Did you wonder why i posted pictures of oklahoma city without any wordage?
Well I meant to write something.
Tuesday I went to Oklahoma City to see the regional finals of the Womens College Basketball tournament. Im a Tennessee fan, and so a fan of their womens basketball team. Since they were so close, i thought i'd drive down and watch the game.
They won, and are headed for the Final Four in Tampa this coming weekend. I wont be making that trip.
Anyways, I had a very nice time in Oklahoma City. There's a lot to like about that city, and I can see there's a lot to do there. I would imagine we will be making more trips.
The downtown area where the Ford Center - the big basketball arena - is, is beautiful. Its near bricktown, which has sort of a river walk. Its a canal or something that they have fixed up into a small river walk.
Someone with a lot of vision, and a good bit of money, had made some really great things happen. As I understand it, even 10 years ago, this area of oklahoma city was not nearly this nice.
I understand they are getting an NBA team, and theres talk of the ncaa womens final four coming to Oklahoma City maybe in 2012.
And the people were great.
There were a lot of Texas A&M fans of course, and a lot of OU fans, and Oklahoma State fans, there supporting the Big-12.
They were cheering for the home team, which was the Aggies of Texas A&M, but they were nice - respectful even - to us Tennessee fans.
It was how it is supposed to be. Cheer for your team, rag the other guys a little, but keep in mind that it is just a game and its all in fun.
Another interesting thing was, that there were very friendly people there. There were at least two or three people who approached me - in my orange Tennessee outfit - asking where I was from and all that. Just being nice hosts.
This one guy asked me if I was having a good time and if I was finding whatever I wanted to find. I said i was, and that I really liked the place.
He said, "we're pretty proud of what we have done down here," referring to the downtown area.
The city is also very easy to get around in. Good signage, roads are long and straight, ... definitely a user friendly road system. They have a nice trolley too.
Now I know its a matter of scale.
But ... there is no reason we cannot do that here.
The biggest thing we would have to change would be attitudes.
They had people of vision.
Where are our people of vision?
Where is our pride?
Where are the Oklahoma City job postings? :)
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23 comments:
ive got to prove all those naysayers wrong first, of course, i know that even when we do .. they'll never admit it.
It's too bad we can not have the same here. We have opportunity and a canal history built into our town. Granted, it would take money and lots of work.
Don't let the door hit ya we're the good Lord split ya! JUST kidding- I agree, It would be really nice to have stuff like that here, Your forgeting that OC is a big town, It's not comparable to here.
Your forgeting that OC is a big town, It's not comparable to here.
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i said its a differen scale.
$400 million versus $40,000 .. still the same thing, just different numbers.
it was the attitudes that i was comparing, which is the only thing we really have control over.
Don't move. That is what the problem is. AC has lost too many people who get tired of the stonewalling, bored or ambitious and leave to improve their lives. You need to suffer through the stuff just like everyone else. What we need is an industry that will bring in people from places like OKC to energize the town.
There is nothing wrong with Ark City that 15 busloads of replacement people wouldn't fix.
And when they get here, don't just deadhead the busses, if you know what I mean. ;)
Hah! Now we're talking.
i stayed in OKC last year for a weekend with my family it was amazing lots of fun things to do and while eating i was looking at a city map to find a place to replace my daughters swimsuit at , someone at the table next to mine ask where we were from and if we were finding everything they gave me great directions to the store as well as some must do's while we were there great time great city
Thanks jj. Sounds like the culture of the town. (post #8's experience there sounds similar)I've not been to OKC so, can't comment on that. Sounds like the culture of their town. These things must be built in from the ground up. It's not about $$ or buildings, it's about people. People caring about where they live and the people around them. If you do these things, along with some leadership, brains, and a bit of risk, the $$ will come. The town will grow.
Could this be done in Arkansas City? That I guess is the bottom line question. It starts with us...each of us.
Are nice to others? Are we cordial? Do we greet strangers with a smile?
I try. I really do. Every person is valuable. I believe business people know this.(hope so) As new businesses start(and they will)
let's all remember that WE are Arkansas City.
It's not about $$? Seriously? Everything is about $$. I bet OKC has nice football facilities and schools that half the city didn't belly ache about because it was going to raise their taxes.
