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Come on, OKC like Lubbock? I know OKC is lacking considering it's 1.3 million and is better compared with metros of 500K-800K, but they sure have come a long ways since I have been here. I understand Wichita and Des Moines, but Lubbock?? I have only been here for 3 years! There are tons of projects going on downtown. OKC has made a ton of progress.
Now before I continue, let's back that bus up a little. I firmly believe KC is in a totally different league than OKC. KC has way more amenities. OKC is very suburban with little urbanism. It's very conservative and because of OK laws, it lacks in many ways. It can't realize it's potential as well in a state like this. However, downtown seems to be proving me wrong slowly. I like KC way more than OKC, but lets be honest. OKC is having it's time right now and while it may be on a different league than KC, it's a lot better than some of you make it out to be.
Now before I continue, let's back that bus up a little. I firmly believe KC is in a totally different league than OKC. KC has way more amenities. OKC is very suburban with little urbanism. It's very conservative and because of OK laws, it lacks in many ways. It can't realize it's potential as well in a state like this. However, downtown seems to be proving me wrong slowly. I like KC way more than OKC, but lets be honest. OKC is having it's time right now and while it may be on a different league than KC, it's a lot better than some of you make it out to be.
Tulsa is quite a bit better than OKC and it is under the same laws and is a good deal smaller.
You have to look at the history of the city to see why its so lacking for its size. OKC destroyed most of its inner core in the 1960s and 1970s as part of an urban renewal plan. This is going to be shocking to most people here but OKC used to be quite urban and vibrant prior to the 1970s. Then in the 1980s the oil crash happened and the city pretty much became the Detroit of the Great Plains, albeit on a smaller scale. The rest of the nation moved forward but OKC was pretty much stuck in time between the early 1980s and the early 2000s.
Tulsa is quite a bit better than OKC and it is under the same laws and is a good deal smaller.
You have to look at the history of the city to see why its so lacking for its size. OKC destroyed most of its inner core in the 1960s and 1970s as part of an urban renewal plan. This is going to be shocking to most people here but OKC used to be quite urban and vibrant prior to the 1970s. Then in the 1980s the oil crash happened and the city pretty much became the Detroit of the Great Plains, albeit on a smaller scale. The rest of the nation moved forward but OKC was pretty much stuck in time between the early 1980s and the early 2000s.
these comparisons you are making are ridiculous. I mean okc is not philadelphia or boston but comparing it to lubbock texas or wichita lol? its definitely more comparable to kansas city than lubbock.
I don't think that people realise that OKC is actually an up and coming town. It's not a small town like people are suggesting, and I think it offers more than people think it does.
I don't think that people realise that OKC is actually an up and coming town. It's not a small town like people are suggesting, and I think it offers more than people think it does.
I do think that KC comes out on top, however.
OKC is "up and coming" but it is in very early stages of it and will probably not yet be apparent to outsiders. To this point, the city has been playing catch-up with all of the improvements being stuff the city should have already had given its size. Only people who knew what the city was like 10 years ago will appreciate the progress. To those coming from a similar-sized or larger city, it can still feel like a very 'blah' kind of place.
As for the culture, it is still very country because OKC hasn't had the influx of transplants from the north and west other Southern cities have. Places like Charlotte and Nashville were still very country in the early 1990s before their boom. That is the position OKC currently is in.
If the dice fall right, OKC could be an attractive place to live in 10-15 years. It could also go bust as well as the national economy recovers and people stop moving there to escape the recession as has been the case for the past five years, and those currently waiting it out in OKC move on to greener pastures. It's kind of a wait and see game at this point.
KC has a much more urban central city and tons more to do. Plus the city is not southern at all and not near as conservative. KC also has better weather and topography.
How is being non-Southern automatically a plus? You what, never mind.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bchris02
This pretty much sums it up.
OKC performs terribly for its size and is in fact probably the worst city..um..town its size in the nation. It's peers are Wichita, Little Rock, Lubbock, and El Paso.
From my persepctive, it seems that the only Southern peer cities that clearly outperform OKC, going by MSA, is Raleigh (I know it's a much larger entity when you consider the Triangle as a whole, but I'm being technical here) and New Orleans. Richmond, Memphis, and Louisville are in all likelihood ahead culturally but not in a lot of other measures. OKC, Jacksonville, and Birmingham are all more or less on the same level on most fronts, IMO.
How is being non-Southern automatically a plus? You what, never mind.
From my persepctive, it seems that the only Southern peer cities that clearly outperform OKC, going by MSA, is Raleigh (I know it's a much larger entity when you consider the Triangle as a whole, but I'm being technical here) and New Orleans. Richmond, Memphis, and Louisville are in all likelihood ahead culturally but not in a lot of other measures. OKC, Jacksonville, and Birmingham are all more or less on the same level on most fronts, IMO.
You are right. OKC is behind culturally. By other measures, its about equal or even ahead of its peers.
Oklahoma City is on it's way up, there's a lot of development going on there that does not receive much recognition on this forum.
I'd prefer to live in Kansas City. It's a larger city and would fit me better culturally.
KC is one of the most architecturally underrated cities in the U.S., IMO.
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