Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Neighborhoods

Downtown

Bricktown

The Bricktown Entertainment District in downtown Oklahoma City is the fastest growing entertainment district in the region, and is one of the city's most popular destinations. The former warehouse district on the southeast side of downtown has seen a major renaissance over the last 10 years, and is now bustling with restaurants, dance clubs, live music venues, classy retail shops, and offices. The Bricktown Canal stretches one mile through the district and runs to a park past the Oklahoma Land Run Monument. When completed, the Land Run Monument will be a series of 36 giant statues stretching over two football fields on the south canal, and will be one of the largest sculptural monuments in the world. Lower Bricktown boasts a brand new movie complex run by Harkins Theaters, Bass Pro Outdoor World, and upscale retail. Several hotels are planned as are additional retail and housing.

Related Topics:
Bricktown Entertainment District - Harkins Theaters - Bass Pro Outdoor World

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Automobile Alley

This neighborhood along Broadway Avenue in Northeast Downtown was a popular retail district in the 1920s and was home to most of Oklahoma City's car dealerships. The area declined with the rest of Downtown in the 1970s and 1980s. Recently an effort to redevelop the area has transformed the showrooms and storefronts of Automobile Alley into upscale lofts, galleries, and offices. Also in the area are many of downtown's earliest churches along Robinson Ave. (known as "Church Row") and the city's first high school, now the local offices of SBC.

Related Topics:
Automobile Alley - SBC

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Today there is a considerable effort to turn AAlley into Oklahoma City's newest upscale urban neighborhood. A new restaurant is being developed and is leading the charge of additional retail and housing announcements.

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Deep Deuce

Deep Deuce, a few blocks north of Bricktown, ignited the downtown Oklahoma City urban housing boom in the late 1990's. The area consists mostly of low rise apartment buildings and various formerly vacant mixed use buildings. Deep Deuce was the largest African American neighborhood downtown in the 1940s and 1950s, and was a regional center of jazz music and African American culture. Bands such as the Count Basie Orchestra, the Blue Devils, the Charlie Christian Band, and others resided in this OKC neighborhood. Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. was once rejected for a position at the Calvary Baptist Church in Deep Deuce for being "too young". Much of the neighborhood was bulldozed to make way for I-235 in the 1960s, but the Bricktown boom has made the area (with its prime location between Bricktown and the growing biotech cluster east of I-235) attractive to developers. Precious little of the neighborhood's original character still exists.

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The Arts District

The area now known as the arts district covers the part of west downtown that includes the civic center, the new Oklahoma City Museum of Art, the Myriad Gardens, Stage Center, the new central library, several local theaters, and at its northern edge, the Oklahoma City National Memorial. This close proximity to the principal cultural attractions downtown has made it the location of some very upscale condos and apartments, with more planned for the near future.

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InnerCity Northside

Asia District

Oklahoma City has the largest Asian population in the state and is home to a rapidly growing cultural district called simply, Asia District as many cultures from all over asia are represented in it's shops and restaurants. Centered primarily along Classen Boulevard from 22nd Street to NW 30th, Asia District is a very culturally and visibly diverse Chinatown community, but the most obvious cultural influence in the area is Vietnamese. Several thousand Vietnamese refugees settled in the city during the 1970s after the fall of Saigon, leading the revival of what had been a neighborhood in decline due to the suburban exodus of the middle class. As the new Oklahomans built the community, more immigrants moved into the area, not only from Vietnam and Southeast Asia, but from all around the world. Today Asia District has a bustling cosmopolitan scene full of noodle cafés, college students from nearby Oklahoma City University, art galleries, quaint apartments, retail shops, bars and restaurants of every stripe (literally in the span of a single block can be found a pizzeria, a diner, an Arby's and two pho shops).

