Neighborhoods of Oklahoma City
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- This article is about the neighborhoods in Oklahoma City. For more general information, see Oklahoma City.
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[edit] Downtown
[edit] Central Business District
Downtown Oklahoma City itself is currently undergoing a major renaissance, perhaps among the largest in the nation. Between the mid 1980s and 1990s, downtown was unchanged and almost completely vacant. It was the scene of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building on 6th Street between Hudson and Harvey Avenues caused by convicted domestic terrorist Timothy McVeigh; most buildings within a 1-mile radius were structurally damaged by the explosion including the old Journal Record Building (now home to the National Memorial museum). Many other buildings, such as the art deco YMCA building, were destroyed.
During the Urban Renewal days of the early 1980's, ill-devised urban planning allowed for the destruction of almost 50 historic buildings and skyscrapers. Examples include the Oklahoma Biltmore Hotel [1], which was imploded to make way for the I. M. Pei designed Myriad Botanical Gardens and parking lots. Those buildings that were not destroyed in the Central Business District were covered by concrete facades or left to Class-C office space, such as the Colcord Building (which is being converted to an upscale boutique hotel) and the Park-Harvey skyscraper (which is being converted to residential apartments).
In stark contrast to the promise from Urban Renewal, Downtown had not seen a new skyscraper or any sort of major construction project for many years. The last major skyscraper built downtown was the First Oklahoma Tower in 1982 and the Leadership Square complex built in 1984. Leadership Square was originally intended to be a single 60+ floor signature skyscraper but was later scaled down to two 'twin-towers' due to the economic downturn. No one knew whether downtown would turn around and it was used only for office space for quite some time, with the suburban developments left with the life and energy downtown once commanded.
Today, as Downtown and the Central Business District continue in their economic revival, there are numerous condo and apartment developments being built around downtown, along with older buildings that are being converted into apartments and hotels. Leading this charge is the renovation of the historic Skirvin Hotel, known for being the place where numerous presidents and dignitaries have stayed while visiting the city. New developers led by Marcus Properties are renovating the old 13-storey building into a new 5-star property, which will be known as the Skirvin Hilton Hotel.
Another development in Oklahoma City hotel properties is the Colcord Hotel, Oklahoma's first "skyscraper”. The hotel will feature 150+ rooms and suites on its 13 floors as well as feature a new upscale eatery and street front retail when complete.
Other development projects include:
- BLOCK 42 is a high-end condominium project offering 42-luxury condos with a modern, urban aesthetic. Construction should be complete by August 2007.
- The Hill is a project with almost 200 townhomes being built on a hill overlooking the Deep Deuce district. The project is scheduled to begin construction by the end of 2006.
- The Triangle, the Flatiron District between Deep Deuce and Bricktown, is a project by TAParchitecture that will be finished in 5-10 years with 700-loft units, office and retail space.
- In 2001, the Deep Deuce at Bricktown opened with 294 units.
- Legacy Summit at Arts Central is a $40-million, 200-unit being developed across from the Civic Center Music Hall.
- The Park Harvey Center, a 17-story office building is being converted into 164 affordable apartment units.
- The Central Avenue Villas will have 30 loft units when finished later in 2007.
- A new Hampton Inn and Suites in Bricktown.
- A 250-room Embassy Suites hotel in an as of yet unnamed location.
The area due south of the Ford Center is anticipated to become OKC's new downtown district once the long overdue move of the I-40 Crosstown bridge takes place by 2009. The master plan for Downtown South shows a boulevard running through downtown - where the current alignment of the Crosstown bridge is today, as well as a new city greenway stretching from the Myriad Botanical Gardens down to the Oklahoma River. It is also assumed that the Central Business District would be extended south and new highrise construction would take place there.
[edit] Bricktown
The Bricktown Entertainment District of downtown Oklahoma City is the fastest growing entertainment district in the region, and is one of the most popular destinations in the state. The former warehouse district on the east side of downtown has seen a major renaissance, along with the rest of the inner city, over the last 15-years thanks to the MAPS redevelopment plan. Bricktown today is bustling with dozens of restaurants, dance clubs, live music venues, upscale retail shops, and offices. Top attractions include the AT&T Bricktown Ballpark (aka, the Brick - home of the Oklahoma Redhawks) and the navigable Bricktown Canal.
