OKC’s Strong Neighborhoods Initiative: A Revitalization Program Transforming Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City is witnessing a transformation thanks to its Strong Neighborhoods Initiative (SNI) program that seeks to revitalize neighborhoods by improving their aesthetics, landscaping, and public art. The program’s primary goal is to create a conducive environment where people can live, work, and thrive.
Affordable housing and neighborhood rejuvenation are at the heart of SNI program. Too often, the conversation around housing in Oklahoma City revolves around statistics and numbers, and the housing topic is reduced to a mere numbers game with too few options for prospective homeowners. However, building or restoring homes is not enough to create attractive neighborhoods. Instead, it’s essential to focus on beautification, landscaping, and public art to make them more habitable.
Shannon Entz, the Program Planner for Neighborhood and Commercial District Revitalization with the City of Oklahoma City Planning Department, is one of the leading figures behind the SNI. She believes that landscaping, streetscaping, and beautification are essential components of the SNI project. All of these, in addition to public art, contribute significantly to the quality of life in neighborhoods.
The addition of greenery is one of the most noticeable ways that the SNI projects are changing the face of Oklahoma City. The program ensures that new homeowners plant trees in their front yards, increasing tree coverage and neighborhood landscaping. Besides aesthetics, increasing the greenery in neighborhoods has practical benefits such as helping to keep pedestrians cool and safe when walking on the pavement. Trees also provide habitats for wildlife, making them essential to cities.
Another step some SNI projects take to encourage outdoor activity is adding sidewalks, as demonstrated in the Metro Park neighborhood. Here, sidewalks, landscaping, and community engagement have all come together to create a “triangle” micro-park at Linwood Blvd and Western Ave. The neighborhood maintains the park, and it has become a desirable location for local residents.
Public art is also a significant component of the SNI program. Just like landscaping, it is something that everyone can experience and can be a real catalyst for economic development and quality of life. The program supports many public art projects, among them the Capitol View’s monarch butterfly sanctuary. The neighborhood has many public artworks, including three tall, beautiful butterfly statues and ten large butterfly statues at McNabb Park.
One of the most buzzed-about and eagerly anticipated SNI projects is the long-awaited Capitol Hill Plaza, a large-scale community arts and gathering space. The location will celebrate the cultural diversity of the area and will be about beautification, economic development, and bringing the community together in a space where they feel safe, loved, and at home.
The SNI program focuses on staying true to a community’s history, character, and visual styles. When the program selects a new neighborhood for revitalization, the primary goal is never to determine how the new homes or restored houses should look. Instead, the program emphasizes listening to the residents themselves and ensuring that their requests are taken into account.
For instance, the Culbertson East Highland neighborhood was vocal that they did not want suburban-style homes built in their area. They preferred front porch homes that fit their current neighborhood’s style. In nearly every SNI neighborhood, the focus is on preserving the character and visual styles that already exist in the community.
The revitalization projects in low-income neighborhoods are aimed at ensuring that existing residents are heard, represented, and reflected in their communities. The neighborhoods need beautification projects to live in an environment they are proud of, just as much as anyone else, and SNI delivers just that.
In conclusion, Oklahoma City’s Strong Neighborhoods Initiative is transforming the city and making it a desirable place to live. Through the program, communities are rejuvenated, and their quality of life is improved. From greenery to public art, sidewalks to community gathering spaces, the SNI is making a significant impact in Oklahoma City, and the community is the ultimate beneficiary.
