I Believe in Tulsa!

Why Tulsans believe in their city:

Low cost of living and high quality of life:

• Tulsa has 3rd shortest commute among 65 metro areas, with 20.88 minutes average one-way (Source: U.S. Census Bureau's 2005 American Community Survey)
• Median home price is $109,000 (Source: Money Magazine, 2008)
• Property taxes are 2-3 times lower than the national average (Source: Money Magazine, 2008)

Sunshine 227 days a year

125 parks and more than 180 miles of trails (including 40 miles of picturesque Arkansas river shoreline), and 11 publicly owned community centers.

The world-class, Cesar Pelli-designed event center in downtown listed among the top 2008 projects by USArchitecture.

• The arena has 565,000 square feet for sports and entertainment venues.
• Tulsa is competitive for national sport tournaments and offers a second arena, plus a conference center and ballroom in the Maxwell Convention Center, now under renovation and due for completion in 2009.

A new downtown baseball stadium to support Tulsa's Minor League Baseball Team, the Tulsa Drillers, an affiliate of the Colorado Rockies Major League Baseball, will be ready for play in 2010.

Host city to the Professional Golf Association and Ladies Professional Golf Association majors, the Big 12 Conference, Conference USA, NBA and NCAA games.

TYPros, the city's biggest young professional group, lists more than 4,000 members - young professionals in their 20s and 30s who have chosen Tulsa for its quality of life, low cost of living and the new energy that is spurring development.

City Hall is a building of advanced technological capabilities that will show the world that Tulsa is serious about competition for jobs and workforce.

• Nearly 1,000 employees and offices for 10 departments have been consolidated into the new City Hall to create savings in maintenance, rental, and operational costs.
• The building was purchased at 25% of original cost with no tax increases, and the City receives lease revenues from existing and future tenants.

Public-private partnerships make progress possible:

• The new $178 million BOK (event) Center (funded through a special county sales tax and private sponsorships).
• The George Kaiser Foundation donated $12.4 million donation plus $2.4 million from the City of Tulsa new River Parks development.
• Tulsa Community Foundation pledged $1 million to beautify select Tulsa-area gateways, highways, and core city thoroughfares.
• The Gilcrease Museum boasts the largest collection of western art in the country. It is now managed in partnership with the University of Tulsa.
• Through another public-private partnership, Billy Casper Golf was awarded the contract to manage the City of Tulsa's two 36-hole municipal courses, resulting in an annual savings of $800,000.
• "Mentoring to the Max!" initiative: the Mayor's Office and Bank of America (through a donation of nearly $100,000) have supported after-school programs.
• Health and fitness is promoted through the Mayor's Fitness Challenge - more than 40 local partner organizations with health and fitness objectives, and a new partnership with Foundation Healthcare to create a new web-based mayoral initiative, Tulsa Million Miles.

Tulsa Ranks in the Top

Named one of the 10 outstanding travel destinations in North America by Fodor's Travel (2002)

Among top 10 southern cities (Source: Southern Living)

5th best place to live in the U.S., selected among 2,000 cities for a combination of economic growth, quality of life, education and employment opportunities, and environment (Source: www.Relocate-America.com, 2008)

9th most livable U.S. city (Source: 2008 MSN Real Estate Most-Livable Bargain Markets list)

A city of prosperity marked by its listing as:

• 12th most favorable place to build personal wealth (Source: www.salary.com, 2008)
• 5th most affordable U.S. city to live in (Source: www.salary.com, 2006)
• 2007 income per capita was more than $40,000, a growth rate of 5.3 percent
• More than 12 percent of Tulsa households have incomes of more than $100,000 per year.
• Cost of doing business is 8 percent below the average of 381 metro areas.
• Cost of living is 10 percent below the average of 381 metro areas.

Top travel spot and the most affordable destination (Source: American Automobile Association (AAA), 2008)

Top real estate market (Source: Expansion Management Magazine)

Ranked in the top ten "Best U.S. cities for Jobs" by Forbes (2007)

In the top 20 "smartest cities" (Source: Bizjournals.com, 2006). Tulsa's smart status comes from its technology centers, colleges and suburbs that also place emphasis on quality education.

Internationally tuned in and home to the best Sister Cities program in the nation (2006; sister cities are: Celle, Germany; Zelenograd, Russia; San Luis Potosi, Mexico; Utsunomiya, Japan; Amiens, France; Tiberias, Israel; Beihai, China; Kaohsiung, Taiwan)

Tulsa Economy & Workforce

Annual GDP is $32 billion

Balanced economy that includes energy, telecommunications, manufacturing, aerospace and transportation.

• Strong aerospace industry. Mayor Kathy Taylor secured $10 million in State Opportunity Fund dollars to Tulsa and funding incentives in infrastructure to retain and expand aerospace business in Tulsa.

Tulsa Metro Chamber named Best U.S. Chamber of Commerce in 2008

The City and Greenwood Chamber of Commerce leadership are working together to revitalize areas north of the historic Greenwood Business District, and develop plans for promoting business and homeownership through the North Tulsa Economic Development Initiative.

Entrepreneurial spirit. Tulsa was built on the entrepreneurial spirit of pioneers and wildcatters. In 2007, the Mayor's Entrepreneurial Spirit Award was founded with the sponsorship of Spirit Bank in Tulsa to provide mentoring resources to dozens of new start ups, and provide cash to the top entrepreneurs with the best, most innovative business plans.

Tulsans Honor the Past and Plan for the Future

One of the largest heritages of art deco art and architecture in the U.S.

Preserve America community.

Host to the 2008 National Historic Preservation Conference, which will attract more than 2,000 experts across the country and the planet

Intrigue of the open highway - Route 66 - is celebrated in Tulsa. The Route 66 Cyrus Avery bridge over the Arkansas river is where "East meets West."

One of four cities recognized by the Mayors' Institute on City Design as a host for a new pilot program for design excellence.

Collaborating to create and implement a 30-year comprehensive plan (PLANiTULSA.org) that will represent the vision and include the voices of all Tulsans.

BeGreen: Tulsa is:

TreeCity USA and has been designated as such for more than a decade

Recipient of "Blue Skies Collaborative Partnership Award" for its environmental efforts, including creation of its first Energy Efficiency and Conservation Plan.

Committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the U.S. Conference of Mayor's Climate Protection Agreement

Reforesting through the ReGreen initiative, with a goal for planting 20,000 trees by 2010

BeGreen initiative launched in 2008. It is an umbrella of initiatives focused on energy conservation, recycling and green strategies through fostering behavioral change

Leads in Education

A national leader in early childhood education and the place to be for families with young children.

One of only eight cities in the U.S. to participate in the first phase of a National League of Cities Program "City Leaders Supporting Afterschool and A New Day of Learning."

In a battle against high dropout rates and gang activity.

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  • In 2006, Mayor Kathy Taylor held "Building a Safer Tulsa" Gang Prevention Summit, which gathered law enforcement, government officials, educators, community and religious leaders
  • In 2008, Tulsa received Colin Powell Foundation grant to host Keeping Our Promise Dropout Prevention Summit.

Affordable higher education:

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  • Tulsa has 7 universities offering a variety of undergraduate and graduate degrees.
  • Tulsa Community College offers 2 free years of tuition for area students with a GPA 2.0 and above.
  • Tulsa Technical College offers a Pathways scholarship.