Sean Cummings on the Boulevard
The above video by Sean Cummings is actually the second compelling bit of commentary done by the popular restaurant owner (that I know of) about ongoing downtown development debates. I’ll be showing the first one, related to the convention center, in the near future.
I’m still visiting with a lot of involved players, trying to get a grasp on what we’ve seen this past week, and I’ll be posting on the topic soon.
In the meantime, some quick observations about Sean’s video:
- There is still quite a bit of sentiment behind the idea of a roundabout. But I’ve yet to see how such traffic designs encourage urban, close setback development on surrounding property. I also don’t understand how these larger roundabouts are friendly for pedestrian crossings. But maybe I’ll learn more as the debate continues.
- I suspect Sean Cummings’ restaurants won’t be chosen for the next Oklahoma Department of Transportation office holiday party.
- Sean does a great job at showing us context that’s been missing to date – what areas will be visible from the future boulevard and what development potential might exist along the corridor.
- Sean’s video includes a vivid reminder of how important this discussion is the future of the Farmers Market area. Take a look at this frame from Sean’s video and tell me it doesn’t matter whether this section is elevated or at-grade (and by at-grade, I mean at street level and not on a raised earthen berm):
The view of the Klein entryway to Farmers Market from the former I-40 (soon to be the downtown boulevard)
Here’s another view of the area shown the above screenshot:
Can an at-grade, street-level new boulevard provide a new gateway to Farmers Market and make it the next downtown redevelopment prospect with a great historic jewel at the heart of the area?
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Comments
Sean is absolutely on the money on this. This stretch of road was an absolute eyesore at 60 + mph. Have to think it will be even worse at 35 mph. I just use Classen when I go downtown because that whole area makes me nauseous presently. Just putting something on top of it isn’t going to fix the problem. City leadership needs to embrace a vision for the future for this part of the city instead of just patting themselves on the back!
Here’s the link to the video on Youtube where you can see the video in its totality http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnB7BdtphJY
That area is horrible, yet so close to everything it could have a huge impact on the growth of the city. Even though an at-grade street might help this area in the future I’d still push to elevate the boulevard over. IMO, even an at-grade road wouldn’t speed up the interest in this area. Everyone knows the potential it possess and, honestly, the investment may not be cost efficient at this time when there are better areas to build upon presently. Maybe interest increases in 5-7 years? It is going to take a huge brewery-mall/shopping or business center project to have the type of influx we’d like.
What I find entertaining is the dolt/fool/loudmouthed punk that owns the Farmers Market always complaining about lack of access, blah, blah, blah. Yet he has the ugliest, most decrepit, junk tenement building out there. Hey fool how about some paint and upgrades to your dump of a building first.
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