Thanks to a post by Dave and some No River Tax signs I started rethinking my stance on the river again.

The facts are:
The river is unreliable, it can be nothing but sand bars one week and full the next. low water damns may fix that issue.
The river is shallow, only major dam/levy work will change that fact.
The river is on a bed of sand, which causes problems with low water dams & causes the water to look muddy most of the time.
There are two refineries and a sewer treatment plant on the river, all north of 61st. this will not change.
The west bank of the river is mostly industrial.
The river has a beautiful park that runs the length of it from downtown south, a fact that was commented on by a person complaining about the hot August weather and the PGA last week. "The Arkansas River runs through here, and there's a beautiful park that parallels it, following the contours of the river. People jog and ride bicycles through the park, past beautiful sculptures here and there."

With those facts in place, the best places for development are north of the 21st St. bridge on the west bank & south of 61st

I’m beginning to thing that outside of the Branson Landing people, we (being the taxpayers) should leave the river alone and make the roads  safe to drive on. We need to quit following other people and play up what makes Tulsa unique... and an undeveloped river definitally makes us unique after all it hasnt been developed in 100+ years.