View Full Version : Topeka



ljbab728
09-03-2010, 11:55 PM
Steve has another nice article about how our civic improvements are attracting attention and envy from other cities.

http://newsok.com/topeka-leaders-tour-downtown-oklahoma-city-oklahoma-river/article/3491723

Laramie
09-04-2010, 05:15 PM
A group from Lexington, KY was here a few years ago and they were impressed with our progress. The mayor of Lexington was here recently for the mayors' conference; he had some very nice comments about our continued progress.

HOT ROD
09-05-2010, 01:04 AM
Here is the story from Topeka's newspaper. http://cjonline.com/news/local/2010-09-02/group_takes_off_for_okc

boy, they sure have a lot of negative people in that town, no wonder they have problems. I could understand people there being bitter about (AGAIN) going to a city more than 5 times bigger (as Topeka could NEVER take on OKC's development), BUT - you do need to think big to improve a city and I think Topeka leadership are looking at specific OKC projects and not the city or downtown as a whole. Also, OKC and Topeka are capital cities and OKC seems to be set up very well, not really relying on state funded projects to survive and has a nice economy and business portfolio. These are things maybe Topeka could see and try to implement to help their city, just like other city leaders who have come benchmark OKC (and before MAPS, OKC had benchmarked a few cities too). ... Too bad the news article didn't focus on that aspect, as I think people might have been more on-board with the idea.

I have been to Topeka and I must say that I was not impressed AT ALL!! This is not a knock against them, but really - is my opinion; they have some HUGE PROBLEMS. And it seems they also have a "Tulsa" complex - blaming city leaders for everything and not wanting to tax/improve themselves.

take a look and see what you guys think - maybe even chime in if you feel like.

Dustin
09-05-2010, 02:34 AM
"If it wasn't for Timothy McVeigh, your downtown wouldn't be any different than Topeka's downtown. Prior to 2000, the year the memorial was completed, OKC's downtown was devoid of businesses and restaurants. Now that there's a reason for residents and tourists to go downtown, the demand for downtown businesses and restaurants is much greater."

Is this dude serious? What a fool.

Steve
09-05-2010, 11:15 AM
Comment: “Where will we put all those oil derricks they have in downtown OKC? They didn't need to make the trip to smell the stinky oil refineries. They could have stayed right here and smelled the stinky water.”
Fact: There are no oil derricks in downtown Oklahoma City. There are no stinky oil refineries along the Oklahoma River south of downtown Oklahoma City.

Comment: If it wasn't for Timothy McVeigh, your downtown wouldn't be any different than Topeka's downtown. Prior to 2000, the year the memorial was completed, OKC's downtown was devoid of businesses and restaurants. Now that there's a reason for residents and tourists to go downtown, the demand for downtown businesses and restaurants is much greater.

Fact: Downtown Oklahoma City’s revival was already well underway prior to the Memorial’s opening. Restaurants and clubs were thriving in Bricktown. Housing construction was being started up in Deep Deuce and Automobile Alley prior to 2000. The bombing actually slowed down the fully-funded makeover of downtown due to the diversion of city resources to recovery.

One always has to love the Internet, where any fool in his pajamas can post a comment or cite a statistic from a website nobody has ever heard of and expect such information to be given instant expert status.

okcpulse
09-05-2010, 11:49 AM
Comment: “Where will we put all those oil derricks they have in downtown OKC? They didn't need to make the trip to smell the stinky oil refineries. They could have stayed right here and smelled the stinky water.”
Fact: There are no oil derricks in downtown Oklahoma City. There are no stinky oil refineries along the Oklahoma River south of downtown Oklahoma City.

Comment: If it wasn't for Timothy McVeigh, your downtown wouldn't be any different than Topeka's downtown. Prior to 2000, the year the memorial was completed, OKC's downtown was devoid of businesses and restaurants. Now that there's a reason for residents and tourists to go downtown, the demand for downtown businesses and restaurants is much greater.

Fact: Downtown Oklahoma City’s revival was already well underway prior to the Memorial’s opening. Restaurants and clubs were thriving in Bricktown. Housing construction was being started up in Deep Deuce and Automobile Alley prior to 2000. The bombing actually slowed down the fully-funded makeover of downtown due to the diversion of city resources to recovery.

One always has to love the Internet, where any fool in his pajamas can post a comment or cite a statistic from a website nobody has ever heard of and expect such information to be given instant expert status.

