Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce

I have to admit that when I’m planning a vacation, Oklahoma City doesn’t jump out at me. At least it didn’t. Ten years ago, I wouldn’t even have considered it (of course, I was 16 ten years ago but still). But now Oklahoma City’s sounding pretty good. Way cooler than you probably think, and this is all because of a massive capital improvement plan the city implemented in the mid-1990s. The downtown area was already deteriorating and just got worse after the 1995 OKC bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. City leaders didn’t waste any time. They knew they had to do something to boost the economy and make it a quality of place, if you will.

And a quality of place they have made. Oklahoma City now boasts a new basketball arena (for the OKC Thunder), baseball park for a triple A baseball team, music center, library, museum and entertainment district called Bricktown Canal, which is similar to San Antonio’s Riverwalk.

Bricktown Canal in downtown OKC

So, how’d they do it? Well, it started with a plan, called Metropolitan Area Projects (MAPS).

The projects began on December 14, 1993 and were completed on August 17, 2004. The MAPS plan was funded by a temporary 1-cent sales tax approved by city voters in late 1993. The tax expired in July 1999 and had collected more than $309 million. In addition, the deposited tax revenue earned about $54 million in interest.

Why do I bring this up? Because tomorrow Chamber of Commerce staff and city leaders are flying to Oklahoma City to tour the revitalized area and talk to the Chamber of Commerce there (and other city leaders) so we can pick their brains about how the plan was presented and implemented. Perhaps Corpus Christi can borrow some of the ideas.

Since the revitalization, the OKC downtown area has been popular, attracting locals and tourists alike. Because of the new development, more young professionals moved to the area. And, because there were more things to do (visit libraries, museums, music centers, attend a basketball game, go to Bricktown Canal, etc) the city became a destination.

There’s no reason Corpus Christi couldn’t do the same. We’re already a destination. Corpus Christi is the 5th or 6th most visited destination city in Texas, with more than 5 million people visiting each year. I’m not trying to be Debbie Downer, but let’s be honest. Oklahoma City makes our downtown area look like ..well, I’m not going to say. But it ain’t good. And we have a beach, for crying out loud!

Maybe it’s time for change. Now that the Coliseum is gone, the world is our oyster. What we need to do is capitalize on what we already have (hello, there’s a beautiful bayfront out there).

It seems like my sentiments aren’t anything new. As a matter of fact, a non-profit organization called Destination Bayfront already is pushing to change our little bayfront that could. For the past few months, the group has been collecting community input on what to build or create downtown. This Thusday, they’re presenting the first draft to the community. (visit www.destinationbayfront.com for more details).

Now, in my last blog I said nobody should complain about the city’s problems if they didn’t offer a solution. I’m not saying Destination Bayfront is the solution, but I do think it’s a step in the right direction. Most of the common things people here complain about can be improved or fixed with something like Destination Bayfront’s plan. The city needs more money. Making our bayfront a destination within a destination will assuredly bring more tourists and tourists spend money. The more people visit the downtown area and spend that money, the more businesses will come downtown. Following those businesses are young professionals. This will help our “brain drain” problem and bada-bing, bada-boom we’ve killed two birds with one stone.

That’s one theory, at least.

It’s not going to be that easy but you get the idea. Whether it’s Destination Bayfront or another plan, we need something. So, let’s make like Oklahoma and do something ‘sooner’ than later. Haha, Boomer Sooners. Get it?

For more information on MAPS, visit http://www.okc.gov/maps/index.html