SELECTED LINKS RELATING TO
IMPORTANT PEARL ISSUES
WalkableTulsa.Com The Alliance for an Accessible City
Two-page summary
Excellent update on Complete Streets Movement and recent legislative update
"Now, as part of an estimated $4 billion sewer upgrade, Islais Creek and other streams that last saw daylight more than a century ago could flow openly once again through neighborhoods of one of the country's most densely built cities."
Pearl District's comprehensive plan to reinvent itself.
& TMAPC Presentation re zoning process, variances, special exceptions, definitions & more
THE PEARL DISTRICT ASSOCIATION
Reinventing the Art of City Life In Tulsa
PEARL DESIGN PLAN
Our mission: To reinvent the art of city life. See how we propose to redesign our neighborhood with a plan that resolves flood danger while transforming this near downtown district into a world-class model of sustainability, community, economic reinvigoration, and pedestrian-friendly lifestyle. NEW! View the 12--page Executive Summary of the Plan. (Be a little patient -- large file)
NEW! The Historical Pearl
Leon Russell's Church Studio
Rock & Roll history of famed Leon Russell's Shelter Records where legendary greats recorded at 3rd and Trenton. Great story by Urban Tulsa Weekly here.
6th and Peoria on Historic Preservation Register
Cathy Ambler's research on the Pearl District's past landed an Historic Preservation designation for the 6th and Peoria area. Read the historical excerpt from the HP application.
MORE LINKS
Rapid revitalization of urban cores sweeping US cities.
PlaniTulsa Scoop
Pearl's Jamie Jamieson and Blogger Michael Bates give us the REAL SCOOP on PlaniTulsa's trip through TMAPC public hearings. batesline.com.
Urban Canals, Living Streets, and Doorways similar to those envisioned under the Pearl Plan. PDA Board Member Jamie Jamieson shares his inspirational photo gallery.
"Cars, Bikes Can Coexist in Vibrant Cities". A short inspirational glimpse of street life in a progressive city here.
PEARL IN RECENT NEWS LINKS
Pearl District Association is founding member of the Alliance for an Accessible City to advocate for a safe and walkable city.
"A Pearl of a Project: A much-needed flood control plan can help redevelop and revive a near downtown neighborhood. So what is the city waiting for?"
Don't miss this "must read" article by Mike Easterling of the Urban Tulsa Weekly who asks the hard questions about funding for the Pearl flood plan. July 8, 2009 edition.
BKL Architecture and Engineering awarded by Preservation Oklahoma for its adaptive reuse of the Pearl District's historic TulOil Building, the last small independent oil company building left standing in Tulsa.
On April 10, Rich Fisher, host of KWGS' Studio Tulsa, interviewed Geoffrey Ferrell and Mary Madden, two urban planning experts with the firm of Ferrell Madden Lewis, LLC. This firm has been recently commissioned by INCOG to examine Tulsa's Pearl District vis a vis form-based zoning codes.
Proposed canal down 6th Street aka Cedar Street
It takes grit to make a pearl.
It takes grit to make a Pearl
Be a part of history. Volunteer.
PlaniTulsa June 15 Public Comment
PLEASE ATTEND
Tuesday, June 15, 4p, City Hall
DOWNLOADS
If you have any questions regarding this schedule or PLANiTULSA please contact Theron Warlick twarlick@cityoftulsa.org Phone: 576-5677 or Martha Schultz mschultz@cityoftulsa.org Phone: 576-5674
MORE NEWS AROUND THE PEARL
Sprucing the Pearl: Neighborhood Clean Up Sat., June 19
A Pearl District-Wide Neighborhood Clean Up Day is scheduled Saturday, June 19, according to Charles Haper, PDA Operation Restoration Chair. The District has been divided into sections with block leaders now involved in nearly every area. Plastic bags and gloves and cold bottled water have thus far been donated to the neighborhood effort by local businesses.Pick-up truck will circulate throughout the area to pick up trash bags and deposit them in the City-provided on-site dumpsters. We need feet and hands on the ground so save the date. More details at the May general meeting on Tuesday, the 13th. Save that date, too.
Utica Landscaping Business Opens in the Pearl at 7th
Bill and Martha Lenard open their new garden and landscaping center at 7th and Utica Saturday, April 17. A welcome addition to the neighborhood, the new business has transformed an unsightly vacant lot into a gorgeous display of flowers, plants and trees. The Lenards told the PDA membership at the April general meeting that their business will be open year-round and offer high quality plants at lower prices than even the big-box competitors. With two decades of experience, their business was previously located in Catoosa. A Grand Opening is scheduled for early May. Welcome to the Pearl!
Charles Harper Elected PDA Operation Restoration Chair
Charles Harper is a Pearl neighborhood leader who has significantly impacted an ever expanding area from his home. He organized a very successful neighborhood cleanup weekend last fall. He organized and now facilitates a Crime Fighters neighborhood watch and coordinates its activities with the city. He was recently featured in a Channel 2 news segment . View segment. Welcome Charles!
Alliance for an Accessible City
The PDA was the founding member of a new grassroots advocacy organization, the Alliance for an Accessible City, which formed in December. The Alliance mission is to advocate for sidewalks and safe, walkable, pedestrian environments in Tulsa. Its first priority was the construction of sidewalks along Utica Ave. between 11th and 6th streets where no sidewalks existed on either side of the street. The area is the most heavily used in the city by persons in wheelchairs due to The Center for Individuals with Physical Challenges at 8th and Utica and nearby Murdoch Villas, which houses physically challenged persons. The new sidewalk was completed during February and can be directly attributed to efforts by the PDA's Utica Sidewalks Committee.
The Alliance will continue to work for more and better sidewalks throughout Tulsa. In addition to the Pearl District Association, member organizations include the Center for Individuals with Physical Limitations, Kendal Whittier Neighborhood Association, the Mayor's Commission for the Concerns of the Disabled, INCOG, State Senator Seneca Scott, Councilor Maria Barnes, Friends of Tulsa Transit, Sustainable Tulsa, TYPros' Community ReDevelopment Crew (CReD), and Tulsa Human Rights Commission. The Alliance is also a member organization of the National Complete Streets Coalition (www.completestreets.org). In conjunction with INCOG, the Alliance now has a new website,
First they ignore you. Then they mock you. Then they attack you. Then you win. - Mohatma Gandhi
BIG FRESH NEWS: The Pearl Divers
Wonderful article by Mike Easterling in Urban Tulsa about big plans underway in The Pearl -- The West Pearl set to become reality and hopefully completed within two years AND major intersection improvements at Peoria and 6th, 8th, and 11th streets with work to begin in a few months. The Pearl is on a roll! Read all about it . . .
String of Pearls. Development of the West Pond in the Pearl District would not only solve a flood control issue in the area, but supporters also hope that it revitalizes the area with new businesses and residents.
What Dallas Did . . .
Here's a look at "guerilla streetscaping" at work just four hours down the road. "The Better Block Project" is what happened when neighboring businesses transformed the soul of their street following new urbanist principles. Could we . . .
JULY EVENTS
July 1 PDA Board Meeting, 6p, The Boathouse
July 13 PDA General Meeting, 6p-7:15p, The Boathouse
July Meeting Agenda posted soon
July 27 PDA Officers Meeting, 5:30p, The Boathouse
EVERY THURSDAY: Pearl Farmers Market
Centennial Park, 4p - 7p, Live music