Quote Originally Posted by soondoc View Post
I've said this before on other threads and got ripped on because of it. People need to wake up and realize that perception often is reality. The reality is that Tulsa does have more a cosmopolitan feel and look to it than OKC. While OKC is making great strides, it still has a rural feel to it compared to Tulsa. When they say that Tulsa has more of a Dallas or Austin type feel and OKC doesn't, well then we need to change that perception.
I do agree with some of what you are saying here and do think perception is a factor. However, I think everything OKC needs to do to change that perception (that it can do) is currently in progress. It will just take time for everything to develop and I have long said that I think this city will have a very different feel in 2020.

I don't think Tulsa's skyline having a couple of taller buildings has a thing to do with the perception it has as being the more cosmopolitan city. It comes from the fact that through most of the 1980s and 90s Tulsa was seen as the real city with its act together and OKC was struggling with a dead downtown, low-quality suburban sprawl, and massive brain drain. MAPS was the first step in reversing that but once a city develops a perception it can take a long, long time for it to change.