Tulsa is Portlandy - cute little section of an article I just came across

[OKNancy]

From an interview:
Talking with Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein About 'Portlandia' Season 3

Carrie, since you live in Portland year-round but have also done tons of touring with Wild Flag, have you found hidden Portlandias in other cities?

Carrie: Last year I found myself in Tulsa, Oklahoma and I had never been before. I went to a wonderful coffee shop that had a list of amazingly esoteric rules by the register that we actually ended up writing a sketch about. I will emphasize they had great coffee. Also, all over Tulsa are little pockets of collectives and boutiques and artisan bakeries. It's the same with Birmingham, Alabama — repurposing warehouse spaces into multi-use living and work spaces, you know, just revitalizing the downtown in a very considered way that caters to the creative class and the people who want to have a furniture-making studio — as this kind of return to trying to sustain a local condensed economy that values authenticity and craftsmanship. I feel like that is popping up in so many cities, especially in places like Birmingham or Tulsa where there was a time where those downtown areas were somewhat abandoned and people moved to the suburbs. And so now you have all this empty space that is able to be reimagined and reconstituted, and those areas feel really Portlandy. It's amazing to have some of the best coffee or best sandwiches I've had in the last year in those cities. So yeah — I see Portland everywhere.

http://splitsider.com/2013/01/talking-with-fred-armisen-and-carrie-brownstein-about-portlandia-season-3/

[Z_I_Peevey]

1. Hmmm, wonder if she was in Brady district or Brookside?

Or are there new Portlandy sections I don't know about yet?

[OKNancy]

2. downtown

1st street to 8th - so Brady is north of 1st so , lol it's spreading

[Z_I_Peevey]

3. And now this, too:

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2013/03/05/us/ap-us-travel-trip-oklahoma-tulsa.html?pagewanted=1

What you find here now is an eclectic mix of new and old: artsy hangouts that show off Tulsa's thriving hipster culture as well as well-preserved historic gems that harken back to the oil boom of the early 1900s. As somebody who seeks out both highbrow art and underground subculture, I love this about Tulsa.

Good things about Tulsa in the Times. The head spins.

[OKNancy]

4. dang

going to read, and of course share on my Facebook

[AndyA]

5. It would be great if the owners of some long vacant downtown Tulsa buildings

got a whiff of reality and decided to sell them for what they're actually worth, not what they think (in their wildest dreams) they're worth. Downtown development would really boom if this happened.

I've heard of out of state investors making offers on a few of these derelict, code violating structures, but the idiot owners won't sell them for what they're worth, they want to just keep holding onto them in the hope that they'll be worth a fortune.

I really wish the city would up its code inspections and force the owners (one in particular owns quite a few) to bring them up to code. They aren't doing any repairs to keep taxes low, so they just sit and rot, and become an eye sore.

People from out of town visiting Tulsa for the first time are usually surprised. Tulsa ranks third in the nation from what I understand for surviving Art Deco architecture, behind New York City and Miami Beach.

It's nice to see some positive press about the city.

[OKNancy]

6. I agree! I wonder if Kathy Taylor has a position on this

Ha.. my husband calls Dewey Bartlett the George W of Tulsa. Dumb as a box of rocks and got there because of his name.

[AndyA]

7. Taylor was responsible for going after the owner of the Tulsa Club building

That owner lived in California, and was allowing the building to deteriorate. People were breaking in and tearing it up, setting fires, etc., and she came up with the idea to fine absentee owners every day that their property had a code violation.

I think the Tulsa Club building racked up over $300,000 in fines, which is why it's up for auction in April. The owner filed bankruptcy to avoid the auction process, but unless they pull another fast one, the Sheriff should be able to sell it next month.

That is a wonderful building, hopefully it will be renovated and not knocked down for a parking lot. There are pictures online if you want to see it inside in its current condition: http://www.abandonedok.com/tulsa-club-building/

Agree 1,000% about Bartlett--what a nit wit. LaFortune as well. LaFortune always looked like he slept in his suit and just got up and went to work. Kathy Taylor, for all her faults, represented Tulsa very well, and did some great things for the city. The new City Hall was condemned by many from the right, but it does show Tulsa as a more progressive city, with an impressive City Hall. Plus, the old City Hall is being restored and the downtown Library is getting a face lift as well.

Bill Christiansen is a right wing gun rights idiot, and not a nice businessman from what I've heard. He was my City Councilor, and was pretty ineffective in that capacity. Tulsa doesn't need anymore right wingers running things, in order to compete in a left moving country, we need to be more progressive. The right wingers can't see that everything they complain about in the city and state is thanks to the Republicans they keep voting for.

Bridenstine and Mullin--need I say more?