Exactly why I feel that misinformation is the largest epidimec, so much so that it would complete a hockey-stick graph.

Laramie
09-05-2010, 11:50 AM
"If it wasn't for Timothy McVeigh, your downtown wouldn't be any different than Topeka's downtown. Prior to 2000, the year the memorial was completed, OKC's downtown was devoid of businesses and restaurants. Now that there's a reason for residents and tourists to go downtown, the demand for downtown businesses and restaurants is much greater."

Is this dude serious? What a fool.



People have a tendency to look at a "significant event" which occurred and tie it in with growth.

Dallas had an explosion of growth after the Kennedy assassination and Memphis with the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.,
so, this event apparently (in some people's minds) hastened our city's growth.

We had already approved MAPs I in 1993 (Bombing April, 1995); this helped propel our economy and spur three times as much private development than taxpayers shelled out for the MAPs initiative.

MAPs is credited with our development and not McVeigh.

Larry OKC
09-05-2010, 03:12 PM
I too find it appalling that anyone would link the bombing with MAPS but he may have taken his cue from the Chamber when they did the same thing.

Steve
09-05-2010, 03:15 PM
Those who engage in these conversations would have a totally different perspective if they saw a person die that horrible day or were directly hit with the grief and pain this event caused. Move on please.

dmoor82
09-05-2010, 05:21 PM
Topeka has a city population 5 times smaller and 11-13 times smaller in metro population than OKC!why dont they find a similiar sized city to visit!

Steve
09-05-2010, 05:34 PM
Population isn't as big of an issue as you think. If you doubt me - visit Fort Smith, Ark. - especially on a weekend.

dmoor82
09-05-2010, 08:50 PM
^^ So OKC can learn a few things from Ft. Smith?

Steve
09-05-2010, 08:53 PM
Yes. I think so. I think at the least there are couple things they've done that could easily be done in downtown OKC that would get a lot of folks excited.

Doug Loudenback
09-05-2010, 10:58 PM
What's the big deal about what Topekan's comments are in their own newspaper's article? I mean, who cares and in what possible way can those comments be said to matter in any way? I'm pleased that the Topeka people came to visit and hope that they found something here that they can use ... but ... but ... but ... comments in the Topeka newspaper? Get real. They are of no consequence in any sense in any world where ever it may be in this or any other universe, and, but for this thread, I'd not be commenting at all.

I looked at the comments there a little to see what the fuss was about here but got bored quickly. I mean, DO I CARE about what the Topeka commenters who I don't know have to say about stuff some obviously don't? I don't want to spend any more time on this than it takes to write this comment on the subject ... it just doesn't matter. Waste of time.

dmoor82
09-06-2010, 05:36 AM
Population isn't as big of an issue as you think. If you doubt me - visit Fort Smith, Ark. - especially on a weekend.

I agree with you that population isnt everything!Cities liike Frederick,Maryland and Hutchinson,KS have some things OKC could use/learn from!

dmoor82
09-06-2010, 05:39 AM
Yes. I think so. I think at the least there are couple things they've done that could easily be done in downtown OKC that would get a lot of folks excited.
^^You know what else would get some folk's excited here in OKC?Start's with Grand and ends with Prix!

SOONER8693
09-06-2010, 10:43 AM
I agree with you that population isnt everything!Cities liike Frederick,Maryland and Hutchinson,KS have some things OKC could use/learn from!
Hutch is my hometown. I'm amazed every time I go back to visit now, about once a year. Very cool things happening in a community of about 60-65000, including South Hutchinson. Very progressive small city. Great place to live, right in the middle of Kansas.

dmoor82
09-06-2010, 11:25 AM
^^ I like it too,I'm there once a week! straight shot NW of Wichita on 96!I like Hutch's Downtown and bricklined neighborhoods!Very nice city!OKC could use walkability tips from Hutch!

Popsy
09-06-2010, 11:34 AM
Yes. I think so. I think at the least there are couple things they've done that could easily be done in downtown OKC that would get a lot of folks excited.

Would you mind sharing what the couple of things are with the forum?

Spartan
09-06-2010, 12:14 PM
Ft. Smith has a very picturesque downtown. They also have a casino downtown, don't know if that has anything to do with it.

As for Topeka, it actually isn't a bad town..they actually have a lot of beautiful neighborhoods and some interesting topography. They have a great skyline for only 100,000 people. I think their downtown just suffers from the government complex syndrome.

