I’ve been pondering Mayor LaFortune’s proclamation that “downtown is
the heart of Tulsa”. And I have come to the conclusion he is right,
never mind the fact that it is falling apart or being torn down, never
mind the fact that most of the big companies have left (most for other
cities), never mind that it is viewed by the elite in midtown as a
buffer zone to protect their property from the “unwashed masses” that
reside just to the north of downtown, never mind that nobody goes there
unless they are forced to go.
No, downtown is the heart of Tulsa, and it is diseased to the core, we
are bleeding both in population and in tax revenue, meanwhile the
doctors are filling her arteries with more cholesterol and toxins
instead of trying to fix the rotting flesh that has become of the
North, East and West sides of town. The body is infested with viruses
looking for every way they can to pick clean the bones of this city for
their own financial gains. These viruses don’t care about the city,
they can always leave once the damage is done. And Tulsa’s younger
siblings are sitting by the hospital bed gleefully watching her
deteriorate, hoping that their older sister’s demise will help fatten
their already growing wallets. The heart itself has a cancer that is
starting to grow, it has been diagnosed that this cancer will drain
even more blood from the tax coffers, yet the doctors are building it
anyway.
Downtown is the heart of Tulsa, the heart of a dieing city.
