When/why did cruising stop?

[Achilleslastand]

39th street,air depot as well as various spots in edmond and moore. I even recall a cruising/parking area on the west side of overholser.
Was this to keep the kids safe?

[OKCisOK4me]

Go to NW Expressway from just east of Council Road. It's just migrated...

[ThomPaine]

Ahhh... Memories of the Air Depot circuit. Sonic to McDonalds and back again. And again. And again.

Businesses hated it. People who actually spent money stopped going out on Fridays and Saturdays due to the traffic and idiots (probably including me).

Good times though, parked at Taco Bueno with your hood up trying to find a race.

[kevinpate]

internet? gameboys?

[PennyQuilts]

Who can afford it?

[Hawk405359]

I'm with Penny, when gas costs more than $3 a gallon, cruising is only going to affordable if you're driving a Prius and, well, if you're cruising in a Prius, it's just sad.

[mkjeeves]

Myspace and facebook?

[kevinpate]

I'm with Penny, when gas costs more than $3 a gallon, cruising is only going to affordable if you're driving a Prius and, well, if you're cruising in a Prius, it's just sad.

Jeff Dunham made a right fair penny lamenting on the downside of driving a prius and playing with dolls.

[MadMonk]

I remember when the put up the "no U-turn between 10:00pm and 6:00am" signs on 39th st (and started enforcing it). Drove all but the hard-core cruisers away and eventually they left too.

[RadicalModerate]

Best thread ever. =)
(except, of course, involving a c.'52 newcomer to the area, riding a c.'65 Pan, c.'75 . . . good times. =)
the world--that is, the immediate perceptual framework/happiness--of the day was much more "free"
nice to know that the grains of Wisdom learned are equal to the "road rash" risked . . . =)

[HangryHippo]

I'll step way out on a limb and say that gas prices and thugs had more to do with it stopping than anything else.

[Anonymous.]

I am not real sure what you guys are exactly calling cruising, parking etc... But there is a small fleet of car people I see frequently posted up at night @ the sonic near Memorial/Portland. Looks like foreign makes mostly.

I really wish OKC had a spot like Ted Drewes in STL, large foot traffic'd frozen custard joint [walk-up window ordering] a great evening hangout area where people come show off their rides. It is surprisingly family friendly everytime I have been to one.

[woodyrr]

As I recall, one of the primary reasons for the demise of the cruise here in Midwest City as well as 39th was: As a result of complaints from citizens and businesses, the police began heavily patrolling the cruise and took a "no tolerance" policy to infractions of the law to discourage participation.

[RadicalModerate]

As I recall, one of the primary reasons for the demise of the cruise here in Midwest City as well as 39th was: As a result of complaints from citizens and businesses, the police began heavily patrolling the cruise and took a "no tolerance" policy to infractions of the law to discourage participation.

That's pretty much the way I remember it too . . . (not so much the price of gasoline and thugs)

(in denver, the "american graffitiesque" place to be was the scotchman drive-in on n. federal blvd. growing up thirty miles down the turnpike made 'making the scene' rather difficult, even with 25 cent a gallon gasoline so we settled for 'crusing' the local mountain highways and parking on flagstaff =)

[BBatesokc]

I remember cruising 39th street when I was a teen. Originally in my 1984 VW, diesel, standard, mini pickup truck with a camper shell. We'd pack as many people as we could into the back of that thing.Then they made it illegal to do u-turns along the stretch we cruised (around 39th and Meridian). That pretty much stopped it. Then things moved petty exclusively to Lake Hefner.

[RadicalModerate]

Here's some music to "cruise" this thread by . . . =)
(even if you grew up in Oklahoma or Colorado =)

[Pete]

This is an aerial from 1976, when 39th was in it's glory days. About the only thing that remains is the Taco Bueno.

Amazing how this went from peak to bust so quickly:

[RadicalModerate]

Darn those Carmelite Nuns . . . Darn them . . . and their groundless noise complaints during vespers =)
(from time to time, i feel a bit sorry for the kidz o' today, but i get over it.)

(thanks, pete!)

more music to cruise this thread . . .
(the very first 45--or any other record--that i bought with my own money =)


of course, by '76, car-culture had yielded to something more along these lines . . .


is it Taco Bueno or Taco Mayo that a well-known local chef is attempting to kick up a couple of notches vis-a-vis the menu?

[BBatesokc]

I think I mentioned it when this pic was posted in another thread. My first job at 13 was as a dishwasher at Monterey House on 39th. Then I left and went to work at Roy Rogers across the street. I still have nightmares of having to greet every guest with "Howdy Partner" and when the left.... "Happy Trails."

[RadicalModerate]

For me it was the International House of Pancakes (a.k.a. IHOP) followed by Kentucky Fried Chicken (a.k.a. KFC).
Nightmare stuff for sure . . . But provided enough money to buy records and chip in on the gasoline! =)

(casey kasem overdub):
". . . and this one goes out to all the youngsters making a carbon footprint out on Route 66 in OKC . . ."


" . . . along with a word of caution, brought to you by The Meridian Order of Carmelite Nuns as a public service (PSA). . ."

[metro]

Warr Acres cops heavy enforcement and no U-turns ruined 39th street cruising. I still see some wanna be highschoolers and their mom's old car hanging out there though, but not what it used to be with classics and suped up imports.

[RadicalModerate]

i suppose that a partial answer to the OP's question might be thugs with badges then?
nah . . . there are no thugs with badges . . . =)
so . . . 'zackly what is a 'suped up import'? . . . is it, like, a beemer?
and what is a "wanna be highschooler"? . . .

Semantics: Don't Be Anti-

[Anonymous.]

I don't know many people who would want to be a highschooler, or pose as one.

[RadicalModerate]

Me neither. No sh*t. =)
as i said . . . Semantics: Don't Be Anti-

(and here's yet another "crusin'" tune to dispute the premise that it has stopped . . .
despite the best efforts of thugs and nuns with badges all gassed up and nowhere to go . . . =)


Sure hope that rated the METROpolitan (barking) Seal of Approval . . . =)
(just kiddin' dude . . . we're from about the same "Decade Matrix" . . .
only a little "payback" fer bein' all crabby and whutnot on that much more important issue. =)

[MadMonk]

so . . . 'zackly what is a 'suped up import'? . . . is it, like, a beemer?

There used to be a couple 280zs on 39th that were very quick. One black and one red. I never did find out what was done to them to make them so much faster than most; turbos, most likely. One non-import I vividly remember was a Chevy LUV pickup that had a V-8 squeezed in under the hood; then there was this late-60s Mercury Cougar that could pull the front wheels off the ground. That was impressive.