![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Bricktown Canal
Oct. 2nd, 2008 10:00 pmOklahoma City has a riverwalk. Unlike the one in San Antonio, it is completely man-made. Like the one in San Antonio, it is located in what used to be a run-down part of town, in this case, the factory area where all the buildings were made of red brick. Now this area is called Bricktown. The canal is drained and cleaned every few years (compared to every year for the San Antonio Riverwalk).
We took a cruise along this one-mile-long canal.
The most shocking thing I learned is that in 1993, the mayor imposed a 1-cent sales tax for five years specifically for the purpose of carrying out several building projects. Then after the five years were up, they actually stopped collecting the tax and did the projects. The projects included building the canal, a convention center, and a ball park, among other things.
Can you believe that? Saving up ahead of time? In my town, we call this sort of thing "bond issues." And then stopping collecting the tax? And still having all the money? In my town, the mayor would be crying about inflation and needing more money. And then it actually got done? In a reasonable amount of time? And people like it? And the stuff actually works (for example, the canal was full of water, the ball park was voted best minor league facility by someone).
It's sad that I feel this way.
The canal opened in 1993. They dug out where a street used to be to make it.
My favorite of the river guide's suggestions was about swimming. There's a hotel with a pool on the canal that charges $240 a night, which is a lot of money in Oklahoma City. And there is a $250 fine for swimming in the canal. So, if you want to go swimming, you can save $10 by staying at the hotel.
My favorite of the guide's puns is about the painted buffalo that popped up all over town for their centennial celebration. Their bison-tennial celebration.
Besides buffalo, there are a lot of nice murals around town.
And I couldn't quite stop staring at this downtown building.
Sonic headquarters is located on the canal.
My favorite canal site was the land run statues. Oklahoma City was one of the starting points where people were offered free land if they would just come and claim it. The term "Sooners" originally referred to the people who cheated by coming out early.
At the start of the local land run, there were 7 residents in the area. At the end of the day, there were 10,000. Oklahoma City had become the sixtieth-largest American city in a single day. Our guide said, "Maybe Rome wasn't built in a day, but Oklahoma sure was." (Now there are 1.3 million residents.)
Here's another work of art, commemorating the black man's struggle with the white world. Apparently there were lots of sit-ins in Oklahoma City during the civil rights era.
We ate at Chilinos, the only place to eat when the canal was first opened. (Hey, it was still in business. That has to be a good sign, right?) The best things there were the tortillas. And they knew it, too. Not only do they bring out chips and salsa to start with, they also bring out flour tortillas and queso. (The queso was more like a thick cheese soup than what I'm used to, but the tortillas were awesome.) Their enchiladas (made with corn tortillas) were quite good, too, which is why I'm making a blanket statement about the tortillas. So, if you're ever in Bricktown, I recommend getting visiting Chilinos and ordering something involving tortillas.
We took a cruise along this one-mile-long canal.
The most shocking thing I learned is that in 1993, the mayor imposed a 1-cent sales tax for five years specifically for the purpose of carrying out several building projects. Then after the five years were up, they actually stopped collecting the tax and did the projects. The projects included building the canal, a convention center, and a ball park, among other things.
Can you believe that? Saving up ahead of time? In my town, we call this sort of thing "bond issues." And then stopping collecting the tax? And still having all the money? In my town, the mayor would be crying about inflation and needing more money. And then it actually got done? In a reasonable amount of time? And people like it? And the stuff actually works (for example, the canal was full of water, the ball park was voted best minor league facility by someone).
It's sad that I feel this way.
The canal opened in 1993. They dug out where a street used to be to make it.
My favorite of the river guide's suggestions was about swimming. There's a hotel with a pool on the canal that charges $240 a night, which is a lot of money in Oklahoma City. And there is a $250 fine for swimming in the canal. So, if you want to go swimming, you can save $10 by staying at the hotel.
My favorite of the guide's puns is about the painted buffalo that popped up all over town for their centennial celebration. Their bison-tennial celebration.
Besides buffalo, there are a lot of nice murals around town.
And I couldn't quite stop staring at this downtown building.
Sonic headquarters is located on the canal.
My favorite canal site was the land run statues. Oklahoma City was one of the starting points where people were offered free land if they would just come and claim it. The term "Sooners" originally referred to the people who cheated by coming out early.
At the start of the local land run, there were 7 residents in the area. At the end of the day, there were 10,000. Oklahoma City had become the sixtieth-largest American city in a single day. Our guide said, "Maybe Rome wasn't built in a day, but Oklahoma sure was." (Now there are 1.3 million residents.)
Here's another work of art, commemorating the black man's struggle with the white world. Apparently there were lots of sit-ins in Oklahoma City during the civil rights era.
We ate at Chilinos, the only place to eat when the canal was first opened. (Hey, it was still in business. That has to be a good sign, right?) The best things there were the tortillas. And they knew it, too. Not only do they bring out chips and salsa to start with, they also bring out flour tortillas and queso. (The queso was more like a thick cheese soup than what I'm used to, but the tortillas were awesome.) Their enchiladas (made with corn tortillas) were quite good, too, which is why I'm making a blanket statement about the tortillas. So, if you're ever in Bricktown, I recommend getting visiting Chilinos and ordering something involving tortillas.