The Tulsa Forum by TulsaNow

Planned 128-acre neighborhood in northwest Tulsa will encourage healthy, social living, developers say

Plans for a 128-acre neighborhood in northwest Tulsa that will feature lots of green space, a range of housing options and a possible charter school are nearing completion.

Land for the neighborhood, named Evolving Communities, is located in the Osage Hills near West Edison Street and North 33rd West Avenue. Its design follows a model called “new urbanism,” which promotes environmentally friendly practices while encouraging residents to walk, shop and interact in the neighborhood.

Developers say a range of housing options, including townhouses, multi-family units for rent and homes ranging from small to large will allow families with household incomes of $40,000 to $50,000 to live in a well-rounded community while remaining close to downtown.


City Councilor Blake Ewing, a supporter of the neighborhood, said he thinks it will change the way subdivisions in Tulsa are planned.

“I believe firmly that Tulsans want to be able to live close to downtown in a neighborhood where every house doesn’t look the same,” Ewing said. “Where they can have access to healthy food and have a social setting in the neighborhood that facilitates relationships.”

Since Tuesday, designers, architects and civil engineers from Tulsa and other states have met to participate in a charette — a meeting in which the stakeholders of a project brainstorm, test design plans and make adjustments where necessary.

Nature is a key component of Evolving Communities, which will feature a 7-acre organic farm and 40 acres of conservation easements, green spaces, nature walks and a promontory plaza, according to Scott Pardee, the project’s primary Tulsa-based designer.

The neighborhood’s houses will feature parking in the back instead of garages.

“Basically, instead of that really, really large house, we want people to hang out in the front of their house where their lights are on and people can see and walk by and wave to your neighbor ... because their extra bedroom is actually that outdoor living space,” Pardee said.

Tom Low, of Charlotte, North Carolina-based Civic By Design, is a master planner who was subcontracted for the project. He has worked on more than 400 neighborhoods that follow the model of Evolving Communities.

“Once you live in a place where you’re not shackled to a car for everything, you ... realize how much freedom you have and how much quality time you have,” Low said.

Another anchoring feature of the community would be a charter school, an independently run public school with flexibility in how it operates.

Plans for the Evolving Communities school are still in the drafting process. Caleb Starr, former principal of Nathan Hale High School who is working on the application, said he continues to seek local input.

“We didn’t want to say, ‘Here’s what this community needs,’ ” Starr said. “We wanted to go to the community and say, ‘What do you need?’ ”

Charter schools require an authorizer — a body that evaluates the initial application and monitors performance. The vast majority of authorizers in the U.S. are public school districts, though some universities and nonprofit groups fulfill the role.

Starr said organizers plan to submit an application to Tulsa Public Schools by August so that the school could begin operating in August 2019. By the school’s fifth year, organizers hope to offer pre-K through sixth-grade classes.

Evolving Communities would be the first neighborhood of its kind in Tulsa, though similar communities have been built nearby. Carlton Landing near Lake Eufaula was officially incorporated in 2013. It features many amenities that the Tulsa site plans to include, such as a general store, small neighborhood gardens and a farm that supplies a weekly farmers market.

Planning for Evolving Communities began about four years ago. Once the design is finalized, developers plan to work with the city to obtain tax increment financing to build necessary infrastructure, like sewage.

If this is anything like Carlton Landing on Lake Eufala, that could potentially be really neat:
https://www.google.com/search?q=Carlton+Landing+near+Lake+Eufaula&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiInKqgu-fbAhUk44MKHeapAeQQ_AUICygC&biw=1060&bih=861&dpr=0.75#imgrc=ngQ6lyIP07pUJM: (https://www.google.com/search?q=Carlton+Landing+near+Lake+Eufaula&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiInKqgu-fbAhUk44MKHeapAeQQ_AUICygC&biw=1060&bih=861&dpr=0.75#imgrc=ngQ6lyIP07pUJM:)

The homes are very nice, very pricey and very available with 23 listed for sale right now of 47 known to be built and listed:
https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/35.207841,-95.539582,35.201635,-95.550247_rect/16_zm/1_fr/ (https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/35.207841,-95.539582,35.201635,-95.550247_rect/16_zm/1_fr/)'

Just about 50% of homes there are for sale! To put that in perspective, that's exactly how many homes are for sale in the Renaissance and Florence Park Neighborhoods right now which include about 700 and 500 homes respectively (Less than 2% of homes are for sale).

While some of the homes are brand new, it looks like most were built between 2014-2016.

