Live South Oklahoma City

[SouthSide]

I believe this a new campaign by the South OKC Chamber. I just started hearing radio ads in the last couple of weeks promoting it. Website is livesouthokc.

[ChrisHayes]

I'm on the hunt for a potential live in flip or duplex to buy and live on one side while renting out the other. I've driven around a couple of the south OKC neighborhoods around and east of OCCC. I'm surprised how nice some of them are. They aren't what I was thinking of when I think about the south side.

[SouthSide]

There are duplexes off Western and Walker as well. Maybe the chamber should start offering tours of the southside to dispel the misinformation about south okc.

[pure]

that web site is very misleading and just poorly put together. Under "things to do", there's hardly any activities in South OKC. Places like the zoo, White Water Bay, and even things in Moore, & Norman are listed on that web site. I just feel like if you're going to have a web site to represent a district, you should probably have things that are actually in that district, and not a 15 minute drive away.

[Laramie]

Really impressed with the neighborhood and business development in south OKC. Went to notarize a friend's legal work (power of attorney) for his dad who is in process of rehab for an assisted living center. If you are near south 89th & Penn, check out Bistro B (Authentic Vietnamese Cuisine), excellent food with a vast menu.

I recall being in that area near OCCC about 20 years ago and there wasn't hardly anything in that area. Did notice some nice large duplexes, triplexes & quadplexes in the area.

[SouthSide]

It's actually half the city. It does point to the issue of how little the city has invested south of the river and how little they do to encourage investment in south okc. It is very hard to compete with Moore's incentives and the hundreds of million dollars the city has spent north of the river over the last 25-30 years.

[SouthSide]

Will have to check out Bistro B. OCCC has an eclectic performing arts program. Events and tickets - http://tickets.occc.edu/

[catch22]

It's actually half the city. It does point to the issue of how little the city has invested south of the river and how little they do to encourage investment in south okc. It is very hard to compete with Moore's incentives and the hundreds of million dollars the city has spent north of the river over the last 25-30 years.

I think it has more to do with the fact that the North side has better bones and a culture that is vastly different than that of the southside. The people on the North side have a better history of supporting the nice things that make the North side a great experience

I say that as a southsider...

[Plutonic Panda]

It's actually half the city. It does point to the issue of how little the city has invested south of the river and how little they do to encourage investment in south okc. It is very hard to compete with Moore's incentives and the hundreds of million dollars the city has spent north of the river over the last 25-30 years.

I am NOT disagreeing with you that the south side in under invested, but what kinds of improvements would you like to see? More specifically than general infrastructure projects, I'm curious if you have ideas for single capital projects like stadiums and such. I would like to see a MLS or Pro Football stadium built on Crossroads site with an entertainment district around it with a Medieval Times or something. The other obvious improvements are parks, trails, and better streets. Wider freeways and divided roads are also among my wishlist as is the city's first true light-rail system.

[Johnb911]

I would like to see a MLS or Pro Football stadium built on Crossroads site with an entertainment district around it with a Medieval Times or something.

No way we get an MLS team with a stadium that far out of the city center unfortunately.

[BLJR]

Grew up north and live south now. The one thing from a business standpoint (in my opinion), is you have SOKC Chamber, and Moore Chamber both doing their job, and they don't work together.... A company that is married to Moore Chamber, doesn't get alot of attention fromSOKC. I went to a "joint ribbon cutting" for both SOKC and Moore Chamber at the same time and well.... it was weird....

I will tell you that the amount of house you get for the $ is incredible south, but you don't get that "I live in or near Edmond" statement (or price tag) that comes with that title. Mashburn and Odom have done well in creating good neighborhoods and such. Don't know where it would be, but a nice golf course in that area would be a great add on.

I think the growth that will be coming to I-44 from 240 all the way to SW 134th will be a game changer, and if its done right, will put SOKC on the map much better.

[stile99]

Don't know where it would be, but a nice golf course in that area would be a great add on. .

So is Earlywine not 'nice', or just not advertising enough? Brookside would use some attention, for sure.

[Zuplar]

So is Earlywine not 'nice', or just not advertising enough? Brookside would use some attention, for sure.

I'm pretty sure Brookside is getting made into apartments or something similar.

[SOONER8693]

I'm pretty sure Brookside is getting made into apartments or something similar.

