PLANiTULSA

Tulsa World: 5 Questions with John Fregonese

Friday, February 12th, 2010
Interview by Robert Evatt, Tulsa World staff writer

John Fregonese is president of Fregonese Associates, a Portland, Ore.-based planning firm that specializes in visioning, comprehensive and small-area planning, implementation strategies and public involvement strategies. His company was hired by the city of Tulsa to develop a new comprehensive plan through the PlaniTulsa process.

In this interview, John responds to the following questions:

What are the biggest ways the city has changed since then that have made modifications to the plan necessary?
In a nutshell, what are Tulsa's greatest strengths and weaknesses?
How does Tulsa's downtown compare to those of similar-size cities? What is the best way to encourage development there?
What's the best way to encourage housing growth within Tulsa in light of competition from suburbs and their abundant space?
What should the strategy be for commercial development?

Read the interview at tulsaworld.com...

Urban Tulsa names PLANiTULSA the best thing about 2009

"Finally out of the think tank, PLANiTULSA is moving full-steam into action stages in 2010. It's what we've all been waiting for since we heard the words PLANiTULSA come up. Now, we have to hope that the politics don't halt the progress."

Read the rest of the story at Urban Tulsa...

PLANiTULSA: Tulsa's approach to parking outdated, adviser says

The consultant on the city's comprehensive plan update says it's time that Tulsa changes its approach to parking.

"The current parking standards are really classic 1960s — based on convenience for automobile drivers," John Fregonese told the Tulsa Metropolitan Area Planning Commission last week.

He also said he will recommend that the city adopt shared parking practices that include the creation of parking districts.

The goal: to create more pedestrian-friendly environments by decreasing the number of parking spaces. (Read the Tulsa World story)

PlaniTulsa Reveals Results Of Survey

News Channel 8
Tuesday, July 28th, 2009

Tulsa - The new vision of Tulsa's future is anchored by a vibrant downtown according to a new survey. In it, the opinions of 5,000 Tulsans. News Channel 8 found out what else is planned for the city's future in the PlaniTulsa project.

Read the rest of the story and check out video coverage>>

Greater Tulsa Reporter: Survey Will Help Determine City’s Comprehensive Plan

Greater Tulsa Reporter
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

(TULSA) – Mayor Kathy Taylor urged residents to take part in the future of Tulsa by participating in the next phase of the city’s comprehensive planning process Tuesday, May 12. Four future growth scenarios for Tulsa – all quite different – have been developed by PLANiTULSA using the feedback from more than 1,500 citizens who participated in public workshops since last fall. Tulsa residents have until June 18 to complete and return surveys that gauge their opinions of the growth scenarios.

Photo Credit: GTR Newspapers

“Tulsa residents have spoken in great numbers and said they want to see more jobs created, improved transportation, more options for all age groups and growth in the city’s core,” said Taylor. “Now we need to hear from residents again as we enter the next critical phase in developing Tulsa’s new comprehensive plan. The input we receive in the next 30 days on these four growth scenarios is essential to moving toward a vision that incorporates the needs and desires of as many Tulsans as possible.”

Read the rest of the article at GTR Newspapers...

Survey on 4 city scenarios to begin

It's only scheduled for an hour, but Tuesday's "Which Way, Tulsa?" party is intended to kick off a discussion that will have a profound effect on a generation of Tulsans.

The event, to be held at the historic Cain's Ballroom, will be the setting for the official unveiling of four possible development scenarios for the city.

From Tuesday through June 18, Tulsans will be asked to rank the scenarios, with the results being used to update the city's comprehensive plan.

[Read the story at the Tulsa World]

City's future discussed at PlaniTulsa Citizens Team meeting

At one point during his Tuesday night presentation on development scenarios for the city of Tulsa, John Fregonese had to admit that even he was confused.

“That’s the problem with scenarios,” he said. “I’m all confused now about what to do in Tulsa.”

He was kidding, of course. But it was a point well made.

Fregonese, the city’s consultant on the creation of new comprehensive plan, held a nearly two-hour give-and-take with the PlaniTulsa Citizens Team. It was all part of a sneak preview of the four development scenarios Tulsans will be asked to comment on next month.

And he wasn’t sparing details. Included in his presentation were facts about gas savings, transportation options and population growth. It was dizzying stuff for the uninitiated.

Luckily, he had a captive — and knowledgeable — audience. The Citizens Team was on hand to not only digest the information, but to help Fregonese and his team from Fregonese Associates of Portland, Ore., come up with ways to make it more understandable to the general public.

Read the whole story in the Tulsa World.

Only the Beginning: PLANiTULSA moves toward the finish line of planning and to the starting line of finalizing

If you compare PLANiTULSA to a horse race, you might say the process is entering the home stretch.

"We are," said John Fregonese, president of Fregonese Associates, the Portland, Ore.-based consulting firm hired to steer the process of collecting public input and helping draft recommendations for the update to the city's comprehensive plan. Fregonese estimated his firm's work, which began in April 2008, is 90 percent complete.

Read the rest of the story at urbantulsa.com...

Letter to the editor: Importance of PlaniTulsa

Regardless of the mayoral election outcome, Tulsans remain engaged with PlaniTulsa, the long-overdue replacement of the city's 30-year-old comprehensive plan. PlaniTulsa finally begins to accomplish the recommendations of more than 10 years of prior studies in which many others and I participated.

Those multiple studies each understood that in order for Tulsa to compete and thrive, the outdated Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Code had to be updated to respond to a new century of diverse industries, technology and population. Go totulsaworld.com/planitulsa to learn more.

(read more at Tulsa World)

PLANiTULSA Unveils Its Vision For Tulsa's Future

By Chris Wright, The News On 6
Sep 24, 2009 8:28 AM PDT
TULSA, OK

PLANiTULSA unveils its vision for the future of the city on Wednesday. The group presented the first draft of its master plan to the public for the first time Wednesday evening.

Read the rest of this story at The News on 6 >>