OKC has the Ford Center that actually has big events like the big basketball tourney -- do you not think that is how they afford to have the nice amenities -- because they have people coming to town to spend money. Why does anyone want to come here? We don't have a big arena -- we don't even have a Lowe's? If you can't even get a Lowe's in this town, how do you think you are going to get anything else past these people?
"It's not about $$?"
It IS all about money,the money that business, government (Tinker AFB), education facilities (OCU OSU OKC, OU, etc.) and industry brings in which develops the economy and population in OKC.
It is not just about tax and spend like AC. It is development. Make no mistake.
Tax and spend shrinks a town because it makes it tougher to live there. Development grows a town because it brings in revenues and people.
Even though they get a lot of taxes, the rate is lower because there are more property assets and more businesses and industries to pay into the tax base.
Maybe if we had a congressman who could land a missile or Hummer factory contract and drop it at Strother. Look what happened to Frederick and Mangum OK. That would be a fast-track to success.
The first step is to grow the town through industrial and retail development. Or has everybody forgotten already?
It IS all about money,t
>>>>>>>>>>>
I really don't think it is about the money.
Money is important and ultimately a key, but ...
i would bet that if someone dropped 20-million on Ark City, and nothing else changed ... in 10 years you would not know the difference.
the most important thing is vision..
"without a vision the people perish"
vision is what matters...
if we can get enough people in ark city to catch the vision, the money will come.
Just like with my concert last fall.
it did take money, true, but ... that isnt what made it happen.
Whew! Thx jj.
Was gettin' concerned for a minute if I had not expressed myself good enough.
"I would bet that if someone dropped 20-million on Ark City, and nothing else changed ... in 10 years you would not know the difference."
You're right it isn't about money. It is about sustainable revenue.
OKC has a Hooters downtown. We should see if we can get one here. There are lots of college girls here in town that could pay their way through school on tips alone.
You had a concert last fall? Why is this the first I've heard of it?
Any decent bands?
You had a concert last fall? Why is this the first I've heard of it?
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it was oct. 23, tuesday of arkalalah week.
we had nearly 1000 people show up.
it was in the newspaper, also winfield and ponca papers, on the radio stations, and there were flyers everywhere ... so if you were in cowley county, i dont know how you didnt know :)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Any decent bands?
two local and two out of town.
i thought the final act, the band from nebraska, was the best - Remedy Drive - they're coming back.
but the girl from missouri was probably the crowd favorite. Ashley Reynolds - maybe coming back.
butler brothers are always good..
tim durham was good too.
second one tentatively scheduled for first weekend in october.
Let's dig a little deeper on this one.
What if there was a job seeker looking to make about 10 bucks an hour in a plastics production plant in Ark City or in Oklahoma City.
What is the big picture that this guy sees? Costs, services, perceived advantages / disadvantages, etc?
Sure, it may take him 30 minutes to drive into work, much tougher competition to get and keep the job in OKC and probably a harder work environment, but how does the rest stack up to Ark City?
Almost all jobs in OKC, except manual labor or phone soliciting, require a college degree.
One would need to do research here, but it might be interesting to see what taxes would be, housing costs (apples to apples), utilities, etc.
If we knew that maybe we might have a better look at how to grow Ark City.
Although we may have jobs here, if we are bringing in people from other areas, we need to look at what it would take to make Ark City competitive.
Interesting concept to compare both on a 10/hr. job but you'll no doubt miss the mark!
Why! Because you focus on one level of an industry.
By attracting or developing industries you will also attract mutiple levels -Management, Marketing, Sales, Customer Service, Accounting, Purchasing, Engineering/R&D, Technical and Maintenance/Support, Handling/Pack-aging, Shipping and Receiving.
That's what we lost when Binney and Smith, Gordon and Piatt, Total Refinery, etc. left the area!
That's what we need to try and attract or develope! Only we may have to settle for smaller size operations! Unless we could attract a major player to Strother
Field with its existing infra-structure (rail/air and roads)and location!
Due to specialization and with advanced technology there is an increase in more of the vo-tech type jobs that don't require a college education/degree but do require special/advanced training.
