This City's not gonna plan itself!

We need your input to help guide City Planners in their creation of Oklahoma City's long-range plan.

Oklahoma City Planners want to know what's important to neighborhoods...

What are your challenges?
What are your strengths?

This is a hands-on workshop. You will get the inside scoop on planOKC, speak to city planners and learn how you can participate. You will be given the opportunity to join a steering committee and to become a planOKC ambassador to bring important input surveys to your neighborhood or community group. This is an opportunity to have your voice heard!

Thursday, July 15, 6pm
Dinner catered by Cookin' 4 You!

This event is free, bring as many as you want, but everyone must be registered!


Langston University OKC
4205 N Lincoln Blvd
Oklahoma City, OK 73105

Registration required, click here:

https://events.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?oeidk=a07e2vxrz0bd888c111&oseq=

Could they wave a magic wand and make the streets curve just a little we were not just seeing business signs and billboards for miles and miles ahead of us? (smile)

Wish I could be there. It would be interesting to participate.

Meant to make the coffee session at Evoke but I had to work and couldn't get off. I'll try to make this one if I'm even in town. Watched the opening session on Channel 20 and it actually had some really interesting information.

This is not actually open to the general public, sorry Nick. This is meant for Neighborhood leaders (Neighborhood Association Presidents, Board Members, etc). It's an introduction/information gathering meeting, and it's focused on neighborhood issues, not necessarily city-wide issues that planokc will capture overall. We're also debuting our Meeting-in-a-Box concept to this group.

Stakeholder groups will form soon and we'll begin having more detailed meetings. If you want to be on a group, go to www.okc.gov/planokc and send a note via the Feedback Form. I'll let OKCTalk know when the Meeting-in-a-Box concept is ready for groups to pick up and use. There will be plenty of other involvement opportunities as the process continues.

The kick-off meeting presentation and slideshow are available on the website.

Paul

True, but I think people should still try to get involved if interested. This city lacks support in virtually every environment, especially when it comes to City Planning, that's why I posted the invitation. If you want to get involved, go for it folks I say. I don't think you'll be turned away but could be wrong. The general public needs to hear more about stuff like this.

We really do want people to be involved. However, I'd respectfully ask that only neighborhood leaders take part in this specific event, partly because Neighborhood Alliance is offernig a free meal to interested parties, and also because it's focused on neighborhood interests.

Past involvement in planning efforts has been limited to people "in the know", but we are striving to change it so that everyone's aware. We created http://twitter.com/planokc and http://www.facebook.com/planokc so that we can keep people up to date and get more people involved. (Granted, at this point, not much has been posted because we're in the beginning stages.) Look for more info at these two sites when stakeholder groups start meeting.

This is not actually open to the general public, sorry Nick. This is meant for Neighborhood leaders (Neighborhood Association Presidents, Board Members, etc). It's an introduction/information gathering meeting, and it's focused on neighborhood issues, not necessarily city-wide issues that planokc will capture overall. We're also debuting our Meeting-in-a-Box concept to this group.

Oh, my bad. Sounds like it's going to be the same presentation that they did at City Hall earlier this summer.

Hey Paul, here's a question--what are these neighborhood "stakeholders" supposed to say? It seems like it would be a lot more interesting to have neighborhoods, both north and south, convene together and build off of each other's ideas. For example, one might be thinking about shade, the other about neighborhood identification, the other about density, the other about streetscaping, when in reality these are all issues that apply to every neighborhood.

I guess the question is, what do you expect neighborhoods to tell you one-on-one? That seems like there will be a lot of potential ideas excluded, no offense. It's a lot harder to ignore the neighborhoods collectively when the developers get involved with this later, and of course they're going to push against any kind of new building codes or building standards. I think that's the real issue that Plan OKC needs to address, and probably won't. My thoughts at least.. but there's nothing wrong with feel-good neighborhood meetings with Planning.

Well, this meeting will bring together (hopefully) many of our neighborhood leaders, north and south (& east and west). Then, they'll take the MIAB (Meeting in a Box) back to their neighborhoods and gather information. The MIAB contains a 10 question survey that we ask them to fill out. Each participant will fill out the survey. The survey asks them to analyze their neighborhood against the livability criteria, and also askes how important that indicator is to each individual filling out the survey. The MIAB will also be made available to any group that wants to host (church groups, business groups, business districts, etc.). We want to gather information on neighborhoods, both in perception (gauging their own neighborhood) and in importance.

One reason planokc hasn't been very visible publicly is that we're still in an information gathering stage. Some of the info gathering will last a while, especially since Census 2010 data won't be available until next year. It's hard to plan without information, ya know?

Right, so if the Census shows continued population growth on the inner southside, yeah that can change things (like get some attention for the southside). That makes sense.

So why couldn't we do a focus group for OKC Talk or an OKC Central or whatever?

Well, this meeting will bring together (hopefully) many of our neighborhood leaders, north and south (& east and west). Then, they'll take the MIAB (Meeting in a Box) back to their neighborhoods and gather information. The MIAB contains a 10 question survey that we ask them to fill out. Each participant will fill out the survey. The survey asks them to analyze their neighborhood against the livability criteria, and also askes how important that indicator is to each individual filling out the survey. The MIAB will also be made available to any group that wants to host (church groups, business groups, business districts, etc.). We want to gather information on neighborhoods, both in perception (gauging their own neighborhood) and in importance.

