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The city has a bad habit of allowing developers to make big promises, demolish history, and then not follow through. The worst of it was during urban renewal but it still happens today. OKC had the Stage Center, which was a world-renowned piece of architecture. A lot of people thought it was ugly, but it was featured in architecture textbooks and was well-known among architecture geeks. OG&E comes in and proposes three skyscrapers. It would be beautiful. They then demolished the Stage Center and as soon as the demolition was done, OG&E said "Oops! The financing fell through so we won't be building our towers." Now a basketball court sits there.
The city has a bad habit of allowing developers to make big promises, demolish history, and then not follow through. The worst of it was during urban renewal but it still happens today. OKC had the Stage Center, which was a world-renowned piece of architecture. A lot of people thought it was ugly, but it was featured in architecture textbooks and was well-known among architecture geeks. OG&E comes in and proposes three skyscrapers. It would be beautiful. They then demolished the Stage Center and as soon as the demolition was done, OG&E said "Oops! The financing fell through so we won't be building our towers." Now a basketball court sits there.
I looked up the Stage Center- it looks ridiculous. Not a significant architectural loss at all.
OKC is a lot better than it used to be. It's the buckle of the Bible Belt but central OKC has actually developed quite it's own liberal counterculture, mostly confined to a few neighborhoods north of downtown. Since the modernization of alcohol laws and legalization of medical marijuana, the city has developed a strong beer culture and weed culture and I appreciate that about it. Outside of those few neighborhoods though, it's MAGA country.
I'd say the nightlife has come a long ways from just a few years ago and now there's more bars/clubs like what you have in other cities. While I'd say living in OKC, the nightlife definitely gets repetitive, at least there's options now. It used to be just sad.
For me, it's the awful weather, tornadoes, lack of any natural beauty in the surrounding area, and overall backwardness of the state that truly make it a bad place to live. I like that Des Moines is an actual progressive city and that the state is purple. Plus, less tornadoes and summers are nice. OKC has bad weather in all four seasons. It's the worst of all climates rolled into one.
It seems like there are a lot of LGBT options too, likely due to the counterculture that you mention.
OKC is a lot better than it used to be. It's the buckle of the Bible Belt but central OKC has actually developed quite it's own liberal counterculture, mostly confined to a few neighborhoods north of downtown. Since the modernization of alcohol laws and legalization of medical marijuana, the city has developed a strong beer culture and weed culture and I appreciate that about it. Outside of those few neighborhoods though, it's MAGA country.
I'd say the nightlife has come a long ways from just a few years ago and now there's more bars/clubs like what you have in other cities. While I'd say living in OKC, the nightlife definitely gets repetitive, at least there's options now. It used to be just sad.
For me, it's the awful weather, tornadoes, lack of any natural beauty in the surrounding area, and overall backwardness of the state that truly make it a bad place to live. I like that Des Moines is an actual progressive city and that the state is purple. Plus, less tornadoes and summers are nice. OKC has bad weather in all four seasons. It's the worst of all climates rolled into one.
Iowa has bad weather in all four seasons. We have less tornadoes than Oklahoma, but still have a lot of them. We have less heat in the summer, but it's still hot as hell. We have nastier winters too.
I would give Des Moines the nod, because I think it has better architecture, more neighborhood feel, a generally more progressive outlook, and has a similar level of economic boom, but Iowa weather is really tough.
Arguing the merits of weather among cities in the Plains area is kind of a moot point. They're all going to have intense 4 season climates with pretty much every kind of weather related phenomena possible. OKC has tougher summers, Des Moines has tougher winters, but neither city has a pleasant climate.
Also, OKC is a bit bigger. Tulsa is a better comparison for Des Moines if you're doing cities in Oklahoma. Honestly, Tulsa and Des Moines are extremely similar.
Why does it need to become more progressive or cosmopolitan? Not everywhere needs to be Berkeley or San Francisco
I don't mean progressive in terms of politics. I mean more culture, more diversity, more arts, more overall neighborhoods that are vibe-y and original or destinations for food/drink/fun.
I don't mean progressive in terms of politics. I mean more culture, more diversity, more arts, more overall neighborhoods that are vibe-y and original or destinations for food/drink/fun.
Oklahoma City is pretty diverse. It seems like there's even a Native American presence which is rare in the urban US
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