Downtown Tulsa Master Plan
An Overview
Three recent planning efforts will contribute to the
revitalization of downtown Tulsa. First, and most importantly, a new
city-wide comprehensive plan, shaped through the PlaniTULSA process, will set
the tone for future growth and development throughout the City of Tulsa with a
special emphasis on downtown.
Secondly, the Downtown Area Master Plan seeks to
connect
Vision 2025 initiatives to existing and planned development and
to recommend infill projects that leverage new public-private investment.
And finally, a new small area plan for the Brady Arts District will guide growth
and development in that area. As of July 1st, 2010 all three plans were
awaiting final review and adoption by the Tulsa Metropolitan Area Planning
Commission and approval by the City Council.
A New Comprehensive Plan for the City
With help from surveys, workshops, and growth and
transportation scenarios, the shared vision for Tulsa's future identified five
key themes seeking to grow a a vibrant and dynamic economy, attract and retain
young people, provide effective transportation options, provide housing choices
and protect the environment and provide sustainability.
The vision guides the creation and implementation of
the comprehensive plan and the strategic implementation steps. Under the
plan, Tulsa's future land uses are broadly organized under five main building
blocks:
- downtown
- Corridors
- New Centers
- New Neighborhoods
- Existing Neighborhoods
- Employment
Tulsan's expressed a desire to expand the housing
choices downtown and to connect the central business district with other parts
of the city with enhanced transportation options, and to create robust after
hours cultural and entertainment options.
The plan envisions downtown's main streets and
multi-modal arterials will be some of the most intensively walked parts of the
city. They will also be the most transit-rich, with frequent bus,
streetcar, and rail transit service within a couple of blocks of most businesses
and homes. Infrastructure investments, particularly in roads, mass
transit, water, and sewer systems, have a tremendous impact on how land is
developed. That said, the city will need to realign its public investments
in infrastructure, planning, and other basic functions of government with the
strategies outlined in the new plan.
Connecting the dots
The three main targets of the Downtown Area Master
Plan are to:
- Revitalize downtown Tulsa
- Connect it to the Tulsa River Park's System
- Initiate Rail Transit extending outward from Downtown
Like PlaniTULSA, the Downtown Area Master Planning
process engaged a large cross section of citizens, businesses, governmental
agencies and other stakeholders. They
concluded that while downtown Tulsa has a vibrant workday population, it will
not play a primary role in the redevelopment of downtown. They concluded
that the areas most important to that revitalization are the initiatives to
attract a population to activate it between the hours of 5 P.M. to 8 A.M. and on
weekends. The Plan directly links land use, development and transportation
to achieve that 24/7 vibrancy.
The downtown Plan is based on two axes which cross
in the north central area of downtown. The Boulder Avenue Transit Corridor
is proposed to be served by a trolley like "fixed guide way" transit system.
It connects from a significant residential development site at the west end of
the O.S.U. Tulsa Campus southward to a significant mixed use development site
around Veteran's Park.
A second transit corridor axis connects a large
publicly owned redevelopment property known as Evans-Fintube Site located
immediately northeast of downtown to a second significant publicly owned
redevelopment site at 23rd Street and Jackson Ave.
Design Guidelines Summary
The initial draft of the plan offers a summary of
design guidelines which will serve as guiding principals for future development
and growth. One goal is to phase out one-way streets for better
connectivity. Another highlights the need for downtown streets to be
pedestrian and transit friendly, with landscaped sidewalks, which facilitate
outdoor cafes with sidewalk seating, retail shops and expansive open spaces.
The plan further suggests that alleyways should be
protected and enhanced, and designed and improved to serve as attractive, safe
alternative routes for pedestrians.
 Another
key component is the idea to enhance the connectivity to near downtown
neighborhoods, activity centers and the Arkansas River via alternative
transportation modes. It also emphasizes the need for highly durable,
lower maintenance landscape and street trees to provide suitable pedestrian
protection from the sun and weather.
Another guideline recognizes the need to
rehabilitate historic buildings that may no longer function in their original
design, by converting them to mixed use or residential uses to increase the
rooftops downtown. And it further suggests that new developments should
enhance the historic character of downtown, by respecting building massing,
rhythm, design features, context, and building setback lines should be
respected.
