Forbes: OKC Most Recession-Proof City

[Civicus_Sooner]

Forbes magazine says Oklahoma City is the most recession-proof city in the nation.

The magazine reports that the city has falling unemployment, one of the strongest housing markets in the country and solid growth in energy, agriculture and manufacturing.

It says the city "might not have received the recession memo" and looks best positioned to ride out the current economic crisis.
Forbes says the city's key growth areas are in the leisure and hospitality industry and construction.

San Antonio ranks second on the list. Also in the top ten are Austin, Houston and Dallas, Texas; Raleigh and Charlotte, North Carolina; San Jose, California; Salt Lake City and Seattle.

http://bp1.blogger.com/_Mbo_0Jwg1OY/SBn4cIvaOTI/AAAAAAAAD_g/5MC1XVerDf4/s400/okcdowntown

I'd say OKC is still a little ways away but we're on the cusp of being one of the greatest cities in the nation!

[Civicus_Sooner]

Aw, c'mon Jed, Ron, anyone, Beuler??





;)





Still Great News! How about you hills and trees folks? aren't you glad to have such a wonderful big brother? :D

[OKLA21FAN]

TULSA > O...........


nevermind

[SoonerInKCMO]

Forbes also says that OKC is #7 in the list of Top Ten Cleanest Cities.

[Civicus_Sooner]

TULSA > O...........


nevermind

Okfuski, Ooliga, Onterio???

That's what i thought. ;)

[frankensooner]

Yea!

[Jimminy Crimson]

Good to see!

OKC is the place to be.

[RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!]

OKC also is lowest average price of rental housing, average is $519, if I remember right.

[Partial Qualifier]

San Jose's appearance on that list is ironic, considering it was just a huge, mostly abandoned office park not too long ago.. after the tech crash

[RedStripe]

Good to see!

OKC is the place to be.

For momma, pappa, and the family.

[r5TPsooner]

It's all becuz the Seattle Supersonics are coming to town.

[Gandalf_The_Grey]

One could argue that THIS is the reason the NBA is bringing the Supersonics to town...they are just some more ice cream for our sundae

[r5TPsooner]

One could argue that THIS is the reason the NBA is bringing the Supersonics to town...they are just some more ice cream for our sundae


That's what I just said but without the ice cream metaphor.:D

[Sooner_Havok]

<flame bait> I still don't think MAPS did any good for OKC, we would have been doing just as fine now if we hadn't passed this tax. Where are the "good" jobs we were promised? </flame bait>:rolleyes:

:D :D :D

[Big Red Ron]

It is a good time to be in, "The City."

[Sooner_Havok]

I prefer "The O-K-C"

[Big Red Ron]

Yeah, but you know when someone is from the country or Tulsa when the say, "Yeah, I'm headed out to the city."

[Sooner_Havok]

Yeah I know. I lived in Yukon and Norman and still said "I going to the City"

[KC//CRIMSON]

but we're on the cusp of being one of the greatest cities in the nation!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v424/gen3sooner/smilies/ez-roll.gif

[Big Red Ron]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v424/gen3sooner/smilies/ez-roll.gifAh jealousy rears it's ugly head again. Read an up to date forecasting data for different economy's and OKC's aerospace industry and medical research industry are absolutely booming. OKC will be one of the fastest growing cities in the next decade. Hell, Devon Energy recently unveiled their plans for a million square foot building downtown that will "Significantly change OKC's skyline," completed in 2011. I also know of at least one other major building project that is in the works. Have you heard; Dell has basically folded their operation in Austin and are HQ'd on the bank of the Oklahoma River, downtown OKC?

Laugh now and believe later.

Oh, and too bad about that whole NBA team thingy.

[KC//CRIMSON]

Ah jealousy rears it's ugly head again. Read an up to date forecasting data for different economy's and OKC's aerospace industry and medical research industry are absolutely booming. OKC will be one of the fastest growing cities in the next decade. Hell, Devon Energy recently unveiled their plans for a million square foot building downtown that will "Significantly change OKC's skyline," completed in 2011. I also know of at least one other major building project that is in the works. Have you heard; Dell has basically folded their operation in Austin and are HQ'd on the bank of the Oklahoma River, downtown OKC?

Laugh now and believe later.

Oh, and too bad about that whole NBA team thingy.

Ask Forbes what the median household income is in OKC, chuckles.

I never said in any thread that getting and NBA team here was a big deal. I would rather have another NHL team. But I'll spot you the NBA team since that's all you really have.....or are supposed to get.

Oh, and just for shizt and giggles, check out #5

http://information.travel.aol.com/discovery/places-to-not-visit?ncid=AOLCOMMtravdynlprim0334&icid=100214839x1201186138x1200047261

[Big Red Ron]

Hey, our lower household income is PRECISELY why large companies are moving here. We are, indeed on the cusp of taking the step from average Midwestern city, to a serious metropolitan city. It wont be that way forever.

Look at where Dallas was in the mid 60's, there are similarities with OKC now. We have a diverse corporate base and the Oil & Gas industry are exploding. Most importantly we have the right political situation to be proactive and the voters are behind them. I see OKC with real potential at 50% to 60% growth or about 2.5 to 3.5 million residents in the next 20 years. Not many cities have the ability to say that.

