OKC: Plotting for the future

By John Estus

Published: September 10, 2006

Oklahoma City will run out of land in a century.

That's how much time city planning officials think will pass before the vacant land in the city is claimed and developed.

Revitalization of the city core with areas such as Bricktown and riverfront developments is expected to spur growth -- from downtown to the suburbs to rural outskirts.

"You've got all these dynamics that were just beginning to be in place 10 years ago that have become more mature," Oklahoma City developer P.B. Odom III said. "All sectors will benefit when your core is growing and when it's dynamic and vibrant."

Land is "developed" once it has been divided into lots for residential, commercial or industrial use. Planning officials said about 75 percent of Oklahoma City is developed in some way.

"That is land that has been divided into lots, is ready to go and a person could get a building permit immediately," said Mike Deming, a city planner who compiled the land use data.

Oklahoma City is still about one-third rural, but the urban area is expanding.

About 12 percent of the city's land is undeveloped, not including 63 square miles of environmental conservation zones such as the land around Draper Lake and riverfront areas that will never be developed.

Vacant city land is being developed at a rate of about 2 square miles a year.

While it seems it should only take about 40 years to develop the city's empty land at that rate, Deming said factors such as empty lots in already-developed areas and the possibility of redeveloping rural land for other uses lead planning officials to think a century will pass before the city runs out of land.

In the near future
The Oklahoma City Planning Department hired a private company last year to make population and land use predictions. The company, Bucher, Willis and Ratliff Corp., divided the city into 12 zones for the study.

The study predicts development will follow major expressway expansions, particularly in the city's southwest area.

The proposed western loop of the Kilpatrick Turnpike is expected to spur residential development in the southwest, and heavy industrial operations are predicted to continue growing there.

"It is the most dynamic growth area of Oklahoma City and probably has been for two decades," Odom said.

Residential developers are lured to parts of the area in the Moore school district, Odom said.

Easy access to transportation that provides quick trips to employment centers, including Dell, the University of Oklahoma, Will Rogers World Airport, Tinker Air Force Base and downtown offices are another bonus Odom said he thinks will benefit the southwest in the future.

"Such strong dynamics in a limited land area is explosive," Odom said.

While the most vacant land is expected to be developed in the southwest corner, the study predicts the most population growth in the city's northwest and north areas, from NW 178 to Wilshire between Piedmont and Broadway Extension.