TULSA, Okla. — Margaret Brandys calls Crutchfield a “good neighborhood,” but she also has ideas to spruce it up.
Brandys moved to Crutchfield in the mid-1980s, in the same neighborhood as the famous Outsiders House Museum.
History of the Neighborhood:
- Initially platted and developed between 1910 and 1917
- Houses range in size from approximately 500 to 1200 square feet
- Most are typical for the 20s, 30s, and 40s era
- Started showing decline in the 60s
- Census data from 1970 to 1990 show steady decline in the population
- Small neighborhood group started meeting in the 90's to support revitalization efforts
WATCH: STAY GOLD: City looks at Crutchfield neighborhood reinvestment:
2 News Oklahoma listened to Brandys ahead of a meeting to discuss prospects of a new Tax Increment Financing District coming to Crutchfield.
Councilor Vanessa Hall-Harper presented plans to neighbors during a July 14 town hall.
“Affordable housing is the greatest need in the City of Tulsa, right now. So this program and this project does have quite a bit of affordable housing,” Hall-Harper said.
In simplest terms, a TIF allows the city to collect new taxes from new developments and use the money to improve the respective area.
THE PEARL >>> Similar plans are in place in Tulsa’s Pearl District
Councilor Hall-Harper said plans are in place to build affordable housing units in Crutchfield; neighbors see glimpses of that already.
“Came a long way with the neighborhood the last three years – they have. So they fixed it up. Like I said we got new streets, new sidewalks,” Brandys said.
2 News asked Hall-Harper to describe her 10-year vision for the neighborhood.
“I hope that it’s safe... that there are options of housing that any and all people can find a place, that meets their needs in housing and be able to afford to stay there,” Hall-Harper said.
TIFs can fund infrastructure projects, and Brandys has a suggestion, “I would like to have some more streetlights.”
It’s up to the city council to approve or disapprove the creation of a TIF.
Nothing gold can stay, as the Outsiders book taught us, but maybe it can come back.
“People think cause it’s an old neighborhood that it’s a bad neighborhood. But it’s not. That is such a myth,” Brandys said, “I’d rather live here than I would anywhere. I sure had.”
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