Tower Theatre

[OKC_on_mines]

Suck I missed this show. But I am elated to see we are getting shows like this in OKC. How great is this for Uptown right?!?!

[Uptowner]

I attended the Talbi Kweli concert on Saturday night. First, I love this venue. It's very intimate, well designed, and while I'm no expert, the acoustics sounded great. Everything seemed to be running really smoothly. The show was attended with people taking up all the space in the theatre, but I suspect they were a few hundred short of capacity because it was not crowded, which was really nice. Everyone was able to stand in their own space without bumping into people. The only hiccup on the organizational side was that when we showed up at 9pm, we were told Kweli wouldn't come on until 10:30pm. We ended up deciding to go back at 10pm and I'm glad we did because he started about 10:15pm. If you're going to error, it's better to tell people to show up, not late.

As for the concert, Kweli is a great artist. He put on a really engaging and thoughtful show. In addition to his own stuff, he did a great Tribe Called Quest cover and a re-mix of The Beatles' Eleanor Rigby. If you're a hip hop fan, make sure you attend these shows so they keep coming. I suspect Jabee is playing a big role in bringing hip hop artists to the city. He was at the show and he's just an incredible ambassador for OKC. He's such a friendly, smart, and determined artist.

This is a great mid-sized venue for OKC that can attract artists that have skipped past the metro in the past.

Talib was dope! I also checked out the eoto music show to see what that scene was all about. It wasn't for me, although fun, and I haven't stayed up that late on a school night in awhile. It was even more full than the kweli show, by a couple hundred at least. I'm eager to get the feel for a sellout. The show let out at 1:20ish and I felt bad for the bars in the area who scrambled to get everyone a round before last call & subsequently kicking them out. Hopefully it wasn't "one for the road."

I'm so happy to have this venue operating like it is near my neighborhood so far though. Very diverse!

[UnFrSaKn]

http://newsok.com/falling-asleep-at-...rticle/5563511

[bchris02]

http://newsok.com/falling-asleep-at-...rticle/5563511

I think between Robinson and Shartel, 23rd St should be narrowed. Lowering the speed limit was a great start but narrowing it to two lanes with angled parking, like what is currently in the Western Ave corridor, would be optimal. The corridor is becoming increasingly pedestrian-oriented and its time to put pedestrians first.

[Urbanized]

^^^^^^
What would be better would be removal of the median - to be replaced by a center turn lane - and elimination of one traffic lane in each direction. This configuration would actually allow auto traffic to move through the area more quickly and efficiently as many of the stoppages are related to cars stacking behind left-turning vehicles, and much of the speeding is related to vehicles switching lanes and blowing by these stoppages. Studies have shown this configuration actually reduces auto travel time, even as actual SPEEDS go down.

Once you've eliminated the two traffic lanes you have a wealth of area that could be re-purposed by any combination of parallel/angled parking and/or protected bike lanes and/or wider sidewalks.

[Ross MacLochness]

^^^^^^
What would be better would be removal of the median - to be replaced by a center turn lane - and elimination of one traffic lane in each direction. This configuration would actually allow auto traffic to move through the area more quickly and efficiently as many of the stoppages are related to cars stacking behind left-turning vehicles, and much of the speeding is related to vehicles switching lanes and blowing by these stoppages. Studies have shown this configuration actually reduces auto travel time, even as actual SPEEDS go down.

Once you've eliminated the two traffic lanes you have a wealth of area that could be re-purposed by any combination of parallel/angled parking and/or protected bike lanes and/or wider sidewalks.

Feeding two birds with one hand, I like it. I do enjoy the center median trees a whole bunch though, but with two lanes removed there would be plenty of room to add an amenities zone with street trees on either side of the street which would suffice!

[David]

While I do not disagree with the overall idea of revamping 23rd and like some of the suggestions, I find Steve's use of this accident in particular as an argument for it to be kind of questionable. Dude had his brakes go out and made the interesting decision to go up on the sidewalk. No amount of street reconfiguration is going to catch and prevent a one-off unpredictable situation like that.

[Urbanized]

^^^^^^^^^^
I don't disagree but if you'd like a better example you can look at the fiery crash into the front door of The Drake maybe a month earlier. Or just go stand on that sidewalk and watch people blow through the pedestrian crossing red lights with regularity.

