How different are Bricktown and the Old Market?

Golden Eagle · Post by **Golden Eagle** » Wed Jul 30, 2008 10:02 pm

Here's some pics I took a few months ago but just now getting up.

construction

Pics from this thread (where there's more)
http://oktalk.net/bb/index.php?topic=3196

Just some food for thought. Comments on the pics also welcome.

Erik · Post by **Erik** » Wed Jul 30, 2008 10:22 pm

Actually, the old market and bricktown are quite a bit different from what I can see..

I'm not saying that one or the other is better as bricktown looks like a very nice area!

You look at OKC's downtown and then Omaha's downtown and you can see a resemblence of the sister cities..

OKC is definetely one of my favorite american cities..

Post by **Brad** » Wed Jul 30, 2008 11:26 pm

I was thinking the same. Â They are a lot different.

Louie · Post by **Louie** » Wed Jul 30, 2008 11:36 pm

I dunno, the old market looks much more attractive compared to bricktown. Â The buildings in those pics don't look as inviting or people friendly. Â The old school feel of the old market is also missing. Â

However the restaurant with the upper deck is pretty sweet looking.

Golden Eagle · Post by **Golden Eagle** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 3:55 am

Well Bricktown isn't supposed to be inviting; it's supposed to be cool. There's some really cool modern nightclub architecture in Bricktown, too. I don't think Bricktown is supposed to be inviting, charming, or quaint, but it's pretty urban and it's pretty cool. The one thing that my pics was actually completely missing is the Canal (which is out of site from where I was) and Main Street. And all of the Lower Bricktown (lifestyle center) disaster areas that I left out..

I'm not going to go on much further about Bricktown though. I want to say you all have precisely hit it on the head I think. The Old Market is a lot more inviting because those buildings were originally built to be charming, and nicer. Bricktown was actually not built to be what it is today which is a thriving district comprised mainly of nightclubs, lofts, and high-end restaurants. Bricktown was the old industrial part of OKC which survived urban renewal because nobody really cared about it. Eventually as downtown died even warehouses were abandoning which is when you know that a downtown has reached rock bottom. The irony in these situations is always how rock bottom gives birth to a second life far greater than the first. Bricktown attracts certain people that value the grittiness of converting old brick warehouses with a very industrial feel into upscale development. You can't even get that kind of grittiness from old historic buildings that have always been apartments or offices. Old Market is exactly what it was built to be so there's nothing as far-fetched in its current uses. The Old Market is probably a lot prettier. On the other hand in Bricktown they actually hire graffiti artists and such to preserve the paint signs on the brick facades.

DTO Luv · Post by **DTO Luv** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 8:41 am

What? What do you mean the OM was built to be charming? It was all originally warehouses and businesses.

Big E · Post by **Big E** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 9:53 am

DTO Luv wrote:What? What do you mean the OM was built to be charming? It was all originally warehouses and businesses.

I love telling the anecdote about the women in Omaha from San Francisco for the Olympic swimming trials. Â They told a friend of ours how much they liked the Old Market area, and then asked who the architect was... Â like it was a Power & Light District or something.

S33 · Post by **S33** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 11:06 am

Yeah the Old Market was originally a warehouse district as a whole also. It was the unloading area for barges coming up the Missouri River. Anyway, I think they are somewhat different looking while serving the same purpose. I have not been to Bricktown in a long time but judging from the pics I think I may like Bricktown more.

Maybe the Old Market is just Old to me now...

Post by **Brad** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 11:12 am

Brick-town looks more like LODO in Denver, and what I expect North Downtown Â So actually We are going to Have the Old Market and Brick-town.

S33 · Post by **S33** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 11:28 am

Brad wrote:Brick-town looks more like LODO in Denver, and what I expect North Downtown So actually We are going to Have the Old Market and Brick-town.

Can we get a fancy little river for North Downtown, also?

DTO Luv · Post by **DTO Luv** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 12:12 pm

No there's a real river a few blocks east.

Golden Eagle · Post by **Golden Eagle** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 4:06 pm

S33 wrote:Yeah the Old Market was originally a warehouse district as a whole also. It was the unloading area for barges coming up the Missouri River.

Noooo idea. I just don't get the industrial vibe from the Old Market.

Big E · Post by **Big E** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 4:24 pm

Golden Eagle wrote:Noooo idea. I just don't get the industrial vibe from the Old Market.

I live in an old industrial laundry building that had a contract with the US Army during WW2. Â I'm not technically in the Old Market, but I'm in one of the buildings a couple blocks SW of it.... Â which would still be continuous Old Market if we hadn't spent 50 years knocking it all down for parking lots.