Developing an urban attitude
By: J. David Chapman/November 12, 2020
Edmond is a suburban city outside of OKC with a growing urban attitude. The city has almost 100,000 residents and can contribute its rapid growth to one of the top school districts in the region.
As the city has grown, it also has fought to keep a significant percentage of native tree canopy, understanding the strategic importance of trees to quality of life and city growth. To accomplish this, the city is researching and implementing creative solutions with developers to manage the potential conflict and challenge that can arise when keeping the tree canopy while gaining important urban density needed for economic sustainability.
Having grown on the reputation of great schools, natural beauty, large residential lots, and large homes, Edmond is discovering an economic development “honey hole” in its historic downtown area.
One by one, the 1970s downtown vintage stucco, wood, and metal facades are being removed, exposing some of the most iconic, early century original brick architectural storefronts in the region. The ‘70s-era fabric and wood awnings with large pillars disrupting the streetscape and walkability are disappearing and being replaced by period-sensitive steel and metal awnings without those obnoxious pillars in the public realm. These once-undervalued, underutilized buildings are becoming homes to a stretch of popular coffee shops, restaurants, breweries, and experiential destination retail establishments. The buildings are key in creating the vibe necessary for these businesses to succeed and thrive. They are buildings as art!
Speaking of art – maybe the most important ingredient in re-creating this sleepy downtown into a vibrant, successful urban environment is the commitment to art and artists. What started with a passion and financial commitment of previous Mayor Randel Shadid has now become an economic development tool for the city and an important quality-of-life initiative for citizens and visitors. Starting with a few statues and sculptures, Edmond’s public art is now a world-class collection of sculptures, interactive-art concepts and murals.
What Mayor Shadid is doing with sculptures, local developer Matthew Myers is doing with interactive-art concepts, and downtown business and building owners are doing with murals on buildings. This last weekend 15 artists worked day and night to add 11 murals to the alleys of Edmond. This mixture of art will be expanded in 2021 with a monthly art experience called VIBE that will add even more artists and performers advancing this urban attitude.
J. David Chapman is professor of finance and real estate at the University of Central Oklahoma (jchapman7@uco.edu).