Congrats on your town but it's seen it's finest days, ours are still ahead.

Funny thing is I'm an Italian citizen, basically from California. This place OKC has a great story, place in history and great people. I'd rather be here during this Renaissance than in a lol of good to great cities on the decline.

[silverwheels]

AOL Travel = best resource ever. Can't wait for our next blizzard. :rolleyes:

[KC//CRIMSON]

AOL Travel = best resource ever. Can't wait for our next blizzard. :rolleyes:

they probably meant ice storm.;)

[KC//CRIMSON]

Hey, our lower household income is PRECISELY why large companies are moving here. We are, indeed on the cusp of taking the step from average Midwestern city, to a serious metropolitan city. It wont be that way forever.

Look at where Dallas was in the mid 60's, there are similarities with OKC now. We have a diverse corporate base and the Oil & Gas industry are exploding. Most importantly we have the right political situation to be proactive and the voters are behind them. I see OKC with real potential at 50% to 60% growth or about 2.5 to 3.5 million residents in the next 20 years. Not many cities have the ability to say that.

Congrats on your town but it's seen it's finest days, ours are still ahead.

Funny thing is I'm an Italian citizen, basically from California. This place OKC has a great story, place in history and great people. I'd rather be here during this Renaissance than in a lol of good to great cities on the decline.

Yeah, the rest of the Midwest cities are on the decline.:rolleyes:

Happy pimping.

[silverwheels]

they probably meant ice storm.;)

That would have been more accurate. So now that we're recession-proof, let's make the city ternader- and ice storm-proof.

And just to be safe, zombie- and werewolf-proof.

[Big Red Ron]

Yeah, the rest of the Midwest cities are on the decline.:rolleyes:

Happy pimping.
They aren't? I thought we were in a recession except here, according to Forbs, who obviously knows nothing about the economy. :rolleyes:

Happy hating.

[Sooner_Havok]

Can't we all just agree that the O-K-C is a pretty dern nice place to be these days?

[tommieharris91]

This is why I wanna work here.

[Sooner_Havok]

This is why I wanna work here.

Because of the ice storms and twisters, or the recession proof thing?

[tommieharris91]

The ice storms and twisters that make this place utterly inhabitable March through August.

[KC//CRIMSON]

They aren't? I thought we were in a recession except here, according to Forbs, who obviously knows nothing about the economy. :rolleyes:

Happy hating.


Whatev.

Welcome to the 20th Century. Enjoy.

[Big Red Ron]

Whatev.

Welcome to the 20th Century. Enjoy.
2oth century, lol, that's all you got? I went to school at Kemper Military in Mizzou, became quite familiar with the place. My family lives in LA. To them and most people in major cities wouldn't see much a difference between KC, OKC, St Louis, and Denver. It's all pretty silly, OKC has a very bright future and is experiencing huge growth (more metro construction than any other Midwest city). Why you seem to have a problem with that fact probably says more about you than anything.

G'night.

[KC//CRIMSON]

2oth century, lol, that's all you got? I went to school at Kemper Military in Mizzou, became quite familiar with the place. My family lives in LA. To them and most people in major cities wouldn't see much a difference between KC, OKC, St Louis, and Denver. It's all pretty silly, OKC has a very bright future and is experiencing huge growth (more metro construction than any other Midwest city). Why you seem to have a problem with that fact probably says more about you than anything.

G'night.

Wouldn't see much of a difference? Now you're just talking out of your *ss. Comparing OKC to Denver, St. Louis, and Kansas City is just outright laughable. I know it, you know it, and anyone with half a brain on this board knows it.

It's one thing to pimp your city, but good gawd, please.

G'night, Grampa Walton.

[SoonerTerry]

It is a good time to be in, "The City."


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[SoonerTerry]

The ice storms and twisters that make this place utterly inhabitable March through August.


I hate those august ice storms too;)

[LilSooner]

I just came back from Denver and seriously, didn't see much difference. They lay out is kindof the same. Very spread out. Although they do have better shopping.

[BigRedJed]

Denver is 10-15 years ahead of us in downtown development and new urban housing. It's a great model for OKC, and one of the cities we're working to emulate.

Regarding the "spread out" part, it's true, like a lot of cities in the central U.S. Unfortunately, once the genie is out of the bottle there, you can't do much about it. Those sprawl areas are always going to be there, and always be fairly generic and indistinguishible from the same areas in other cities. James Howard Kunstler wrote a great book about that called The Geography of Nowhere: The Rise and Decline of America's Man-Made Landscape (http://www.amazon.com/Geography-Nowhere-Americas-Man-Made-Landscape/dp/0671888250).

The only thing a city can do is try to make its core a great place, curb "donut development," and make people want to move back to the center of the city. Denver has done this, and OKC is making great progress in this direction, although we still don't do enough to discourage sprawl, which is culturally ingrained. Hopefully our new Planning Director will make some inroads there. The good news is that he is more of a strident urbanist than I ever thought of being

[SoonerJack]

When did they get the "Oklahoma River?" Is that the South Canadian?

[Partial Qualifier]

okay.. what's 'donut development' ?

[Gandalf_The_Grey]

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[Mjcpr]

okay.. what's 'donut development' ?

