Most Changing Terrain?? (Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Woodward: apartments, how much, construction)

[940]

I live in the DFW area and we have a lot of Oklahoma tourism commercials on television here and they're all different but one stands out. It mentions Tulsa and how it has one of the most changing terrains around..or something like that...can anyone from the area give me an idea what this is about? I guess I could google it myself and find out the info but I'd much rather read some native opinion on the subject. Thanks! And I must admit that that one particular commercial piqued my interest to visit Tulsa and see what it was all about.

[Synopsis]

I don't live in Tulsa anymore, but have lived there before and LOVED it. I now live in the DFW area and the terrain in and around Tulsa is completely different from around here. I think what they are referring to in regards to "most changing terrain" is the fact that in Tulsa itself and parts to the East and South are hilly and heavily forested. However, just to the North and East of Tulsa there is a large tallgrass prairie preserve. Tulsa sits just to the west of the foothills of the Ozark Mountains. The clash of these two different environments allows Tulsa residents to see pretty much about whatever terrain they'd like within an hours drive. The Arkansas River runs right next to downtown and there is actually an inland port outside of Tulsa in Catoosa where ships bring supplies up from the gulf coast. At one time the Port of Catoosa was the fartheset inland port in the U.S., or at least I believe it was.

I'm not from there, but kind of fell in love with the place the time I spent there and would like to move back. IMHO, Tulsa is a gem of a city and a well kept secret. The art deco architecture in the downtown buildings and indeed, much of Tulsa is stunning. Many of the large buildings in DT Tulsa were built during the oil boom in the 20s/30s and the architecture is stunningly beautiful. Go to the City Data main website http://www.city-data.com/ and type in Tulsa. Also google images for Tulsa. A great forum is www.tulsanow.org; (broken link) go to the public forum and then go to forum chat or discussion. There are Tulsa photoblog links there from locals that have alot of pictures of Tulsa and the surrounding areas. People in Oklahoma sometimes say that when Oklahoma City grows up it wants to be Dallas, and when Tulsa "grows up" it wants to be Boston. Although Tulsa certainly isn't Boston, the city definitely has a distinct "Eastern" charm in my opinion because of the topography of the area, foliage, and art deco architecture downtown and throughout.

Below are some links to photoblogs for Tulsa. The first one, from a guy named William the Artist is a great photographer. You can't really appreciate the beauty in some of the pictures on Wiliam's site until you view "all sizes" and look at the large photos. Boston Avenue Methodist Church is one of the most beautiful buildings I've ever seen and the Atlas Building and Philtower are near works of art as well. Places to visit would be Woodward Park, Mohawk Park, The Philbrook Musuem, The River Parks (miles of parks that stretch along the length of the Arkansas River), Oklahoma Aquarium, Caines Ballroom, dozens and dozens of huge, historic mansions throughout mid-town, cherry street, utica square during the holidays, the list goes on and on.

(http://www.flickr.com/photos/71912608@N00)

(http://www.flickr.com/photos/tulsamini/sets/1797186)

(http://www.flickr.com/photos/tulsamini/sets/1767333)

(http://www.pbase.com/lefturn99/night_photography)

[Synopsis]

In the earlier post I said "However, just to the North and East of Tulsa there is a large tallgrass prairie preserve."

I should have said, just to the North and WEST of Tulsa there is a large tallgrass prairie preserve... Sorry.

[Synopsis]

Oh, one more thing 940. I saw the video you're talking about and regarding the "changing terrains" that it speaks of in the video; it is referencing the fact that Oklahoma has 10 distinct ecoregions. According to Wikipedia, an ecoregion is "a relatively large area of land or water that contains a geographically distinct assemblage of natural communities." In simpler terms, swampland would be one ecoregion, and mountains are another.

Oklahoma offers some of the country's most diverse terrain within its boundaries. It’s one of only four states with more than 10 ecoregions, and has by far, the most per mile in America. The other states that have more ecoregions than Oklahoma are all much, much larger. Some of Oklahoma’s ecoregions are mountain foothills, cypress swamps, tallgrass prairies, hardwood forests and pine-covered mountains. They reference this diversity of regions in the Tulsa video because tulsa, sits between at least two of these ecoregions.

[940]

Wow..thanks for all the great info, Synopsis. I'll definitely use your links to see the pics and to read up on what the area offers. I had a feeling it was something similar to what you described b/c I have heard that the Tulsa area is rather beautiful and is like night and day, terrain-wise, to the Oklahoma City area.

I need to drive up there sometime and spend a few days exploring. Thanks again for the explanation!

[Nameless]

Oklahoma City is night and day terrain wise not just to Tulsa, but across the city itself. I read somewhere that for every 10 miles west you go the average annual rainfall drops an inch.

