The Best Things Oklahoma Towns Did in 2013
The Atlantic Cities recently shared 2013 highlights from cities around the country. Here is a review of some of the best things that happened in Oklahoma's towns in 2013, from big time music festivals to smartphone apps. Guthrie hosted 40,000 visitors for a major...
Oklahoma Community Building Headlines
Here are the recent headlines and news from around our state about planning, placemaking, and community building in Oklahoma. To recommend a news story you think we should share, please let us know. Enid is considering a policy to designate 1% of any public...
Two IQC Courses for OU Students in Spring 2014
The IQC will be a part of two courses in the College of Architecture in spring 2014. Both classes meet once per week, on Fridays from 9:30 - 12:15. Environmental Design Capstone (EN D 4993 001) This project-based course taught by Ron Frantz and Hope Mander...
IQC Director Announces Departure
IQC Executive Director Blair Humphreys has announced that he will be leaving the Institute for Quality Communities. Blair will pursue a new opportunity overseeing the planning and development of the Downtown Airpark site near downtown Oklahoma City with the Humphreys...
Is this a photo of Oklahoma’s first bikeway?
IQC Associate Director Hope Mander was digging through some old photos of Norman when she came across this view of University Boulevard circa 1895. The boulevard continues to be a main thoroughfare between the original Norman townsite on Main Street and the University...
3 Ways for OKC and Tulsa to Get Off the Bottom of the List
Around the United States, you can't find many more car-dependent cities than Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Our posts on how regional and American cities compare on commuting by biking, walking, and transit got a lot of attention. Even though it was just a simple...
Exploring Oklahoma’s Newest Town
Carlton Landing became Oklahoma's newest town last week when Pittsburgh County granted its incorporation. Designed by Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company- well known for creating Seaside in Florida and Kentlands in Maryland- it is the first New Urbanist development to...
Biking, Walking, and Transit Use Across the US in 2012
Since there was interest in our post on mode share in the region, we decided to do a similar graphic for other large cities around the US. For more excellent information on this data see Bike Pittsburgh and the League of American Bicyclists. To keep track of the IQC...
The Latest Bike, Walk, and Transit Usage Data
Recent Census data shows that Oklahoma City and Tulsa are at the bottom of American cities when it comes to biking, walking, or taking transit to work. Here's an overview of the new data, which is available from the United States Census Bureau's American Community...
PARK(ing) Day in Oklahoma City
PARK(ing) Day was a big success in Oklahoma City thanks to Better Block OKC, Downtown OKC, Inc., and volunteers from several city neighborhoods and districts. At any given time, there are more than 500 million empty parking spaces in the United States. On PARK(ing)...
Pun and Games with Placemaking
IQC Visits the Prince’s Foundation Summer School – Week 3
The Institute for Quality Communities, part of the OU College of Architecture, traveled to the United Kingdom to visit the Prince's Foundation for Building Community» to learn from their highly successful summer school program. Here IQC Executive Director Blair...