Neighborhoods of Oklahoma City

This article is about the neighborhoods in Oklahoma City. For more general information, see Oklahoma City.

Downtown

Downtown Overview

downtown Oklahoma City

Downtown Oklahoma City itself is currently undergoing a renaissance, one of the largest in the nation. Between the mid 1980s and 1990s, downtown was unchanged and largely vacant. It was the scene of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building on 5th 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.

White flight during the 1950's and 1960's left much of the inner city abandoned. During the Urban Renewal days of the early 1980s, controversial urban planning allowed for the destruction of almost 50 historic buildings and skyscrapers. Examples include the Biltmore Hotel [1], which was imploded to make way for the I. M. Pei-designed Myriad Botanical Gardens, the only major Urban Renewal project completed as planned. Many of the buildings which were not destroyed in the Central Business District were covered by new facades or left to Class-C office space. The removal of historic structures left downtown without much retail presence.

The Myriad Gardens

In stark contrast to the promise of 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 skyscraper but was later scaled down to two connected towers due to economic downturn.

Downtown and surrounding areas such as Bricktown and Midtown have seen a significant revival in the wake of the MAPS program, which created new venues and attractions in the downtown area. 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, where numerous presidents and dignitaries have stayed. The historic Colcord Building, Oklahoma City's first skyscraper, was also converted from office space to a boutique hotel in 2006.

Devon Energy, currently occupying space in 5 separate downtown buildings, revealed plans in August 2008 for a new 1.9 million square foot, 925 foot-tall skyscraper at the corner of Sheridan & Hudson, a space originally planned for a "Galleria" mall under the Pei urban renewal plan. The building is expected to bring new life to the east side of downtown, which has seen less growth compared to Bricktown on the western edge and Midtown to the north.

Other development projects include:

• $100 million in proposed improvements to the Ford Center were approved by voters in March, 2008. The improvements will allow for offices and new locker rooms for OKC's new NBA team, new restaurants and bars, rooftop terraces, a new grand entrance, and a family fun center.
• Block 42 is a high-end condominium project offering luxury condos with a modern, urban aesthetic. The project was completed summer 2008.
• The Hill is a project with almost 200 townhomes being built on a hill overlooking the Deep Deuce district and Bricktown. The project is currently under construction.
• The Triangle (encompassing the Flatiron District and some of Deep Deuce) is a project by TAP Architecture that will include 700-loft units, office and retail space.
• The Central Avenue Villas will have 30 loft units when finished in late in 2008.
• A new Hampton Inn and Suites in Bricktown should be complete in late 2008.
• The Cotton Exchange is a planned retail/condo development on the canal across from the Bricktown Ballpark. Construction should begin in 2008.

  

  historic Bricktown

The area due south of the Ford Center is anticipated to become OKC's latest downtown district once the long overdue move of the I-40 Crosstown bridge takes place by 2011. The master plan for the "Core to Shore" area shows a boulevard running through downtown - where the current alignment of the Crosstown bridge is today, as well as a large new city park 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 will take place there.

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 77 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 (a newly constructed area south of existing warehouses) boasts a brand new movie complex run by Harkins Theaters, Bass Pro Outdoor World, Toby Keith 'I Love This Bar and Grill' theme-restaurant, Red Pin Bowling Lounge, and upscale retail and restaurants. The Centennial on the Canal is the Bricktown district's first new residential construction, and contains 3 levels of high-end condos with retail on the canal and street levels. The area also includes the corporate headquarters of Sonic Drive-In and a 9-story Residence Inn.

Deep Deuce

Deep Deuce, directly north of Bricktown, ignited the downtown urban housing boom in the late 1990s with the Deep Deuce Apartments. 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 1950's 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 how little remains of the neighborhood's earlier character and architecture. The first phase of The Triangle (a large masterplanned community between Bricktown, the elevated railroad tracks, and I-235) is the Brownstones at Maywood Park, which includes 3-5 story brownstones over several blocks of Deep Deuce, along with a park and a large sculpture. Also in the construction or planning phases are several other residential developments, including The Lofts at Maywood Park, Block 42, The Hill, Central Ave. Villas, and Flatiron Lofts. The area is also home to the OKC campus of Oklahoma Baptist University.

