Ellen Ray
@ellen-k-slay.bsky.social
Director of Planning and Zoning | Housing Forward OK | Living on Tulsa Time
@housingforward.bsky.social
@housingforward.bsky.social
Reposted by Ellen Ray
Statewide zoning reform isn’t producing the wins everyone expected. For example, state law can declare that small backyard cottages are legal. But unless cities can review them, permit them, and builders can finance them, legalization will remain largely symbolic.
December 4, 2025 at 11:48 PM
Statewide zoning reform isn’t producing the wins everyone expected. For example, state law can declare that small backyard cottages are legal. But unless cities can review them, permit them, and builders can finance them, legalization will remain largely symbolic.
Proud of our awesome summer fellows for highlighting 2 ways to unlock more housing at City Council today:
⛪ Affordable development on 2,000+ acres owned by faith-based organizations
🏘️ ADUs by-right in single-family zoning districts citywide – would ↘️ Board of Adjustment caseload by at least 15%!
⛪ Affordable development on 2,000+ acres owned by faith-based organizations
🏘️ ADUs by-right in single-family zoning districts citywide – would ↘️ Board of Adjustment caseload by at least 15%!
Today fellows from Urban Leaders Fellowship Leah Shine and Jackson Berridge presented to Tulsa City Council their summer research, conducted in partnership with Housing Forward.
Take a look at their presentation: tulsa-ok.granicus.com/player/clip/...
Take a look at their presentation: tulsa-ok.granicus.com/player/clip/...
July 23, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Proud of our awesome summer fellows for highlighting 2 ways to unlock more housing at City Council today:
⛪ Affordable development on 2,000+ acres owned by faith-based organizations
🏘️ ADUs by-right in single-family zoning districts citywide – would ↘️ Board of Adjustment caseload by at least 15%!
⛪ Affordable development on 2,000+ acres owned by faith-based organizations
🏘️ ADUs by-right in single-family zoning districts citywide – would ↘️ Board of Adjustment caseload by at least 15%!
Reposted by Ellen Ray
Portlyn Houghton-Harjo decided to walk Tulsa, east to west. Here's what she saw:
thepickup.com/frankenstein...
thepickup.com/frankenstein...
Frankensteined Nostalgia And Places I Used To Smoke Weed On Route 66 - The Pickup
I walked across Tulsa east to west. Here's what I saw.
thepickup.com
July 16, 2025 at 8:07 PM
Portlyn Houghton-Harjo decided to walk Tulsa, east to west. Here's what she saw:
thepickup.com/frankenstein...
thepickup.com/frankenstein...
Reposted by Ellen Ray
Our write up is here ⏬
You can also check out our journal article in Cities & Health on which this is based here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
And a free-pre-print version of the article: www.urban.org/research/pub...
You can also check out our journal article in Cities & Health on which this is based here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
And a free-pre-print version of the article: www.urban.org/research/pub...
Pedestrians and Cyclists Who Live in Communities of Color Face Disproportionate Exposure to Traffic Injury—Both in Their Neighborhoods and Elsewhere
In Boston, residents of neighborhoods of color face greater risks of pedestrian and cyclist accidents both in their own neighborhoods and when they’re outside their neighborhoods.
www.urban.org
June 12, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Our write up is here ⏬
You can also check out our journal article in Cities & Health on which this is based here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
And a free-pre-print version of the article: www.urban.org/research/pub...
You can also check out our journal article in Cities & Health on which this is based here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
And a free-pre-print version of the article: www.urban.org/research/pub...
Good 👁️: $105M announcement more quietly included a release of public records from the Race Massacre. Showing the restrained official response is a powerful display that inaction is not without agency.
Impressive commitment to historic integrity, especially amidst other Open Records obligations. 👏💪
Impressive commitment to historic integrity, especially amidst other Open Records obligations. 👏💪
%The Mayor Took A Stand - The Pickup
Tulsa’s $105 million fund for economic growth in Greenwood, and other local/regional news of the week, from The Pickup.
thepickup.com
June 6, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Good 👁️: $105M announcement more quietly included a release of public records from the Race Massacre. Showing the restrained official response is a powerful display that inaction is not without agency.
Impressive commitment to historic integrity, especially amidst other Open Records obligations. 👏💪
Impressive commitment to historic integrity, especially amidst other Open Records obligations. 👏💪
Alt headline: Tulsa resident says that, absent a miraculous Hail Mary renewal of threatened federal Reconnecting Communities funding, such changes would likely cost City more than its entire budget for the next 5 years of street projects 😯
Tulsa mayor says city should consider changes to highway over Greenwood
Tulsa mayor says city should consider changes to highway over Greenwood
Advocates have attributed the long-term decline of the historic Greenwood neighborhood to the construction of I-244.
www.publicradiotulsa.org
June 5, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Alt headline: Tulsa resident says that, absent a miraculous Hail Mary renewal of threatened federal Reconnecting Communities funding, such changes would likely cost City more than its entire budget for the next 5 years of street projects 😯
whoa - looks like zoning + permitting reform could nearly double that benefit from $4.31 to $8.07!
tulsa remote recipients are required to buy/rent homes within city limits though. would the regional model still reveal the same benefits within that geography - especially among LMI renters?
tulsa remote recipients are required to buy/rent homes within city limits though. would the regional model still reveal the same benefits within that geography - especially among LMI renters?
Programs to woo remote workers to a city or region have blossomed across the U.S. since the pandemic. But do they improve the lives of people already living there? New report from our @timbartik.bsky.social finds one program, Tulsa Remote, has benefits that far outweigh its costs.
#econsky #EconDev
#econsky #EconDev
Each dollar spent drawing remote workers to Tulsa delivers $4 benefit to current residents
Study finds 58 to 70 percent of Tulsa Remote workers would not have moved to Tulsa without the program
www.upjohn.org
May 20, 2025 at 8:05 PM
whoa - looks like zoning + permitting reform could nearly double that benefit from $4.31 to $8.07!
tulsa remote recipients are required to buy/rent homes within city limits though. would the regional model still reveal the same benefits within that geography - especially among LMI renters?
tulsa remote recipients are required to buy/rent homes within city limits though. would the regional model still reveal the same benefits within that geography - especially among LMI renters?