Walk, ride, reside

Inside the IDL with Chad Oliverson

Chad Oliverson is the marketing and promotions manager for the Downtown Coordinating Council (DCC), a collaboration of area leaders, landholders and business owners. In May, the council launched “IDL Life,” a campaign to promote all things downtown. I spoke with Chad about DCC members’ goals for downtown, their projections for the future and how they’re thinking about potential development problems.

The Tulsa Voice: What are you excited about in downtown?

Chad Oliverson: I am excited about downtown living. People are hopeful for more things downtown, whether it be a grocery store or more places to shop. With the concentration of more people, these things naturally follow. There are people who want less expensive living, and I understand the cost concern. It’s kind of the rule of real estate—“Location, location, location.” Downtown is where all the activity is and where things are happening. And there is a growing demand for downtown residences. 

TTV: Where do you see problems for downtown? 

CO: One of the biggest concerns I hear from people constantly is parking, parking, parking. Actually, we have a lot of parking downtown. It’s about changing the culture. It’s about paying for parking. I get that. I live there too. But if you go to another city, that happens everywhere you go. We don’t get to park right out in front of where we want to be. That’s going to take a cultural change.

TTV: I live in the Brady Arts District. One of the problems I have is that they talk about encouraging residential development, but right now, I have to move my car every two hours or I get a ticket. It’s a giant pain in the ass. 

CO: [cracking up] 

TTV: It is! I don’t have a nicer way of saying it. I have gotten a boot on my car and had some heated words with the parking police over some of the city’s more ridiculous ordinances. It’s maddening. 

CO: I can understand that. We are hoping to see more parking. There have been discussions of parking garages with retail on the bottom or residential on top or some combination of the two, instead of just putting a parking garage. 

    At the heart of many DCC discussions is transportation, whether it’s train or bike share, and parking is part of that: circulators and connectivity. They are thinking down the line—“Maybe we need more than one trolley. Something, bigger, safer and faster. What is that journey like for our pedestrians? How do we make it walkable and rideable?”

TTV: I just like that you’re even using the words ‘connectivity’ and ‘bicycles’ and ‘pedestrians.’ That is not a conversation that was happening 10 years ago.

CO: You know, it wasn’t. You’re right. But there wasn’t a need for it. For those of us who live downtown, it exists now. I would have loved to have had a bike share 10 years ago. They are talking about it now, and they are very serious about it. This is how you get from point A to point B in the manner that you want to do it. If you want to walk, let’s make that a wonderful walk. If you want to bike, let’s do that as well. That’s the conversation we are having, and to watch this work being done to make this happen is really exciting.

For more from Andy, read his summer checklist and his guide to downtown Tulsa.