I believe part of Brookside will become a Catholic Church and shrine/memorial/monument to Father Stanley Rother.

[Plutonic Panda]

No way we get an MLS team with a stadium that far out of the city center unfortunately.

Light rail could ease the negative of being far from downtown.

[SOONER8693]

I believe part of Brookside will become a Catholic Church and shrine/memorial/monument to Father Stanley Rother.

I went and searched for the article on this. Found it. Hope the link works.
http://newsok.com/article/5558951

[Jeepnokc]

Hidden Trails Country Club has a nice course also

[Zuplar]

I went and searched for the article on this. Found it. Hope the link works.
http://newsok.com/article/5558951

Interesting thanks for posting.

[SouthSide]

Hidden Trails Country Club has a nice course also

You had me stumped for a moment. I had forgotten Willow Creek had changed its name.

[BBatesokc]

...I will tell you that the amount of house you get for the $ is incredible south, but you don't get that "I live in or near Edmond" statement (or price tag) that comes with that title. ...

Lived in and owned a house in SOKC for 15 years - over by SE 44 and Sooner. Little house that was extremely cheap to live in (bought for $56,000+/- and sold for about $95,000+/-). I actually liked living in SOKC as far as access to daily type shopping and dining. I really liked most of the people on our cul-de-sac too for the first decade or so. Plus downtown was only about 12-15 minutes away. In fact, it's only gotten better by our old house with the addition of all the eateries near Sooner & Tinker Diagonal. What we eventually hated though was the neglect to the area (always seemed dirty) and the people that were taking over our neighborhood as the older longtime home owners died off or moved away. Just thugs and criminals of all ages and race. Got to the point it just didn't feel safe to live in the area anymore (3 drive-bys in our final year there - we moved out and into our under renovation Edmond home just 24 hours after a bullet was found embedded in our fence).

Had more attention been given to keeping SOKC cleaner and safer, I'd have had no problem staying the rest of my life (I prefer living cheap and simple over being able to say "I live in Edmond.")

That said, we moved to Edmond because we found you can still get an extremely good value for your money there and not necessarily have to deal with the cleanliness or safety issues. Though, if I would have had the final say I'd have moved to about 10+ acres in a rural county with virtually no restrictions.

[Johnb911]

Light rail could ease the negative of being far from downtown.

Maybe. I'm just going off of what MLS has directly said, they want stadiums downtown. They might make an exception for a bigger market (Minnesota United isn't going exactly downtown, but about halfway between dt minneapolis and dt st paul), but I don't think they'd bend the rules for the number of eyeballs OKC would bring. They learned their lesson in Bridgeview (Chicago Fire) and Frisco (FC Dallas) and Commerce City (Colorado Rapids) how hard it is to make suburb stadiums work for soccer. Contrast with Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal.

I still think Wheeler Park or somewhere directly south of the river is the best bet for the stadium.

[KayneMo]

I went and searched for the article on this. Found it. Hope the link works.
http://newsok.com/article/5558951

I forgot about this. Is it still on track?

[emtefury]

I heard an advertisement on the radio this morning about living in South OKC.

[Quicker]

The Southside is really a tale of the dividing line that I-240 represents... So often people think southside and think of the depressed area to the north while the area to the south is thriving... south of 89th is all Moore schools and now 19th & I-35 is where they’re spending their money... I’ve always been a huge supporter of all things OKC and it almost feels like Moore has annexed that part of the City...

[SoonerDave]

Moore Schools extends north all the way up to SW 82nd street. As a nearly lifelong southsider, I've certainly felt many of the sentiments expressed here regarding the stereotypical image of anything south of Reno. It's frustrating. The delay in rebuilding the I-240/I-35 interchange near the old Crossroads property is but one example....although the recent ramp rebuild is greatly appreciated, it's about a decade overdue. Moore resisted the annexation binge OKC started in the late 60's/early 70's, and in so doing maintained a bit of Independence and a really good school district. Housing values in south OKC are still amazing, and you also have some of the highest per-capita income demographics in central Oklahoma...and there are many who are loathe to admit that. From what I can tell, and what I've been told, is the S. OKC chamber has been a mostly inert organization, with development efforts catalyzed by groups of private investors. I don't know if that's true, but it would surely make sense. I surely hope some improvements can be made along the I-240 corridor and development along I-44 south toward 149th can really take off and benefit the area.