I'ma guess it's outlying development (suburbs) outside of the core of a large city kind of forming a "donut" effect.

[frankensooner]

Even Frontier City is getting a new Rolly Coster this summer. City on the Rise! ;)

[Gandalf_The_Grey]

I don't like roller coasters...they go up...they go down....we are at war..pick a side!!

[BigRedJed]

I'ma guess it's outlying development (suburbs) outside of the core of a large city kind of forming a "donut" effect.
That describes it pretty well, with the additional wrinkle being that donut development is also characterized by the emptying of the urban core.

"Donut development" is an urban planning term to describe what unchecked sprawl does to a city.

A little history: basically, the idea of the suburbs as we know them didn't even exist until just after WWII. There was city life and country life. Rich people got to do both. They lived in the city and had a place in the country for weekends and summers.

Somewhere along the way (around the turn of the century) middle class people started trying to emulate "a place in the country" by living in a suburban setting on the edge of town. This was made possible by streetcars. Those "suburbs" were really still what we think of as "the city," though; urban neighborhoods with goods and services just around the corner, and with work and shopping a walkable thing (including walking on and off of a streetcar).

Once WWII was over, the government wanted to kickstart the economy and put the returning veterans back to work (many women had entered the workplace in their absence, and didn't want to give up their jobs).

The government hit on a couple of ideas for this: creating construction and manufacturing jobs out of thin air. How do you do this? Encourage people to buy new houses on the fringe of a city, where the streetcars don't run, necessitating the purchase of automobiles. So they put together an aggressive FHA and VA mortgage program. To this day, FHA and VA loans make it nearly impossible to buy anything but a single-family home, and that's not by chance. That's why you see all of these 1950s and '60s neighborhoods in cities with lookalike houses, and the overall size of many cities doubled, tripled and far, far more, post-war.

So basically, we artificially created the suburban lifestyle in the last 50 years with good intentions but ultimately bad, unsustainable results.

The problems were exacerbated by the formation of a holding company by General Motors, Firestone, Standard Oil and others, a company that systematically purchased the streetcar systems in major cities, dismantled them and replaced them with rubber tire buses. All of which of course created a need for more GM-produced buses, Firestone tires, and gasoline. The other effect was that the middle class hates buses, the routes are unpredictable and can be moved or eliminated, and this ultimately made people desire cars (and tires, and gas...). The bus companies were then handed over to city governments, and have been taxpayer-funded boondoggles ever since.

Add in that most affluent or even moderately affluent people moved away from the center of the city, leaving the inner cities to the poor and poor minorities (white flight). This put the school systems into decline, which in turn made people want to leave even more.

After decades of doing this, however, cities began to discover that the problems people were moving away from (crime, traffic, etc.) followed them to the 'burbs, and now we are seeing the first generations of blighted suburubs emerge. This causes people to yet again move further out, leaving decaying city behind them. And on, and on, and on.

Once people move further out, you have to build new infrastructure (streets, water and sewage lines, etc.) and provide new services to support the new neighborhoods (police, fire, libraries, schools, etc.), while still maintaining the old ones. You haven't necessarily added a new tax base; you've only added more places where you have to spend money. Unsustainable.

Oklahoma City is one of the best/worst examples of this nationally. We totally bought into suburbanization and car culture, to our detriment. We have hundreds of square miles of throroughly unremarkable suburban sprawl, which will ultimately turn to **** (much of it already has) and collapse. Of course, so do other cities.

Some cities were spared this by already being dense and walkable, and out of space to build suburbs before the suburban craze even began. Older, major cities on the east coast for instance (some of these had other problems, often owing to industrial economies that dried up or changed radically). Other cities were spared suburban sprawl by having natural barriers to development such as mountains, lakes or rivers, or being visionary enough to place limitations on suburban sprawl early on. Portland Oregon is an example of a city that had all of these.

But Oklahoma City has had no such barriers, and this created unchecked suburban sprawl. Fortunately, many of our city leaders have seen the error in our past ways, and are working to fix this. It will still take many years, but we're on the right track.

[BigRedJed]

Or what Pat said.

[Mjcpr]

Thank you for not using Detroit or Kansas City in your example(s) lest people start getting offended.

:D

[BigRedJed]

Also -- and lord, I hope this thread doesn't turn into a race thing -- but when I said affluent and white people's abandonment of the inner city meant a decline in public schools, it wasn't meant to mean the decline had anything to do with what students were left in that school system. It means that when affluent people move out of a district, property values decline, which leads to dramatically lower ad valorem taxes, which mean the schools have less money.

Further, the people who live in an classically abandoned inner-city are poor or they are elderly and live on a fixed income. Due to personal economic circumstances (and in the case of the elderly a disinterest in the quality of schools due to having no need for their services), people like this generally choose not to pass school bond issues. Yet again this makes for ****ty public schools, which makes even more people abandon the city for the 'burbs. It's self-perpetuating.

That is why the current move by OKC and many other cities to revitalize their inner cities is so important. It brings the affluent back into the core, drives up property values, and increases the quality of the school systems. OKC further jump-started this by passing the $700 million MAPS for Kids program, which is taking the facilities themselves from arguably the worst in the state to roughly equal to most suburban districts, and even superior to them in some cases. Once the curriculum and teachers follow, you will probably see more and more middle class people becoming comfortable with leaving their kids in OKC schools.

