Will OKC Boom to be like DFW? (Bethany, Wilson: house, neighborhoods)

[Synopsis]

Originally Posted by happytown

A good example of too much growth in OKC is Chesapeake, which is one of the largest energy companies in the US. The organization quickly built a huge campus and bought a lot of buildings along Western Ave. (a popular entertainment area). Many of these buildings have been destroyed for all types of retail etc. Lots of big time future plans for great development has gone south because of the recent economic crisis. Current news has the company coming back up, but many of the projects will not go forward for a couple of years.

Chesepeake just backed out of a deal with our neighborhood association to drill for gas in the barnett shale. It would have meant almost 7K in a signing bonus for me. Below is the text of the letter sent by our neighborhood association, who had been negotiating with Chesepeake for over a year. We were one week away from getting our checks....

We just recieved the following e-mail from Dale/Chesepeake:
"In regards to the TCC HOA, we still have a lot of details to work out, but in light of the economic circumstances you are aware of, there is no need for either of us to spend time and money on this project at this thime. To close the loop, any offer we have discussed is being rescinded.
I have enjoyed working with you and will get back with you at a later date.

Regards,
District Landman - Northeast Tarrant County
Dale Property Services, LLC
www.dale-resource.com"

From our Neighborhood association President

Moving forward, I would like to let you know that we have been contacted by two other companies who are interested in leasing our mineral rights and your leadership board will continue to pursue all options.

www.hurstneighbors.org

[happytown]

Sorry about that Synopsis. That stinks.

[Merlander]

I sure hope it doesn't start to resemble Dallas. Nothing against Dallas, I just like Okla City exactly the way it is - a big city with a small-town feel.

Not to mention that Dallas traffic...

[Synopsis]

Dallas traffic is the suck. OkC can grow quite a bit because of all the open areas. I just hope they plan for it and don't go into full blown sprawl. It would be nice to see OkC concentrate on the downtown area, as they are already. Hopefully the movement towards more density nationwide will stay the trend and OkC will get light rail, more downtown condos, along with more downtown local markets, which are HUGE for residential development.

Thanks for the sympathies HT. We were really counting on that money. In reality, I think Chesepeake pulled the plug because they had been negotiated to death by our Neighborhood Association. I think it was their "revenge" doing it at the very last minute like that because nobody can tell me that the energy sector is hurting now or will be in the near future. Yes, oil has taken a dive but I think natural gas and the barnett shale is very popular; everywhere around us they are drilling on leases.

I think it was a planned strategy on their part because our Neighborhood Association negotiated them up from an initial offer of 5K, which took over a year.

It's very possible another company will step in (maybe Devon?); the neighborhood association said they have been contacted by other companies. Hopefully they learned a lot from this go around.

[Merlander]

Originally Posted by Synopsis

...It would be nice to see OkC concentrate on the downtown area, as they are already. Hopefully the movement towards more density nationwide will stay the trend and OkC will get light rail, more downtown condos, along with more downtown local markets, which are HUGE for residential development.

I have to agree with this Synopsis. It would be nice to see the city focusing on infill development vs. continued growth south & west.

I'd like to see some of the somewhat neglected areas between downtown and Bethany, and also from downtown northwards to Nichols Village, brought up to snuff. It would be a huge boost for city overall, IMO.

[brajoh81]

Originally Posted by joebaldknobber

Oklahoma seems to be the national hotspot. Do you think there will be a cascade of growth that DFW has seen in the last 15 years? The two areas have a lot in common, and great central location.

Well OKC doesn't have a "Fort Worth," so it can't be like DFW. The NBA is a good start for its sports feel. I don't knwo why some people gripe about getting it from Seattle. None of Seattle's sports clubs have ever been too good, so how could OKC ruin it any farther. Seattle is a computer town, not a sports town.

[okcpulse]

Quite frankly, some in Seattle are just pi$$ed becuase they got pwned by what they thought was a podunk spot on the map.

Not to get off topic, but what really bothered me were the mouthy sports writers who cringe at the thought of an NBA team being moved from a market ranked 15th in size to the 45th largest market. They need to get over it. You're moving a team from a larger market... indeed... but one that is already saturated with an NFL and MLB team, both which command a greater share of the market than an NBA team.

Oklahoma City's market is unsaturated, so America's obsession with rankings and lists loses some merit. And here is what vexes me most about Seattle's reaction, and that comes in the form of two questions posed by a couple of people from Seattle...

1. "What's different about Oklahoma City today than 10 years ago, or 15 years ago."

Answer: Simple... Oklahoma City's quality of life and economy are leaps and bounds better than 1993, or even 1998. And, here's a concept... OKC's population IS growing, a factor too many people forget. Oh, but then they come back with some lame remark- "Oh, but who would ever want to live in than hell hole?"

2. "Isn't Oklahoma City a football and rodeo town?"

Answer: That question makes the asking person look as dumb as he/she thinks we are. Too many people forget about the... well former... OSU basketball power house that is the Gallager-IBA Arena. Too bad the Sutton era is over, but in his reign, seeing an OSU basketball game involved a multi-year waiting list. And let's not forget the well-supported Big 12 Mens and Womens BASKETBALL tournament that has been such a success.

As for rodeos... National Finals Rodeo moved to Vegas 23 years ago. We don't miss the event. No one has asked that it be returned. The IFR... who goes to that? And the Lazy-E Arena... that doesn't even count as a major venue. Sorry. Sometimes I forget it's still there.

[chasingclouds]

Originally Posted by StillwaterTownie

It may require current growth in the OKC metro area to keep Oklahoma from losing another congressman after the 2010 census.

We need better schools in the inner city. All my friends move out after they have kids to edmond or norman. It's really sad because I Know many of them really miss it here. I myself may be moving soon for school related issues. If you can't afford a private school or just want your kids to attend public, it's not that great here. I'm not sure of the reason but it seems really under funded or maybe managed? So think of that when you vote people, to vote people in that will do something for the schools and also for children of this state. Bring some of the inner city kids up. it would make it more livable here and help the economy if we focused a bit more on schools, healthcare , jobs and overall on the people that live in Oklahoma City. without the population it wont matter how many fancy water ditches are dug, new building are made, or how cool bricktown might be.. if you dont have a livable city, people will eventually stop coming in, because of urban blight.

[okcpulse]

Not underfunded, but most likely under-managed. Per pupil expenditures do need to increase, however. But inner-city schools will always encounter angry mistreated children as long as areas such as in north OKC just east of The Village, known as crack central, continues to be populated by negligent parents.

Many of these schools near OKC's bad areas need programs designed to help children of troubled homes thrive. We need to do away with the old-fashioned alternative school system, which is only a punishing mechanism for children who need help the most.

[chasingclouds]

Originally Posted by okcpulse

Not underfunded, but most likely under-managed. Per pupil expenditures do need to increase, however. But inner-city schools will always encounter angry mistreated children as long as areas such as in north OKC just east of The Village, known as crack central, continues to be populated by negligent parents.

Many of these schools near OKC's bad areas need programs designed to help children of troubled homes thrive. We need to do away with the old-fashioned alternative school system, which is only a punishing mechanism for children who need help the most.

I agree with needing more programs to help the kids from troubled homes and my main thing is we need more funding and programs for the kids with autism related disability. Lots of family's, poor and not poor, troubled / not troubled alike are finding that there just isn't the support needed.