I found myself in Tulsa a few weeks ago and was astonished to find that the suburb of Jenks has its very own canal-like shopping and entertainment district. Called Jenks Riverwalk Crossing, it is a stretch of land along the Arkansas River that includes shopping, dining, a theater, and concert venues. It is very upscale. I have to say that I was saddened in a way, seeing how nice the place looked compared to Bricktown, but also happy to see it thriving.

The locals said that the place was built entirely with private dollars. I'm wondering what lessons could be learned from the Jenks experience.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6a/Jenks_riverwalk.jpg

I found myself in Tulsa a few weeks ago and was astonished to find that the suburb of Jenks has its very own canal-like shopping and entertainment district. Called Jenks Riverwalk Crossing, it is a stretch of land along the Arkansas River that includes shopping, dining, a theater, and concert venues. It is very upscale. I have to say that I was saddened in a way, seeing how nice the place looked compared to Bricktown, but also happy to see it thriving.

The locals said that the place was built entirely with private dollars. I'm wondering what lessons could be learned from the Jenks experience.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6a/Jenks_riverwalk.jpg

Well I would hope it would look much nicer since it was all recently built....It is very nice, but I will still stick with bricktown...Especially now that we have our very own Melting Pot

Looks like a beautiful area do you have any more photos of it?

I'm not sure how you can compare the two other than they are both entertainment districts. Although Lower Bricktown has become a joke it is still an URBAN district next to a Central Business District (CBD or downtown). The Jenks Riverwalk is suburban and cookie cutter like Lower Bricktown. If anything OKC can learn not to screw up our river like Jenks. We need nicer, denser developments on our river.

There are several other threads discussing this topic, here is one:

http://www.okctalk.com/tulsa/5075-riverwalk-crossing-update.html?highlight=riverwalk+jenks

We were there a year ago when we went on a Motorcycle trip with our Group to the Aquarium..I was also surprised..We ate at the Mexican Resturant there..don't remember the name...but the food was great...

I remember thinking...It is a REAL River...

Cindy

Here are some photos of Riverwalk Crossing:
RiverWalk Crossing (http://www.riverwalkcrossing.com/)

http://www.jenkschamber.com/upload/RiverWalk%20Summer%20Scene.jpg

http://kotv.com/newsimages/640/49f79a6a-8732-424f-ad9a-cc9074b11344.jpg

Phase 2 of Riverwalk Crossing has just started construction. It will have another 200,000 square feet of retail, a hotel and 200+ apartments and condos.

http://kotv.com/newsimages/214/fa771a2b-ecdd-44ce-a56a-6a9413fdfe69.jpg



Starting construction early next year on the other side of the Oklahoma Aquarium from the Riverwalk in Jenks is The River District.

The River District is a one BILLION dollar mixed use development on the river. It will include a five star hotel, half a million square feet office space, a million square feet of retail, 600 condos a fountain display from the company that did the Bellagio in Vegas and a new 7,000 seat baseball stadium for the Tulsa Drillers overlooking the river. Jenks has approved a $230 million dollar TIFF to help fund the project.

Tulsa World : Jenks developer sees big future in river

http://kotv.com/newsimages/214/8011dc83-2367-45ba-8e75-fb9491cf2149.jpg

(http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=070922_1_A15_spanc33234)htt p://images.zwire.com/local/Z/Zwire2754/zwire/images/RiverDistrictSktch.jpg

I have not visited Riverwalk Crossing; so I am not qualified to compare it to Bricktown. However, Bricktown is an asset to OKC in a way that Riverwalk Crossing is not to Tulsa. Bricktown is adjacent to (and in fact a part of) OKC's central business district and so feeds into the growth of downtown, whereas Riverwalk Crossing may well have a dampening effect on development of an enterainment district in downtown Tulsa. Great cities have thriving downtowns, and I think OKC has the advantage in that respect.
That said, I have lived in both Tulsa and Oklahoma City and love them both. It saddens me that some people seem intent on taking cheap shots at the "other" city.

Yep, it looks like a nice development but I'm very glad OKC is doing this sort of thing in the city's core rather than in some out-lying area.

And for Tulsa's sake, I hope a new ballpark is built downtown somewhere and not in Jenks.

Yay...surface parking!

I have friends in Jenks and had the worst mexican food in my life on the riverwalk. The development is the beloved cookie cutter style. 5 star hotel? Please. Also....all private money? That is no absolute for future possibilities. The Drillers moving out of Tulsa and development in a sub is nothing to brag about. Edmond sucked the life out of OKC....Looks like jenks will do the same for Tulsa. I hate to see an empty Downtown Tulsa with a beautiful arena and tons of art deco. Tulsa should have been wise...realized that the oil barons are long gone...and used half the money spent on an undersized arena (18000 seats doesnt cut it) for other more important development. The big ego is going to lead Tulsa down the wrong road. The Blue Dome district is cute but I was never impressed with it. Too small.

Also....Tulsa- develop your own underground art scene....OKC is sick of constantly having to generate it with its own local artists and institutions.