[frankensooner]

Don't forget the new rolly coster Jed. ;)

[BigRedJed]

Regarding the piece on the AOL travel site, it seems like each city represents one thing that makes it unnatractive (crime, oppression, dangerous weather), and OKC got the unlucky nod as king of natural disaster. Frankly, I think that is pretty debateable. They could have just as easily used Los Angeles or Miami as Oklahoma City. Their criteria seemed to have nothing to do with the quality of the visit, only how likely it would be for you to get killed by a tornado.

Considering I grew up in Kansas and Oklahoma, I'm 40 years old, and I have yet to personally lay eyes on an honest-to-god funnel cloud, I take outsiders' impressions of tornado danger with a grain of salt.

Also, for those conspiracy theorists on the board, I was talking to an OKC Convention and Visitors Bureau executive last night, and they are chasing down the source of that story. They apparently have some information indicating the ranking/story may have come from a Seattle source. :eek:

[KC//CRIMSON]

okay.. what's 'donut development' ?

Flour, yeast, water, and sugar.

Krispey Kreme anyone?

[KC//CRIMSON]

Have you heard; Dell has basically folded their operation in Austin and are HQ'd on the bank of the Oklahoma River, downtown OKC?

This is totally false. They are shutting down some manufacturing sites in Austin and moving it to North Carolina. Trust me, no whorn is moving his company's headquarters to OKC.

[Gandalf_The_Grey]

It is hard to win arguments if you don't make up a few facts...

[Cam]

Have you heard; Dell has basically folded their operation in Austin and are HQ'd on the bank of the Oklahoma River, downtown OKC?

Wow.

Couldn't be further from the truth actually. Dell has well 20+ buildings in Austin. HG ain't going anywhere, regardless of what some people think.

[Gandalf_The_Grey]

Have you owned a Dell...let's just say the bank of the "Oklahoma River" is better off without those turds ;)

[Taxman71]

Don't forget the lottery and tattoo are legal now.

Big time.....

F0FBi5Rv1ho

[Sooner_Bob]

I'm surprised at the apparent disdain for some apparent good press for OKC.

What gives?

[KC//CRIMSON]

Don't forget the lottery and tattoo are legal now.

Big time.....


Stewart Copeland plays drums on that track.:cool:

[frankensooner]

KC doesn't like us and the AOL article is stupid. ;)

[KC//CRIMSON]

I'm surprised at the apparent disdain for some apparent good press for OKC.

What gives?

It started as a joke, then someone went all Stanley.

Who said a sense of humor was contagious?;)

[Sooner_Bob]

It started as a joke, then someone went all Stanley.

Who said a sense of humor was contagious?;)


Just imagine what would've happened if you were to put lemon juice in his can of snuff.

[Mjcpr]

It started as a joke, then someone went all Stanley.

Who said a sense of humor was contagious?;)

That'd be fine but you rail on Oklahoma/Tulsa/OKC every chance you get.

;)
:D
:)

[Cam]

Have you owned a Dell...let's just say the bank of the "Oklahoma River" is better off without those turds ;)

Yeah, cause a landfill looks much cooler. ;)

We're not all whorns, so generalizing us as turds is quite unfair. :(

[Sooner_Bob]

Yeah, cause a landfill looks much cooler. ;)

watchu got against decaying leftovers and dirty diapers? ;)

[Cam]

watchu got against decaying leftovers and dirty diapers? ;)

It's the fumes man. Made people sick for there for a little bit.

[KC//CRIMSON]

That'd be fine but you rail on Oklahoma/Tulsa/OKC every chance you get.

;)
:D
:)


That'd be fine but all those countless OKC vs Tulsa threads are okay? Gatekeeper.

;)
:D
:)

[Rhino]

They've taken OKC off that article on AOL already.

It used to be called "Top 10 Places To Not Visit" (which can still be seen in the title bar) and now it's "Top Places To Not Visit" above the pictures.

[frankensooner]

OKC & Tulsa >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Muskogee. ;)

[SoonerInKCMO]

It's still on the Askmen.com article that AOL used... along with about 18 pages of "What the hell are you smokin', tardbilly?!??!11/!!" reader comments.

[frankensooner]

I noticed all the pro-Oklahoma comments were one-starred whilst the eff you tarbilly comments had multiple stars.

[Mjcpr]

OKC & Tulsa >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Muskogee. ;)

Oh, you can go straight to hell!

Does OKC or Tulsa have the Azalea Festival? Hell no.

:D

[RacerX]

Aw, c'mon Jed, Ron, anyone, Beuler??





;)





Still Great News! How about you hills and trees folks? aren't you glad to have such a wonderful big brother? :D

I figured Jed had hacked your password.

[Sooner_Havok]

I noticed all the pro-Oklahoma comments were one-starred whilst the eff you tarbilly comments had multiple stars.

That is what the people writing the comments rated the article as. So of course all us folks who like Oklahoma are gonna rate the article as low, and those who like to **** with us will rate it as high.

I think a lot of this OK hate boils down to two things.