The Bricktown Canal stretches one mile through the district toward to a new park past the Oklahoma Land Run Monument. When completed, the Land Run Monument will be a series of 36 giant statues stretching over an area the size of two football fields on the south canal, and will be one of the largest sculptural monuments in the world.
Lower Bricktown boasts a brand new movie complex run by Harkins Theaters, Marble Slab Creamery, Bass Pro Outdoor World, the new Toby Keith 'I Love This Bar and Grill' theme-restaurant and upscale retail. Several hotels are planned as are additional retail venues and urban condominiums, the first of which will be located next to the Harkin's Theater and across from the Sonic Building. Its first announced tenant is Starbucks, downtown's first.
[edit] Automobile Alley
This neighborhood along Broadway Avenue in Northeast Downtown was a popular retail district in the 1920s and was home to most of Oklahoma City's car dealerships. The area declined with the rest of Downtown in the 1970s and 1980s.
Today there is a considerable effort to turn AAlley into Oklahoma City's newest upscale urban neighborhood. Efforts to redevelop the area will transform the showrooms and storefronts of Automobile Alley into upscale lofts, galleries, and offices. Also in the area are many of downtown's earliest churches along Robinson Ave. (known as "Church Row") in Midtown and the city's first high school, now the headquarters of Oklahoma Farmers Union Insurance.
[edit] Deep Deuce
Deep Deuce, a few blocks north of Bricktown, ignited the downtown urban housing boom in the late 1990s. The area consists mostly of low rise apartment buildings and various formerly vacant mixed use buildings. Deep Deuce was once the largest African American neighborhood downtown in the 1940s and 1950s, and was the regional center of culture and jazz music. Bands such as the Count Basie Orchestra, the Blue Devils, the Charlie Christian Band, and others resided in this downtown neighborhood. It is also noteworthy that Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. was rejected for an executive position at the 'Calvary Baptist Church' in Deep Deuce for being "too young".
Much of the original neighborhood was bulldozed to make way for the I-235 Centennial Expressway in the late 1980s. While the area was neglected during the 1990s, the downtown renaissance has made the area attractive to developers despite the relative little that remains of the neighborhood's earlier character and architecture.
[edit] The Arts District
The area now known as the Arts District wraps around part of west downtown that encompasses the Civic Center Music Hall, the new Oklahoma City Museum of Art, the Myriad Botanical Gardens, Stage Center for the Performing Arts, the new central library, several local theaters, and at its northern edge, the Oklahoma City National Memorial. The district is also home to the nation's 3rd largest arts festival, the annual Festival of the Arts.
[edit] Innercity North
[edit] Asian District
Oklahoma City has the largest Asian population in the state and is home to a rapidly growing cultural district officially deemed Asia District. Many cultures from all over Asia are represented in the shops and restaurants as well as the neighboring residential and commercial area. The district is often referred to as 'Little Saigon' by local residents, as it was and still is popularly known, despite the official renaming as the 'Asian District'.
Centered primarily along Classen Boulevard from NW 22nd Street to NW 30th, the region is a culturally diverse Chinatown community, with the strongest visually identifiable influence being Vietnamese. Tens of thousands of Vietnamese refugees settled in the city during the 1970s after the fall of Saigon, leading the revival of what had previously been a declining neighborhood following a suburban "white flight" exodus of middle class residents. As the new Asian residents rebuilt the community, more immigrants moved into the area from countries beyond just Vietnam and Southeast Asia. It is now home to residents from all around the world.
Today the Asian District [1] is a bustling cosmopolitan scene full of art galleries, quaint apartments, retail shops, asian delis, highrise condos, and bars and restaurants of many varieties (in the span of a single block can be found a pizzeria, a diner, a bubble tea restaurant, an Asian video arcade, and many Chinese and Phở restaurants). One can often observe both international and domestic students from bordering Oklahoma City University, the Dove Science Academy, and the Classen School of Advanced Studies frequenting the neighborhood.
[edit] Eastside (area east of the Capitol)
The Eastside district in the near North East quadrant of Oklahoma City is home to the state's largest African American community and is experiencing a renaissance of its own. Once a perfect example of urban blight and neglect, the Eastside has seen some significant development recently. An African American Heritage Museum is currently in the works along with efforts to revive the long neglected NE 23rd Capitol Business District.
