Downtown Oklahoma City (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)

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Downtown Oklahoma City is subject to multiple subjective defintions. The most narrow definition would include only the Central Buisness District, while the broadest views could include the south portion of the Riverside Neighborhood all the way to the Oklahoma River, Hubcap Alley and the Farmers Market. The boundaries here, as defined by Downtown Oklahoma City Inc, are the most widely accepted. While DOC Inc includes the Oklahoma Health Center and the Boathouse District on their visitor map, the official boundaries DOC Inc, according to the Neighborhood Alliance of Central Oklahoma, are 13th Street to the north, Interstate 40 to the south, Western Avenue to the west and Lincoln Boulevard to the east.

Downtown Oklahoma City was decimated by the failed urban renewal efforts of the 50s 60s and 70s. A major boom occured in the late 70s and early 80s, but due to many factors such as the oil bust, savings and loan scandals, and bank failures (including the infamous demise of Penn State Bank) in the early and mid 80s, Downtown was nearly left as a ghost town, with newly constructed buildings going largely vacant for a decade or more. The area was revitalized in the mid 90s with the passing of the Metropolitan Area Projects (MAPS), a one cent sales tax designed to improve Oklahoma City's quality of life and bring buisness back to the area.

Downtown Oklahoma City is the cultral and geographic center of the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area. Districts in Downtown Oklahoma City include the Central Buisness District, the Arts District, Film Row, Park Plaza, MidTown, Automobile Alley, the Flatiron, Deep Duece, Bricktown, Lower Bricktown, The Producer's Co-op, and the area surrounding the Oklahoma County Jail (not officially a district, but sometimes unofficially referred to as the "Bail Bonds District"). Downtown also partially includes the Medical Buisness District, Oklahoma Health Center, and the northern half of the Riverside Neighborhood. Each of these districts have their own unique histories and developments.

Some of the districts also include sub-districts of thier own, some official, some unofficial. This is particularly true in the case of MidTown which has numerous sub-districs. Bricktown, the Arts District, and Deep Duece can also be divided into smaller sections. Automobile Alley has it's own entertainment district similar to Bricktown, though on a smaller scale. Over time as these smaller sections develop, they occasionally break off into seperate districts of their own. Film Row and Park Plaza both started as areas within the Arts District. The Flatiron, though sometimes still considered part of Automobile Alley, was a development of both Automobile Alley and Deep Duece, but has generated its own identity over the years. Deep Duece itself (while historically always being considered it's own district) was once considered part of Bricktown. The residental developments in Deep Duece are still commonly marketed as "Bricktown living" (i.e. The Hill at Bricktown which is not located in Bricktown).

Many attractions and events exist in downtown including the Oklahoma City NAtional Memorial and Museum (Which pays tribute to the victims of the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, the largest act of domestic terrorism in American history), the Chesapeake Energy Arena (home of the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder), the Cox Convention Center (home of the AHL's Oklahoma City Barons), the Chickisaw Brictown Ballpark (home of the PCL's Oklahoma City Redhawks), The Coca-Cola Brictown Events Center (which hosts the annual Bricktown Haunted Warehouse), the Myriad Botanical Gardens and Crystal Bridge Tropical Conservatory, The Bricktown Canal, the Cenntennial Land Run Monument (longest and largest bronze sculpture exibit in the world), the Oklahoma City Museum of Art (home of the world's largest collection of Dale Chihuly blown glass), the Underground, Civic Center Music Hall, Rocktown (the world's largest indoor/outdoor climbing gym). Oklahoma's largest building, the Devon Tower is in the CBD. Right next to it is Oklahoma's first official skyscraper, the Colcord Hotel (built in 1909). Many other historc buildings exist Downtown, including the Skirvin Hotel (now known as the Skirvin/Hilton), City Place (formerly the Ramsey Tower) and First National (a scaled down replica of the Empire State Building), to name a few.

Downtown OKC is also the home of many works of public art. Downtown OKC Inc. inclueds a downloadable map of the Downtown Art Walk as well as the accompaning audio. The art walk is a guided tour of 33 interesting works of public art that stretches from Park Plaza and the Arts District through the Central Buisness District, Bricktown and Lower Bricktown.

www.downtownokc.com/
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www.visitokc.com/