I've always envisioned such a neighborhood going in on the OSU property between Main and MLK to fit in with the adjacent Brady Heights neighborhood. 

In OKC they are developing a similar neighborhood near downtown called the Wheeler District: https://www.wheelerdistrict.com/ (https://www.wheelerdistrict.com/)

So Blake was listening here to all the architecture rants I have been making about alleys, back of property access, no garage in front of house, etc.

Imagine that.  Well, Nathan Hale graduates ARE all above average...!

You're welcome!


Who is gonna 'do' the organic farm, I wonder?

I doubt this will ever come to fruition...

That's where OSU is planning their research campus

OSU has had 30 years to develop that land, their time is up and it should be turned over to private developers.  OSU can do everything they (won't) build east of MLK.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/homepagelatest/tulsa-development-authority-wants-undeveloped-ucat-property-to-revert-to/article_26d8abec-eed1-5141-a0fb-37e663e86058.html (http://www.tulsaworld.com/homepagelatest/tulsa-development-authority-wants-undeveloped-ucat-property-to-revert-to/article_26d8abec-eed1-5141-a0fb-37e663e86058.html)

If people are buying these homes in Wheeler Park in OKC (and they are, the smaller homes are already sold out before they have been built) then people will buy a similar product here.  This is a scenic area surrounded by wooded hills but the same distance to downtown as most of midtown, for a much lower price point and new construction.  Once the Gilcrease Expressway is built there will be an interchange at Edison which gets you to the rest of the city pretty easily.  Wheeler Park would be similar to if this same neighborhood was being built at 41st & Elwood.

This is what drives me crazy about the Gilcrease Loop. This site is half a mile from the 33rd W Ave exit on The Keystone Expressway which is just 1.5 miles from the IDL. How does the Gilcrease make this area any more accessible? And why on earth would anyone pay to use the Gilcrease when the free highways in the area have little to no congestion and can get you anywhere in basically the exact same amount of time?

So Blake was listening here to all the architecture rants I have been making about alleys, back of property access, no garage in front of house, etc.

I am hopeful for this type of development. They have also been discussing conservation easements on parts of the development with me for some time.

I am hopeful for this type of development. They have also been discussing conservation easements on parts of the development with me for some time.

"Welcome to Stepford!"

Come on, someone had to...

From what I've heard is this is still in motion, just progressing slowly. There's also a new urbanism community planned somewhere in Broken Arrow too that's in planning stages.. just not sure of location or who the developer is on it.

My understanding is that the development moving forward hinges upon getting a charter school built next to it, and that TPS has vehemently opposed that.  The State Board of Education voted down the sponsorship of the charter school back in May.  https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/education/state-board-issues-final-rejection-to-proposed-new-charter-school-in-tulsa/article_19d96d0a-240a-53c6-8036-3a6214af4c2d.html (https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/education/state-board-issues-final-rejection-to-proposed-new-charter-school-in-tulsa/article_19d96d0a-240a-53c6-8036-3a6214af4c2d.html)  Not sure what their next recourse is, if they will try to reapply or not.  Not sure why they wouldn't want to just work with TPS on getting a new school built? 

For those unaware this same scenario has played out twice in OKC.  There is a downtown charter elem. school and a similar school at the center of a New Urbanist community called Wheeler Park.  Both have been accused of being drivers of gentrification and not adequately serving the lower-income students in the surrounding neighborhoods.

^ That is a different planned neighborhood called Northwest Passage at Apache & Gilcrease Museum Rd.  This thread is about Evolving Communities on W Edison

(https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/tulsaworld.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/6/e8/6e8276db-0f4a-555f-9e16-f52d4cd8afc5/5b2c433ab73c8.image.jpg)

Phase 1 of the Northwest Passage is already half-built just north of Gilcrease Museum Rd & Apache.  It is your typical sprawling subdivision.  The area you referenced that is being designed by PDG is the "town center" portion of the development and includes the school and restaurants/retail surrounded by higher density residential including apartments and townhomes.  This is located at Apache & Osage Dr.  Hopefully the eastern portion is more dense or this will be just like new residential developments in south Tulsa.  

Here's some more info from early this year.  He makes it sound as if starting construction was totally dependent on obtaining approval of the charter school (which apparently didn't happen).

https://ktul.com/news/local/local-developer-hoping-to-open-new-charter-school-housing-development-in-west-tulsa

https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/education/state-board-issues-final-rejection-to-proposed-new-charter-school-in-tulsa/article_19d96d0a-240a-53c6-8036-3a6214af4c2d.html