One reason planokc hasn't been very visible publicly is that we're still in an information gathering stage. Some of the info gathering will last a while, especially since Census 2010 data won't be available until next year. It's hard to plan without information, ya know?

Also, sorry to double post, here are some more questions though. Since you all have brought neighborhood "leaders" together (ironic considering most neighborhoods that aren't J-Park or Miller don't have a neighborhood leadership hierarchy) what has that entailed so far? What kind of ideas have come out of that so far? I don't know for certain that ideas would come out of city-wide neighborhood collaboration on Plan OKC but I would venture a guess that it wouldn't hurt.

No ideas yet, this is the first neighborhood meeting. And, funny you say most neighborhoods don't have leadership... there are 150 to 180 active neighborhood associations in OKC. Unfortunately, there are about 400 neighborhoods. But, it's still a large number.

An OKCTalk MIAB would be very interesting. When it's available, maybe you should organize a MIAB OKCTalk meetup and invite people to attend. Each box will have 20 surveys, but more than 1 box can be requested.

http://www.okgazette.com/p/12776/a/6815/Default.aspx?ReturnUrl=LwBEAGUAZgBhAHUAbAB0AC4AYQB zAHAAeAAslashAHAAPQAxADIANwAyADkA

Wanted to remind people about the planokc Issue Statements that are out for review. We'd like input before April 30. Go to http://www.planokc.org and click on each element (sustain, connect, green, etc.) and then click on the survey box. We need citizen input.

"planokc Issues Statements Available for Public Review & Comment in April
Published April 1, 2011

Issues Statements will be available for public review during the entire month of April. Over the past year, City staff and citizen stakeholder groups have developed these “Issues Statements” documents to capture a purpose and intent statement, trends and current conditions, and issues for each of the plan elements. We encourage you to use our interactive online documents for reviewing, commenting, and rating the importance of issues. A consolidated PDF of all issues and links to all element’s Issues Statements are located on the Healthy Communities Oversight Group page, or individually on each of the plan element pages."

Here's an obvious question, and I don't mean this to sound cynical, but why should we bother?

How many years do you think it is until we can expect Plan OKC to create some kind of incredible progressive, urban synergy in OKC?

After seeing the new P180 streets and the new MGB park last night, man, I've never felt so proud of our city, it truly is world class, definitely only a few downtowns in the country can top the planning and amenities of ours. We will have a much higher reputation after P180.

After seeing the new P180 streets and the new MGB park last night, man, I've never felt so proud of our city, it truly is world class, definitely only a few downtowns in the country can top the planning and amenities of ours. We will have a much higher reputation after P180.

Well, normally this is where I reply cynically... but I hope you're right. I agree with the idea that OKC can do something "world class" every now and then. It's the 2 steps forward, then 1 or 2 steps backward pattern in which this city has grown.

Here's an obvious question, and I don't mean this to sound cynical, but why should we bother?

How many years do you think it is until we can expect Plan OKC to create some kind of incredible progressive, urban synergy in OKC?

It depends. Do the cynics plan to sit on the sidelines and complain that nothing is being implemented, or will they actually get up and support implementation?

That's a nice, concise thing to say, but it's not grounded in reality, I'm afraid.

Well to be frank, this has hardly been anything similar to the PlaniTulsa process up the turnpike, where they actually did come up with a progressive framework that actually involved urban activists. You guys have taken the more politically safe route of preferring to talk to neighborhood association groups and hear about their concerns about crime, traffic, etc., and talk to groups who represent broader interests like the urban league (which we know is not an "urban" design thinking group, albeit still a good group).

The problem is that you're not designing a curfew ordinance, and nobody is running for Congress as a part of this. I don't understand why the city planning dept has chosen to favor political populism, and a very limiting form that controls who participates at what time, over a more open process that allows very specific ideas to get involved in the process. Sorry, but when you posted last year that actually we were not invited to one event, I tuned out to anything PlanOKC might ever amount to, which is probably not much.

And what are the city ordinances even worth at this point? I'm not aware of any high-profile instances where the city ordinances have been sufficient to stand in the way of a powerful interest that wants something that is not in the city's best interest. So what gives? To lay the cards on the table, if the ordinances didn't stop SandRidge from demolishing a ton of buildings including historic buildings for a corporate plaza, then I'm not sure I could care less about these ordinances. Have these ordinances ever been able to prevent seedy property owners? Did they ever stand in the way of a Brewer attempting to demolish a building or put a giant inflatable caricature in Bricktown? So again, from past observation and experience, this city's ordinances aren't even worth the paper they're printed on.

Well, normally this is where I reply cynically... but I hope you're right. I agree with the idea that OKC can do something "world class" every now and then. It's the 2 steps forward, then 1 or 2 steps backward pattern in which this city has grown.

Wow, I'm in shock, Mr. OKC Negative almost said something positive about this Great City.

I'm actually quite the naive optimist, but when it comes to OKC, I've been let down about a thousand times so there are limits to how optimistic I can be at this point. There are lots of big, long dollar figures everywhere you look right now, but how much of this is really going to make a positive difference? A difference between me and someone else is at least I ask those kinds of questions. Rc, no offense, but you generally jump on people for asking any kind of questions whatsoever.

