The Tipping Point -- Editorial from Michael Bates in Urban Tulsa

The PLANiTULSA process gets more encouraging as it nears completion.

Is PLANiTULSA, Tulsa's first comprehensive planning effort in a generation, nothing more than a preschool game of pretend?

Dan Keating participated in one of the PLANiTULSA workshops last fall. Writing in the Tulsa Beacon, he summarized his experience: "After we had drawn a beautiful Tulsa with our colored markers, I felt like we could all either take a nap or have cookies and milk."

Boxes and bookshelves are filled with pretty pictures of planning scenarios that never come to fruition, so it's easy to understand Keating's skepticism.

I have a tendency toward skepticism myself - perhaps you've noticed? -- but I recently got a glimpse of the technology being used for PLANiTULSA by the City of Tulsa's Planning Department and Fregonese Associates, the lead consultants for this project. The evident practicality of their methods gives me hope that the resulting plan will shape Tulsa's future.

Read the rest of this article at Urban Tulsa