I did want to point out that even as recently as the early 90's, there was no "there" to Oklahoma City. No place to take people to show them the town. All you could do is drive around in the car, but even then, where could you take someone?

Consider:

• The area around Lake Hefner was still weeds and mud -- no trails and only a seamy Stars & Stripes park. No restaurants, either.
  
• Bricktown didn't exist except for Spaghetti Warehouse as I recall. Certainly no canal or people walking around.
  
• The Skirvin was shuttered and looked terrible. The only downtown hotel was a shabby Sheraton Century Center.
  
• The Civic Center and Myriad were really looking rough around the edges and there were not many interesting events booked in them.
  
• Most of downtown was a ghost town. There were huge amounts of vacancy and it just seemed completely dead at most times.
  
• Midtown looked like a ghetto. Plaza Court was empty, Auto Alley was completely dilapidated and ugly, etc., etc.

It's really amazing if you think about it.