But if someone is going to call me overly negative, I won't disagree with the characterization. If I like something there's generally no reason for me to post on it, because what am I going to say, "I like this." ?? Sometimes I am compelled though to make those kinds of posts when I really, really like something..

It seems to be human nature.

on edit, rest of comment deleted as I don't want to be chastised for derailing Metro's thread). A valid point. heck I even derailed my own thread the other day. Oooops, I am doing it again, back to your regularly scheduled topic

That's a nice, concise thing to say, but it's not grounded in reality, I'm afraid.

Well to be frank, this has hardly been anything similar to the PlaniTulsa process up the turnpike, where they actually did come up with a progressive framework that actually involved urban activists. You guys have taken the more politically safe route of preferring to talk to neighborhood association groups and hear about their concerns about crime, traffic, etc., and talk to groups who represent broader interests like the urban league (which we know is not an "urban" design thinking group, albeit still a good group).

The problem is that you're not designing a curfew ordinance, and nobody is running for Congress as a part of this. I don't understand why the city planning dept has chosen to favor political populism, and a very limiting form that controls who participates at what time, over a more open process that allows very specific ideas to get involved in the process. Sorry, but when you posted last year that actually we were not invited to one event, I tuned out to anything PlanOKC might ever amount to, which is probably not much.

And what are the city ordinances even worth at this point? I'm not aware of any high-profile instances where the city ordinances have been sufficient to stand in the way of a powerful interest that wants something that is not in the city's best interest. So what gives? To lay the cards on the table, if the ordinances didn't stop SandRidge from demolishing a ton of buildings including historic buildings for a corporate plaza, then I'm not sure I could care less about these ordinances. Have these ordinances ever been able to prevent seedy property owners? Did they ever stand in the way of a Brewer attempting to demolish a building or put a giant inflatable caricature in Bricktown? So again, from past observation and experience, this city's ordinances aren't even worth the paper they're printed on.

I'm sorry you feel that way. Had you been able to attend any Stakeholder meetings, you'd have found that we had a very large variety of people attending and that only a few represented neighborhoods specifically. We had one neighborhood-focused meeting, and the rest were stakeholder meetings open to the public. We'll have many more meetings going forward. By the way, did you take time to review all of our Issue Statements? They are definiately not all about neighborhood issues... in fact, I don't think there's one mention about curfew or ideas like that.

As for ordinances, we're constantly updating and improving. We have a current ordinance that provides much more defined demolition review criteria. Alas, it has been held up by some developers because they hate it. Go figure.

Cafeboeuf, it must be annoying to see people absolutely derail what you're working on, and I'm afraid some of my comments may have been harsh. Any urbanist or advocate who doesn't view city planners as the good guys has a problem. The dilemma however is that I'm not sure how much this kind of framework can effect change within the existing system, and I would rather expend my effort to be heard at a higher level--the level where planning recommendations are expressly being ignored on a weekly basis.

With that said, I am wishing that I had bothered to write in on the website with some input, and it probably would have been better than just bitching on here. Going forward I'm happy to attend anything when I am back in OKC after this July, not out of hope for change, but just because I always get excited to talk with other urban nerds like myself. I have always participated in as many public opportunities as I can, even if they don't seem very fruitful (i.e., COTPA stuff). Look forward to meeting you later in the process, and let me know if it's not to late to submit something via online.

So I just got a text asking if I was going to the PLANOKC meeting tonight. The website says that it is at OSU OKC in the student center but no time. So I guess I'll show up at 6 and see if anyone is there.

Citizen Advisory Team members selected

The Mayor received more than one hundred applications from citizens to fill a limited number of positions on the planokc Citizen Advisory Team. Thank you to all who applied! Members have been selected and letters of appointment have been mailed. Our website now includes a Citizen Advisory Team page where you can find the names of all appointed members. Meetings will begin in February and are open to the public.

planokc goals drafted
Planning staff drafted goals based on the responses submitted online and at the fall workshops and confirmed that they addressed the issues identified in Phase 1 of the public outreach process. The Citizen Advisory Team will review the draft goals, and then we will post a final draft online for public comment. Thank you for your participation in this important step of the planning process.

We look forward to a productive year as we continue our work together on planokc


Newly Appointed Committee via website

Name (Representing)

Blair Humphreys (sustainokc)
Bill Wylie (connectokc)
Cassie Poor (greenokc)
Ashley Dickson (liveokc)
Jorge Hernandez (enrichokc)
Steve Spain (playokc)
Sharron Jackson (strengthenokc)
Lucresha Redus (serveokc)

Jackie Jones (Healthy Communities Oversight Group)
Lynn Goldberg (Healthy Communities Oversight Group)

Jeff Click (Development Sector)
Clay Farha (Development Sector)
John Keefe (Development Sector)

Jim Burkey (Public Schools)
Kenneth Dennis (Public Schools)
Paul Hurst (Public Schools)

Torrey Butzer (Community At Large)
Ashlee Noland (Community At Large)

John Yoeckel (Planning Commission Chair)
Mike Hensley (Planning Commissioner)
Buck Irwin (Planning Commissioner)
Bob Bright (Planning Commissioner)
James Williams (Planning Commissioner)

Ed Shadid
Pete White
David Greenwell
Pat Ryan

Looks like a great, forward-thinking group.