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 1960s and 70s.

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. The latest addition to the up and coming district is Red Prime Steak, and upscale modern eatery designed by renowned architect Rand Elliot. The restaurant is housed in a former Buick dealership and prominently features red neon and LED. Also in the area are many of downtown's earliest churches along Robinson Ave. (known as "Church Row") in Midtown, the flagship store for the CD Warehouse chain, and the downtown YMCA, which had to be

the Oklahoma City Museum of Art

rebuilt following the bombing of the Murrah building.

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 Oklahoma City Museum of Art, the Myriad Botanical Gardens, Stage Center, the Ron Norick Downtown Librrary, several local theaters, headquarters of the American Choral Directors Association 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. The area saw new residential development open several years ago when developers converted the former Montgomery Ward department store into condominiums, and in 2007 with Legacy Summit at Arts Central, a $40-million, 200-unit across from the Civic Center Music Hall. Also in this district is City Hall, the art-deco Oklahoma County Courthouse, and the central station for Metro Transit buses.

Inner City North

Asian District

The Gold Dome and Classen buildings of the city's Asian District

Oklahoma City has the largest Asian population in the state and is home to a rapidly growing cultural area officially deemed the Asian 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.

Eastside

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.

The Oklahoma Medical District, composed of some hospitals, the VA Med Center, the OUMC, and the OU Health Campus (composed 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.

39th Street Enclave

Oklahoma City has the state's largest gay/lesbian population and gay village, known as the NW 39th Street Enclave or simply 39th Street. 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 of the city.

The NW 39th Street Enclave rivals Bricktown in terms of sheer volume of clubs, bars, and nightlife including The Habana Inn, billed as "The Southwest's Largest Gay Resort Hotel" , with 2 clubs, piano bar, a restaurant, gift shop, and nearly 200 rooms all at the hotel. 39th Street is also home to the annual PRIDE celebration and other attractions.

The Paseo

Storefronts along 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.

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. Located along Paseo Drive at roughly N. Walker Ave and NW 28th Street, the district is home to a number of bars and nightclubs as well as numerous upscale/ethnic restaurants and grills. The Paseo also plays host to an annual arts festival in the spring.

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 neighborhood known as Asia District as well as Oklahoma City University.

The Paseo was originally developed by Dr. G.A. Nichols, who also developed the Nichols Hills neighborhood.

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. In the inner city, there are lots of heritage conversions and new construction projects under construction and proposed. The near N. Walker Avenue streetscape is currently under construction as are a number of new housing developments. In addition, numerous heritage building conversions where abandoned hotels and retail structures are being renovated into upscale condos, lofts, and apartments are taking place and announced seemingly each week. It is hoped that this synergy will create a dynamic new near downtown residential neighborhood that will attract the hip creative class to the inner city.

Midtown is the area around NW 13th Street. Like much of the inner city, MidTown is also experiencing a renaissance of its own as the city cleans out the blight and decay and replaces it with upscale urban amenities. The city completed improvements like the 10th Street "Main Street" program/streetscape and the Plaza District streetscape on 16th Street which includes the renovation of the landmark Plaza Theatre.

Uptown is the area near the mid 23rd Street due east of Asia District. The area is home to numerous ethnic shops and gritty venues. Among them, Tower theatre is currently being remodeled to become a large scale venue with new storefronts. This project is expected to spin-off similar developments as the neighborhood picks-up once again.

The Heritage Hills Heritage neighborhood had led the charge of development in the area, with wealthy businessmen and doctors restoring formerly abandoned oil mansions located north of downtown, between N 13th and N 23rd Streets. The nearly identical area called Mesta Park, located between N. Walker Ave. and N. Classen Blvd., bordering Heritage Hills, has also seen significant development. Truth to be said, the entire inner city north central area is a patchwork of historic mansions and retail streetscapes that is a pleasant mix of urban grit and heritage residential monuments.