Other Eastside attractions include the beautiful and newly domed State Capitol of Oklahoma, the 45th Infantry Museum just south of the Adventure District, the new Oklahoma History Center, the University of Oklahoma Medical Center and the burgeoning Oklahoma Research Center. The OU Medical Center is the nation's largest, employing around 12,000 people.
The Oklahoma Medical District, comprised of some hospitals, the VA Med Center, the OUMC, and the OU Health Campus (comprised of 6 medical schools, and one of the largest health campuses in the nation) is undergoing a reconstruction phase with new buildings being built. There is also one of the region's major economic engines, the Research Park, which is a growing campus of 6 buildings fully leased with research-based tenants and thousands of jobs. The whole Medical District area is by far one of the fastest growing and newest economic engines in the metro area which has managed to link to Capitol Complex and Downtown into one package of urban revitalization linked by Broadway and/or Lincoln Boulevard.
The Eastside is considered by many to be the most economically diverse neighborhood in Oklahoma City, with land values ranging from astronomical in parts of the tree-lined Lincoln Terrace neighborhood to poorer areas within public housing districts like Prince Hall Village on Kelly Avenue; two very different neighborhoods only one mile apart.
[edit] 39th Street Enclave
Oklahoma City has the state's largest gay/lesbian population and gay village, known as the 39th Street Enclave. As with many of OKC's neighborhoods, the lack of established boundaries makes it hard to give an exact location, but generally speaking, this community is principally located along NW 39th Street between Pennsylvania Avenue and Youngs Street, although there are many gay-friendly businesses, organizations and neighborhoods diffused throughout the surrounding area.
The NW 39th Street Enclave rivals Bricktown in terms of sheer volume of clubs, bars, and nightlife including The Habana Inn, billed as The Largest Gay Resort in America, with 3 bars, restaurant, gift shop, and nearly 200 rooms. 39th Street is also home to the local annual PRIDE celebration and other attractions.
[edit] The Paseo
The Paseo Arts District was built in 1929 as the first commercial shopping district North of downtown Oklahoma City. The Spanish village with its stucco buildings and clay tile roofs is the home of Oklahoma City's Artists' community, the only such district in the state. Located along Paseo Drive at roughly N. Walker Ave and NW 28th Street, the district is home to a number of bars and upscale/ethnic restaurants and grills and hosts an annual arts festival in the spring.
Although the Paseo Arts District is in the near north quadrant of the city, it is quite central to Oklahoma City's most diverse and cultural neighborhoods. In the immediate area are several historic neighborhoods including Mesta Park, Edgemere, Jefferson Park, and Heritage Hills. To the west of the Paseo is the NW Business District and the NW 39th Enclave and the Eastside is due east. Immediately South West of the Paseo is the city's Chinatown/Little Saigon neighbourhood known as Asia District as well as Oklahoma City University.
[edit] Uptown and Midtown
Further south are Uptown, Automobile Alley and Midtown as well as St. Anthony's Hospital (the state's oldest and largest hospital) at the northern edge of Downtown. Midtown, like much of the inner city, is experiencing a renaissance as the city cleans out the blight and decay and replaces it with upscale urban amenities like the 10th Street Main Street program and the Plaza District streetscape.
The historic Heritage Hills neighborhood has led the charge in the area, with wealthy businessmen and doctors restoring formerly abandoned oil mansions north of downtown, between NW 13th and NW 23rd. The district is now completely restored. Then the nearly identical area between Walker Ave. and Classen Blvd., bordering Heritage Hills, is called Mesta Park. Really, the entire inner northwest is a patchwork of historic mansions and retail streetscapes like 23rd Street, Western Avenue, or the Paseo.
[edit] Innercity South
[edit] Stockyards City
Located at the Agnew Exit South of I-40 to Exchange Ave, Stockyards City is home to the largest stocker/feeder cattle market in the world. Stockyards City recaptures the architectural flavor of the early Twentieth Century with gaslights and wooden storefronts. Many businesses in Stockyards City date back to the early 1900s when the area was home to several major meat packing companies. The district still has weekly cattle auctions and is home to a local legend, the venerable Cattlemen's Steakhouse.