This whole thing is a great idea thanks to those volunteering their time and effort towards making OKC a better place.

The planokc Community Appearance Survey is now live at planOKC (http://www.planokc.org/).

Please take 15-20 minutes to complete the survey. The general idea is that you look at a picture of some type of development/landscape/streetscape, etc. and provide your dislike or like of the image. A lot of it is your gut reaction. The scale is -5 to 5.

The intent is to formulate some idea of what the residents of Oklahoma City want to see their city look like, and then revise/formulate development guidelines and/or regulations that encourage the city and developers to build that way.

Here's the direct link:Oklahoma City Community Appearance Survey (http://survey.rrcresearch.com/s3/OKC-CAS50)

Pretty good survey. Took me about 20mins.

Thanks for the link.

The pictures do show a huge contrast between urban and suburban environments.

Not only do they show the huge contrast, but many of the most disappointing photos were of various parts of okc while few of the really impressive ones were from our city. A sad commentary on how far we have to go. But that gives me hope that leaders will listen.

Not only do they show the huge contrast, but many of the most disappointing photos were of various parts of okc while few of the really impressive ones were from our city. A sad commentary on how far we have to go. But that gives me hope that leaders will listen.I thought I noticed that too. Almost all the good photos were taken elsewhere. For the bad and undesirable photos, well, all they had to do was drive around OKC. :/

Several of those photos were taken in Charlotte. It really reminded me how far ahead Charlotte is of OKC in simple aesthetics. Even auto-centric, chain store suburban areas can be spruced up to look a lot better than they typically do in OKC. That, to me, is one of the bigger disappointments about this city as its evident pretty much everywhere. Its just aesthetics, but pleasing aesthetics make life more enjoyable.

Fun survey....now if only we could get some of those urban design images implemented here.

I thought I noticed that too. Almost all the good photos were taken elsewhere. For the bad and undesirable photos, well, all they had to do was drive around OKC. :/

If OKC had widespread quality urbanism we wouldn't need the survey.

If OKC had widespread quality urbanism we wouldn't need the survey.

Could you provide a list of cities where you think they have "widespread quality urbanism"?

Do you want it listed by country?

Let' start with Canada.
1) Vancouver
2) Edmonton
3) Calgary
4) Winnipeg
5) Toronto
6) Montreal
7) Quebec City

We can do Australia next if you like.

Planning staff have announced the launch of planokc CrowdGauge Survey (http://interact.planokc.org/client/play/index.html) - it's an interactive survey that asks you to put your money where your mouth is, so-to-speak. It's fast, fun and should be helpful for the planning process.

Planning staff have announced the launch of planokc CrowdGauge Survey (http://interact.planokc.org/client/play/index.html) - it's an interactive survey that asks you to put your money where your mouth is, so-to-speak. It's fast, fun and should be helpful for the planning process.

That was a fun little survey. I especially liked the part with the coins!

City Develops 'Plan OKC' Survey To Project Future Growth - News9.com - Oklahoma City, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports | (http://www.news9.com/story/25072602/city-develops-survey-to-project-future-growth)

Some new features have been added and there is now an interactive feature where you can connect your FB account and have new surveys

I was in Leadership Square today and they have a bunch of billboards set up and are handing out surveys. I spoke to one of the people there (didn't get his name, sorry) and he explained what Plan OKC was and how they were looking for public input for how the city should develop. I saw a few other passersby walk up and look over the material. They have a nice little pamphlet, and of course I filled out a survey.

The person I spoke with indicated they were assuming mostly an improved bus system for their public transportation, he said everybody likes rail but it's more expensive. The survey itself was fairly general, but I was impressed by the amount of information they presented. I wonder if they plan to put up a similar display at non-downtown areas. I think Penn Square Mall might get a lot of foot traffic and would give them a much different visitor demographic.

I was in Leadership Square today and they have a bunch of billboards set up and are handing out surveys. I spoke to one of the people there (didn't get his name, sorry) and he explained what Plan OKC was and how they were looking for public input for how the city should develop. I saw a few other passersby walk up and look over the material. They have a nice little pamphlet, and of course I filled out a survey.

The person I spoke with indicated they were assuming mostly an improved bus system for their public transportation, he said everybody likes rail but it's more expensive. The survey itself was fairly general, but I was impressed by the amount of information they presented. I wonder if they plan to put up a similar display at non-downtown areas. I think Penn Square Mall might get a lot of foot traffic and would give them a much different visitor demographic.

They've carried this display a variety of places already... and plan to do more:

Thursday, March 6
* OCCC, 7777 S. May Ave, Lobby Area, 4-7 pm (Park in Lot A on east side and use Main Entrance) - MAP

Saturday, March 8
* Northwest Library, 5600 NW 122nd St., Room B, 9:30 - 11:30 a.m.
* Plaza Mayor at the Crossroads, 7000 Crossroads Blvd., Lower level, Center court area, 2 - 5 p.m. - MAP

Wednesday, March 12
*Greater Oklahoma City Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, 309 SW 59th St, Suite 302, 11 am – 2 pm


Monday, March 24
*Southwest Library, 2201 SW 134th St. 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Tuesday, March 25
*Devon Energy Center Rotunda, 11 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.

