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News + Ideas

Visual Stories Bring “Tulsa Forward” to Life

Downtown Tulsa’s population has grown 25% since 2010 and the area is poised for a new wave of growth—it needed a plan to guide that momentum and target the continued investment. While only about 5,000 people live in the Downtown, 38,000 people work there in more than 2,000 businesses. And millions more visit the area, from the Cox Business Convention Center and ONEOK field to Guthrie Green and Tulsa Community College. The “Downtown Tulsa Forward” Strategic Investment Plan details well-designed and maintained public realm, including streetscapes, parks, plazas, and public facilities that will enhance the overall quality of life for residents, workers and visitors.

But how do you translate fiscal policies and existing capital improvement priorities into potential tangible projects? What do policies and priorities even look like? What type of impact will it have, who will use it, who will benefit?

That’s where visualizations make all the difference.

The Downtown Tulsa Partnership team conducted an analysis of existing conditions, an inventory of adopted policies and proposed projects over the last two decades, and facilitated robust stakeholder and community outreach—through workshops, events, socials, focus groups—to help determine a pathway to implementation for the downtown vision.

The community weighed in on four categories of improvements:

  1. Visionary Projects: Big, forward-looking projects that will catalyze growth and investment.
  2. High Impact Projects: Projects specific to a single site or location, that will have a big impact on Downtown and the city as a whole.
  3. Street Enhancements: Projects that improve safety, connectivity, mobility, access and comfort for multimodal movement.
  4. Placemaking: Smaller-scale enhancement projects that establish a sense of place, with appealing enhancements that promote activation.

Aerial diagrams of each category helped the community see where different types of projects might be placed, while photo simulations showed the character of what could be constructed and who would benefit from the enhancements.

High Impact projects would be placed in strategic Downtown locations.
Smaller placemaking projects would be placed throughout the Downtown.
The Detroit Street Bridge has narrow sidewalks, no shade, little lighting and no visual appeal.
Bridge improvements include wider sidewalks, street trees and landscaping, seating, lighting for both vehicles and pedestrians, and public art.
The Elgin rail crossing had no sidewalks or landscaping, with worn surfaces and striping.
Elgin Crossing improvements include a protected bike lane, dedicated sidewalks, landscaping, and green and safety infrastructure.
6th Street by the Convention Center today is busy and confusing, especially for pedestrians, with limited landscaping little visual appeal.
Proposed 6th Street improvements include a high-visibility buffered bike lane, more landscaping, a raised intersection for visibility and traffic calming, public art and improved connectivity to a new hotel.
Downtown alleyways were designed purely for utility—with no lighting and no visual appeal it is not appealing to pedestrians.
Proposed alley improvements include improved paving and street crossings to indicate it is a pedestrian route, overhead lighting, new art and entrance signage.

Downtown Tulsa Forward now provides specific, clearly defined guidance and prioritizations for improvement projects. The specifics may shift as the Downtown changes in real time, but the goals and framework for effective investment will continue to guide strategic change that’s aligned with the community’s vision.