Quote Originally Posted by boitoirich View Post
One thing that has to be done is expectations have to be elevated. People have mentioned Montrose and WeHo, but when I asked one of the owners in the Enclave about what he would like to see done to improve the district, he said to me that he thought the area was already improved enough. I think this is a problem city-wide, as citizens have gotten too used to substandard development. That's a shame, as the gayborhood has a great density of bars (7 - 10 at a time), a hotel, LGBT services, community churches, a restaurant, and even some small-scale retail. It has the bones to become an outstanding late-night district, but its expectations are to remain a dark, seedy corner.
I agree with this, especially the bolded part. "Good enough for Oklahoma" as an excuse for substandard development is an issue citywide, not just on 39th. It's why I think its time to move on from 1990 OKC being the standard by which everything is compared. There are people and projects working to up the standard in OKC, with Shadid and the new Western streetscape being a big one that comes to mind, but its a monumental task that can't happen over night or as fast as many of us would like.

In regards to 39th, I think its important to note that OKC is kind of unique for a city its size in that it actually has a concentrated district focused on LGBT-oriented nightlife. Most small metropolitan areas don't have that. I really think 39th could benefit from getting a makeover similar to Western. A big issue with it is that trying to get it done could be politically explosive.

I have never been to any of the bars along 39th but for those that frequent the area, are the bars and clubs decent quality despite unsightly appearance from the outside?