First, they are ignorant to the fact that Oklahoma isn't a dust bowl state anymore.(Never was, only two counties where actually affected, Thank you John Steinbeck! Hell, the area the Joads were supposed to come from was flooding not baking, but that is angry post for another day)

Second, they see that their city is actually going to hell in a hand basket and can't stand the thought of someone else actually doing well when they are getting worse.

[Big Red Ron]

They've taken OKC off that article on AOL already.

It used to be called "Top 10 Places To Not Visit" (which can still be seen in the title bar) and now it's "Top Places To Not Visit" above the pictures.
Saw on the news the "survey was commissioned by, "A Seattle businessman who is part of the ownership prepared to purchas the Sonics if Shultz wins his lawsuit against Bennett."

Weak

[Big Red Ron]

That'd be fine but all those countless OKC vs Tulsa threads are okay? Gatekeeper.

Well, we all understand civic pride. Take you for example. I don't need to point out that of the three cities in this conversation, one is experiencing a renaissance, while making national headlines. ;) But I will. :D

[tommieharris91]

Saw on the news the "survey was commissioned by, "A Seattle businessman who is part of the ownership prepared to purchas the Sonics if Shultz wins his lawsuit against Bennett."

Weak

HOORAY FOR DEFAMATION!!! What a cheap classless move by a cheap, classless group of people.

[Rhino]

Here's more on the AskMen story. (http://www.thelostogle.com/2008/05/03/heres-the-guy-who-ranked-okc-ahead-of-chernobyl/)

[BigRedJed]

I have yet to see the Seattle connection that the Mayor and the CVB were suggesting existed.

[KC//CRIMSON]

I have yet to see the Seattle connection that the Mayor and the CVB were suggesting existed.


You don't see it because there isn't one. Kinda like seeing Dell HQ on the banks of the Oklahoma River.;)


Mayor: OKC's Inclusion In Web Feature Could Be Seattle Slam
Stay Tuned To Eyewitness News 5 At 6 P.M. For Full Report
http://www.koco.com/news/16138059/detail.html

OKLAHOMA CITY -- An AskMen.com Web feature designating Oklahoma City as one of 10 "hells on Earth" very well could be somebody's slam over the relocation situation regarding the Seattle Supersonics, according to Mayor Mick Cornett.

Cornett stood up Friday for Oklahoma City, saying he honestly believes somebody upset over the NBA team's relocation to the Sooner State is behind OKC's inclusion in the feature. The city of Seattle is fighting to keep the Sonics in the Emerald City for two more years, and former team owner Howard Schultz is suing Oklahoman Clay Bennett, the team's current owner, to rescind his sale of the club in 2006.

However, writer Nick Clarke said from Marbella, Spain, that his feature was merely about Oklahoma City's wide variety of severe weather.

"I visited (OKC) a few years ago. It's nice. Not one of my favorite places, but I enjoyed my time," he said.

Of Oklahoma City, Clarke wrote:
"While it may be all hunky-dory on the musical front, Oklahoma City isn’t the kind of place you’d want to hang out in for too long if you like to keep your feet on terra firma. The weather is frighteningly unpredictable, with blizzards often descending on the city and winds that could knock a high rise clean off its feet. It is, after all, located in the direct path of 'Tornado Alley.'

The worst time to visit would be from March to August, when The Day After Tomorrow-style weather is pretty much expected. In fact, the severe weather season makes Dorothy’s Kansas look positively calm, with Oklahoma City being the city worst affected by tornadoes in the United States. One of the most powerful tornadoes on record -- an F5 with wind speeds of 320 mph -- devastated much of the city in 1999, securing its place on our list of hells on earth."

Oklahoma City was the only American city in AskMen.com's list, at No. 5, more hellish than cities like No. 10 Baghdad, Iraq, and No. 6 Chenobyl, Ukraine, but less hellish than No. 4 Pyongyang, North Korea, and No. 1 Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.

Of the feature's most hellish place on Earth, Clarke wrote:
"With over 115 new HIV and AIDS cases diagnosed every month at Port Moresby General Hospital, the capital of Papua New Guinea isn’t at the top of this list for much except being the 'worst place to live in the world,' according to a 2004 vote by the Economist’s Intelligence Unit. With the population expanding at an uncontrollable rate, employment levels have rocketed, income levels have plummeted and cases of rape, robbery and murder have reached new heights (the murder rate is 23 times that of London).

Gang members, known as raskols, have been known to carry out bank robberies with M16 machine guns, hijack cars wielding machetes and, in one case, drag an injured nurse from a car wreck to rape her. Clearly, the 'rascal' tag does them a disservice. If you don’t have time to pick up some souvenirs, don’t worry; you’ll almost certainly have picked up a disease or two to take home with you."

"It's one person's, one company's opinion. You have to take everything with a pinch of salt," the British-born Clarke said. "It's not a knock on the people, crime or possible pollution in Oklahoma. It was strictly about the weather."

Clarke, 23, is a freelance writer specializing in pop culture and travel. He said the list was a collaboration between him and the AskMen.com staff. The "hells on Earth" feature was aggregated to an online Web site from AOL Travel; however, AOL has since removed Oklahoma City from its list.

But Cornett told Eyewitness News 5 that he's not convinced. He said he believes Oklahoma City's inclusion in the list was generated by somebody who has a grudge over the Sonics' relocation to Oklahoma City.

