The Great and Un-Great

It all depends how you look at it sometimes. When it comes to the events that impact a large community like Tulsa, one man's meat is another man's tofu. We could argue that every year is an eventful (or uneventful) year in T-Town, but it seems like this year was more eventful than usual.

Every week, it seemed, new development for east downtown, the river, Brookside (every side of Tulsa, really) was on the horizon, and every month we were let down by a broken promise.

The Channels project, though largely unpopular, at least ignited some real dialogue about river development and its ability to catapult Tulsa into the future. And we've seen real progress on the BOK Arena downtown, the presence of which has already attracted other commercial developers to the area, namely the Westin Hotel, maybe another one, please.

But with development also comes destruction. After more than half a century, Bell's is saying goodbye to the Fairgrounds and relocating to, well, no ones knows yet. We only hope that 2007 brings more success for the family-owned and operated amusement park than it's seen in recent years.

And then there were the politics... 2006 marked a mid-term election year with incidences that could probably make both lists, depending on which side you party.

Overall, we can't complain too much about 2006 (well, yes, I suppose we can, and it's likely we will), but all things considered, we'd rather be in Tulsa. It was a pretty good year. And as we take a look back, we should take some time to examine some of the best and worst moments of the year for our city, heed those as either warnings or opportunities, and commit to making 2007 even better. Happy New Year!

The Best, The Worst

Best Realization of a Possibly Bad Idea. The BOK Arena construction at 3rd and Denver.

Most Imaginative Plan for Arkansas River Development. The Channels -- and it would be the best plan, if it were a private development. How have we far come when the city's best capitalists go looking for government cash? What do we look like, some third world, neo-socialist satellite?

Best Effort to Preserve What Little History Is Left. Finally! Someone wants to keep downtown from turning into one big parking lot.

Close, but no cigar. Downtown Tulsa Unlamented's cold response to the CORE Tulsa recommendations is just another way Tulsa is contributing to its own demise.

Best Bet for the County--We Hope.

The two new faces of the County Commission (even if they are wrong about Expo Square annexation), Fred Perry and John Smaligo, will bring some integrity to county government. Now what to do with Randi Miller...?

Most Impressive Birthday Party. The Centennial kicked off in style in Tulsa this November -- a whole year before Oklahoma's actual birthday! Look for any event in Tulsa in 2007 to claim to have something to do with the state's centennial.

Best Lemonade Stand. Ken Levit and the Citizens' Commission on City Government took lemons (an attempt to justify diluting geographical representation on the Council) and made lemonade (a constructive, even-handed discussion about improvements to city government). Kudos.

Most Hated/Beloved Addition to the Growing Content of Urban Tulsa Weekly. It was a tight race between free-wheeling columnist Jamie Pierson and the nationally syndicated "Ask A Mexican." But gutsy, brilliantly articulate and downright fun, Gustavo Arellano's ethno-bender of a column wins.

Better Than Nuthin'. Another two years with the good guys in the majority on the City Council. As good as they get, we suppose.

Best Idea the City's Had in a While. The City of Tulsa's Urban Development Department, now independent of Public Works and firmly in charge of developing the new Comprehensive Plan.

Best and Worst New Bid for Downtown Development. The Westin Hotel. While we're excited to hear Heavenly Hospitality wants to be one of the first major developers to cash in on the new arena's business, we just wish they didn't want to rearrange downtown to do it.

Worst Election Strategy. Brett Swab's mudslinging Republican primary campaign against District Attorney Tim Harris left many wishing they could eat the sausage without seeing the process of its making.

Bad Idea. HB2559 and SB1324 -- the legislature's attempt to erode local control of zoning -- thankfully, it failed.

Better Than We Expected. Mayor Kathy Taylor had an impressive first year, indeed. Underwhelming, however, was her list of appointments to various city authorities and boards. We still have yet to jump on the bandwagon driven by the Metro Chamber and its daily paper.

Worst Blow to City Government. Losing Jim Mautino and Chris Medlock.

Bad Call. Keeping Tom Baker (Director of Policy Research and Performance) and Susan Neal (Director of Community Development and Education Initiatives) in city government. What do they really do? We're not quite sure.

Worst Approach to Public Input. The Channels.

For Education's Sake? We're still trying to figure out who benefits from TU's greedy land grab and demolition of Metro Diner, etc. The Tulsa Development Authority paid $800,000 dollars for the land upon which the diner sits, but TU couldn't cough up enough dough to finance the business' move to new location. Thus, the once landmark diner is no more--unless, of course, TU decides it can spare some of its millions to help keep a Tulsa tradition alive.

Best of Show. ORU men's basketball advancing to the NCAA tournament. Booker T. Washington tailback Michael Harris rushed 19 times for 410 yards and seven touchdowns in a game against Sand Springs. One Game.

Worst Moments. OU getting the Duck job in Oregon, Eddie Sutton's inability to control his liquor and Kelvin Sampson--not for the cell phone issues but for coaching in the NCAA's like Kelvin Sampson.

