<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tZVufRlMtzM/SIfYL3y4b2I/AAAAAAAAAR0/Fq0-XC47yYI/s1600-h/51Memorial.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 607px; height: 305px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tZVufRlMtzM/SIfYL3y4b2I/AAAAAAAAAR0/Fq0-XC47yYI/s400/51Memorial.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5226383591054274402" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Google Streetview</span></span><br /></div><br />I overheard someone say once that the S. 51st Street and Memorial Drive intersection is "the most lifeless intersection in Tulsa."<br /><br />I have thought about that comment a lot. At times, I've been convinced the person was correct. Two strip-style shopping centers riddled with national chains, a Shell station, not anyplace where I'd be enticed to dine, two lanes going in all directions, pedestrian lights about 30 seconds long, and a cemetery comprising the entire southeast corner.<br /><br />It doesn't get more lifeless than a cemetery, you know?<br /><br />Then I began to think of Tulsa in a new way. I've wandered the city by foot, car and mind, thinking of T-Town in terms of its intersections. Some are as happenin' as they come - 31st and Peoria, 1st and Archer, 71st and Memorial (like it or not, it's there). Others...well, others - 51st and Mingo, 9th and Boston - make me sad.<br /><br />I also began to think of what exactly makes an intersection hip, or what sends it straight to lifeless-ville. Where's the tipping point, exactly? Does it happen when a chain, often too large in scale and discouraging of pedestrian activity, moves in on one of the corners? Does a cool independent restaurant or retailer have the capability of singlehandedly transforming a "lifeless" intersection into a hotspot (I think <a href="http://www.mcnellies.com/">Elliot Nelson</a> has answered this question with a resounding "yes," but think for yourself)? If so, what are the other parts of the formula to creating a hip hub of an intersection?<br /><br />What would lists of lifeless and happenin' Tulsa intersections look like?<br /><br />Feel free to weigh in on this in the comments section. If nothing else, give it some thought.