Cornett said he would watch to see how the story progresses.

Eyewitness News 5 contacted an AskMen.com spokeswoman, who issued a statement from James Bassil, AskMen.com's editor-in-chief. He stressed that the site's "hells on Earth" feature was meant to be humorous.

"AskMen.com included Oklahoma City on a tongue-in-cheek list of travel destinations because of the constant weather challenges that the city faces. This list was written in a lighthearted, humorous tone and was not meant to disparage Oklahoma City as a place to live, work or raise a family," Bassil said.

Eyewitness News 5 also asked the spokeswoman about Cornett's suggestion that the feature might have been a Seattle-inspired slam on Oklahoma City. AskMen.com said it did not have a comment regarding a possible Sonics angle.

AskMen.com is a Web property of Fox Interactive Media (FIM), which is headquartered in Beverly Hills, Calif. However, FIM has three regional offices, including one in Seattle.

[silverwheels]

You'd have to be a total ***** to not be able to handle the weather here.

[BigRedJed]

You don't see it because there isn't one...
Or... ...to be more accurate... ...nobody has yet proven one. Of course, they have also not DISPROVEN one. Without question I was saying that there was no apparent link that I could see. It looks shaky to me, and I said so. But for some reason I have heard from people who should (and, I believe, DO) know better than to knowingly and publicly repeat falsehoods.

If you read the story you posted, there seems to be some clinging to the notion that it is connected, despite the well-documented fact that the writer is apparently from England and lives in Spain. So maybe there's more to the story, which will eventually be exposed. I personally find it curious that askmen.com refused to comment on the Seattle angle. If I were their spokesperson and had nothing to hide, I would have publicly ridiculed the notion.

All of which does nothing to prove whether a connection does or does not exist.

[KC//CRIMSON]

Or... ...to be more accurate... ...nobody has yet proven one. Of course, they have also not DISPROVEN one. Without question I was saying that there was no apparent link that I could see. It looks shaky to me, and I said so. But for some reason I have heard from people who should (and, I believe, DO) know better than to knowingly and publicly repeat falsehoods.

If you read the story you posted, there seems to be some clinging to the notion that it is connected, despite the well-documented fact that the writer is apparently from England and lives in Spain. So maybe there's more to the story, which will eventually be exposed. I personally find it curious that askmen.com refused to comment on the Seattle angle. If I were their spokesperson and had nothing to hide, I would have publicly ridiculed the notion.

All of which does nothing to prove whether a connection does or does not exist.

The only clinging I see is possibly the Mayor. I'm guessing when they were asked about the Seattle connection they did not want to become liable by answering for someone else who is not present or represented. (The Sonics)

Honestly, it sounds like a writer's attempt or failed attempt at humor and a Mayor who thinks THAT many people (City of Seattle Sonic Fans) really care about the Sonics moving to OKC. IMO.

[BigRedJed]

You'd have to be a total ***** to not be able to handle the weather here.
Crap, we actually have GREAT weather here. A large part of the U.S. would probably gladly trade us for our weather, if they didn't have disproportionate fear of tornadoes, which is exacerbated by schlock, irresponsible writing like the opinions in that article.

I deal with a large number of out-of-town visitors to OKC on a regular basis, and their irrational fear of twisters would be funny if it wasn't so costly to our image. The askmen.com article is an example of that. It literally will cost us at least some tourist dollars, for no justifiable reason.

It's funny/painful to watch out-of-towners freak out when a weather interruption comes on the tube reporting on an isolated storm/possible funnel cloud 100 miles away, moving even further away. Or when a county-wide tornado siren goes off for a possible funnel cloud in Piedmont, moving northeast.

I think the public perception of people from outside the state/region is that a single tornado is somehow a city- or state-wide event, like a hurricane or earthquake, rather than something that typically affects an area the size of a few football fields, out in the country somewhere. I think they honestly believe that when a tornado happens anywhere in the state that it decimates the entire place, reducing it to Hiroshima-like rubble, after which we all crawl out of our hidey holes, go out and buy new mobile homes, and put them back on the same spots.

Like I've said before, I grew up in Kansas and have lived in OKC for more than two decades, and I have yet to see a tornado in person. The fact that I live in an area surrounded by 75-100 year old homes and trees for miles and miles is pretty reliable testimony as to how spotty, isolated and rare storms like that really are. Knock on wood.

[silverwheels]

I saw a funnel cloud pass right over my house about 10 years ago. I probably shouldn't have been that close to the windows, but I had to see what was going on. It was freakin' awesome.

[BigRedJed]

I saw a funnel cloud pass right over my house about 10 years ago. I probably shouldn't have been that close to the windows, but I had to see what was going on. It was freakin' awesome.
Well, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying I've never been close to one. Apparently when I was a toddler I was riding in the country with my folks and we actually had to jump out of the car and take cover in a bar ditch as one passed right over head. I don't remember it. A very weak one hit my neighborhood in Wichita when I was in high school, and tore roofing shingles off of some houses (I was away from home).

Plus, in '98 I cowered in the closet of my old house on the edge of Nichols Hills, listening to the weathermen call off all of the intersections leading straight to my house, as a small one skipped over Lake Hefner and through NH. It did some roof damage to houses a few blocks away, and knocked down a bunch of limbs, before strengthening and hitting the area around Frontier City pretty good.