Inner City South

Stockyards City

File:1554657-Cattlemens Steakhouse-Oklahoma City.jpg

Cattlemen's Steakhouse is a local legend off of Agnew Avenue

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.

Stockyards City is also home to many western themed shops and boutiques, including the oldest western wear store in Oklahoma, Langston's Western Wear. Established in 1913, Langston's is the largest seller of Wrangler jeans and Levi's jeans per location in the Southwest and has been voted the Best Western Store by the readers of the Daily Oklahoman every year the "Reader's Choice" award has been given.

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.

South Side of Oklahoma City

A sports supply store with hand painted sign, Capitol Hill

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.

Northside

Adventure District

Another neighborhood 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 neighborhoods. 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.

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 one of Oklahoma's most upscale shopping malls with retailers like Apple, J. Jill, Coach, and Cache', Penn Square is also one of the city's most popular malls. 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.

The Northwest Expressway, Suburban NW OKC

Northwest Expressway, the city's main artery to the northwestern suburbs, is a strip mall filled, restaurant bearing, continuously congested (by Oklahoma standards)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).

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 to its proximity to Lake Hefner and Nichols Hills neighborhood.

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.

The area gained its name from the Quail Creek residential development and its neighborhood Quail Creek Golf and Country Club. The just under two square mile Quail Creek residential development was one of the country’s first neighborhood golf communities and was the vision of developers John W. “Jack” Johnson and his brother Paul Johnson. Work on the development started in 1960, with golf course designed by Floyd Farley and club house designed by Howard, Samis and Davies. Ernie Vossler, the original Golf Pro, later took the neighborhood golf community concept and created the Oak Tree developments (Oak Tree Golf Club) in Edmond, OK, as well as La Quinta golf course developments in the Palm Desert, CA area.

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. Growth here has been brisk, with corporate campuses, golf courses, and shopping centers opening up new opportunities for exploration. The city's most upscale golf course is located in an area called Gaillardia (named both after Oklahoma's state wildflower, the Gaillardia, also known as the Indian Blanket, and the Oklahoma City business mogul family and owners of The Daily Oklahoman, the Gaylords). 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. However, area is popular with locals due to a wide variety of shopping, dining and entertainment attractions within easy reach, with plenty of open spaces and without the cramped, stifled feeling of the more "urban" areas; and despite calls for a return to more urban-centric ideals by a small minority, the success of this area is undeniable.

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.

Westside

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 cheap 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 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.

Mel-Rock

Mel-Rock is a neighbourhood located south of Bethany, east of Yukon,Oklahoma, and west of the Meridian Corridor. In western Oklahoma City, centered around the intersection of two arterial roads: Melrose Lane and Rockwell Avenue. The area is roughly bounded by Council Road to the west, Macarthur Boulevard to the east, I-40 to the south, and NW. 23 Street to the north. It is a very diverse neighborhood.

Mel-Rock got its name from the Jane-Finch area. As there names a both from an intersection.

It makes up its population from mainly African Americans, but it also has a large white population, and has a notable Asian American and Hispanic population. As well, there is a substantial and equally diverse population living in lower to middle class detached, semi-detached, townhouses and appartments.

Southside

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 mecca for shopping, dining and even car buying. This densely-packed area attracts 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).

"Westmoore"/South Oklahoma City

West of Moore is an area of Oklahoma City known as Westmoore, anchored by 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. The area is suburban in nature and one of the metro's highest in per capita income. Neighborhoods and country clubs in this area 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.

East

Southeast Oklahoma City

The main gate at Tinker Air Force Base, 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. Traffic grinds to a halt on I-240 coming from Tinker Air Force Base, which lies between I-40 and I-240 in Oklahoma City, and touches Midwest City. Tinker is one of the nation's premier bases, employing over 30,000 people. The famously-dismantled General Motors 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 now under construction.

External links

• Official City Website
• Visitors' Center
• Chamber of Commerce
• OK Metropolis Forums -- OKC Civic & Development Discussion
• About Oklahoma City