I've never been there but from the info here and their website I can see this is the kind of place that I expected at University North Park in Norman - something a little more upscale. I know everyone says to just wait until UNP is done because it's not even half finished but looking at the stores already there, the ones going in and the list of stores yet to come, it doesn't look all that impressive or as nice as this development. :(

I've never been there but from the info here and their website I can see this is the kind of place that I expected at University North Park in Norman - something a little more upscale. I know everyone says to just wait until UNP is done because it's not even half finished but looking at the stores already there, the ones going in and the list of stores yet to come, it doesn't look all that impressive or as nice as this development. :(

I would hate to compare the riverwalk in Jenks to a small development in Norman! (Its a college town). I live in Norman and I have never even heard of UNP or whatever! Campus Corner is what makes Norman. Historical and beautiful. I would much rather hangout around Campus Corner than the riverwalk thing in Jenks. Sorry but to compare what is happening in Jenks to the UNP thing in Norman is just silly. Anyway Norman has history and great architecture.....Jenks what? I hope the Drillers do remain in Tulsa. If TTown cant keep a double A ballclub then something is very wrong up dar.

Yay...surface parking!

Exactly what I was thinking.

And if Tulsa's going to get a 5-star hotel, it's sure not going to be in Jenks.

I would hate to compare the riverwalk in Jenks to a small development in Norman! (Its a college town). I live in Norman and I have never even heard of UNP or whatever! Campus Corner is what makes Norman. Historical and beautiful. I would much rather hangout around Campus Corner than the riverwalk thing in Jenks. Sorry but to compare what is happening in Jenks to the UNP thing in Norman is just silly. Anyway Norman has history and great architecture.....Jenks what? I hope the Drillers do remain in Tulsa. If TTown cant keep a double A ballclub then something is very wrong up dar.

Wha?:ohno:

You live in Norman and you haven't seen and/or heard all the constuction going on at Robinson and 24th ave NW? You know, where the StupidTarget is. I think it's quite fair to compare the two because they are supposed to be similar developments.

From the Norman Transcript in 2005

It is the first phase of the 585-acre Planned Unit Development that is projected to be one of the top five single retail developments in the country if built out to its master plan.

The UNP is supposed to have well over one million square feet of retail when finished, so it's no small thing, just a poorly executed one.

Here's a link to it on these here boards:
http://www.okctalk.com/norman/4557-university-north-park.html

Hey thats great for Norman!!! Sorry I didnt know. I have used the Super Target before and I have seen the huge dirt piles and wondered what it was. Norman has been great at hiding the big box crap on the west side and keeping its small town beauty. So now it is getting a retail district akin to the river thing!!! Awesome. Just keep it on the west side of town. I just get more involved with OKCs developments than Norman because it is what I would call a 'REAL CITY'. Norman is a sub like Jenks. The difference between Norman and jenks...like I said it has The University of Oklahoma/Campus Corner/Old beautiful mansions and homes/big trees and has history along with Amtrack. Lets not compare Jenks to Norman....Jenks is a tiny cookie cutter town that is beating up on Tulsa. Just deal with it. Thanxs for the link.:)

But like we say in Norman....Dont Edmond My Norman. Maybe it should be changed to...Dont Jenks My Norman....lol

That's interesting. I've never really understood the rivalry between cities in OK.

I have to say that I'm happy that Jenks/Tulsa is doing well and Edmond/Norman/OKC are all doing well.

The more quality development and positive press OK gets as a whole, is a good thing in my mind.

That's interesting. I've never really understood the rivalry between cities in OK.

I have to say that I'm happy that Jenks/Tulsa is doing well and Edmond/Norman/OKC are all doing well.

The more quality development and positive press OK gets as a whole, is a good thing in my mind.

I'm with you on that. I think the more destination cities OK has the better. Just look South of the border and see how many they have - Dallas, San Anton, Houston, Austin....

Can we keep the Norman and Tulsa talk/news in their respective threads? This thread is supposed to be for Bricktown.

Well, I think the original poster was making a comparison to this development and Bricktown. Thus, it is in it's proper place.

Correct me if I'm wrong on what was meant by the original post.

You are correct, that is exactly what I intended before the thread evolved as it has.

Honestly I find a lot of this silly. I'm reminded of the old joke, "Mississippi -- at least we're not Arkansas!"

Jenks has done some good things, building with private dollars, and from what I saw building a very upscale environment. There have been several retailers and restaurants that considered opening their first OK location in Bricktown -- only to do so in NW OKC or Edmond instead because Bricktown "wasn't upscale enough." I think we all remember the articles in The Oklahoman. This is a serious issue that people need to stop blowing off and do something about if we ever want to see anything more than beat up bars and tackle shops in our core downtown. Not only that.. it effects housing as well. For example, I have the money to buy a condo in Bricktown but I refuse to so long as the place looks the way it does and builders try to charge the prices they are demanding. I can buy a small condo for $350k in southern California in an urban setting less than 3 miles from the beach. Why would I pay the same for a condo in Bricktown when the place looks the way it does?

Do I want suburbia? No. Do I want developers and the people here to raise their standards? Yes. Perhaps there is something to learn from the Jenks experience here.

Just found this thread. I can say that the Riverwalk need not be discussed in the same breath as Bricktown. It's a glorified strip mall with a small ampitheatre. Los Cabos is the highest grossing restaurant in Okla. supposedly. It was built with private dollars and hit many snags along the way. Currently, it was out of money to begni the 2nd phase and had to be refinanced because the developer apparently mismanaged.