Report shows MAPS program continuing to succeed

By Steve Lackmeyer
The Oklahoman

An updated report on the effect of Oklahoma City's MAPS program shows the resulting investment in downtown has yet to slow -- and is up to $2.5 billion.

The report, released Friday, shows $500 million of the $2.5 billion has occurred within the two years following the completion of MAPS and the original study, which the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber produced.

And in Bricktown, central to five of the MAPS projects, the authors estimate property values went up as much as 231 percent between 1999 and 2004.

Roy Williams, chamber president, commissioned the follow-up report as he witnessed the announcement of a half-dozen new downtown housing projects since the original study was released in 2003.

"We just wanted to make certain we had our arms around how that initial investment has moved forward, and what has it really spurred," Williams said. "And there are so many big things we have not yet seen."

The Metropolitan Area Projects were funded with a five-year, penny sales tax that voters passed in 1993. The tax raised $370 million and paid for the Bricktown Canal, SBC Bricktown Ballpark, Ford Center, dams and parks along the Oklahoma River, a downtown transit system, and renovations to the Cox Convention Center, Civic Center Music Hall and State Fair Park.

Initially, promoters estimated the projects would result in $140 million in private investments.

The follow-up was authored by Larkin Warner, regents professor emeritus at Oklahoma State University, Montgomery Evans, manager of information systems for the chamber, and student intern Dinh Ngo.

Among the study's findings:

Seven of the 25 most valuable properties in the downtown area that the study looked at represent additions to tax rolls since 1999. They include two hotels -- the Renaissance and Marriott Courtyard -- two office buildings in the Presbyterian Health Foundation Research Park, the new Sonic headquarters in Bricktown, Deep Deuce apartments and Bass Pro Shops.

A selection of Bricktown properties bought and sold over the years and tracked by the study saw an increase in market value from $12.2 million in 1999 to $40.2 million in 2004 -- an increase of 231 percent.

The Ronald J. Norick Downtown Library, a MAPS project, and the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, a spin-off of MAPS, both saw increased visits in their new downtown locations. During the first year open, the library's book circulation increased 113 percent over the preceding year at the old location, while the new museum drew more than 100,000 visitors in its first year -- more than double attendance when it was at State Fair Park.

The opening of the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel increased the downtown room count to 931. When all announced projects are completed, downtown's room count will total 1,641 rooms.

Williams said he thinks if another report is done in a few years, it will show the next MAPS-inspired growth spurt occurring along the Oklahoma River. "The river, with the potential development that will occur there along with I-40 being relocated, will probably dwarf the development we see today," Williams said. "And all that will be traced back to MAPS, which created the river we see today."

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" You've Been Thunder Struck ! "

Ummmm, I think it's time to start thinking about MAPS III. I still like Susan Johnston's idea of a MAPS for neighborhoods that would focus on city-wide beautification! Part of this plan could include building more parks along the Oklahoma River, as well as other places in the city. Let's just make Oklahoma City Beautiful a city agency, and fund them with MAPS III money.

I agree...but IMO I think the largest amount should go to highway and highly traveled city street beautification. It is what most visitors see and judge the city by.

There is an overwhelming body of statistics, demographic data and other evidence that supports BEAUTIFICATION as a top factor, along with quality educational opportunities, access to cultural attractions and facilities and overall quality of life, in attracting the best companies and the best jobs. Good companies want to locate where their executives and other employees can enjoy a good quality of life.

OKC is definitely moving in the right direction on all fronts. We have a long way to go, but we have come a very long way since the days of urban destruction and oil bust. We have enjoyed excellent civic leadership, made some tough decisions, taken some well thought out risks and are reaping the benefits.

OKC Beautiful works closely with The City on lots of projects and policy making, but would be less effective if it received direct funding. They do accept financial support from private citizens however. P.O. Box 2296 Oklahoma City, OK 73101 You can get a good idea of what the organization does by going to their website www.okcbeautiful.com.

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The Old Downtown Guy

It will take decades for Oklahoma City's
downtown core to regain its lost gritty,
dynamic urban character, but it's exciting
to observe and participate in the transformation.

I agree about the huge need for beautification and landscaping BUT...

...It's very difficult to accomplish when you have the massive sprawl that characterizes most of OKC. Millions could be spent on the Memorial corridor alone and it would still be ugly.

Also, until there are enhanced requirements for landscaping and signage for developers, what the city can do in public spaces would be a drop in the bucket.


I would enthusiastically support large beautification projects only if they were partnered with tighter development restrictions and some sort of endowment to maintain what is put in place.

Very good chance that MAPS 3 will include Beautification and Mass Transportation as the top priorities. We still have two years left on the Maps for Kids but I can tell you that these things are already being talked about and planned

As far as specific beautification projects, here's some areas where we could get good bang for the buck:

1. Meridian from I-40 to the airport.
2. The Oklahoma River.
3. The new boulevard that will be built in the former I-40 corridor.
4. I-35 south of downtown


Just some ideas.

The landscaping projects that you see around town that have signs indicating that they were done by OKC Beautiful and a corporate partner such as NW Expressway between Penn Square and 50 Penn Place with Chesapeake and further west on the same street at Baptist Hospital with Integris are all endowed with maintenance funds for the term of their agreement, which is usually ten years. After the term is up, the location rights (including payment of associated maintenance) funding can be required by the same corporate sponsor or a new one, which insures continuing upkeep.

