Steve Lackmeyer pointed out that Oklahoma City is getting ready to spend almost $100 million on downtown streetscape improvements, including new streetlamps, furniture, bus shelters, and more.  A plan has been put together by some of the top urban designers in the nation, and now it is up to city staff to purchase the fixtures and implement the improvements – and apparently they are purchasing fixtures soon.  It is imperative that this money go towards proven solutions that will provide a urban look and pedestrian-friendly feel for downtown.

Here is how you do it –> NYC Street Manual. It is free to download, but I purchased a hard copy on the recommendation of Jeff Speck, and find it to be true to his words. It offers worthwhile suggestions on lights, street furniture, and bus shelters – along with host of other street design best practices.

Oklahoma City should not attempt to reinvent the wheel when it comes to good urbanity, whether we are talking: design guidelines, sidewalk surfaces, or street furniture & lighting. We should learn from cities that have dealt with urban/pedestrian issues for a long time. We can save our bold efforts at originality for a day when we have the basics figured out.

And in case you think we have the basics figured out, I offer this humble reminder.