Wednesday, March 26 and Thursday, March 27
*Leadership Square, Lobby area, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. (both days)

Sunday, March 30
*Open Streets, NW 23rd Street & Walker Ave., 12 p.m. – 4 p.m.

Tuesday, April 1
Black Chamber of Commerce of Metro OKC Networking Breakfast, 8:15 a.m.
Metro Tech Economic Development Building, Room 114 - MAP

Not sure if anyone has seen these documents yet

Housing study: http://www.planokc.org/docs/2014/0627/21866-FINAL_Report_06-19-14.pdf

Retail Study: http://www.planokc.org/docs/2014/0627/21863%20Final%20Report_032614.pdf

planOKC (http://www.planokc.org/default.asp?p=home)

Not sure if anyone has seen these documents yet

Housing study: http://www.planokc.org/docs/2014/0627/21866-FINAL_Report_06-19-14.pdf

Retail Study: http://www.planokc.org/docs/2014/0627/21863%20Final%20Report_032614.pdf

planOKC (http://www.planokc.org/default.asp?p=home)

Here is some outlines about our retail scene as described



Retail Conditions

1. Oklahoma City is the dominant city in the region but is starting to lose its share of
household growth to surrounding cities.

Between 2000 and 2010, Oklahoma City added approximately 26,000 new households,
reaching a 2010 total of 230,233. However, its share of total regional households declined
slightly from 59.0 percent to 58.7 percent. During this same time period, surrounding cities
grew from 117,974 to 136,721 households, increasing their share of the regional total from
34.0 to 34.9 percent. Thus, suburban communities accounted for 41.3 percent of the
decade’s growth, and this share is anticipated to increase in the future.

2. Surrounding cities are gaining on Oklahoma City in retail sales market capture.

While Oklahoma City remains the dominant generator of retail sales in the region, outlying
communities are gaining market share. Since 2005, sales tax collections in Oklahoma City
increased approximately 24.0 percent while sales tax growth in Edmond, Midwest City, and
Norman increased 26.0 percent. Moore, Mustang, and Yukon, in particular, gained significant
market share, increasing by 54.0 percent, 36.0 percent, and 38.0 percent, respectively, over
2005 base levels.

3. Oklahoma City is a net importer of retail sales.

Based on 2010 retail sales and household expenditure potential, Oklahoma City receives an estimated inflow of $1.9 billion annually of retail sales from households in surrounding regional cities. At the same time, the city experiences approximately $1.0 billion annually in expenditure outflows (leakage) as a result of Oklahoma City household purchases outside of the city. Thus, Oklahoma City is a net importer of approximately $0.9 billion in annual retail spending. This level of net inflow is significant and larger than many cities of similar size;however, a portion of these dollars are likely a function of larger municipal boundaries and lower regional population compared to other cities. As regional population continues to grow,
surrounding communities will begin to expand their local retail bases. In order to maintain this level of net inflow, Oklahoma City will need to focus on developing unique regional and specialty retailers that draw shoppers from across the region.

4. The Northwest, Southwest, and Central subareas of the city are all net importers of
retail sales, while the Northeast and Southeast subareas are net exporters of retail
sales.

Based on an analysis of 2010 retail store sales flows, the Northwest subarea is the largest
importer of retail sales in the city, or $373 million annually, followed by the Southwest at
$247 million and the Central subarea at $175 million. By contrast, the Northeast subarea is
the largest exporter of retail sales with a net balance of approximately $164 million in retail
sales spent outside of the subarea, followed by the Southeast subarea with $152 million.

5. The Northwest subarea contains the city’s strongest retail centers and corridors.

The Northwest subarea of the city is home to several of the city’s highest performing retail
destinations including Penn Square Mall, Belle Isle Station, Quail Springs Marketplace, and
the May Avenue arterial corridor including the Village at Quail Springs and Northpark Mall
community centers



Retail Strengths

1. Oklahoma City is home to the four largest and most specialized retail destinations
in the region.

Penn Square Mall and Quail Springs Mall anchor the two largest regional shopping
destinations in the region. Both locations have over 1.5 million square feet of retail space
including the department store anchored regional shopping mall and an almost equal amount
of additional ancillary retail space nearby. The recently opened Outlet Shoppes at Oklahoma
City is an emerging regional draw, and a potential anchor for a unique regional node on the
west side of the city. Bricktown is the region’s premier entertainment district with two major
anchors in Bass Pro Shoppes and Harkin’s Theaters, over 40 restaurants and bars, two major
sporting venues, and a growing cluster of hotels.

2. Oklahoma City is home to two major energy companies that have both made major
real estate investments in the city, creating a stimulus for additional commercial
development and investment.

Devon Energy, with 2,600 employees in downtown, completed a 52 story, 1.8 million square
foot office tower in downtown in October 2012. The $750 million investment includes the
renovation of the adjacent Colcord Hotel and restaurant adding new street level retail activity
to the downtown as well a potential anchor for the new Core to Shore redevelopment area.
Chesapeake Energy, with 4,600 employees, has a 111 acre campus on Western Avenue in
the Northwest subarea. The company has also made a major investment in the surrounding
area by building the Classen Curve specialty retail area and planning for additional
commercial reinvestment on adjacent properties within the Penn Square regional node.