[Synopsis]

You're welcome 940. That's really the only way to find out if you like any area, to see it in person. If you're into architecture like me, take a walking tour of downtown during the daytime. It's best to do it during the week and in the day. If there is one drawback that Tulsa has it is this (imo). The downtown area, for all of it's glory and beautiful buildings, is actually quite dead at night and on the weekends. That will be changing in the near future because as I've said, the city of Tulsa is going through an extensive urban revitalization, mostly in the form of something called vision2025. Vision2025 is a huge program voted in by the citizens of Tulsa to build new venues, arenas, beef up the infrastructure of the city (roads, walkways) and basically just increase the viability of Tulsa to a broader group of people. In short, the DT area isn't quite like OkC's downtown or Fort Worth's downtown in regards to things to do, but it will have those things in the future. As for things to do outside of architecture, just visit those areas I was talking about; there is a very active nightlife in Tulsa (Blue Dome District, uptown bars and clubs, etc.) and you should have a good time.
Below is some content from another post about Tulsa, regarding their new arena. There is a picture and link to a webcam. I think this shows how much the city of Tulsa is doing to improve over what they already have. The arena cam may be covered in ice or snow right now after the big storm they had up there over last week.

Just an FYI. Tulsa's Bank of Oklahoma arena is being built. Below is a link to the webcam where you can view the construction. A very interesting design, the wrap around feature is something that is indeed unique. Caesar Pelli (sp?) is the desginer, the same guy who designed the petronis towers and other notable buildings.

http://vision2025.info/camera.php?camera=arenacamera

Below is what the arena is supposed to look like when finished.

[940]

^^The design is very "cutting-edge"...very impressive. I did try to take a look at the cam but it's not very clear now due to the remnants of the storm the other day, as you said. It's been above freezing there during the day lately but I'm sure that with 10-11 inches of snow that the area received, it still has an impact on everything even now!

[Synopsis]

If you'll go to the vision2025 website (vision2025.info) you can also get an idea of the broad scope of projects that are going on up there thesedays. It's really impressive what they've set out to do. I think the vision2025 project was spurred on by the runaway success of the Oklahoma City MAPS projects, which are still ongoing. There's a rivalry between Ok City and Tulsa, just like cities in many states, and Tulsa looked at the Bricktown developments in Oklahoma City and said "WHAT?"

Regarding the weather; that's one of the things I liked about Tulsa - they actually have four seasons up there and snow isn't a foreign word. It's too bad you couldn't get up there in late October or early November, the fall foliage is nothing short of spectacular. Keep revisiting that webcam, once things thaw out somewhat it provides a good view of the enormous improvements they are making downtown. They actually have a project in mind that will create a set of islands in the Arkansas River and populate them with multi-use developments such as high rise apartments and entertainment venues, linked to the downtown and mainland by bridges. I kid you not.. Below is the website; there's even an animated presentation. I think the cost is something like 700 million dollars. In my opinion, it'll never get done because it is a huge impact on the river and surrounding area. Plus, about half of those funds would come from the tax increase voted in to fund the vision 2025 projects. But, the simple fact that there are developers from around the country looking at what Tulsa already has and wanting to bring such bold ventures to the area speaks volumes of Tulsa's potential, in my opinion.

http://tulsachannels.com/

Alot of the people in Tulsa are up in arms about this though and it's 50/50 as to whether the developers will get it to even come up for a vote, but you can see there are alot of bold visions on what Tulsa is capable of and I do believe it's finally coming into its own as a player on the national scene. That can be good and bad. One of the great things about Tulsa is that although it's a decent size city, it has nowhere near of the traffic problems and congestion that larger cities like DFW, Houston, and such. The probable influx of people over the next few years will erode away at that small-town feel. But, one of the things the urban design folks up in Tulsa are looking at is making Tulsa a truly "urban" environment without all of the sprawl you have associated with these larger cities like DFW and Houston.

[BigOkie]

Originally Posted by Synopsis

You're welcome 940. That's really the only way to find out if you like any area, to see it in person. If you're into architecture like me, take a walking tour of downtown during the daytime. It's best to do it during the week and in the day. If there is one drawback that Tulsa has it is this (imo). The downtown area, for all of it's glory and beautiful buildings, is actually quite dead at night and on the weekends. That will be changing in the near future because as I've said, the city of Tulsa is going through an extensive urban revitalization, mostly in the form of something called vision2025. Vision2025 is a huge program voted in by the citizens of Tulsa to build new venues, arenas, beef up the infrastructure of the city (roads, walkways) and basically just increase the viability of Tulsa to a broader group of people. In short, the DT area isn't quite like OkC's downtown or Fort Worth's downtown in regards to things to do, but it will have those things in the future. As for things to do outside of architecture, just visit those areas I was talking about; there is a very active nightlife in Tulsa (Blue Dome District, uptown bars and clubs, etc.) and you should have a good time.
Below is some content from another post about Tulsa, regarding their new arena. There is a picture and link to a webcam. I think this shows how much the city of Tulsa is doing to improve over what they already have. The arena cam may be covered in ice or snow right now after the big storm they had up there over last week.

Just an FYI. Tulsa's Bank of Oklahoma arena is being built. Below is a link to the webcam where you can view the construction. A very interesting design, the wrap around feature is something that is indeed unique. Caesar Pelli (sp?) is the desginer, the same guy who designed the petronis towers and other notable buildings.

http://vision2025.info/camera.php?camera=arenacamera

Below is what the arena is supposed to look like when finished.

Not entirely dead is downtown. Granted, it will be much better once Vision2025 progresses more (the arena is about half complete; I watch it's progress every Tulsa Oilers hockey game I go to), but there are some really nice little bars and eateries in the northern part of Downtown that locals typically call the 'Blue Dome District'.

http://www.oklahomanightlife.com/tul...bar-scene.html