ACOG BLOG
Thanks for keeping up with all the latest ACOG news.MPO seeks partners, must be sustainable
The Association of Central Oklahoma Governments (ACOG) is seeking regional partners for the new HUD Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant program. The program, announced last week by HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, is designed to create economically...
International house of visitors
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcFPU5-S_oE]On the morning of the great flood of 2010, rather, the “significant rain event” as our Water Resources Director John Harrington calls it, our staff hosted a team of leaders and administrators from all around the...
Welcome mayors, our doors are open!
If you’re downtown this week, be sure to come to a complete stop at crosswalks and get ready to wear your friendly hat. Starting Thursday, and running through June 14, mayors from over 36 states across the United States will be converging on the region to take in the...
Get together, GetAround, and win breakfast on us!
We thought we would experiment with social media and see how it can help draw attention to our regional rideshare program, GetAroundOK. We have about 600 subscribers, and we would like to have 1,000 by the end of summer. Right now, the Oklahoma City region has the...
Changing the world, one light “bulb” at a time
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUWtGNNG4q4]Those “swirly bulbs” that look like a pig’s tail have moved beyond novelty. When we hand these out at public events, people come clamoring for them as if we were handing out candy. A compact fluorescent light (CFL)...
Scenes from Bike to Work Day 2010
Thanks to everyone who helped make Bike to Work Day 2010 happen. Thank you to city staff from Oklahoma City, Edmond, Midwest City, Moore, Yukon, Guthrie and Norman. Brown's Bakery provided refreshments in OKC, and Schlegal Bicycles, Pro Bike, Bicycle Alley, The...
Perfect weather guaranteed: Bike to Work Day set for Friday
Six years ago, we convened a group of city planners, bike enthusiasts and health advocates to start planning a regional Bike to Work Day event. Every year, we would read with envy about Denver’s Bike to Work Day events and how they would draw over 10,000 cyclists. So,...
Planning for a healthy future
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPBl04ub1oA]The City of Oklahoma City launched its latest comprehensive plan process in May. The goal of the plan is to ensure a healthy environment, community, and economy for its residents, with the understanding that the...
Pei-ving the way for downtown OKC
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwrd_07GUCA]In 1964, architect I.M. Pei was commissioned by the Urban Action Foundation to launch an urban renewal plan for Oklahoma City. Pei’s ambitious plan included a vision of a “city of tomorrow,” which would look ahead...
The “Bridges of Canadian County”
Robert Kincaid wasn’t there to take photographs, but a host of luminaries, led by Canadian County Commissioner Phil Carson, were present at a ribbon-cutting for a new bridge on Sara Rd NE south of Azalea NE/248th/Waterloo Road. Funded with federal stimulus dollars,...
Gangsta Wrap
I think there's a Chinese proverb that says, "he who pranks, gets pranked sevenfold." This is what happens when you leave the office for four days. And my colleagues wonder why I never go anywhere. I had gone to Arlington, TX for a week for an Economic Development...
Pi R Squared, But Pie Are Round!
Everybody likes pie. What’s your favorite kind? My favorite kind of pie is a pie chart! At a recent Regional Transit Dialogue meeting, subcommittee members reviewed pie charts to better understand how other cities fund their transit systems. We learned that sales...
Carolyn White: 30 years of dedicated service!
Carolyn White Originally uploaded by CentralOK ACOG's 9-1-1 database manager, Carolyn White, is retiring after 30 years serving Central Oklahoma. We're having a retirement party for her on Friday, April 30, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. If you knew and worked with Carolyn,...
For whom the (maintenance) bell tolls…
Here is your host, moderating a game of Red Dirt Monopoly, with the Sierra Club (Cimmaron Chapter) of Oklahoma City. Red Dirt Monopoly is a transportation planning game designed to educate Central Oklahomans about the transportation planning process, planning with a...
9-1-1 ACOG dispatcher of the year
Sydney Myers, Nichols Hills Dispatcher Originally uploaded by CentralOK Sydney Myers, of the Nichols Hills Police Department, was honored as 9-1-1 ACOG’s Dispatcher of the Year during an awards ceremony in April that coincided with National Public Safety...
Norman’s new CNG loaders
City of Norman CNG Loaders Originally uploaded by CentralOK The City of Norman recently accepted delivery of two new compressed natural gas refuse haulers. The project was made possible by a $114,000 grant from ACOG’s Public Fleet Conversion Grants Program. The...
Let’s talk about…transit
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyqIJF6UJbU]The Central Oklahoma Transportation and Parking Authority (COTPA) and the city of Oklahoma City are holding a series of meetings to engage public participation on enhancing public transportation in downtown Oklahoma...
On the need for regional transit
We were recently invited by the American Public Works Association to make a presentation about regional transit initiatives in Central Oklahoma. APWA meets monthly at the Twin Hills Golf and Country Club in Oklahoma City. Here, Doug Rex, ACOG's Director of...