3. The City MAPS initiatives have invested over $1 billion in civic and cultural
improvements in the downtown area that has improved the quality of the downtown
environment as a location for employment, housing, and retail development.

The major infrastructure projects paid for by the MAPS program, including the Bricktown Canal
and trolley, streetcar, and downtown streetscape, will help catalyze new mixed use residential
districts in the downtown core and the surrounding neighborhoods including Bricktown, Deep
Duece, Midtown, and Core to Shore that will also stimulate new demand for retail development.

4. The City has successfully revitalized many of its neighborhood business districts.

A number of small, neighborhood commercial districts, including Paseo Arts District, 16th Street
Plaza District, and Asian District are emerging as unique retail environments not found
elsewhere in the region and providing an avenue for locally oriented retailers and restaurants
to prosper. The success of these districts is a product of the organization of property owners
and merchants, assistance from the City’s Commercial District Revitalization Program (CDRP)
and substantial reinvestment in the adjacent neighborhoods.



Retail Weaknesses

1. There is an oversupply of older retail space in the city and much of the retail space
along the city’s arterial corridors will need to be repurposed.

Many shopping centers built between the 60’s and 80’s are at the end of their real estate
cycle. The aggressive expansions of national retailers, the impact of the recession, growth of
internet sales, and reductions in the number of profitable retail anchors are all factors putting
added pressure on existing retail centers and corridors. The growth in vacancies and decline
in sales is particularly evident in older and lower income neighborhoods where there is an
aging population and declining household incomes. Outmoded centers in transitioning
neighborhoods with lower income populations are also challenged by the development of
newer competition a short distance away.

2. The retail development pattern along highways and highway frontage roads is
linear and disjointed resulting in traffic circulation and safety issues.

The accessibility of the retail centers and stores along the major transportation corridors in
the city is poor due to lack of connectivity between centers, multiple entrances to centers,
poor internal paths in retail centers, and the linear proliferation of retail along roadway
corridors. Retail areas and corridors in the city have been built in a piecemeal fashion with
attention paid to specific pads or centers instead of the network within and along the retail
corridors. These challenges are especially prevalent along I-240 and Northwest Expressway,
as well as in community nodes. Newer developments, such as Westgate Marketplace and the
Outlet Shoppes do a better job providing access to, between and within their developments.

3. A significant amount of retail anchors are located on single-store pads;
consequently, many retail centers are poorly planned with disjointed site
development, poor internal access, and underperforming ancillary retail space.

A large portion of the grocery stores in Oklahoma City are on individual pads with no attached
inline retail space or associated retail buildings or pad sites. Inline retail space and tenants
are bolstered and often dependent on the traffic generated by visitors to grocery stores.
Instead of being integrated into a center, inline retail spaces are often detached and
disconnected from the grocery store anchor, decreasing the likelihood that the inline tenants
benefit from the traffic to the anchor. As well, multiple pads with stand-alone retailers make
connecting these stores with internal roads difficult and confusing to the customer.

4. The lack of sign control and common design themes in retail areas has created an
aesthetically unpleasant environment for many retail corridors in the city.

Even in newer retail areas in the city, retail pads and centers are allowed to have multiple
signs of varying height, size and orientation. The multitude of signs creates a disorienting
retail environment for customers. Many retail centers in the city have different façade and
design aesthetics among the buildings within the center. Retail anchors, especially the area’s
grocery stores, have a poor architectural standard and the associated inline retail has
different architectural design and façade than the anchor.

5. The I-240 Corridor has lost its role as a major regional retail destination and needs
to be repositioned.

The I-240 Corridor in southern Oklahoma City, once anchored by Crossroads Mall, has lost its
function as a major regional retail destination. Crossroads Mall is in need of reinvention or
redevelopment to make the center viable for retail in the future. The power centers scattered
along I-240 have lost sales to new centers along I-35 in Moore and north Norman. The
corridor can still be a viable retail location, but it needs to be re-purposed through new retail
concepts, such as the proposed Plaza Major redevelopment of Crossroads Mall to serve the
closer-in (primarily Hispanic) trade area.




Retail Opportunities


EPS recommends the following actions to maximize the City’s retail recruitment and development
opportunities. The recommendations for City action include its partnership with the Oklahoma
Area Chamber of Commerce (Chamber) for retail recruitment and The Alliance for Economic
Development of Oklahoma City (The Alliance) for development and redevelopment assistance.

1. The City should partner with Simon Property Groups and other area property
owners to develop a plan for retail expansion of the Penn Square regional retail
node.

The Penn Square regional node is the largest retail center in the metro area and the most
important retail node in the city. There continues to be interest by national retailers to locate
in or near the Penn Square Mall. The Classen Curve project has provided a relief valve for
some retailers including Anthropologie, however a mall or mall adjacent location would most
likely be preferable to most upscale apparel, home furnishings and specialty retailers. There
are also a number of sites on and surrounding the Mall with redevelopment potential,
however there are a number of planning challenges including circulation and neighborhood
impacts. The ability of the Penn Square area to accommodate and attract one in the market
national retailers is important to the node’s long term viability, as well as potentially
precluding the development of competitive retail projects elsewhere in the market. We
recommend engaging Penn Square area property owners in a subarea planning process to
develop a plan and potential public private partnership for expanding the area’s retail
development opportunities.