Related Topics:
Asian - Chinatown - Saigon - Asia District - Oklahoma City University - Arby's - Pho

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Eastside and Adventure District

The Eastside district is home to the state's largest African American community and is experiencing a renaissance of its own. Once a perfect example of urban blight and neglect, the Eastside has seen significant development recently. The Eastside is considered to be THE most economically diverse neighborhood in the city, with land values ranging from astronomical in some parts of the Lincoln Terrace neighborhood, to poverty at the public housing districts of Walnut Avenue, both within a mile of each other. An African American Heritage Museum is currently in the works along with efforts to revive the NE 23rd Business District. Other Eastside attractions include the newly domed and beautiful State Capitol of Oklahoma, the 45th Infantry Museum, the Oklahoma Historical Society Museum, and the OU Health Science Center.

Related Topics:
Eastside - African American - Lincoln Terrace neighborhood - African American Heritage Museum - 45th Infantry Museum - Oklahoma Historical Society Museum - OU Health Science Center

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Northeast Oklahoma City is home to many of the city's museums and major attractions. The so called "Adventure District" includes Omniplex Science Museum, The Oklahoma City Zoo, Remington Park Parimutual Racetrack, the National Softball Hall of Fame and Stadium, National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Six Flags Frontier City amusement park, and numerous tree-lined boulevards and neighbourhoods (including neighborhoods such as Lincoln Terrace, Britton, North Highland, Walnut Avenue, and Spencer).

Related Topics:
Omniplex - Oklahoma City Zoo - Remington Park - National Softball Hall of Fame - National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum - Six Flags Frontier City

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NW 39th Street Enclave

Oklahoma City has a vibrant, thriving Gay community, which is also the largest in the state. As with many of OKC's neighborhoods, the lack of established boundaries makes it hard to give an exact location, but generally speaking, this community is principally located along NW 39th Expressway between Pennsylvania and May Aves, however there are related businesses and neighborhoods diffused throughout the surrounding area.

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The NW 39th Street Enclave rivals Bricktown in terms of sheer volume of clubs, bars, and nightlife (The Habana Inn claims to be "the largest gay resort in the southwest") yet the city leaders do not actively promote the district as a tourist venue. It should be noted that while the area is home to most of the GLBT commerce and community in the city, it is by no means exclusively gay and is also home to many broadly directed businesses and offices. Likewise, there are businesses aimed at gays and lesbians throughout the rest of the city.http://www.gayokc.com/http://www.gayly.com/

Related Topics:
NW 39th Street Enclave - Bricktown

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The Paseo and Midtown

The Paseo Arts District was built in 1929 as the first commercial shopping district North of downtown Oklahoma City. The faux Spanish village with its stucco buildings and clay tile roofs is the home of Oklahoma City's Artists' community, the only such district in the state. Located along Paseo Drive at roughly N. Walker Ave and NW 28th Street, the district is home to a number of chic bars and restaurants and hosts an annual arts festival in the spring.

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In the immediate area are several historic neighborhoods including Mesta Park, Edgemere, Jefferson Heights, and Heritage Hills. Immediately South West of the Paseo is Oklahoma City's Chinatown neighbourhood known as Asia District as well as Oklahoma City University - home to college students, bohemians, and yuppies. Further south are Automobile Alley amd Midtown districts and St. Anthony's Hospital (the city's oldest and largest hospital) at the northern edge of Downtown.

Related Topics:
Asia District - Oklahoma City University

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InnerCity Southside

Stockyards City

Located at the Agnew Exit South of I-40 to Exchange Ave, Stockyards City is home to the largest stocker/feeder cattle market in the world. Stockyards City recaptures the architectural flavor of the early part of the Twentieth Century, with gaslights and wooden storefronts. Many of the businesses in Stockyards City date back to the early 1900s when the area was home to several major meat packing companies. The district still has weekly cattle auctions as well as the venerable Cattlemen's Steakhouse.

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A number of special events have sprung up as well, including Longhorn Cattle Drive each December, sidewalk sales between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and the Stockyards Stampede the first weekend each June.

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Capitol Hill and Riverside

Oklahoma City has the largest Hispanic population in the State with the majority residing in the Southside and West Oklahoma City. The Capitol Hill and Riverside districts, due south of downtown, are the center of Hispanic oriented commerce in the city.

