Tulsa Billionaire Becomes Thunder co-owner

[aliasou]

Lived in Norman since 2000 and I here disparaging comments about Tulsa quite often. OKC downtown and bricktown are nice, but I love the fact I don't have to leave Norman and visit OKC for much. I prefer the suburbian nature of South Tulsa to any other part of OKC; this is also the reason I like Norman.

 

[DenverSooner]

Lived in Norman since 2000 and I here disparaging comments about Tulsa quite often. OKC downtown and bricktown are nice, but I love the fact I don't have to leave Norman and visit OKC for much. I prefer the suburbian nature of South Tulsa to any other part of OKC; this is also the reason I like Norman.

I have heard that the South Tulsa suburbs that attend Jenks are not as nice as they used to be. My in laws insist there are gangs in that part of town. You certainly don't notice it driving around and I have always found it hard to believe.

 

[allday92]

I have heard that the South Tulsa suburbs that attend Jenks are not as nice as they used to be. My in laws insist there are gangs in that part of town. You certainly don't notice it driving around and I have always found it hard to believe.

I've lived in South Tulsa since 1980, had three kids go to Jenks and this area is becoming even nicer. Jenks has turned into a mini college campus and this area is continuing to develop especially along the Arkansas River.

I wouldn't say there are gangs here. There are a few crimes that happen where one might think its gang related, when it is actually just spoiled rich kids messing around cause they have nothing better to do.

 

[StatGeek]

Lived in both cities. I would take Tulsa over OKC all day every day with one exception:

1. Proximity to OU--major bonus for OKC

There is a bit of rivalry between the two areas but I do think its a little more intense on the Tulsa side.

 

[Ham]

Tulsa folks can have their little OSU-like inferiority complex all they want.

I just hope Clay and Co. don't change the name of the team to the "Oklahoma Thunder" in some half-baked attempt to appeal statewide (as if the appeal isn't statewide already).

 

[big-hOUnd]

This all started back in the 70's when the Sex Pistols' limited US tour included Tulsa of all places. They got the national exposure, and it took off from there.
That's my theory anyway....if such a rivalry does exist.

 

[skyvue]

This all started back in the 70's when the Sex Pistols' limited US tour included Tulsa of all places. They got the national exposure, and it took off from there.
That's my theory anyway....if such a rivalry does exist.

The rivalry predates that -- it was well established by the late '70s -- and some of the Tulsa folks' claims of cultural superiority originated on the opposite end of the spectrum from the Sex Pistols.

 

[kbsooner]

I have lived in both and I would give Tulsa the edge in aesthetics, schools, restaurants... But trust me with the amount of development $$$ coming to OKC in the next 20 years, especially downtown, midtown, auto alley, core to shore, film row, etc. the city will be unrecognizable by the time it gets built up. There is going to be a big influx of people moving back to the core. I'm not sure it'll all get built, but there are some damn impressive proposals for development starting to pop up... The perpetual anchor around OKC's neck will always be the school system.

 

[mardaddy51]

OKC blows Tulsa away in the restaurant dept.

 

[WTSooner]

OKC blows Tulsa away in the restaurant dept.

Nonsense.

And all you need to know about what the restaurant industry thinks of the two cities is that Tulsa gets almost every "new" chain restaurant before OKC does.

 

[gwydion]

If you are basing restaurant superiority on chain restaurants you lose. I don't go to other cities to visit a chain restaurant. They are all the same. It's the local restaurants that decide that war. I don't know Tulsa, they may have better restaurants but they don't have better chain restaurants. Eat at any Appleby's, Chili's, Macaroni Grill etc, you've eaten at them all.

 

[WTSooner]

If you are basing restaurant superiority on chain restaurants you lose. I don't go to other cities to visit a chain restaurant. They are all the same. It's the local restaurants that decide that war. I don't know Tulsa, they may have better restaurants but they don't have better chain restaurants. Eat at any Appleby's, Chili's, Macaroni Grill etc, you've eaten at them all.

You are missing the point. I agree that chains don't make the city. But there is an order that "most" chain restaurants open in. And that fact that "most" open in Tulsa before OKC is telling. Whether anybody wants to admit that or not. Just like it's telling that most of them open in Dallas before either Tulsa/OKC. Tulsa has plenty of local, or Tulsa-only restaurants that compare just fine with anything OKC has.

Truth of the matter is, both cities are pretty darn equal in terms of what they offer, save a few things. The biggest to me is landscape, scenery, and all that jazz. I'm no tree hugger, but I like that Tulsa has hills and trees. I like that the lakes that are nearer to Tulsa are some of the best in the state. I like that it's just prettier country in the Tulsa part of the state. That is the first "big" advantage I'd give Tulsa.

