21 January 2008

Lions and Tigers and Bears! Oh my!

So after an incredible blur of nine of some of the most amazing days of my life, a click of the ruby red slippers lands me a state south of Kansas and I am home again. Words simply cannot express the emotion I had, the amazing friends I made, the vigor of a revitalized sense of purpose, and the swimming confusion in my head trying to piece together what all of this means. I am a better man for having met Herb Childress - without a doubt- and conversely I almost wish I had paid no attention to the man behind the curtain. It seems to be the common thread - where do we go from here?



Maybe now is not the time to figure that all out, and maybe it's too large for me alone to tackle, but maybe we can all work with each other to figure this mess out together. I miss my lions; I miss my tinmen; and I miss my scarecrow.

The topic I have settled on is a study as to whether it is economically or even socially viable for my town of Bartlesville, Oklahoma to attempt to revitalize, reclaim, and reinvigorate it's decaying and sleepy downtown area to once again be a destination spot - a place to see and be seen, and one that the citizens choose first as their spot for an evening on the town.

Abridged Bartesville history: Like most Oklahoma towns founded at the turn of the 20th Century the city's development has its roots in the oil industry. Once a fertile area for oil drilling, Phillips Petroleum was founded in Bartlesville and had its headquarters here until relocating to Houston in 2002. The subsequent cut in the Phillips presence from some 9000 jobs to 2400 crippled the downtown economy, and the rising development of big box retailers and strip centers away from the downtown area only perpetuated the problem. The current downtown is merely a shell of its former self, with a non-existent nightlife and only a handful of retailers and restaurants even bothering to open on the weekend. There is still a fairly captive audience of the existing Phillips employees, as well as the hub of the city and county government, and several other employers still located in the area, so foot traffic is not lacking - at least for a town of pop. 35,000.

The study could take several approaches:

A. What could be designed or transplanted to spark revitalization? I don't believe the pedestrian shopping mall is the answer as the evolution of shopping has evolved so dramatically and the town is so automobile dependent that this would not be a viable option. We love our high school sports here - would it be viable to move the football and basketball stadium away from the school to this area?

B. Is there a built-in employee incentive for Phillips and other large employers to invest in amenities to provide activities for its employees?

C. Is the whole model of "downtown" an outdated piece of nostalgia that simply doesn't fit in the 21st century? Should this entire strip of 1.5 miles be bulldozed and rethought out entirely? Is the infrastructure of the area worth maintaining if it only has an 8am to 5pm life cycle? Should entire sections of the streets be closed off to allow pedestrians to take it over in a European model?

I managed to obtain several case studies of small towns that have successfully done just what I am proposing, so it certainly can be done, but whether it can be replicated in my community requires investigation. In the end, my gut tells me all answers are going to lead to 'C' - which will be an eye opening study to all the powers that be, myself included who would loathe to see these historic structures abandoned because a solution cannot be found.

Help me save my town......

7 comments:

Mike said...

E,

The Lions mailed it in this year, the Bengals (Tigers) were a colossal disappointment, and the Bears didn't have shred of a chance at repeating their Super Bowl appearance. Those are not good NFL examples of success, my friend.

To your topic: I think that C is interesting in that I think downtown as an ideal, as a notion, as a place still is very much viable in the 21st century. It may not look like the downtown of Andy Griffith, but it still is a key element of a healthy city, in my humble opinion. Charlotte is kind of like your town, in a sense -- while we have a fairly large center city, with plenty of skyscrapers, etc., until recently it was basically a ghost town between the hours of 5 PM and 8 AM. Everyone came there to work, then went home. But in the last couple of years, the city has taken huge strides to try and inject life into the downtown, to make it a 24-hour entity, a constantly moving machine. Not everything has worked, but for the most part, the revitalizing has been successful -- more people live and play, as well as work, there, and we are rapidly approaching the "critical mass" of 10,000 residents in the downtown area. In turn, it has become a place to go, a place to see & be seen, and a place to fully experience the Queen City.

Melissa said...

Hi there. Option C has several questions, is your gut saying you need to tear down and start over or create a pedestrian-friendly area? I'm with you, I hate the thought of completely tearing things down! such a waste. Indianapolis is similiar to Charlotte in that we've seen a huge turnaround in downtown interest. Part of that, many people believe was that one developer took a chance and built an apartment building downtown. It was so popular he quickly changed it to condos and then built a few more buildings. Others followed and now small downtown businesses are succeeding and places are staying open later.

MCS said...

First, your Wizard of Oz reference was very humbling - thank you.

Personally, I think topic A is quite an interesting idea - moving the high school stadiums and sports events to the downtown area would certainly bring more people to the city. (Or have you considered trying to find a semi-professional sports team that would considering using Bartlesville as a home front?) As a tourist, what do I to look forward to when I visit your town? (Aside from the 25 cent kiddie rides considering I have no children, and I am way over the "you must be this tall to ride this ride" clown sign.)

I found this interesting article on Revitalization Strategies by Karl F. Siedman. Here are the 6 key points he addresses:

"1. Comprehensive community initiatives (CCIs) attempt to simultaneously address multiple
obstacles to revitalization. An early example is the Model Cities program of the 1960s, the impact of which is not clear because little evaluation was done. A wave of foundation-funded
CCIs in the early 1990s have had mixed reviews, but their lessons included the importance of
building consensus on the problem and solutions, having strong leadership and management,
and ensuring resident involvement.