Also, Last year, new landscape requirements were adopted by OKC for new development and sidewalk requirements on the surrounding major streets were added to the requirement for sidewalks within the development. The problem is that we have so many years of developing on the cheap to overcome. There are miles and miles of inner-city streets with bare dirt paths worn next to them where there should be sidewalks. Development in the burbs has been accomplished without any consideration for pedestrian activity so the challenges are even greater out there.

Memorial Road is an example of a few cheapskate developers subverting a good plan. The OKC Planning Department did a good master plan with thoughtful design guidelines for Memorial Road several years ago prior to Quail Springs being built. If you notice the quality of construction, landscaping and monument style signs at and right around Quail Springs as opposed to the south side of the turnpike and to the east; there is a marked difference. As development went forward post-Quail Springs, individual developers obtained variances through the Planning Commission, City Council and OKC Board of Adjustment to permit the tall signs, lower quality materials and cut backs on landscaping. For all practical purposes, Memorial Road is just a bigger and more ruined version of May Avenue between NW 23rd and Memorial. It's just ghastly.

Fortunately, The City is making more good planning and development decisions today and over the next few generations, OKC can become more appealing. City boards and commissions are not the candy jar for cut-rate developers that they once were. The citywide trails system and improved mass transit plans are a couple of examples. Also, the change of directors in the Public Works Department will have a major impact on what OKC looks like going forward. Unfortunately, it's a very slow process and obviously there's much more to do. At least we're moving in a good direction.

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The Old Downtown Guy

It will take decades for Oklahoma City's
downtown core to regain its lost gritty,
dynamic urban character, but it's exciting
to observe and participate in the transformation.

The OKC Trails master plan is impressive and will help us bring more of the younger, "creative class" that we need so badly. Perhaps MAPS III could help fund it since so much of it doesn't yet have funding.

I personally think we should start with areas that tourists see most......our interstates. I still don't understand why we can get some creeping vines to grow up the concrete walls along I-44. Seems to work on the south canal.

I like the planters that were built along I-44 south of I-40, but they don't seem to be very well maintained.

Personally, I think the parks department as a whole needs to be divided up. It's become too large of an organization to manage appropriately. We need separate agencies to handle city beautification, and leave the parks to the parks dept.

Indeed Patrick. We need a a sub-section of the parks department that focuses on beautification projects. We had one but it was shut down a year or so ago due to lack of funds. Hopefully with the strong energy sector and the economy booming locally, we can bring them back. We should all get a petition going to the city council in an effort to bring back a forestry or beautification department. We should have another budget surplus this year after all!!! I strongly disagree that making OKC Beautiful a government agency is the way to go. They mismanage funds and I think we can do better. The overhead there is too high and the projects could be of better quality.

The first thing we need to do is fix the litter problem. Dumb Okie rednecks are still dumping their sofas and mattresses on the sides of our freeways.

I agree with The Old Downtownguy. Personally, I think we need to change our policies on the approval of permits for development. In OKC there really aren't a lot of restrictions on landscaping and the like. In contrast, look at all Wal-Mart had to go through to build their Supercenter at Danforth and Santa Fe. It definitely isn't your typical Wal-Mart. Truth is, Wal-Mart would've built in OKC no matter the restrictions the city placed on them. Thus, OKC should've put heavy restrictions on them like Edmond did.

Improving beautification is going to have to start at city hall, changing the way we do business with developers.

You got that right Jack. Litter is a major problem in OKC, but sofas and matresses are just a small part. Those little plastic bags from most grocery stores, Dollar Stores and Walmart blow in the wind and get snagged in trees and on fences and all manner of trash blows out of the back of trucks.

Every time an OKC garbage truck dumps one of those blue curbside containers and every time one of the commercial haulers empties a dumpster, a little bit of trash blows out. Add to that all of the fast food wrappers that get thrown out of car windows and it becomes the really big problem that we have here in OKC.

On the upside, the litter level downtown has been reduced to a bare minimum by the litter abatement services provided through the downtown BID. The litter doesn't accumulate and people are less likely to throw stuff down on a clean sidewalk than one that is already thick with trash. Litter along the interstates and suburban roadsides gets too little attention.

The two biggest imporvements that could very easily be made to control litter are (1) requiring that all blowable trash put into the blue curbside containers and commercial dumpsters is bagged first and (2) that any load in a truck, no matter what it is or how small, be properly covered. Both of those actions could be done by City Government. There is already an ordinance dealing with uncoverd loads. Unfortunately it is seldomly enforced. Requiring all loose trash to be baggd before disposal is an easy ordinance to write and, better yet, could be part of a comprhensive anti-litter ordinance overhall that could include a bottle deposit and return component.

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The Old Downtown Guy

It will take decades for Oklahoma City's
downtown core to regain its lost gritty,
dynamic urban character, but it's exciting
to observe and participate in the transformation.

I will agree that we have a litter problem, but I've been to a lot of other cities, where the problem is indeed worse. NYC for example. Even Dallas.

The only city where you can eat off the concrete is Seattle. And I can tell you what their secret is.......pride and enforcing the law. My dad took a group of military men around when he was in summer camp in Seattle. One of the guys in his car decided to throw a bottle out of the car window on one of the freeways. The police noticed, and wrote him a $500 ticket. Ouch!