City Leaders Working to Revitalize NE 23rd Street

There are rundown buildings and vacant lots that dot the sidewalks of Northeast 23rd Street between MLK and Kelley avenues, but there are also signs of change.

Tuesday, July 21st 2009, 8:56 pm

By: News 9


By Colleen Chen, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- There are rundown buildings and vacant lots that dot the sidewalks of Northeast 23rd Street between MLK and Kelley avenues, but there are also signs of change.

New buildings are in the mix and in them are businesses that are starting fresh.

His Fashions is one of them. The Owners built a new space on NE 23rd for their clothing store and plan on renting out the rest of the space.

"A lot of people didn't want to try a new business here, but now since we started we're seeing new things," said Cynthia Richards, His Fashions assistant manager.

The business moved to the brand new building about a month ago and workers said it's already improved the area. Improvements including nicer street lamps and better sidewalks now line NE 23rd. Richards said there have also been several inquiries about the available units next to the store.

"Restaurants, nail salons, hip-hop a little bit of everything. I think in about the next five years we should see a big change," she said.

It's the kind of positive change Oklahoma City Councilman Skip Kelly said he wants to see more of. Kelly is taking more strides in revitalizing NE 23rd Street including holding a meeting to discuss its potential with interested business owners. More than 100 people showed up to Kelly's meeting on Tuesday, which was well beyond his expectations. But Kelly said he has even higher expectation for the area.

"From grocery to retail to medical to professional offices, and we're talking about bringing all that back to NE 23rd Street," Kelly said.

Richards said she agrees with Kelly's vision and would love to live, work and play in the same place.

"My dream is to be able to leave our house and go right into the neighborhood and keep our tax dollars right here on 23rd," she said.

Tuesday night was the second meeting about boosting zoning rules on NE 23rd.

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