Second is the people. Again, there isn't an earth-shattering difference, and this gap is certainly closing, but, and I'll try to say this in as non-offensive a way as I can, but Tulsans tend to be a more cultured people than folks that live in the City. The gap isn't this wide, but to me, and others I've discussed this with, it's a lot like Dallas vs FTW. FTW is a nice city. Solid place to raise a family. But it's a little more "farm" or "cowboy" than Dallas. OKC has a little more of that element still. Like I said, that gap is certainly closing, and probably will continue to close. But there is nothing OKC can do to even out the landscape difference I laid out above. And from most TRULY nonpartisan people that I've heard discuss that matter, the first thing they usually say is that Tulsa is simply a prettier place to live. So it does matter.

Everything else, pretty darn even. For all the money that OKC is spending, Tulsa is doing the same. Our downtown has changed 100x for the better in the recent year. We're about to get a giant family park down on the river, and that will likely spur further river development. The Creeks are about to do a major project at their casino that sits on the river, turning it into a resort, destination type hotel. Our highways has nearly all been reworked in a major way in recent years. There are TONS of projects in the works for Tulsa, just like OKC has, and has had in recent years.

 

[skyvue]

You are missing the point. I agree that chains don't make the city. But there is an order that "most" chain restaurants open in. And that fact that "most" open in Tulsa before OKC is telling. Whether anybody wants to admit that or not. Just like it's telling that most of them open in Dallas before either Tulsa/OKC. Tulsa has plenty of local, or Tulsa-only restaurants that compare just fine with anything OKC has.

I think a high percentage of chain restaurants in a city -- any city -- is a major strike against it, and being higher on a chain's priority list for opening a new restaurant, if anything, reflects badly on a city.

NYC used to have almost no chain restaurants (we still have fewer than just about any American city I know, but we have more than longtime NYers ever wanted to have). It's also one of the most densely populated cities in the country, so what does that say about NYC? Is it a bad restaurant city? Of course not.

It's amazing to see presented as an argument in Tulsa's favor the notion that chain restaurants open there before they open in OKC. That's like bragging that your grocery stores get the new flavors of Doritos before another city. Livin' large!

 

[SoonerTraveler]

This is an interesting topic to me. My former jobs included travel all over the USA, and to places like London, Stavanger (Norway), Perth (Australia), Rotterdam and Maastricht (Netherlands), Calgary (Canada), and so on. I have been to a lot of places, big and small, be it NYC, LA, Philadelphia, Houston and New Orleans; or The Dalles (Oregon), Soda Springs (Idaho), Tioga (North Dakota) and Gore (Oklahoma). I was a corporate internal auditor, and my travel list is very, very long. I have even spent a week working in Tulsa on more than one occasion.

I have resided in the southeast OKC area since 1959. During that time, I have seen OKC decline as it once had a busy downtown shopping area back in the 1960s when I was a child (before the introduction of suburban shopping malls).

Over the past 20-plus years, the city has remade itself and the quality of life here is getting better all the time. Besides the core-area developments mentioned above by kbsooner, there are other improving areas around the city, like the Lake Hefner restaurants and trails. It is lovely to relax at one of the open-air bars at the restaurants on the eastside of the lake, and watch the sun go down in the west with the lighthouse in the foreground, especially on a glorious calm spring day like yesterday.

We all run in different circles. Over the past 50 years, I cannot recall even one time that I have heard a friend, acquaintance, co-worker, neighbor, teacher, bus driver, waitress or bartender in OKC say something negative about Tulsa. I am not aware that OKC people have some sort of negative nickname that they apply towards the City of Tulsa.

On the other hand, over the years, I have read and heard some Tulsa folks refer to OKC as a Cow Town, in a way that seemed arrogant. Maybe instead of arrogance, this could be a Tulsan’s way of stating their feeling of pride in their city. I like the fact that both cities are in the process of improving.

To me, the argument between OKC and Tulsa seems fruitless in the big scheme of things. The argument is “interesting” since I don’t comprehend the passion behind it. If I had a huge bank account, I would probably spend much of the northern hemisphere summertime near Jasper, Alberta (Canada), or Lake Louise. I would then travel south to spend the southern hemisphere summertime near Queenstown or Christchurch, on the South Island of New Zealand. These are also places I have been too, but not on the job.

I would still keep a home base here, as I love to go watch the Sooners.

Speaking of “chain” restaurants, I wish OKC would get a Pappadeaux’s.

