“This ever-growing game night crowd that gathers on the street outside the building — that can't continue,” Cornett said. “There are too many public safety concerns. As much as we love the expression of enthusiasm, it's no longer a workable situation.”Cornett said city officials haven't met with Thunder management to discuss alternatives, but options such as limiting the crowd size or moving spectators inside the Cox Convention Center are on the table.“We need to hear from the team and what direction they would like to head,” Cornett said. “I'm sure we can come up with something that is workable.”Should Thunder Alley continue?
In this Lackmeyer article, virtually every major player in Bricktown points a finger of blame at the Thunder, asserting that this was a Thunder problem, not a Bricktown problem. I object there. How many times have we had debates over Bricktown? Here you have a district that had the potential to thrive as a classy, moderately upscale, urban mixed-use district.
Instead it chose the cheaper, easier route of catering to motley crowds with cheesy entertainment "amenities" at the core of Bricktown, many of which are highly questionable, and look what has happened. Bricktown is teenager central, gangbanger central, and redneck central. The antithesis of a classy, safe mixed-use district. That is the route it chose because it figured to have a higher ROI. This is nothing more than capitalism at work, or at least that's the argument we've had rammed down our throats when we suggest a more sophisticated path for Bricktown to grow in.
Now the Bricktown folks who have cashed in on this bastardization of a low-standards urban "district" want to point a finger of blame to the Thunder organization, arguably one of the classiest operations in the NBA. The Thunder was trying to provide an uplifting community experience, a common team experience a la inside the arena, to the majority of Thunder fans who are passionate but can't afford $200 tix. That should be applauded, never derided. I will not tolerate that. As someone who has followed and ridden Bricktown like a rat on a cheeto, I'm not going to let them get away with that. I'm just one blog, but I'm declaring counter-war on Bricktown's war on Thunder and I am more than happy to create some PR difficulties for them for doing this.
Besides, Deep Deuce is a real mixed-use district. Mid-town has the best restaurants. Who even goes to Bricktown anymore? Furthermore, Avis Scaramucci owns buildings with boarded-up windows (breaking city code) right in the middle of Bricktown, in fact, her Rock Island Plow Bldg is the FIRST historic red brick building you see when you come in from the Chesapeake Arena. As a seedy property owner, who is she to criticize the Thunder crowds? Reducing urban blight is one of the most successful crime prevention strategies known to civilization, she needs to go look at herself in a mirror if you ask me, if the Queen of Bricktown wants someone to blame for Bricktown's problems.
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