Best Excuse to Rag on Bill Self for Leaving Town. ORU's whipping of Kansas.

Best Sense of Balance. The Mayor's Cup runneth over with recent ORU wins, so the surprise win rang appropriate.

Better with Age. Back for its fifth year, DFest raised the bar once again, truly making it a legitimate music conference and showcase that is now attracting the attention of nation labels and industry movers and shakers.

Still Best at Western Swing -- and other types of music. Oh, what a year. Now consistently landing in Pollstar's "Top 50 small venues" list, based on ticket sales and attendance, The Cain's Ballroom has helped return Tulsa to the status of a city that artists want to play, instead of being a filler date on national tours.

Best New Bar with a Cycling Team. Sure, it opened quietly and without any fanfare, but it quickly proved to be one of the coolest little bars in town. Most importantly, The Soundpony has provided an important new voice and venue for Tulsa's indie and DIY-minded bands.

Best Time We Had Waiting Months for a Club to Open. Originally planned to open in the lower level of the Mooch and Burn club at 15th and Boulder (which, btw, finally opened on Halloween at 222 N Main), UTM got tired of waiting and found a home at 1423 S Harvard.

T-Town finally has an indie record store that fills the gap left behind by Seasick and Mohawk and also carries music by tons of local artists. And not only does the store host regular in-store performances, but it has also helped sponsor free shows at the Soundpony.

Best Attempt to Make Tulsa, If Not "Weird," At Least A Little Different. Even if you can't make it down to Austin for SXSW, you can always get a little taste of what's going an in Austin right here in Tulsa as many bands stop over on their way down to Texas and back. This year's calendar included killer rock shows by The Strokes and The Cult, a visit from pop icon Morrissey, and a slew of emerging artists like Atmosphere, Will Hoge, The Trews, Minus the Bear and People in Planes, to name just a few.

Best Re-Emergence. With Dirty's Tavern opening at 4th and Elgin, Continental Club a short walk away on 1st Street, and The Blue Dome Roadhouse seeing more frequent use, The Blue Dome district is coming back alive. Add in efforts to revive the Blank Slate complex and the dance club on 1st street, along with established bars like Arnie's, Tsunami and 1974 and the downtown club scene could be back to full strength sooner than later.

Best New Band You've Never Heard Of. The Secret Post arrives. Every year we have a fistful of solid new bands arrive to bolster live music scene. Not to undermine the efforts of any of the other great acts that have popped up (like Callupsie, RadioRadio, Vito Ninefingers and PDA), but when was the last time we saw a good Goth-Rock band emerge from Tulsa's underground? That's what happens when the IKON kids come home, start a band and return to what they love. Yes, they've kept it on the DL. And yes, you'll hear plenty more from them in coming year.

Worst Local Hurricane Aftermath. Forced out of it's old digs at 11th and Delaware to make room for TU's "Grand Entryway" or whatever they are calling it, Tulsa's iconic record store relocated to 13th and Lewis. Sure, it didn't go far and the new warehouse set up is newer, cleaner, has more space, and even allowed Starship to combine the record and "novelty" stores, but it's still not the same. And what real university worth its salt doesn't have an independently owned and operated record store on campus? And where is their campus bar?

Worst Raincheck. Bluesfest took a serious gut shot when the weather kept many regulars away, but don't expect Larry Shaffer to pack it up and go home. He's always believed in Tulsa, and if anyone can recover and still make it work, he's the man for the job.

Worst Retaliation By a Disgruntled Fan. What has the world come to when a man gets run over in front of his own house (albeit at 4am) and no one stops to help? Brother, that's just wrong. Left behind with a broken leg and ankle (and an open, compound fracture that required surgery), Senor Malan Darras spent a few weeks as a shut-in during recovery, effectively putting his bands Rewake and Manic State in a holding pattern before he returned to active duty. Always one to make lemonade out of lemons, we did get some good online commentary and the flagship episodes of MalanDTV out of his misfortune. Man, we're glad you're back, D. Now, where's our new Rewake CD?

Worst Business Decision Made by The County. The Fair Board is giving Bell's Amusement Park the boot, citing low profits as the reason numero uno. Hmm, I wonder how much money they can make off of the parking lot they say will replace the park?

Best Thing to Happen to Tulsa Public Schools. New TPS' superintendent, Michael Zolkoski's back to basics, no-nonsense approach to rebuilding the school system. Though we lamented the loss of David Sawyer, we're glad to have the best man for the job filling his shoes.

Winner Overall. General strengthening of economy and prospects for new jobs in 2007.

Wish that came true. Burgeoning local, live music and entertainment scene along with some impressive national acts touring through.

Best, Shameless Award Given Inhouse. UTW's addition of the award-winning editorial cartoonist, Dave Simpson.

Best Reincarnation. The re-emergence and strength of downtown and midtown, made obvious by the continuing infill projects we see.

Best Actual Development in Tulsa in 2006. The Brookside boom--instead of just talking about it, those guys over at Brookside made it happen. Heed their example, the rest of you.