2. The City should continue to pursue one in the market retailers with a potential to
attract shoppers from the entire metro area.

Oklahoma City has the region’s primary regional retail destinations including Penn Square,
Bricktown, and The Outlet Shoppes. Although differing in composition and tenant mix, all
contain a specialized mix of destination businesses including “one in the market” retailers
that entice shoppers from the entire metro area as well as visitors to the region, creating
positive sales inflow and sales tax revenue to the City. The strengthening and expansion of
these existing regional nodes should be a high priority for the City. This includes attracting
additional one in the market stores that can individually draw shoppers to the city, as well as
further enhancing the cumulative market attraction of the regional node. Possible tenants
that could be attracted include Nordstrom and Costco.

3. The City should work to establish a critical mass of retail uses in or near the
downtown area.

Downtown Oklahoma City lost its department stores and other regional and community retail
stores during the first wave of planned shopping center development in the 1960s and
1970s. Over the last 15 years, Bricktown has emerged as a retail destination, however it is
largely populated by restaurants, bars, and other entertainment venues. Re-establishing a
critical mass of retail downtown is important to the city’s attraction of tourists and visitors
and critically important to the development of downtown housing. A lifestyle center or mixed
use town center presents the most viable option for a major infusion of retail into downtown.
The City must be proactive in working with developers to identify potential locations for a
new lifestyle center in order to prevent this development from occurring in a more suburban
location. The City should thoroughly investigate the potential to develop a lifestyle retail
component as part of a larger mixed use town center in Bricktown or on the Boulevard in the
Core to Shore area. Such a development would help to establish a critical mass of retail uses
adjacent the CBD.

4. The City should continue to aggressively seek a new or expanded grocery store or
supermarket to serve the Northeast subarea.

Northeast Oklahoma City is largely underserved by retail. With only one undersized supermarket
located at 23rd and MLK, the subarea meets the classic definition of a “food desert.” Based on
the existing household population and incomes, there is unmet demand to support one
additional full-line supermarket. However, the low residential densities make it difficult to
support a grocery store within a standard two-mile trade area. Coupled with a lack of available
sites with good access, as well as existing retailer perceptions, no new grocery stores have
been developed in the last decade. One potential development option
would be to work with Buy For Le$$ to expand its existing supermarket at NE 23rd and MLK,
anchoring the east end of the East 23rd Street corridor. Alternately, or potentially in addition,
the City (with the assistance of the Alliance and Chamber) could assist a developer with
building a new store and shopping center on available land at NE 36th and Lincoln.

5. The City should seek to attract another Hispanic focused supermarket to serve the
South subarea.

The southern portion of Oklahoma City, particularly south of I-40 and north of I-240, is
where the majority of the city’s Hispanic population lives. This area is underserved for
convenience goods and would benefit from an additional Hispanic-oriented grocery store and
shopping center. There are a number of expanding Hispanic or Mexican grocery store chains
that could enter or expand in Oklahoma City including El Mariachi (existing store on NW
16th), Pro’s Ranch Market (Texas and New Mexico); and Supermercado El Rancho (Dallas).
Thus, potential exists to develop a community-oriented shopping center to serve the
Southeast subarea, anchored by a major new Hispanic-oriented supermarket. There are a
number of underutilized sites that could be redeveloped for these uses including the
intersection of SW 59th and Western, as well as older underperforming shopping centers
elsewhere on SW 29th, 44th, and 59th avenues.

6. The City should actively seek a natural foods grocer to service the Midtown and
Deep Deuce neighborhoods.

The greatest growth in the grocery store market is in the specialty and natural foods grocers,
led by Whole Foods, the Austin, Texas-based chain with 320 stores nationally and one
Oklahoma City store. The chain’s average store is now 38,000 square feet, down from
50,000 square feet five years ago. Additional natural grocers include Sprouts Farmers
Market, Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, and The Fresh Market whose stores are in the
15,000 to 25,000 square foot range. These smaller sizes provide greater flexibility to be sited
at infill locations. The City’s retail recruitment team should pursue a natural foods grocer for
the Midtown area to serve the new infill housing in the growing downtown area
neighborhoods (Midtown and Deep Deuce) as well as the existing historic neighborhoods
north of 13th Avenue. The presence of a grocery store can also help support the development
of additional housing projects. Pending additional growth in urban housing in the downtown
area, a Midtown location could also be an opportunity in the five to ten-year time horizon.

7.The City should plan for one new regional retail node in the City by 2030. This node
should be planned for the Core to Shore neighborhood in concert with efforts to
attract a lifestyle or mixed use town center.

