Your friends at Smart Growth Tulsa enter 2018 with renewed enthusiasm after experiencing some disappointing results from 2017’s fundraising efforts. There really is no way to sugar-coat it. Our hopes of generating sufficient revenue to fund a full-time executive director and administrative assistant have simply not yet materialized. After unsuccessfully appealing to several major local…
DetailsHope is a powerful force that has the ability to transform individuals and communities. Students at OU-Tulsa are conducting a study to learn more about Tulsa’s level of hope. They want to learn how hopeful Tulsans are, both individually and collectively, and what is needed to encourage hope in our city. Please take 5 to…
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“Downtown Tulsa is a desirable destination: home to centers of culture and employment and increasingly a complete urban neighborhood including residential, commercial and recreational uses. Improving the built environment . . . offers tremendous opportunity.” These words by Mayor Bynum introduce the Jeff Speck Walkability Study. Mayor Bynum is correct in these statements, and the…
DetailsWhile some property owners predictably resist what they consider to be cumbersome and sometimes expensive regulations, they are arguably the ones who have the most to gain by them. It is a mistake by those who dismiss design standards as nothing more than unnecessary aesthetics serving as barriers to doing business.
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In November of 2015, after a rigorous and lengthy process, the Tulsa City Council formally adopted an updated zoning code which became effective in January of 2016. Through that process, we made a number of significant improvements to Tulsa’s outdated land use policies, which at the time were absent some valuable tools utilized by thriving…
DetailsIf you said, “to move cars from point A to point B in the least amount of time,” you are not alone. Heck, you may even be a city traffic engineer.
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“If others want to dictate how downtown property is to be used, they should consider investing their own money in downtown real estate. Then they can call the shots.” Thus sayeth the Tulsa World editorial writers, the omnipotent, all-knowing purveyors of truth, justice and the American way.
DetailsVoting for the mayor’s proposal were Councilors Phil Lakin, David Patrick, Ben Kimbro, Karen Gilbert and Anna America, who as council chairwoman cast the deciding vote after her peers were split four in favor and four opposed.
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Is there demand for commuter rail service between Tulsa and Oklahoma City? Evan Stair and Passenger Rail Oklahoma believes so. In February 2014 three sold out Eastern Flyer demonstration trips were offered between Sapulpa and Oklahoma City.
DetailsThe trees between Tulsa and Oklahoma City are budding but Tulsa’s passenger train aspirations remain dormant. Nature is taking care of the trees; however, Oklahoman’s must warm up what has turned cold …
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It’s not difficult to speculate on what’s behind the February 21st, 2017 Special City Council Meeting to consider a mayoral sponsored resolution regarding the future of a portion of Helmerich Park. Quite simply, it is damage control, and an
DetailsOn the more sobering side, no schedule has been set for re-visiting those four plans which in some cases will involve re-engagement with the area’s stakeholders in meetings and hearings, that could conceivably…
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There have been 49 fatality crashes involving people who walk or ride bicycles in the City of Tulsa from 2012 to 2015, many of these crashes being preventable. Though there have been efforts to improve conditions for people who walk and ride bicycles…
DetailsFor the second year in a row, Smart Growth Tulsa Trustees and Advisory Board Members assembled for an all-day planning retreat at the picturesque Lake Keystone home of Jamie Jamieson and Kathy Henry on December 3rd, 2016. We celebrated a
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Smart Growth Tulsa was honored recently by Tulsa’s Young Professionals (TYPros) at the organization’s 2016 Boomtown Awards Ceremony at the new River Spirit Casino Resort Ballroom. The recognition of SGT
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