SoSA
No, not Sammy. This is a portmanteau concoction meaning “South of St. Anthony,” and while it may sound silly, it’s not really any sillier than “Cottage District,” which is Oklahoma City’s shorthand for this section of MidTown. (Legally, it’s the Northwest Addition to Oklahoma City, a description used by no one but title-insurance folks.)
Right now, SoSA is an area of vacant lots, 1910 architecture, and a smattering of 21st-century contemporaries, all more or less jumbled together. It’s what you might call a hodgepodge, not that there’s anything wrong with that:
The City is currently developing the design guidelines for the Midtown Cottage District (SoSA). Take a look at the area surrounding the intersection of NW 7th & Francis to see what’s already been done. It’s become an architect’s playground … there are currently three architect-occupied dwellings within a 1-block radius, and at least two more are being designed right now. The styles range from historic renovation to contemporary, to an innovative fusion of both. It’s really cool. These types of houses couldn’t be built in Mesta Park or Rose Creek … But what about SoSA? Will the new guidelines turn SoSA into another homogenized neighborhood? Do we want to be assured of lockstep conformity to a Kinkadian vision of “neighborhood,” or would we rather be surprised and impressed by the next new building?
Actually, I wouldn’t object to a bit of Kinkaidery here and there, but I don’t want it to be the defining image of the district. As I posted there as a comment:
I live in one of those districts with fairly strict requirements; I’m thinking that it wouldn’t hurt this town, and might help it, to try a little experiment with Almost Anything Goes. I’ve visited the Okasian House — it was on the 2007 Architecture Tour — and I’d love to see other contemporary homes cheek by jowl with Craftsman houses, just for sheer jaw-dropping variety.
And if someone wants to do a new version of, say, a Wright Prairie House, that’s also fine with me.
Kay Dennison »
11 November 2008 · 9:29 pm
I like a mixture pf styles myself. My neighborhood which dates to the 1930s is a hodgepodge of varied styles and if everyone kept up them up well, it would be truly charming.