The federal Empowerment Zone/Enterprise Community program, enacted in 1993, was based
on the CCI model. The most comprehensive study of the program found an emphasis on
business development, and positive outcomes in terms of growth in resident employment and
business ownership. Success factors cited in the study included: a clear strategic vision that
was shared among stakeholders; the need for strong leadership and strong staff capacity; and
the critical role played by technical assistance in business development efforts. It also found
that collaborations among government, businesses, and community-based organizations,
were very valuable and brought “different perspectives, networks, and resources to bear” on
solving problems.

2.2. Enterprise zones use tax incentives and regulatory relief to attract investment to blighted
urban districts. The concept was imported from Great Britain and has been used primarily by
states. Studies of state programs have shown some success in job growth and investment, but
that targeted development incentives alone are insufficient to revitalize a district. Research
also identified a stable economic base and plenty of available commercial and industrial land
as important for success.

3. 3. Housing-based strategies focus on rebuilding a neighborhood’s residential base as a
foundation for commercial district revitalization. Much inner-city housing development is
sponsored by community development corporations (CDCs), but they typically have limited
capacities. Researchers point to public–private partnerships, homeownership programs, and a
combination of large-scale and small housing development projects as successful approaches.

4.4. Commercial real estate–based strategies use physical development through either catalytic or
incremental projects to reposition urban business districts to compete with the suburbs as
both shopping and employment centers. Supermarkets and chain stores can anchor a district,
but the literature suggests that strategies must also address how to fit locally owned
businesses into the mix. Difficulties inherent in urban neighborhood commercial
development include lack of commitment on the part of local institutions, the complexity of
site assembly and financing for larger projects, and regulatory barriers. Lessons from the
literature suggest that no single type of development, defined by either use or scale, is
essential for neighborhood commercial district revitalization. Other lessons are that
revitalization impacts result from a combination of physical improvement, and that
partnerships and complementary investments are key — among nonprofit organizations,
private businesses and developers, faith-based organizations, and government.

5. 5. Business development and attraction strategies provide financial and technical assistance to
nurture the startup and growth of small locally owned businesses to help stabilize the district
and provide jobs for residents. Many early community development corporations focused on
business development, and there is a recent trend toward creation of neighborhood-based
business development networks among CDCs and other nonprofit organizations.

6. 6. District management strategies try to match some of the advantages of shopping malls by
coordinating such things as hours, appearance, and marketing among business and property
owners. There are three broad district management approaches: 1) business improvement
districts (BIDs), 2) centralized retail management, and 3) the Main Street program. "

I think this article, although wordy, has some valid points. I can send you the entire article, if you are interested - well even if you're not I'm sending it to you anyway - and when the people of Bartlesville throw you a tickertate parade, honoring you for saving and restoring their city - you can think back to this moment and how this article I have now emailed you, influenced the entire framework of your revitalization. You're welcome.

Herb Childress said...

Some days, I feel more like Glenda the Good Witch...

First off, this IS too large to tackle alone, and working together will be vital to Bartlesville (and anything worth doing). My first recommendation is to try to do an inventory of early Bartlesville, back when it was successful (you pick the era). What did people do downtown -- REALLY? Where did people live? One of the best tools you can find as an urban researcher is the old R.L.Polk city directories, which were indexed by address as well as phone number as well as building type. You'll be able to see exactly what kinds of businesses were on what block; how long they lasted; and whether the ownership changed. I did a study of bowling alleys in Milwaukee that showed about 25 in 1920, about 50 in the late 30's, well over 100 by the mid-50's, and then back down to about 40 (mostly out in the burbs) by the late 70s. And seeing what the bowling alleys had changed into -- record stores, apartments, parking lots -- you could start to see the community's priorities change.

Curtis said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Curtis said...

Hello Eric,

Thank you for the input on my topic, you are right! I should re-phrase the question because it's obvious how folks are looking at choosing a house.

To your topic, this is really a bear! My question is rhetorical at this point so don't answer me; what would you ultimatly like to acomplish by revitalizing the "once was" down town? I think that can begin to inform you on how you approach this, I am sure have thought about this before so I will shut up.

What a about a little survey around town, asking what people would like to see in the old down town, or just finding out what people around the town do for fun. Where do they travel for entertainment(how far)? Will a revitalized downtown bring a sense of place as
it reminds people of its humble beginings and history? It seems sometimes that just by responding to peoples needs is what makes a down town vital.

I do think it is a great topic. It is especially great because it is personal to you, to "your" town. I don't know if that helps at all.
Good Luck

Curtis

jenny chang said...

Hi Eric,

I was thinking the same thing as what Curtis said; to do a survey as to what people would like to see in their downtown.

Also, maybe do a survey as to what type people are living around and with that you can drawl a certain type of group of people into the downtown. For example, young professionals who had just graduated from school and cannot afford to buy a house and can only afford to live in an apartment.

I guess what it comes down to is to find out what people want and what will satify them. You can also look into other cities of how their downtown was revitalized and compare what they did. Maybe there is a common thing that they did and you can analyze it and use it for your downtown.

I hope this will give you some ideas as how to approach this and can branch off into many other ideas. I'm looking forward to see the outcome. :0)