[David]

Those would both be much better examples for selling this compared to no-brakes dude.

[Urbanized]

Feeding two birds with one hand, I like it. I do enjoy the center median trees a whole bunch though, but with two lanes removed there would be plenty of room to add an amenities zone with street trees on either side of the street which would suffice!

I agree that the median is nice to look at, but I'd rather look at street trees on the sides instead, if it also meant throngs of (safe) pedestrians and tables on the sidewalks.

[Ross MacLochness]

I agree that the median is nice to look at, but I'd rather look at street trees on the sides instead, if it also meant throngs of (safe) pedestrians and tables on the sidewalks.

for sure. I'd gladly trade the median for the improvements you described.

[Pete]

The traffic on 23rd is monumental.

It's really the only way to get E/W anywhere near the heart of the city.

No matter the changes, that thoroughfare has to handle tons and tons of cars.

[Ross MacLochness]

The traffic on 23rd is monumental.

It's really the only way to get E/W anywhere near the heart of the city.

No matter the changes, that thoroughfare has to handle tons and tons of cars.

If Urbanized is correct then his proposed improvements would improve traffic flow as well as enhance pedestrian safety, no?

[Pete]

^

Not sure about that.

And given that City Hall is ruled by engineers, I seriously doubt they'd consider removing traffic lanes on such a busy street.

[Ross MacLochness]

The traffic on 23rd is monumental.

It's really the only way to get E/W anywhere near the heart of the city.

No matter the changes, that thoroughfare has to handle tons and tons of cars.

also, 30th and 36th are pretty easy ways to get across town. 10th is easy once you are out of downtown. Reno is a nice east west street, we're about to have the boulevard. 23rd is no doubt important, but there are other E/W thoroughfares available. Even if changes on 23rd do indeed make traffic slightly worse, I'm not convinced it would really create a traffic problem. But, I'm just a dude and I have no background in traffic management.

[Pete]

If you are coming from the HSC or the state capitol and need to get west, you take 23rd. And vice versa in the AM.

That's why you have such incredible traffic in Uptown.

10th goes through the heart of Midtown, 36th turns residential west of Classen, etc.

[Urbanized]

If Urbanized is correct then his proposed improvements would improve traffic flow as well as enhance pedestrian safety, no?

^

Not sure about that.

And given that City Hall is ruled by engineers, I seriously doubt they'd consider removing traffic lanes on such a busy street.

https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/road_die...MythBuster.pdf

It currently does about 20K daily. According to the Federal Highway Administration, road diets have been successfully implemented with traffic counts as high as 26K.

[Urbanized]

More:

http://www.ca-ilg.org/sites/main/fil...road_diets.pdf

[Pete]

I'd love to see it happen but don't think it would even be considered due to who is in power at City Hall and also the perception and likely backlash of people who drive that way every day.

[Urbanized]

I know some of the developers there would like to see something similar happen, and also I believe the bond issue includes monies for this stretch of 23rd. So...who knows. But yes, I agree with you, Public Works wants to prioritize cars over all. Which is why this is so compelling; data shows that level of service actually also IMPROVES FOR CARS with this configuration.

[warreng88]

If you are coming from the HSC or the state capitol and need to get west, you take 23rd. And vice versa in the AM.

That's why you have such incredible traffic in Uptown.

10th goes through the heart of Midtown, 36th turns residential west of Classen, etc.

I work around OUHSC and live in Crestwood and take 8th street, that turns into 6th street all the way across downtown until it turns into Lynnwood and merges with 10th street/Penn. Then go west using 10th street. There is a descent amount of traffic until I get west of Hudson, then it thins out. I can get home, easily in 15 minutes, depending on the lights.

[LocoAko]

Shane Hampton just had a really good series of tweets about what OKC needs to do with streets like 23rd. The better question is if there's any hope of them doing so.

https://twitter.com/shanehamp/status/907354122495643649 (all linked below)

[OkieHornet]

Where can you park for a show here?

[bchris02]

Where can you park for a show here?

Across the street from the Tower Theater. There is a relatively new, well-lit surface lot.

[OkieHornet]

Across the street from the Tower Theater. There is a relatively new, well-lit surface lot.

It's kind of small, right? Is there street parking in the surrounding neighborhood?