With the NBA spotlight set to shine on OKC, is everything being done to make the best impression?
Oklahoma City learned early on during its first courtship with the NBA that being in a major league doesn’t magically generate major league respect.
Charles Barkley, then, as now, a TNT NBA commentator, was interviewing Chris Paul when his team, the Hornets, were temporarily relocated to Oklahoma City after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans.
In that 2006 interview, Barkley called Oklahoma “a vast wasteland,” argued the state was “no place for Black people” and teased Paul insisting the rising star had cows and chickens in his yard.
A lot has changed in the years since, and the national and potentially international spotlight is coming back to town with the Thunder entering the NBA playoffs ranked at the top of the Western Conference.
The image problem, however, continues. Some of the hits are unfair, based on outdated stereotypes, or flyover country prejudice.
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As OKC Thunder rises to the top of its conference, OKC as a city is being dismissed
Wall Street Journal reporter Joe Barrett wasn’t saying anything new when he wrote an incredulous front-page story questioning the logic of developer Scot Matteson’s plans to build the country’s tallest tower in Oklahoma City.
The tone of the story starts with a demeaning suggestion the view from atop the envisioned 134-story tower would be limited to “sprawl and farmland.”
Sure Joe. No view of the Myriad Botanical Gardens, Scissortail Park, the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum, the downtown skyline (yes, we have one) or the state Capitol. The chosen photo was one that showcased a surface parking lot in Bricktown.
As much as national sports commentators are dismissing the Thunder as a true championship contender, some of the same people will be looking for ways to dismiss Oklahoma City’s ascent as one of the country’s fastest-growing cities.
Measured by numbers, Oklahoma City is not the small town with chickens and cows portrayed by the likes of Barkley and Barrett. As of the latest census, Oklahoma City had risen to the country’s 20th-largest city with the sixth-fastest-growing population.
Only twice in city history have we seen longer streaks of unemployment of under 4%, and Oklahoma City was recently ranked as the fifth-best jobs market among 380 surveyed by the Wall Street Journal and Moody’s Analytics.
The city is also far more diverse than perceived outside the state. The latest census reported 52.5% are white, 13.7% are Black, 3.4% are Native American, 4.5% are Asian and 20.1% are Hispanic or Latino.
The construction cranes dotting the landscape tell a good story. And it’s difficult to imagine anyone honestly trying to portray Oklahoma City as a dull community with nothing to do, with the Festival of the Arts, the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon and Olympic trials on the Oklahoma River coinciding with upcoming playoff games.
OKC is doing some things right. Others issues have not been fixed for years
So much is going right. And yet it’s the basics that the city continues to struggle to address or simply ignores that can fuel negative portrayals under the glare of the NBA spotlight.
Some of the busiest downtown gateways connecting to Interstate 235 consist of streets that for years have been a rough ride consisting of dozens of patched-up potholes. The Western Avenue entry from Interstate 40 is more often than not lined with trash.
Imagine Oklahoma City starting off its first Western Conference Finals games with the world’s sports media arriving and taking in the sights and sounds. They see Scissortail Park, which will be a hub for playoff celebrations, and they check out the basketball courts lining the park section just south of the Skydance Bridge.
It makes for a great camera shot, yet will that view include the burned-out A&A salvage yard buildings across the street? The buildings caught fire in late 2022, yet only the most heavily damaged structure has been removed despite a dilapidation declaration by the city council.
Other structures remain with broken windows, open for kids to explore, with only dead tree limbs blocking vehicle access to the property. City staff have continued to let the property remain unsecured, citing the owners’ assurances a sale and redevelopment in imminent.
It may be too late to address the crumbling streets and eyesores, though one must wonder if the city will let these conditions remain with the likelihood of the young Thunder team staying a playoff contender for the next few years.
Other steps can be taken quickly. Overgrown bushes, dead trees and high weeds have lined some of the I-235 ramps to and from downtown for the past few years. After inquiries from The Oklahoman, the Oklahoma Department of Transportation sent crews to clean up these corridors on Friday.
Trash can be picked up. A few cans of paint can cover up taggers’ graffiti along the wall of the BNSF railway viaduct just east of Paycom Center. Just get a mowing crew to address the high grass and weeds at Winans Park along the Broadway gateway into downtown.
Put up a sign with a rendering showing the vacant lot immediately east of the Omni Hotel is set to be developed into an eight-story apartment tower.
Oklahoma City’s transformation over the past 20 years required investment of millions of dollars, consistent and patient civic engagement and healthy debate over how best to become a model 21st-century city.
The question is whether in the pursuit of ambitious goals, oversight of the smaller details can hamper that journey and the story we want to share throughout the world about who we are and who we aspire to be.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC image at play as NBA playoffs draw national spotlight
