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TulsaNow provides a free map to download of downtown Tulsa's districts with restaurants, shopping and entertainment listings.
Scott Grizzle believes it’s Tulsa’s time to become a world-class city again, which is one reason why he joined a grassroots organization focused on development, preservation and revitalization in Tulsa.
Evolving from a small group of citizens in 2001, TulsaNow’s mission is to give a voice to all Tulsans — by hosting forums and events for the public to learn about city issues and to share their opinions. Since its inception, the group has grown to 1,000 signature members and more than 3,300 users on its online forum, says Grizzle, who also serves as TulsaNow’s president.
One of the organization’s current projects is Downtown Live, a comprehensive map that displays a detailed color code of downtown’s districts with restaurant, shopping and entertainment listings. It highlights the Brady Arts District, Arena District, Deco District, Greenwood, Blue Dome District, East End and Cathedral Square.
TulsaNow pursued the project in February 2008 after receiving feedback from attendees at community meetings, who asked for a complete guide to downtown.
“Downtown business owners knew that promoting all of the businesses downtown on an even level would help everyone,” Grizzle says. “The general public wanted something to be able to plan trips to the BOK Center, find a new lunch spot, give to out-of-town clients, hand out at the concierge desk, etc.
“The general public also wanted that guide to take multiple forms, so instead of just a simple printed form, they can also look at it online from home, print out a copy from their desk or even use their iPhone or BlackBerry.”
Entirely created by the community, Downtown Live took six months to produce with more than 2,000 volunteer hours put into its first draft. Volunteers created listings by doing a walking survey of downtown Tulsa, and others compiled data and created a database of their findings. A local artist even volunteered his time to design the map graphic for the brochure.
The map was first distributed at the BOK Center grand opening in September, and since then, it has received a highly positive response, especially from local business owners.
“They like the fact that it’s by grassroots volunteers,” Grizzle says. “And it’s visually exciting to look at.”
Downtown Live is distributed to downtown restaurants, retail and hotels. Visit DowntownLive.org or TulsaNow.org to request copies for an office or business.