 

[garyeb2]

You are missing the point. I agree that chains don't make the city. But there is an order that "most" chain restaurants open in. And that fact that "most" open in Tulsa before OKC is telling. Whether anybody wants to admit that or not. Just like it's telling that most of them open in Dallas before either Tulsa/OKC. Tulsa has plenty of local, or Tulsa-only restaurants that compare just fine with anything OKC has.

Truth of the matter is, both cities are pretty darn equal in terms of what they offer, save a few things. The biggest to me is landscape, scenery, and all that jazz. I'm no tree hugger, but I like that Tulsa has hills and trees. I like that the lakes that are nearer to Tulsa are some of the best in the state. I like that it's just prettier country in the Tulsa part of the state. That is the first "big" advantage I'd give Tulsa.

Second is the people. Again, there isn't an earth-shattering difference, and this gap is certainly closing, but, and I'll try to say this in as non-offensive a way as I can, but Tulsans tend to be a more cultured people than folks that live in the City. The gap isn't this wide, but to me, and others I've discussed this with, it's a lot like Dallas vs FTW. FTW is a nice city. Solid place to raise a family. But it's a little more "farm" or "cowboy" than Dallas. OKC has a little more of that element still. Like I said, that gap is certainly closing, and probably will continue to close. But there is nothing OKC can do to even out the landscape difference I laid out above. And from most TRULY nonpartisan people that I've heard discuss that matter, the first thing they usually say is that Tulsa is simply a prettier place to live. So it does matter.

Everything else, pretty darn even. For all the money that OKC is spending, Tulsa is doing the same. Our downtown has changed 100x for the better in the recent year. We're about to get a giant family park down on the river, and that will likely spur further river development. The Creeks are about to do a major project at their casino that sits on the river, turning it into a resort, destination type hotel. Our highways has nearly all been reworked in a major way in recent years. There are TONS of projects in the works for Tulsa, just like OKC has, and has had in recent years.

Trying to argue that Tulsa is more cultured than OKC is like saying Bentonville. ARK. is more cultured than Lizard Lick, NC

 

[WTSooner]

I think a high percentage of chain restaurants in a city -- any city -- is a major strike against it, and being higher on a chain's priority list for opening a new restaurant, if anything, reflects badly on a city.

NYC used to have almost no chain restaurants (we still have fewer than just about any American city I know, but we have more than longtime NYers ever wanted to have). It's also one of the most densely populated cities in the country, so what does that say about NYC? Is it a bad restaurant city? Of course not.

It's amazing to see presented as an argument in Tulsa's favor the notion that chain restaurants open there before they open in OKC. That's like bragging that your grocery stores get the new flavors of Doritos before another city. Livin' large!

You are missing the point. Tulsa isn't better than OKC because we get chain restaurants first. Tulsa gets chain restaurants first because it is "better" (or at least, higher on the pecking order). Don't worry, I'm sure NYC gets them before Oklahoma has even heard of them. And I don't know how far back you are going on your NYC used to not have any chain restaurants claim, but I visited about 20 years ago, any there were EVERYWHERE. Not that it matters. NYC is unique enough as an American city that there is nothing about a comparison of NYC to any midwestern city that makes any sense at all.

 

[SoonerTraveler]

Trying to argue that Tulsa is more cultured than OKC is like saying Bentonville. ARK. is more cultured than Lizard Lick, NC

So true!!

 

[garyeb2]

So true!!

And I agree with you on Pappadeaux's.

 

[WTSooner]

We all run in different circles. Over the past 50 years, I cannot recall even one time that I have heard a friend, acquaintance, co-worker, neighbor, teacher, bus driver, waitress or bartender in OKC say something negative about Tulsa. I am not aware that OKC people have some sort of negative nickname that they apply towards the City of Tulsa.

And I've rarely heard anybody in Tulsa talk down about OKC, out of the blue.

What kicked the "debate" into hire gear again was Bricktown. Whether you heard it or not, when OKC did the Bricktown stuff, and all the development around that time, I heard tons coming out of OKC about how they had passed Tulsa, and how Tulsa was this and that.

And I'll add this comment. While I think there is a rivalry here that is two-sided, it is typically one that isn't heated or brought up often. Most of my experiences with seeing it discussed in any kind of heated way, was when it was brought up in certain context. It isn't like Tulsans just sit around bad mouthing OKC. And I'm sure OKC folks don't sit around just bashing Tulsa either. It isn't THAT kind of rivalry. But it is one that once the topic has been broached, both sides have very strong opinions.

Speaking of “chain” restaurants, I wish OKC would get a Pappadeaux’s.

That is something we can both agree on.

 

[Northbase]

I heard OKC is FINALLY getting a Costco. When does it open?