Introduction:
The City of Enid, Oklahoma is situated in Northwestern Oklahoma and covers a land area of approximately 74.10 square miles. The city is serviced by Hwy 81 and Hwy 412, while the Enid Public Transportation service provides all public transit services.
Demographic Composition:
The City of Enid, Oklahoma is predominately white, with the white population accounting for 80% of the total population. The remainder of the population is broken down into the following racial groups:
Black or African American – 3%
American Indian – 2%
Asian – 3%
Multi-racial – 3%
Other – 6%
The City of Enid boasts high marks in the religious index, restaurant index, and the overall quality of life index as determined by the Quality of Life Index collected by the US Census Bureau. It also has an extremely low unemployment rate with unemployed males only accounting for 2% of the eligible work force and umemployed females accounting for 2%. Their primary industries of employment are sales, service, construction, and production careers. 56% of the city’s population hold white collar employment and the remaining 43% are employed in blue collar jobs.
Process:
In August 1983, the City of Enid, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Main Street Society of Enid joined forces in a mutual effort to try to modernize and revitalize their downtown district. This plan was given the name: the CBD Plan. The plan wanted to strengthen the marketability of the downtown district and to address concerns with the growing functional needs of the community. The plan also focused on physical improvements to the streetscape by attempting to add sidewalk improvements, street furniture, and landscaping to the existing right-of-way. The plan started with a vision that was directly correlated with a set of specific and quantifiable goals and objectives. After a fairly in-depth evaluation of the existing conditions, the city found many areas that were not adequate enough to support such a downtown vision. The City of Enid found areas such as pedestrian circulation and parking to be problematic areas. Off-Street parking was underutilized and many of the amenities afforded to pedestrians were either in poor condition or non-existent. Problems were also found in traffic circulation and around the paved swellings at important intersections. The lighting was poor and many would not go downtown in the evenings due to poor visibility. Public signage was also found to be inadequate because they were neither clear nor systematic in their posting.
Suggestions:
- Re-establishment of the “Square” as the central focal point of the Downtown Area
- Identify the corners of the Square as pedestrian “Gateways” (Landscaping to indicate the entrance into Downtown was used, as well as pedestrian crossing nodes)
- Develop a coordinated image of Downtown (A post card worthy image was the goal.)
- Provide a framework for marketing promotion activities
- Budget friendly pedestrian amenities (low maintenance)
