The unveiling of the results of PlaniTulsa will be formally unveiled today at 2 p.m. in the BOk Center.
Even though we already know who won, thanks to the
Tulsa World:
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=16&articleid=20090728_16_A9_Thecit704915Tulsans want downtown growth to continue, survey results indicate
By KEVIN CANFIELD World Staff Writer
Published: 7/28/2009 2:25 AM
Last Modified: 7/28/2009 3:57 AM
The city of Tulsa envisioned by the people who completed the "Which Way Tulsa?" surveys includes a vibrant downtown, strong single-family neighborhoods and new forms of transportation, according to the consultant hired by the city to update its comprehensive plan.
"Most people want to live in an existing single-family neighborhood, but young people are really interested in living downtown," said John Fregonese of Fregonese Associates of Portland, Ore. "A lot of people are really interested in working downtown and building a light-rail or streetcar system."
The surveys were completed May 12 through June 18 as part of PlaniTulsa, the city's comprehensive plan update program. Survey results will be revealed Tuesday, and the public is invited.
But on Monday, Fregonese revealed this much: Nearly 5,900 surveys were completed, including about 4,300 online.
The surveys included four development scenarios: Scenario A would continue the trend of growing outward and beyond city limits. Scenario B would push for development along main streets. Scenario C would encourage growth in new centers, and scenario D would see most growth downtown and in neighborhood centers.
Scenario D was chosen by about half of the survey respondents.
About a third chose scenario C.
Survey participants were not asked simply to choose which scenario they liked best but to rank the scenarios according to which one best addressed a particular development objective.
For example, participants
were asked to rank which scenario "builds the kind of housing options I need."
Fregonese said the first thing to note about the survey participants was that they pretty well matched the ethnic diversity of the city.
What came as somewhat of a surprise was their age.
"I think this is the first time (in my experience that) post-baby boomers have dominated the results," Fregonese said.
The greatest percentage of responses came from midtown and north Tulsa. But that fact, he insisted, did not skew the results.
"We did a couple of statistical programs to balance it, and it didn't change the results," he said.
The number of responses reflects a better turnout than it might seem at first blush, according to Fregonese.
"On a per-capita basis, it was better than Portland, Austin or Salt Lake City, for that matter," he said of surveys his firm has done in larger communities.
Tulsa's population is 385,635, according to 2008 figures from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Fregonese said it's important to remember that the surveys differ from a random sampling.
"It's people who got interested in it, educated themselves and researched it, so it's different from a random sample," he said.
The survey results will be used to create a vision of the city's development future, which will be presented to public officials and residents in September for their consideration.
By early next year, the vision will be incorporated into a proposed comprehensive plan that will be presented to the Tulsa Metropolitan Area Planning Commission and the City Council for their review and approval.
Public hearings will be a part of the approval process.
Personally, I voted for D but I never expected a majority to do the same. Now, let's get to work!