Spartan
09-06-2010, 12:31 PM
"That there is not one single round-about in the entire OKC metro area. But they did not have to go there to learn that. Just ask them via snail or e-mail. Save our tax payers some hard earn dollars instead of providing tax income with touring dollars to the fine people in OKC. Perhaps they should next plan a trip to Topeka and spend the same amount of money!"

LOL..um actually..there are quite a few, especially in the metro.

JayhawkTransplant
09-06-2010, 01:37 PM
Yes, many in Topeka/Lawrence seem to be vehemently against roundabouts...it's funny that that comment would make its way into the discussion.

Steve
09-06-2010, 02:11 PM
Spartan, in terms of Fort Smith, I was speaking of the old fashioned excursion train, the river park, and the Five & Dime attraction

MikeOKC
09-06-2010, 03:24 PM
Spartan, in terms of Fort Smith, I was speaking of the old fashioned excursion train, the river park, and the Five & Dime attraction

I agree with you, Steve. That train is great!

ljbab728
09-06-2010, 10:00 PM
Spartan, in terms of Fort Smith, I was speaking of the old fashioned excursion train, the river park, and the Five & Dime attraction

I'm not familiar with any of that. Is the train private or publicly operated? Does it require any government assistance? I know you recently had many questions about OKC's support for the river boats and similar questions might come up concerning an excursion train.

Steve
09-07-2010, 06:06 PM
The excursion train is pretty much a mirror image operation to what is going on with the Oklahoma Railway Museum, except the ORM is bigger but doesn't come through downtown - yet.

OKC@heart
09-07-2010, 08:13 PM
The excursion train is pretty much a mirror image operation to what is going on with the Oklahoma Railway Museum, except the ORM is bigger but doesn't come through downtown - yet.

That would be some fantastic Marketing if they were able to pull that off! How awesome would it be having that train roll on through the adventure district (they would need to make some rail extensions but not a lot) and then come on into downtown! That would provide access to potential conventioneers who happen to have some time off to take a trip into the Adventure district and see a totally different side of OKC! How great would that be! Plus how cool would that look!

Steve
09-07-2010, 08:46 PM
There are people determined to make this happen.... The path exists, the will exists, it's only a question of money...

Kokopelli
09-08-2010, 03:49 PM
Augusta, Ga. is another smaller city, but larger than Topeka, that has a couple of features that are wothy of emulation. One is their main street boulevard an 8 lane wide street, six lanes are for traffic and 2 are for parking, that has a center island complete with parking spaces. The center island is landscaped and at the end of each block were park benches and some had statues, one even housed an ATM station. The center island made the "crossing the street" trek very much less daunting and the street not just another street but a grand boulevard. One couldn't help but think about the vision the founding fathers possed considering Augusta was founded in the early 1800's.
They also have Riverwalk Augusta, a two-tiered park along the historic Savannah River and a "cotton exchange area" think film row.

ljbab728
09-08-2010, 11:21 PM
Augusta, Ga. is another smaller city, but larger than Topeka, that has a couple of features that are wothy of emulation. One is their main street boulevard an 8 lane wide street, six lanes are for traffic and 2 are for parking, that has a center island complete with parking spaces. The center island is landscaped and at the end of each block were park benches and some had statues, one even housed an ATM station. The center island made the "crossing the street" trek very much less daunting and the street not just another street but a grand boulevard. One couldn't help but think about the vision the founding fathers possed considering Augusta was founded in the early 1800's.
They also have Riverwalk Augusta, a two-tiered park along the historic Savannah River and a "cotton exchange area" think film row.

That sounds nice but I don't think OKC wants any more street with 6 lanes of traffic in downtown even with a center island. At most we need four lanes with a bicycle lane.

Kokopelli
09-09-2010, 04:34 PM
That sounds nice but I don't think OKC wants any more street with 6 lanes of traffic in downtown even with a center island. At most we need four lanes with a bicycle lane.


ljbab728; Thanks for the comment. I was thinking more in terms of the new, yet to be built, crosstown boulevard that will replace I-40 crosstown.

ljbab728
09-09-2010, 10:51 PM
ljbab728; Thanks for the comment. I was thinking more in terms of the new, yet to be built, crosstown boulevard that will replace I-40 crosstown.

That's exactly what I was referring to also. The consensus seems to be that 6 lanes is too wide.