Personally, I would be concerned about the number of people that don't get a high school education or GED! They are the Future?
Thx. Good footnote. Believe I read recently in U.S.A. we're graduating about 50% of our students. Inner cities are worse yet. Still, we gotta keep our chins up & look for solutions.
Ark City is filled w/talented people. Sometimes, unfortunately, the people that could step up & lead won't because they already have a full plate. (or they don't want to put up w/the criticism & attacks you have to put up with)
It's our town, we gotta care. Can't wait for someone to come from outside & do it.
Newsflash: They ain't comin'!
"Due to specialization and with advanced technology there is an increase in more of the vo-tech type jobs that don't require a college education/degree but do require special/advanced training."
I agree with everything you say except this.
The vo-tech grads may get into the jobs, but it is a half-step and has no durability. If you look at what one would consider vo-tech jobs in big cities, they ALL require at least an associate degree.
The way technical jobs are applied for these days is on the internet filling out forms and attaching text resumes.
If the applicant has vo-tech or industry certification, no matter how extensive, but no college degree, he checks the box: High School Graduate, no College". He is considered unskilled, and no further reading is done.
I would very seriously counsel anybody in a technical career to not stop until he (or she) gets a college degree of some sort. You may get hired today at an entry level tech job somewhere with vo-tech but after you are a little more experienced and seek advancement, you will find the vo-tech is completely useless.
It is already happening with thousands of excellent aircraft mechanics and other techs in the big cities and they are finding they HAVE TO return to school and get the degree they were told they would never need.
In technical careers it is extremely important to never take career counseling from people who are not in the field you are in. The best way to get counseling is to contact some of the recruitment folks at the corporations in your field. Also search job requirements in Monster.
A lot of liberal arts folks look at the tech fields as pretty simple stuff, because they don't understand much about it. They don't realize that yesterday's hydraulic mechanic now has to program ladder logic and prove that he has learned it in a college environment, in order to compete for a job.
In today's world most of the grunt mechanical jobs are gone.
The sure way to make 8 bucks an hour and drive a 20 year old car for the rest of your life is to not get a degree.
Stay in school. It is MUCH better to "have a degree and not need it" than to "need a degree and not have it".
Good Post! I am no doubt a better observer than expert!
But did you hear the underlying message in your own post?
If I tune out the static and filter out the noise I heard -
Stay in school get an education and/or degree.
But
To fully benefit from the education you will probably have to move to Phoenix, OKC, KCM, Dallas or even drive to Wicita.
OR
Work for $8.00 or a little better unless there is a business/in-dustry, job opportunity or private business opportunity in Cowley County!
If that's not what you meant I apologize for putting words in you mouth!
The utimate goal has to be to attract/provide opportunities over and to include a wide range of talents!
Ark City is not in a vacuum, and an education is for a lifetime. Jobs are not forever, and everyone expects to advance. Most advancement is competitive and is based on experience and education.
If you look at the job postings for the industries here, there is already "degree creep" occurring. Over the lifetime of a person's tech career the degree requirements that are seen nationwide will also happen in Ark City.
The census bureau says the average wages for a non-degreed worker are about $27,000. Those with a degree are at $54,000.
That is a pretty high price to pay for making a vo-tech decision.
The ironic thing is, in tech training, most vo-tech curricula that are very inclusive (and worthwhile) are not much different from college equivalences.
Question is: will the graduates be looking back 10 years into their careers, with homes, families and expenses and viewing the effort spent with a vo-tech as a useless effort; a "blue card" where only "red cards" (degrees) are accepted by employers? There is a pretty good chance of that.
We can see the trend today. Tomorrow is pretty clear.
Yes. If you are a techie, stay in school. It is not about getting a job tomorrow. It is about your future. Don't screw it up.
If you are a history major? Don't ask me. No advice here, because I don't know.
"...If you look at the job postings for the industries here, there is already "degree creep" occurring. Over the lifetime of a person's tech career the degree requirements that are seen nationwide will also happen in Ark City.
The census bureau says the average wages for a non-degreed worker are about $27,000. Those with a degree are at $54,000.
That is a pretty high price to pay for making a vo-tech decision..."
Enjoyed your posts...both of 'em. Makes you think....Thx
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