Tulsa the more well known and better developed city?

[Plutonic Panda]

I appreciate it man.

BTW, I wasn't trying to present my opinions as fact. I had though I stressed it several times that it was just my experience and I'm still learning on it.

[gopokes88]

I kid you not I have Tulsa friends who think cities rank something like this.

New York
London
Chicago
Tulsa

But I get it. They grew up there, and all of their friends and family live there. So in their mind it makes Tulsa a GREAT city. They aren't wrong either, have deep enough roots and personal connections somewhere and you'll grow to love it. The reason people love OKC has a lot to do with the ease of planting roots here. It's very easy to build a great network of friends and if you're lucky family as well. Two factors have contributed to this 1. Oklahoman's general kind and friendly attitude. 2. Districts like Deep Deuce that make it easy to meet people.

From places I've traveled around a few things stand out that people recognize okc for.
1. KD and the thunder. Perception is the games are an absolute blast to go to, and Bricktown is a very fun bar district. Perception is that it's like Power and light or uptown in Dallas. (It's not but whatever, 10th street in 10 years though? yep)
2. I'm going to die in a tornado at some point. If you tell someone na I was fine in the Moore tornado it was like 10 miles away. They look terrified. People have no grasp on how rare it is for a tornado to actually hit your house and destroy it. They also seem to think when a tornado forms it's like a top spinning, it can go wherever it wants.
3. The economy. If they have a half way decent grasp of what's going on in the world, they'll say a version of this, "the American dream is still achievable in OKC, I've heard great things about it."
4. The bombing. Although it's starting to be forgotten a little from national memory.
5. Something random, like they know that it's Olivia Munn's home town, or they know about the building the flaming lips own. These always impress me.

[Bellaboo]

Another thing about OKC TV exposure is Russell and KD have both had multiple commercials that have featured OKC scenes as local backdrops. Russell's True Religion signature brand being his latest. Jordan brand before that. KD has had several with Nike.

[Mike_M]

Since you're in LA, and part of the acting community, could it be that people recognize Tulsa because it provided a major storyline shift in the most successful sitcom of all time (Friends)?

[David]

I'm just wondering if I'm the only person reading along who has never heard of that Tulsa Time song before.

[BDP]

I kid you not I have Tulsa friends who think cities rank something like this.

New York
London
Chicago
Tulsa

Haha. I don't know if it's that bad, but I have heard some head scratching analogies.

[ljbab728]

I'm just wondering if I'm the only person reading along who has never heard of that Tulsa Time song before.

Yes, I believe you are.

[josh]

So platonic, you're in LA now? How was your drive through SA?

[dankrutka]

As a proud native Tulsan who loves OKC, I find these conversations comical. I'm not at all interested in which city is better. It's a false choice that really doesn't serve a purpose. I'm far more interested in understanding, what are Tulsa and OKC's strengths? How can those be built upon? What are Tulsa and OKC's weaknesses? How can those be shored up?

Being so close to what's happening in Tulsa and OKC, particularly the problems, can really skew people's perspectives. I generally try not to insult any cities or places, but the more I travel and learn about other places, the more you realize most places have major problems and shortcomings. I drove through downtown Phoenix last week. It's the fifth largest city in the United States and I would take OKC, Tulsa, and Wichita's downtowns over it. It was unbelievable how poorly it is put together. There are no pedestrians to be found. There are what look like four lane (one way) race tracks that go right through downtown. When I asked people what to do they all told me to go to the suburbs. My point isn't to bash Phoenix, but to provide some perspective. Similarly, I was out in LA last weekend and the urbanism was as bad as anything anywhere in OKC. We had to walk with a baby stroller on a tiny sidewalk 10 inches from cars moving 40 MPH on a 6 lane road that only needed to be 2 lanes. Incredibly dangerous. Anyway, it's easy to focus on everything that's wrong with Tulsa and OKC and compare them, but it usually doesn't serve much of a purpose.

[bchris02]

Every city has its strengths and weaknesses. Downtown is not one of Phoenix's strengths but the Valley is a very vibrant place and has almost anything anybody could want. You just have to know where to find it. One also needs to keep in mind that Phoenix is kind of a unique city in and of itself. It's the only Tier I city in the southwestern United States and has unique attributes that no other major cities do. Also, the way the city is laid out, including its downtown, is actually among the most similar to OKC in the entire country.

I am going to have to respectfully disagree completely with you that LA's urbanism is as bad as anywhere in OKC. The two cities couldn't be any more different. Maybe you didn't go to the right place in Los Angeles because it is a VERY urban city. It's a shining example of how to make a car-centric city urban. OKC-style strip malls with seas of surface parking and huge setbacks are rare in L.A. proper.

