A great story in a time of upheaval
Irecently had the honor of running to be Oklahoma’s next governor. Though that effort ended on Aug. 28, my thoughts and hopes for this state and its communities continue.
This week, my new book “The Next American City,” was released and hopefully will bring positive attention to our state and our amazing people. The book is not a biography about me and certainly not a book about politics. It’s a book that allows me to tell our story to a larger audience and to illustrate the large number of success stories that are playing out throughout the country.
Though the book was largely completed before I knew I would be running for the state’s highest political office, the lessons of the book continued to play out as I crisscrossed Oklahoma visiting communities small and large.
In Oklahoma City alone, our unimaginable transformation in the past 25 years has captured the attention of investors, entrepreneurs, scholars and journalists.
While the struggles of small-town Oklahoma are real, and many places have a hard road ahead, what is shocking to me is just how many places already have the resources for their strongest futures right now.
In my book, I lay out some of Oklahoma City’s “greatest hits” and share examples from across the country of the dozens of other places like ours.
This is a great American story in a troubled political time. Midsize cities like Oklahoma City and Tulsa, and dozens of others, are rising up and taking their place as top-tier metros despite their slightly smaller stature.
What we actually learned is that places like Duke, Durant, Kingfisher, Broken Arrow and Claremore tell as strong a story of Oklahoma’s future as its capital city. As you might have guessed, college towns like Stillwater and Norman are of course attracting large-scale investment.
Now, not all the stories I’ve heard and places I’ve seen are altogether happy ones. More than once, we had fellow Oklahomans cry on our shoulders and share the tale of towns that once seemed vibrant.
But there is good news, too. And the great thing about the good news (or what I’ve learned) across Oklahoma in this past year is that the path forward might be a lot simpler, and a lot closer than those of us in Oklahoma City might have ever believed before.
One thing seems to be quite simple and unsurprising: Cities and towns with a strong commitment to education do better. High standards for learners lead to high potential for workers.
Oklahoma is full of examples where private business owners cooperate with local government for the betterment of the community. Going forward, that must be the model because local government cannot do it alone.
“The Next American City” is in part a book I’ve written to share Oklahoma City’s big success and bigger ideas with the rest of the country and the world. But the main place I’m committed to living and working to build stronger cities remains right in my own backyard.