Sensory Strides #63 Boomtown Sam Anderson Oklahoma City history

Sensory Strides podcast

Quote “Cities are not microwave popcorn. Unless you are talking, as we are, about Oklahoma City. Oklahoma City is microwave popcorn.” Sam Anderson

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I recently read Boomtown by Sam Anderson. This book gives both the originating – land rush and more recent histories of Oklahoma City. There were a lot of things I never knew.

https://www.amazon.com/Boom-Town-Fantastical-Basketball-World-class/dp/0804137315

Some interesting facts:

In the 60’s, Oklahoma City was the largest city in the WORLD by land. This was intentional by the original city planners.

In 1964 they flew multiple sonic flights over OKC to test how it would impact the population. As a result of those tests, commercial sonic flights over US land is prohibited.

The land rush occurred in 1889. That means OKC is only 131 years old.

A big focus of the book is the passion the city had to bring a professional sports team to OKC. The arena was built without a team to use it. The city was looking towards an NHL team, but that never came to fruition.

When Katrina caused the New Orleans Hornets to play for two seasons from Oklahoma City, the fan support raised interest from the NBA to possibly help find a team. The stadium was sold out for a team that wasn’t even truly housed there. When a team couldn’t be found to permanently locate in OKC, OKC went shopping.

Seattle agreed to let the OKC businessmen buy the team as long as they didn’t move them team. There was a condition in the contract that a new stadium would be built and that stadium didn’t come to be and the team was moved to OKC. The book doesn’t go into all the legal details that happened with that move, but I wonder what Seattle was thinking selling their team to a group that they knew were looking to have a team in their city.

There is a great discussion over the impact Gary England and Oklahoma’s weather has on weather forecasting for the world today. I never realized how far that science has come and how much of it was generated by a single man.

There are short chapters devoted to the big events in OKC, including the bombing, but this book really focuses on the experiences that rolled over years and decades.

From the land rush to the oil boom to building and tearing down the city through today’s current events. OKC has had an interesting history, designed with specific goals in mind. I think everyone will learn something new from this book.

I’ve visited OKC a few times and had great experiences. I’ve now learned more and have some new things to explore for my next visit.

Thanks for joining me. Be sure to check our show notes for links to inspiration items and … don't forget to stop and smell the roses.

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