[dankrutka]

I was not really speaking for all of LA - just the area I was in. But it's a very wealthy area near the beach and still set up poorly. Again, I repeat: I'm not arguing LA is bad at urbanism. Just pointing out that all areas have their problems.

I also am not judging Phoenix as a whole. Just providing my perspective from what I saw, which was the least impressive downtown of any major city I've visited. that doesn't make it a bad city. Again, just pointing out that lots of cities have lots of problems.

[mmonroe]

Not so much an OKC v Tulsa by West Coasters...
Love or Hate Oklahoma City - What Are the Things You Love or Hate Most About Living in Oklahoma City?

[traxx]

Phoenix is tier 1?

[Swake]

Phoenix is tier 1?

Just in golf courses and suburban shopping centers.

[BDP]

I am going to have to respectfully disagree completely with you that LA's urbanism is as bad as anywhere in OKC. The two cities couldn't be any more different. Maybe you didn't go to the right place in Los Angeles because it is a VERY urban city. It's a shining example of how to make a car-centric city urban.

It does have good examples of new urbanism throughout the basin. At the same time, it's probably one of the most sprawled communities in the country. Basically, in parts of LA, you can now live without a car, but you still wouldn't want to.

[ljbab728]

It does have good examples of new urbanism throughout the basin. At the same time, it's probably one of the most sprawled communities in the country. Basically, in parts of LA, you can now live without a car, but you still wouldn't want to.

My brother has lived in LA without a car for many years.

[Zorba]

Neither of Oklahoma's cities are large enough or important enough to be on the radar for a lot of people outside this region. When most people think of Oklahoma, they don't think of cities. They think of the Thunder, oil, tornadoes, the bombing, and the religious right. They don't know a lot about it outside of that. OKC is a pass-through city for a lot of people taking cross-country trips. With that said, TU'cane makes some excellent points above about why Tulsa might be more well-known amongst some people. When was the last time OKC was mentioned in a song or a movie?

John Anderson on Sportscenter mentions the Drillers and/or Tulsa in probably at least 50% of his broadcasts too, mostly in passing or a reference 99% of people won't get. And has been doing so for more than a decade. Not that this really influences many people, but I've always enjoyed it.

When I lived in Cincinnati most people had completely forgotten about the bombing. Even a lot of the people I work with that moved from out of state don't know anything about it after living here for a while.

[bchris02]

When I lived in Cincinnati most people had completely forgotten about the bombing. Even a lot of the people I work with that moved from out of state don't know anything about it after living here for a while.

I am surprised to hear people have forgotten the bombing. That was the worst act of terrorism in history until 9/11.

[Zorba]

I am surprised to hear people have forgotten the bombing. That was the worst act of terrorism in history until 9/11.

Yeah, really shocked me too. But this country is horrible with both history and geography. To be fair, many of the people that were straight clueless were around my age, which made them pre-teens when the bombing occurred. I haven't done this, but might be an interesting test, ask some of your friends what year Katrina happened and where it hit, I bet a few would have no idea.

[Snowman]

I am surprised to hear people have forgotten the bombing. That was the worst act of terrorism in history until 9/11.

For many it will not be as much forgot but never heard much about it, anyone around ten or under at the time probably would have had their parents avoid showing them it on the news (so low thirties and under today) , under five at the time is getting too young to remember any live details and at best it might get a brief mention in a history class but kind of falls outside of most of the times they focus on.

[Teo9969]

The distance between Oklahoma City and Cincinnati is the same as Paris to Poland…Paris to Moscow isn't that much longer than Oklahoma City to Boston.

It's not at all surprising people don't remember, especially because of 9/11.

[BDP]

My brother has lived in LA without a car for many years.

If they ever get the subway to the west side, I might could swing it. Maybe with uber it's totally doable now, but when I was there getting a cab always seemed like more of a chore than it should be, not to mention all the dazed and confused looks we would get when we told people we'd taken a taxi. : )

[traxx]

Tulsa has Spatula City, though.

[ljbab728]

If they ever get the subway to the west side, I might could swing it. Maybe with uber it's totally doable now, but when I was there getting a cab always seemed like more of a chore than it should be, not to mention all the dazed and confused looks we would get when we told people we'd taken a taxi. : )

Actually, my brother walks most of the places he goes. Other than that, he uses the bus system. When I go to LA to visit, I rent a car.

[dankrutka]

The distance between Oklahoma City and Cincinnati is the same as Paris to Poland…Paris to Moscow isn't that much longer than Oklahoma City to Boston.

It's not at all surprising people don't remember, especially because of 9/11.

Apples and oranges. Cincy is in the U.S. where this was one of the biggest stories of the year. I certainly know about pretty much any semi-major news in the U.S. and little of what happens in France.