EPS used the housing unit forecast developed in the Housing Study completed for planokc to
assess the demand for retail in Oklahoma between 2010 and 2030. EPS has provided
recommendations for the number of and general location of future centers in the City and
each subarea in the Future Retail Demand section of this report. The City is forecast to grow
by 79,050 housing units between 2010 and 2030. The new housing units, coupled with
continued inflow sales from visitors to the City, will generate the demand for 2.5 million
square feet of regional retail. Half of the regional retail demand can be accommodated by
existing regional nodes. The other half, 1.25 million square feet of retail space, should be
planned for in a new regional retail node in the downtown area, potentially on Boulevard in
the Core to Shore neighborhood to which can help support the goal of building a critical mass
or downtown retail uses.

PS... I updated my original article in case anyone missed it...


This includes attracting
additional one in the market stores that can individually draw shoppers to the city, as well as
further enhancing the cumulative market attraction of the regional node. Possible tenants
that could be attracted include Nordstrom and Costco.

that is pretty exciting!

I'll also post a few more graphics for those who didn't read the entire document, it is pretty long. I will read more in depth... haven't seen it before and it is pretty exciting.

Penn Square Mall should expand with a new wing that includes a Nordstrom. To relieve the parking problems it would create, turn some of the remaining surface parking into two-level decks.

Thanks for posting this information. For me personally this won't change anything, I will continue to drive from the southside of OKC to shop the Moore/Norman area. The Capitol Hill area and SW 29 are already primarily businesses geared to serve the Hispanic population. Nothing I read here will attract the suburban southside population to shop close to home.

Not to be snarky, but I don't think there was anything in the information posted that was supposed to entice you to shop on the Southside instead of Moore/Norman? It would be nice however, if you spent money in the city you live in. Only makes sense, don't ya think? Then again, you're free to give other municipalities your money all you want; just doesn't seem very smart or proactive.

I think once I240 corridor gets rehabbed, and perhaps then Eastside development at WRWA gets developed, it will become a nicer area. Crossroads Mall will bounce again i suspect once things get into full swing with that and the I240 east of I35 should eventually be widened to eight lanes with six lane service roads and then we can get some nice mixed use projects along that stretch as the open land will be great for that sort of development.

I hope you are right. I grew up in this area and it's downward spiral is depressing.

Not to be snarky, but I don't think there was anything in the information posted that was supposed to entice you to shop on the Southside instead of Moore/Norman? It would be nice however, if you spent money in the city you live in. Only makes sense, don't ya think? Then again, you're free to give other municipalities your money all you want; just doesn't seem very smart or proactive.

Your reply is snarky and insulting and not intended to promote open and honest discussion. Despite that I will reply in attempt to engage in discussion on the merits of the topic. The information dealt with retail strength and weaknesses and how to keep the dollars from leaving the area. As I stated from my personal viewpoint, the recommended changes did not appeal to me. I would prefer to shop locally. However, currently the options are extremely limited. Moore/Norman is more convenient along with a friendlier atmosphere than driving northside to keep my dollars in OKC.

I think the other thread should be merged into this thread.

Sorry if this has been mentioned elsewhere but I wanted to make sure folks knew about the PlanOKC open house tonight.


The public is invited to attend an open house on January 20, 2015 from 6:00p to 7:30p in the Council Chambers at City Hall (200 N. Walker). Planning staff and City officials will share an overview of the draft version of the City’s new comprehensive plan, planokc. Attendees will be encouraged to review some of the most important aspects of the plan and visit with the planokc team. There will also be a short demonstration of the online tool that’s available to those who wish to provide specific comments on the plan itself.

I think once I240 corridor gets rehabbed, and perhaps then Eastside development at WRWA gets developed, it will become a nicer area. Crossroads Mall will bounce again i suspect once things get into full swing with that and the I240 east of I35 should eventually be widened to eight lanes with six lane service roads and then we can get some nice mixed use projects along that stretch as the open land will be great for that sort of development.

The eastside development at WRWA known as Lariat Landing will be the real game changer in reestablishing retail in south OKC and regaining sales tax dollars that have been lost to Moore and Norman.

I don't think that the announcement of the new Walmart super center at I-44 and SW 104th (which has been rumored for a decade) is in anyway just a coincidence to the road and utility build out on the west side of I-44 being close to completion.

It wouldn't be a stretch to draw parallels to the construction of the Walmart super center in !9th and I-35 in Moore and the devolvement that followed and the plans for this I-44 corridor...

So sad that I missed this..
I am a student at OSU OKC studying in Architectural Technology and hopefully getting a bachelors in Stillwater for Civil Engineering or Urban Planning. I'm only 19, but very interested in the people that put time into making this city a better place. Will there be any more events like this hat the public will be allowed to attend? I would love to see what Plan OKC is all about.

Check out stuff here - planOKC (http://www.planokc.org). I was going to go but my father was in the er today (he's OK). I hated missing it.

Thank you! I'm shocked I've never heard of this, sounds great!

So sad that I missed this..
I am a student at OSU OKC studying in Architectural Technology and hopefully getting a bachelors in Stillwater for Civil Engineering or Urban Planning. I'm only 19, but very interested in the people that put time into making this city a better place. Will there be any more events like this hat the public will be allowed to attend? I would love to see what Plan OKC is all about.

Good luck pursuing that passion at OSU. Civ E is a great program, but if you want more planning you have to go to grad school so consider some liberal arts background, as well. I wish I'd done GIS at OSU in hindsight...which I avoided just bc the certificate program was overly complex (6-8 classes when most are just 3-4).