But as far as I can remember, there have only been a very few devastating twisters in the metro area in the past 30 years or so. One hit Edmond in the '80s (nearly 20 miles from downtown OKC), and the two that hit Moore (with '99 being by far the worst, of course), neither of which got within spitting distance of downtown.

My only point is that, except for '99, which was of course an exceedingly rare (in fact one-of-a-kind) tornadic event, and the other above-mentioned cyclones that skimmed the edge of the metro, Oklahoma City proper has not really had that much direct impact from twisters that I know of. Again, knock on wood.

The article was really pretty baseless. I would think statistically you'd have a much better chance of being killed by environmental disaster (fires, mudslides, earthquakes) in the Los Angeles area. But of course, you couldn't have included it in that article as a "hell on earth" because the general public knows better and would call bull****. Oklahoma City is an easier target, because we have no real image outside of the state.

To bring this full circle, that's why the things that are going on in OKC related to MAPS and the realignment of our national and international image are so important.

[silverwheels]

Plus, in '98 I cowered in the closet of my old house on the edge of Nichols Hills, listening to the weathermen call off all of the intersections leading straight to my house, as a small one skipped over Lake Hefner and through NH. It did some roof damage to houses a few blocks away, and knocked down a bunch of limbs, before strengthening and hitting the area around Frontier City pretty good.

Yeah, that was the same storm system I mentioned. Postponed one of my soccer tournaments at Lake Hefner for a day.

[BigRedJed]

HELL ON EARTH!!!

[Big Red Ron]

Kinda like seeing Dell HQ on the banks of the Oklahoma River.;)


http://farm1.static.flickr.com/106/291863647_01bd90cd53.jpg?v=0

Sheer fantasy :rolleyes:

I own significant shares in Dell and there is, indeed, specific discussions at the highest levels of OKC municipal, State and Dell Corp. to move their HQ and production here.

KC, you are clearly threatened by all this OKC development, so why don't you do us all a favor and stay out of these threads. You add nothing of value and know nothing of what is actually going on here, ya know, in OKC.

[Big Red Ron]

I personally find it curious that askmen.com refused to comment on the Seattle angle. If I were their spokesperson and had nothing to hide, I would have publicly ridiculed the notion.

Yeah, and the "author" is a worldly 23 year old kid. I do think this is telling...


AskMen.com is a Web property of Fox Interactive Media (FIM), which is headquartered in Beverly Hills, Calif. However, FIM has three regional offices, including one in Seattle.

[KC//CRIMSON]

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/106/291863647_01bd90cd53.jpg?v=0

Sheer fantasy :rolleyes:

I own significant shares in Dell and there is, indeed, specific discussions at the highest levels of OKC municipal, State and Dell Corp. to move their HQ and production here.

KC, you are clearly threatened by all this OKC development, so why don't you do us all a favor and stay out of these threads. You add nothing of value and know nothing of what is actually going on here, ya know, in OKC.


Oh noes! You own shares! BFD. Keep smoking the ragweed that tells you Michael Dell is moving his office to OKC. It's a pipe dream and you know it.

And yeah, I feel as about as threatened by the growth of OKC as I do your false info and babble. Keep it up, it's been quite amusing.

BTW, I'll stay in threads like these as long as I would like. When you become the new HMFIC, chuckles, be sure to let me know mmmkay?

[Big Red Ron]

Oh noes! You own shares! BFD. Keep smoking the ragweed that tells you Michael Dell is moving his office to OKC. It's a pipe dream and you know it.

And yeah, I feel as about as threatened by the growth of OKC as I do your false info and babble. Keep it up, it's been quite amusing.

BTW, I'll stay in threads like these as long as I would like. When you become the new HMFIC, chuckles, be sure to let me know mmmkay?
Whatever dude. If you don't think Dell is listening to the money involved with the "Quality Jobs act" passed by the legislature, you're the one smoking something.

If isn't Dell, it'll be something else. Like I said, OKC and Tulsa for that matter are poised to see growth, like very few other places.

Stay in these threads if you so choose, I'll just add you to my ignore list, as I remain to see anything of value to what you post.

Cheers.

[KC//CRIMSON]

Whatever dude. If you don't think Dell is listening to the money involved with the "Quality Jobs act" passed by the legislature, you're the one smoking something.

If isn't Dell, it'll be something else. Like I said, OKC and Tulsa for that matter are poised to see growth, like very few other places.

Stay in these threads if you so choose, I'll just add you to my ignore list, as I remain to see anything of value to what you post.

Cheers.


You're all class, Ronald. Thanks for the f-bomb in my spek column.

Tootles.

[Big Red Ron]

You're all class, Ronald. Thanks for the f-bomb in my spek column.

Tootles.
Oh, you're more than welcome. There can be more, if you chose. "Don't start none, won't be none."

BTW - Missouri seems to be a dying state. They have several cities with negative growth and KC has grown at a lesser rate than OKC for quite some time;

http://www.citymayors.com/statistics/us-cities-growth-2007.html

http://money.cnn.com/2007/06/27/real_estate/258_fastest_growing_cities/index.htm

and that was BEFORE the quality jobs act and Oklahoma's energy and aerospace industry's boom.