A number of special events occur in the district, including a Longhorn Cattle Drive each December, sidewalk sales between Thanksgiving and Christmas and the Annual Stockyards Stampede the first weekend in June.
The Oklahoma-National Stockyards are the nation's largest, and are the world's largest cattle market even to this day.
[edit] Capitol Hill and Riverside
Oklahoma City has the largest Hispanic population in the State with the majority residing in the SW and NW quadrants of the city. The Capitol Hill and Riverside districts, due south of downtown, are the center of Hispanic oriented commerce, culture, and nightlife.
Capitol Hill (located deceptively far from the actual State Capitol) was founded as a separate city during the land run and was later annexed into Oklahoma City. Hence, it has its own impressively well preserved main street business district along SE 25th Street, which has seen a revival in recent years. Capitol Hill was a popular middle class suburb early in the century, but as the population moved into the outer suburbs and the trolley lines that had connected it to downtown stopped running, the neighborhood went into decline.
While Capitol Hill still has problems with crime and gang activity, it is one of OKC's liveliest neighborhoods. One can find almost anything in Capitol Hill, from recording studios to the oddly placed Oklahoma Opry to soccer supply shops and street-side taquerias.
Also due south of downtown, Riverside promises to be yet another major urban district for Oklahoma City. The master plan shows public park and recreation space, residential neighborhoods, office parks, several "urban waterfronts" and river taxi docks along the waterfront. The recently completed Chesapeake Boathouse is a new Oklahoma City landmark on the Oklahoma River and a promising symbol for the Riverside District. Riverside is expected to be one of the best areas for development in Oklahoma City in the coming years. This area of Oklahoma City is also home to the Riverside Skate Park, located at 1700 S. Robinson. Riverside Skate Park is a 26,000 square foot mecca for skateboarders and other extreme sports enthusiasts. The park was designed by local extreme biking guru and national icon Mat Hoffman.
[edit] Northside
[edit] Adventure District
Another neighbourhood in Northeast Oklahoma City is known as the Adventure District, which is home to many of the city's great museums and major attractions. The area has numerous tree-lined boulevards and is home to many upscale neighbourhoods. Tourist attractions include the Omniplex Science Museum, the Oklahoma City Zoological Park, Remington Park Racetrack and Racino, the National Softball Hall of Fame and Stadium, National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, Six Flags Frontier City, the Oklahoma State Firefighters Museum,the The 45th Infantry Division Museum, and Cinemark Tinseltown USA among many other attractions.
[edit] Mayfair and Belle Isle
Mayfair and Belle Isle are a pair of middle class, mid century neighborhoods surrounding Penn Square Mall and Baptist Hospital. Penn Square Mall is Oklahoma's most upscale shopping mall with retailers like J. Jill, Coach, and Cache', Penn Square is also the city's most popular mall. Also nearby is Lake Hefner, a favorite spot for bikers and joggers, with a trail system around the entire municipal reservoir. The entire area is located within Oklahoma City limits.
Northwest Expressway, the city's main artery to the northwestern suburbs, is a strip mall filled, restaurant bearing, continuously congested 6-lane boulevard with highway intersections, hotels, and office towers scattered along at various intervals. The Northwest Business District includes most of the large scale highrises, office towers, and hotels outside of downtown, (including the architecturally interesting United Founders Tower).
[edit] Nichols Hills and The Village
Nichols Hills, just north of Belle Isle, is an enclave of the wealthy. The streets are lined with nice houses, the commerce is upscale, the restaurants are gourmet, and the country club is exclusive. There are other such enclaves throughout the city, but Nichols Hills is notable even among them for sheer extravagance. The Village, immediately north, is a middle class post-World War II neighborhood which looks somewhat out of place next to its neighbor to the south, although property values have increased in recent years due its to the proximity to Lake Hefner.
[edit] Quail Springs/Memorial Corridor
At the far northern edge of the city along Memorial Road and the Outer Loop (Kilpatrick Turnpike) is a huge swath of suburban development rapidly creeping toward Edmond, the city's northern suburb.
