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Black Friday exposes the folly of parking minimums

Strong Towns is once again using Black Friday to call attention to parking minimums, zoning laws that require a ridiculous amount of land to be set aside for off-street parking. #BlackFridayParking is a nationwide event drawing attention to the harmful nature of minimum parking requirements. Parking minimums create a barrier...

Posted by Michael Bates on November 29, 2019 11:09 AM

Farewell to Mod's Coffee & Crepes

This coming Saturday, December 16, 2017, Mod's Coffee and Crepes will close its doors after seven years in business. Yesterday was the last chance to enjoy one of the things we love about Mod's -- gluten-free crepes available on Tuesdays. A week ago Tuesday we gathered there to celebrate...

Posted by Michael Bates on December 13, 2017 6:19 AM

Festival takes over Tulsa parking crater Sunday

Tulsa's Young Professionals are holding a mile-long street festival tomorrow, Sunday, May 4, 2014, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., in the southern part of downtown Tulsa. The event, Street CReD 2014: Urban Core, will thread its way through Tulsa's championship parking crater with "music, art, food trucks, vendors, family-friendly...

Posted by Michael Bates on May 3, 2014 9:54 PM

Downtown Tulsa needs demolition limits, regulatory and tax relief

Route 66 "planter" and "nature band-aid" attempt to distract from ugliness of Tulsa Community College surface parking lot. UPDATE 2019/11/29: I'm revisiting this entry years later, as Strong Towns uses Black Friday to call attention to parking minimums, zoning laws that require a minimum number of parking spaces based...

Posted by Michael Bates on September 18, 2013 5:56 AM

Unjustly fined for parking downtown

My friend Tony Baker was featured on a KOTV News on 6 story tonight about his recent downtown Tulsa parking misadventure. In a nutshell, a $15 parking ticket was written on his vehicle when there was still an hour left on the meter. The time stamp on the credit card...

Posted by Michael Bates on April 3, 2013 10:25 PM

Property owners owe Tulsans downtown preservation

An edited version of this piece was published in the August 23, 2006, issue of Urban Tulsa Weekly. The edited, published version of the piece is online in the Internet Archive. Posted on the web September 17, 2013. Property owners owe Tulsans downtown preservation By Michael D. Bates A memo...

Posted by Michael Bates on August 23, 2006 8:05 PM