So yeah, I call 'em like I see 'em and since I couldn't say that to you on here without putting my posting privileges in jeopardy, you got it in your neg spek column.

[Sooner_Havok]

Stupid uneducated Okies! Your city is a **** hole, and people from places like NYC, LA, NOLA, Seattle, KC and Chicago know something about **** holes! So stop arguing and accept the fact that people who live in bigger cities than you do are inherently smarter and more educated than you could ever hope to be! There is a reason that everywhere else is better than Oklahoma, and it it isn't because those other areas were opened up to legal settlement 100 years or more before the area of Oklahoma, or that almost all other territories had established cities and governments years before admittance to the Union! They are better because the people who live there all agree that they are better than Oklahoma! I mean, come on, look how much of your crappy state was affected by the dust bowl!

http://www.ohwy.com/history%20pictures/dustmap.gif

Poor dumb Okies, if you can't look at that map and see why the world singles you inbred hicks out as the only poor losers affected by the dust bowl, then you are dumber than anyone ever thought you were. You can clearly see that Oklahoma was the only area in the dust bowl, so just accept it as fact and come to terms with how bad your crappy little state sucks! So you idiots keep hanging your hat on the fact that you are "only 10-15 years behind" other big cities in the US. These cities all had almost 100 years minimum head start on you guys, and you have only narrowed the gap to 10-15 years, yeah keep working Okies, maybe someday you'll be a real state like Washington, Louisiana, Missouri, New York, or California and contribute more than just food and energy to the nation! Produce some high budget movies, chain stores, snooty rich people, higher violent crime rates, or over priced status symbols, and then you can talk.

[KC//CRIMSON]

Oh, you're more than welcome. There can be more, if you chose. "Don't start none, won't be none."

BTW - Missouri seems to be a dying state. They have several cities with negative growth and KC has grown at a lesser rate than OKC for quite some time;

http://www.citymayors.com/statistics/us-cities-growth-2007.html

http://money.cnn.com/2007/06/27/real_estate/258_fastest_growing_cities/index.htm

and that was BEFORE the quality jobs act and Oklahoma's energy and aerospace industry's boom.

So yeah, I call 'em like I see 'em and since I couldn't say that to you on here without putting my posting privileges in jeopardy, you got it in your neg spek column.


Really? There can be more f-bombs? That's awesome, go ahead and send away. I'll just forward them along like the last one. BTW, newsflash, it doesn't matter where you post them it's all the same.

It's good to know the city I live in ranks #26 and the city I work in clocks in at number #75. The first link is two years old.

All $800 million plus and only a small section of downtown that's under construction. Yep, we're dying up here. Keep posting fiction as fact. It's hilarious.

http://www.greencondoskc.com/ECOS/ecos_on_delaware_lifestyle_kansas_city_power_light _district_files/recenteringheader.png

[Sooner_Havok]

Really? There can be more f-bombs? That's awesome, go ahead and send away. I'll just forward them along like the last one. BTW, newsflash, it doesn't matter where you post them it's all the same.

It's good to know the city I live in ranks #21 and the city I work in clocks in at number #29. The first link is two years old.

All 800 million plus and only a small section of downtown that's under construction. Yep, we're dying up here. Keep posting fiction as fact. It's hilarious.

http://www.greencondoskc.com/ECOS/ecos_on_delaware_lifestyle_kansas_city_power_light _district_files/recenteringheader.png

Man, your model is prettier than our drawings!:mad:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h152/havok0283/april_aerial_from_river-1.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h152/havok0283/april_aerial_from_cbd-1.jpg


That right there is napkin architecture! :D :D

[KC//CRIMSON]

Man, your model is prettier than our drawings!:mad:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h152/havok0283/april_aerial_from_river-1.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h152/havok0283/april_aerial_from_cbd-1.jpg


That right there is napkin architecture! :D :D

That's no model, it's a Space Station!

[Sooner_Havok]

That's no model, it's a Space Station!

So that is what that damn thing is supposed to look like! I think those jackholes at NASA are building the wrong thing up there! :D

[Cam]

I own significant shares in Dell and there is, indeed, specific discussions at the highest levels of OKC municipal, State and Dell Corp. to move their HQ and production here.

I have no doubt that the highest levels of OKC municipality are pimping a move like there's no tomorrow. I also know for a FACT that the city of Round Rock has already put many, many, many millions of dollars into Dell's coffers in one form or another. If Round Rock is willing to get even remotely close to what OKC's offering, Dell will stay in RR. If not, they'll have to build a Chesapeake style of campus to move the 30K Round Rock employees/jobs here and there's simply not enough room for that at the current location.

Personally, a new location would succ. I have too many hours invested in planning meetings and too much sweat equity in those buildings to see it sold to another company.

From an insiders perspective, don't hold your breath and don't get too excited if/when you hear that this is/could happen. I can't count the number of times that we've been told the 3rd building's going to be built only to hear they've changed their mind 2-3 days later. It changes with the wind, just as every other major decision inside Dell.


Whatever dude. If you don't think Dell is listening to the money involved with the "Quality Jobs act" passed by the legislature, you're the one smoking something.

This is a major factor in Dell being in OKC and not Wichita.