Exactly. Austin is like that downtown, but you go out to the burbs and it's no different from Edmond. There's no reason why we can't be like Austin in Downtown and Midtown and Riverside. It just takes the right leadership.

I don't feel like Bricktown was ever on track to be anymore than a tourist-centric place. The canal, the ballpark, the kinds of restaurants there, all work towards that, and I agree we need to decide for sure what Bricktown is and focus on that completely. I've always said Bricktown needs mini-golf. Fortunately, I really think Automobile Alley, the Arts Quarter, and Midtown are all shaping up to be more along the lines of what most of us want.

The Colcord
The Skirvin
Soliel
XO
The Park Harvey
The Montgomery
Trattoria il Centro
Legacy Summit
Grateful Bean
McNellie's
Irma's Burger Shack
The Osler
The Sieber
Red
IAO Gallery
Untitled: Art Space
Coney Island
The Civic Center
OKCMOA
Museum Cafe
the new development on the Mercy site

...all add up to a very nice mix of residential, retail, restaurants, entertainment, and hotels. And things are just getting started in those areas. Where as Bricktown has been mostly restaurants and bars from the get go, Midtown, AA Alley, Arts Quarter, and even the CBD are developing with much more balance.


I also would like to mention that my aunt from Milwaukee and her boyfriend visited OKC for Christmas and were very impressed with downtown and Bricktown. We mentioned going down to Bricktown and my aunt, who lived in Tulsa in the 80's while at ORU and TU, said "oh yeah I've been there back when I lived in Tulsa". We all kind of snickered because obviously it's changed a little bit. She went on and on about how much OKC has improved itself (and how much Tulsa has declined). Her boyfriend has a masters in Urban Planning and was also very impressed with all of downtown. They called it "a very livable city", and even though she loved Milwaukee (another good role model for us), I heard her ask him twice if he wanted to move to Oklahoma City with her.