I want my Tulsa back. The one that I fell in love with when I moved here almost 40 years ago.
I came from a small town in south-central Oklahoma, Seminole.
The only big city I had ever visited was Oklahoma City. Well, once my family traveled to Fort Smith, Ark., where I got to stay in my first motel - one with a swimming pool.
But, Oklahoma City was my point of reference for a big city – and I was never impressed. It was mostly windy with red dirt blowing around. It did have all those oil derricks sticking up, that was pretty cool. And it had a good zoo, still does. There were three or four amusement parks to visit and we went to the state fair each year.
Still, I didn't consider it a place I wanted to visit too often. Then, when I was 21, I moved to Tulsa. Wow. It was green and seemed to have a public park on every corner. It was easy to get around in, even for a small-town hick like me.
And there were the people. They were friendly and, most important, they were progressive. Tulsa was a city on the move. To me, it was the Paris of Oklahoma. "Oil Capital of the World. "America's Most Beautiful City."
So, what happened? Where did all the progressive people go? When did Oklahoma City pass us by? Why did we let it pass us by?
Of course, we still have a core of forward-thinking, generous families in Tulsa. Thank goodness. But the voters have changed. Tulsa was always a Republican city and being conservative, believed in paying for the things we wanted. But that didn't mean sacrificing progress for saving pennies.
We've made a comeback in the last few years. A new downtown arena, a new baseball park on the way and a multi-million street improvement program were approved by voters. Now, that's more like it.
But there are still a lot more naysayers out there than there were when I first came. I love this city. I want my Tulsa back.
