TULSA, Okla. — Leaders of Tulsa's past are seeing their vision for downtown come to life.
Fuller buildings, more foot traffic and safer spaces are the highlights from the State of Downtown event hosted by the Tulsa Downtown Partnership.
"Our representative of Tulsa, to the people who visit our place, is [downtown]," Blake Ewing, Mayor Bynum's Chief of Staff said.
According to the partnerships report, 2.1 million people visited downtown in 2023. What they saw, in some parts at least, was a newer, safer, more welcoming area.
"Tulsa Fire Department’s Alternative Response Team-2, a collaborative initiative designed to enhance the efficiency and responsiveness of the 911 system in downtown Tulsa, reduced 911 calls to downtown by 72% in 2023," a spokesperson for the group said.
"It’s not just a central business district anymore, this is a central neighborhood where people work, where people live, where people come to experience the culture," the Parternship's president, Brian Kurtz said.
He conceded the homeless population downtown grew, but there are plans to address that. Namely, filling empty office space, up to 1.6 million square feet worth, with new housing units.
"Why not grow? We wanna grow. And I’m very excited how downtown’s growing," Shanta Isom, said.
She is a longtime Tulsan and is excited about the prospects of downtown.
"On the weekends, this is where I wanna come hang out in town," Isom said.
According to the partnership, 70% of the workers who left the office during the pandemic returned to work, bringing friends and family downtown, creating a ripple effect.
Newer, sleeker, safer spaces are appearing downtown, and that’s exactly what folks want.
"There’s no limit. I mean, why not let Tulsa become like Texas? But you know, let Tulsa be its own entity," Isom said.
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