The plan discourages surface parking lots and
encourages structured parking at the rear or below or above mixed use buildings
when possible. It suggests that materials and architectural detailing
selected for screening and buffers on parking structures should be complimentary
to the character and materials of adjacent buildings. It also encourages
on-street curbside parking to serve as a buffer between pedestrians and traffic.
A key element of the plan emphasizes the importance
of making substantial streetscape improvements in the way of new art, fountains,
green space, pathways, lighting, and high quality and durable benches and
furniture designed to provide a unified visual appearance throughout downtown.
It also champions proposed investments in developing attractive "gateways" which
serve as the front doors to downtown, by the use of landscaping, signs,
fountains, green space, art and other appropriate urban design features, citing
the recently completed Route 66 Skywalk and Cyrus Avery Plaza as an example.
Other policy issues gaining attention
Tulsa's new Downtown Area Master Plan concludes that
public improvements should be sustainable, and designed and constructed of the
highest quality materials to set the tone for equally inspiring, first class and
innovative private investment. It suggests that we need to create more
density downtown, by adding buildings, providing fewer surface parking lots and
creating a more mixed-use environment that is busy, crowded, intense, fun and
interesting. It also calls for more housing options downtown and
encouraging commerce not only on privately owned property but also upon and
within the sidewalks, alleys, parking facilities, plazas and parks within
downtown to create street life and vitality.
And finally, the Plan argues for incentives, such as
the existing tax incentive district and TIF districts, no cost/low cost building
permits, enhanced building permit review processes, and speedier inspection
processes to encourage new development and
significant rehabilitation downtown. At the same time it suggests
balancing the need to simplify the process with an enhanced design review for
all new construction to insure proper orientation, rhythm, scale and proportion
for new projects. This will obviously require a great deal of coordination to be
successful.
The Tulsa Downtown Area Master Plan is made up of
several sections, including a 200+ page Volume 2 - Appendices, otherwise known
as "The Cookbook", including implementation details and literally hundreds
illustrative and conceptual design suggestions for many of the parcels targeted
for redevelopment.
According to the plan document, "The character of
the Brady District could be
 described
as informal, creative, historic and urban - active day and evening.
Workers, visitors, and residents comfortably tend their shops, enjoy a meal,
shop, and engage in conversation. Brady Village exists in sharp contrast
to the classic and modernist skyscrapers, formal spaces, and business attire of
downtown - just a short walk across one of the multiple bridges, and pedestrian
pathways.
Understanding Brady’s potential means
understanding it as a cultural & creative
centerpiece of Tulsa’s new economy, as a major asset in
attracting, retaining, and rejuvenating human capital to the City and the
region. With this exciting vision in mind and with the foundation of previous
planning efforts underfoot, Brady leaders and stakeholders now look forward
together."
Vision Statement
With broad-based community input and
many planning group meetings, a vision statement was carefully crafted, "To
develop and foster an active, pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use neighborhood
boasting a historic feel and identity as an arts and entertainment destination."
At the heart of the plan is an effort to establish a
consistent name, image, and brand to represent the district's character.
In the long term we suspect this will be a key to achieving the plan's success.
Eight Desired Goals of the Plan
- Create and maintain a historic and aesthetically distinctive area
- Maintain and build upon district entertainment and cultural venues
- Encourage amenities that benefit a mixed-use community
- Create a safe environment for residents and visitors
- Connect and cooperate constructively with neighboring assets
- Provide mixed income residential and live / work options
- Create a model energy efficient, sustainable community
- Develop and support active management, promotion of the District
Required Actions
Once the goals were established, several specific
planning, design and management objectives were coordinated with each of the
eight goals, eventually culminating in a list of specific actions required
to reach those goals.
- Establishing Historic Districts -increase awareness of built heritage
- Animating the District - strengthen and attract viable cultural assets
- Placemaking - Enhance streetscaping, lighting and visual appearance
- Building, Owning & Investing - Offer mixed urban lifestyle options
- Getting it Done - Set up a one-stop shop for development incentives
| 
