Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

There's only one word that comes to mind when I think of Oklahoma City – spirit. From its heyday as a frontier cowboy town to its current efforts to transform the city into a cultural hotspot, Oklahoma City has long been a place where its citizens make great things happen.

In the late 19th century, the US government blocked all settlement in Oklahoma. The settlers, who wanted to live there put so much pressure on the government that, eventually, it was forced to open the unassigned lands to homesteaders. These lands later became Oklahoma City and they were settled literally overnight. Later, the city thrived after it was named the state capital and after the railroads allowed the meat packing industry to take off. While that industry later went into decline, the cattle industry heritage is still alive at Stockyards City. Here, visitors can witness the hustle and bustle of the cattle markets and auctions while checking out the fine cattle products in the stores and restaurants – the best steak anywhere as well as high-quality leather goods and western apparel.

Up until the 1980s, Oklahoma City has faced two other major challenges – the rise and fall of the oil industry and the decline of its downtown area. However, in 1993 the residents of the city came together to turn the situation around. They approved a special program, the Metropolitan Areas Projects, to fund new arts and tourism projects to revitalize the downtown. The results have been stunning. The downtown now boasts a new AAA baseball stadium, top notch concerts and arts performances at the Civic Center Music Hall and the new Ford Center, the Oklahoma City Museum of Art and a beautiful botanical gardens complex. The city has also built a scenic canal offering boat tours through the historic downtown district. With so much development, the hotels, stores, restaurants, and people have returned. The rebirth of the downtown has also brought residents back to the central area. A trendy new townhouse development has opened in Deep Deuce, the former home of Oklahoma City's black community where jazz and blues clubs once reigned supreme.

And, under a new program, the city is undergoing a second revitalization – new schools are being built, older ones are being renovated, and new technologies are being brought into the classroom.

It's obvious that a rich civic spirit is alive in Oklahoma City. Why not be a part of it?

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