districts with empty buildings that could be filled with record stores, book stores, cafes and music venues. You have a Bricktown that has this great old architecture, but almost every space is filled with a restaurant or a bar. If you don’t want to see a movie, eat or get drunk, what good is Bricktown? And seriously, that’s the pride of OKC!

If they want to give this town a personality, they should spend a bit of time in Portland, living like a Portlander. We have nothing like the Hawthorne District or Belmont. Compare our downtown to downtown PDX: what’s missing? The reason Portland would be such a good model for us is that our cities are almost identical in population size (though their metro area is much more populous).

A few years ago, a Californian that I knew who was living in OKC at the time noted that she’d never seen a state that makes so many mentions of itself. I didn’t notice it until then, but it’s really true, and it’s a bit lame. We have to keep pumping ourselves up, cheerleading ourselves, because that’s the only way we can feel good about ourselves as a state/city. And this is further illustrated in naming this grand boulevard-to-be “Oklahoma City Boulevard”. You don’t become great by insisting upon your own greatness!

If this OKC think tank consulted me, I would tell them to stop emulating the shells of greater cities, and start emulating the cores of these cities. Find out what makes a district like the Hawthorne District of Portland great, and offer incentives for similar small businesses to cluster together in areas of OKC.

How about Lindley Avenue, California Avenue, Reno Avenue, SW 2nd Street, or SW 3rd Street? This whole concept is flawed because the route of the existing Crosstown leaves so many oddly shaped parcels, especially between Klein and Walker. The east end of the project should disperse surface street traffic onto SE 3rd Street and Reno; the west end should disperse surface street traffic onto Reno and a reconstructed California Avenue. Other traffic can access downtown from the new exits from I-40 to the south. Then ODOT could abandon some right-of-way and sell it off to make resulting parcels merged with adjacent ones developable. A pretty boulevard abutted by a collection of oddly shaped lots that can’t be developed doesn’t seem like a good idea.

You are correct Digger. My first preference would be to restore the grid. The good news is that I think the ‘Convention Center First’ crowd wants the boulevard gone as well, and for the same reason they don’t want the Core to Shore park.

Digger: Those have been my thoughts since I first heard that the Boulevard was going to follow the “same path” as the current crosstown a few years ago and have been asking the same questions with no answers. Guess no one bothered to look at a map and see the actual path. Have yet to hear the reasoning why OKC NEEDS a Boulevard there. The Mayor just says its needed as fact. He even stated that OKC will “grind to a halt” if the Boulevard and Park don’t open in 2014. So how is it we have been getting along for 100+ years now without one?

LOL Larry – look around. From 1950 to 1998 OKC did “grind to a halt”.

I would agree that something more cool, creative and hip is needed. The term ‘Oklahoma City’ is an ongoing challenge for OKC. Tulsa and T Town has cool. Austin, Dallas, but Oklahoma City just sounds so…Oklahoma City. Perhaps some at the helm will heed your wise words!