Over the past 20 years this area has been transformed from grazing land and farm prairie into a broad ribbon of office parks, housing tracts, chain restaurants, a regional supermall - Quail Springs Mall, Mercy Health Center, and a great number of strip malls and box stores. Year by year, more corporate campuses are built, more golf courses open, and more strip malls are finished and life goes on without the blink of an eye here. The city's most upscale golf course is located in an area called Gaillardia (named after the state flower, another name for Indian Blanket). The area is also infamous for one of the most congested and difficult intersections in the city, Memorial Road and North Pennsylvania Avenue, a natural consequence of the city's sprawl and developer-controlled planning.
The Memorial Corridor may not make it into tourist brochures any time soon, but the area is popular to locals nonetheless. In addition to the suburban sprawl, this area is also home to Martin Park Nature Center, a fairly large nature preserve with several hiking trails and lots of natural wildlife. North of the Memorial Road corridor is Deer Creek, a rapidly growing section of the metro centered around well-regarded schools and golf courses.
[edit] Westside
[edit] Meridian Avenue/"West End"
The Meridian Avenue "Hospitality" Corridor is along one of the city's busiest arteries, S. Meridian Avenue, and extends from mid-tier West Oklahoma City to suburban SW Oklahoma City.
The busiest section of the corridor is just north of Will Rogers World Airport and stretches from Airport Road (a controlled-access freeway) to I-40 and the Furniture District area, and survives primarily on traffic generated by it. There are numerous hotels, restaurants, and night clubs located in the district. In addition there are several corporations, including Hobby Lobby, headquartered within a mile of the corridor. Land is cheep as you venture further from Meridian Avenue, and many manufacturing facilities and corporate headquarters have their sprawling campuses on the southwest side of the metro.
Recently, the city landed a major Dell Customer Contact Center, with an original projection of 500 jobs, like their model for every other Dell campus. It is now the highest performing service center that Dell operates and the current job projection is around 4,500, mostly thanks to typical economic development as practiced by the Greater OKC Chamber and no other chamber of commerce.
The Meridian Avenue Hospitality Corridor and the area surrounding it is anchored on the north by the developing Oklahoma River (just before you reach I-40). City leaders have already written a very large check for water taxis to operate steamboats to shuttle people from the area to downtown, and possibly connect to a yellow water taxi in Bricktown. The Oklahoma River is a vast ribbon of former blight razed and developed into parkland, and developers already have placed bids for major projects.
[edit] Southside
[edit] I-240 Corridor
Stretching from I-35 on the east and Penn to the west and between 59th and 89th Street in recent years this area has become the Southside's meeca for shopping, dining and even car buying. This densly packed area atracts mainly big box retailers although the homes in the area are mostly small and older. The eateries and shops bring in some wealthier people from the "Westmoore" area of far southwest Oklahoma City (see below).
[edit] "Westmoore"/South Oklahoma City
West of Moore is an area of Oklahoma City known as Westmoore, anchored by the Westmoore High School, one of the state's largest high schools. The area, considered by some to be the fastest growing sector in the metro area, is booming with over 40,000 people is suburban in nature with one of the metro's highest in per capita income. Neighborhoods and country clubs here often make the "OKC's best" residential lists. It is unique in that it is completely within the city limits of Oklahoma City, but has its own identity and seems like just another suburb. The area is bounded by Meridian Avenue to the west, Santa Fe Avenue to the east, 89th Street to the north, and 164th Street to the south.
[edit] Eastside
[edit] Southeast Oklahoma City
The far southern sides of Del City almost touch I-240, where there are new housing additions, and numerous new manufacturing facilities and of course, the mountainous landfill. While this area is hardly a Memorial Road, there are some new office buildings and traffic does grind to a halt on I-240 coming from Tinker, which lies between I-40 and I-240 in Oklahoma City, and touching Midwest City. The famously dismantled GM plant, Quad Graphics, and some other employers are scattered around the mostly industrial countryside. Several new industrial parks take advantage of the Tinker proximity, including the Boeing facility under construction.
Also Tinker Air Force Base, one of the nation's premiere bases (30,000 employees), is located in this area.
[edit] External links
- Official City Website
- Visitors' Center
- Chamber of Commerce
- OK Metropolis Forums -- OKC Civic & Development Discussion
- About Oklahoma City
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