Related Topics:
Capitol Hill - Hispanic

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Capitol Hill (located deceptively far from the actual capitol) was founded as a separate city during the land run and was later annexed into Oklahoma City. Hence, it has its own impressively well preserved main street business district along SE 29th Street, which has seen a revival in recent years. Capitol Hill was a popular middle class suburb early in the century, but as the population moved into the outer suburbs and the trolley lines that had connected it to downtown stopped running, the neighborhood went into decline.

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While Capitol Hill still has some serious problems with crime and gangs, it is also now one of the liveliest of OKC's neighborhoods. You can find almost anything in Capitol Hill, from recording studios to the oddly placed Oklahoma Opry to soccer supply shops and street side taquerias.

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Suburban Northside

Mayfair and Belle Isle

Mayfair and Belle Isle are a pair of middle class, mid century neighborhoods surrounding Penn Square Mall and Baptist Hospital. Also nearby is Lake Hefner, a favorite spot for bikers and joggers.

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Northwest Expressway, the city's main artery to the northwestern suburbs, is a strip mall filled, restaurant bearing, continuously congested 6-lane boulevard with highway intersections, hotels, and office towers scattered along at various intervals. The Northwest Business District includes most of the large scale highrises office towers and hotels outside of downtown, (including the architecturally interesting United Founders Tower).

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Nichols Hills and The Village

Nichols Hills, just north of Belle Isle, is an enclave of the rich and extremely rich. The streets are lined with mansions, the commerce is upscale, the restaurants are gourmet, and the country clubs are exclusive. There are other such enclaves throughout the city, but Nichols Hills is notable even among them for sheer extravagance. The Village, immediately north, is a middle class post-war neighborhood which looks somewhat out of place next to its neighbor to the south. The Village is the location of Casady School, the largest and poshest private high school in the city.

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Bethany and Warr Acres

Bethany and Warr Acres are located in the suburban inner western part of the city. These suburbs, which until recently were in decline, are home to the metro's most competitive tax rates, and have attracted numerous big box retailers. There are a large number of historic motels, restaurants, and bars along old Route 66 (now NW 39th St), Lake Overholser and growing Korean, East Indian, and Pakistani communities.

Related Topics:
Bethany - Warr Acres

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Bethany is home to Southern Nazarene University and has a well preserved main street area along 39th Street. Lake Overholser, the city's oldest lake and originally its primary reservoir, has seen proposals for resort development.

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Quail Springs/Memorial Corridor

At the far northern edge of the city along Memorial Road and the John Kirkpatrick Outer Loop Turnpike is a huge swath of suburban development rapidly creeping toward Edmond, the city's largely affluent northern suburb. Over the past 20 years this area has been transformed from grazing land and farm prairie into a broad ribbon of office parks, housing tracts, chain restaurants, a regional supermall - Quail Springs Mall, Mercy Health Centre, and a great number of strip malls and box stores. This area is also infamous for one of the most congested and difficult intersections in the city, Memorial Road and N. Pennsylvania Avenue.

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The Memorial Corridor may not make it into tourist brochures any time soon, but the area is popular to locals nonetheless. In addition to the suburban sprawl, this area is also home to Martin Park Nature Center, a fairly large nature preserve with several hiking trails and lots of natural wildlife.

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Suburban Southside

Meridian Avenue Hospitality Corridor/"Airport Heights"

The Meridian Avenue "Hospitality" Corridor is along one of the cities busiest arteries, S. Meridian Avenue, and extends from mid tier west Oklahoma City to suburban Southwest Oklahoma City. The busiest section of the corridor is just north of Will Rogers World Airport and survives primarily on traffic generated by it.

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There are numerous hotels, restaurants, and night clubs located in the district. In addition there are several corporations, including Hobby Lobby, headquartered within a mile of the corridor. The area also is home to most of the areas large furniture stores along W. Reno Avenue.

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The district is located in close proximity to the South Bank of the Oklahoma River. Leading city leaders to envision regular water taxi service from hotels and restaurants of the district to Downtown via the newly navigable waterway.

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