Tulsa was once called "America's
most beautiful city," and the "Paris
of the Midwest." The oil barons  
wanted to use their new wealth to
create a city that could stand  
shoulder to shoulder with the great
cities of the U.S. and Europe. They
built lavish skyscrapers, hotels, and
theater palaces. Downtown was a
beautiful, walkable, urban village
where people could work, live, go
to school, and play. Some even  
envisioned our city as being like
Florence, Italy, a center for the arts
and culture. There were plans  
drawn up for a Ponte Vecchio style bridge crossing the Arkansas river near
downtown, having Italianate buildings perched on either side of it's expanse.
But the winds of "progress" swept across America pushing away the time
honored ideals of the old world in favor of a new vision. And with Tulsa's
usual vigor, it was indeed 'out with the old, in with the new.' Suburbs and  
sprawl replaced density and community. The ever more present automobile
with it's push for parking lots and highways, and new architecture having no
concern for pedestrians and street life, left the heart of our city a scarred  
landscape, a mostly empty shell. Yet now, a promising new wind stirs the air.