Crosbie Heights Neighborhood Association Treasurer Glenda Mims passes out fliers for an upcoming neighborhood association meeting. “We just want to make sure the residents in the neighborhood know that the association was for them, whether they be renters or homeowners,” said Tracie Leonhart, the neighborhood association president. “We thought that was a very important message.” ZACH GRAY/Tulsa World



Artists and professionals, grandparents and hipsters, lawyers and hippies. They all call Crosbie Heights home.


One of Tulsa's oldest neighborhoods — it was platted in 1908 by William Crosbie — the diverse area just west of downtown is ready for its renaissance, say many of its neighbors.


While the neighborhood boasts easy access to downtown, to the popular Joe Station Dog Park, to a community garden and to a community grocery store, Crosbie Heights still has some dilapidated houses and vacant lots to overcome before its hopeful neighbors are satisfied.

Eccentric mix

"I have much more of a sense of community here," says Dr. Miriam Mills, a pediatrician who moved to Crosbie Heights from midtown. "I think people have so much more of a sense of involvement with Tulsa and what's going to happen downtown. They're activists, and they believe it makes a difference to do things and establish things."
 

At her last neighborhood, Mills says she knew "maybe three of my neighbors." Not in Crosbie Heights.


Neighborhood Association President Tracie Leonhart moved to the neighborhood a decade ago from Oklahoma City. Her reasons for staying in Crosbie Heights are "a combination of things."
 

"No. 1, it's eccentric. You have your artists; you have your professional people; you have your blue collar," she said. "Another thing is proximity to downtown. You know, I walk out on my back porch and I see the skyline. It's nice going reverse against the flow of traffic every day."

Lisa Merrell, otherwise known as the Tomato Man's Daughter, moved to the neighborhood recently from a farm.


"I lived in Seattle for seven years, and in some ways, it reminds me of living there," Merrell said. "The diversity of people, all ethnic types, artists, farmers, there's a guy who rides his bike by my house every day who works downtown. I love that old Crafstman-style house, how it looks and feels, the character of it."


The neighborhood association wants all neighbors to be involved, even renters.

As a testament to that, Leonhart and several members spent a muggy weeknight handing out fliers for their July meeting at a local church. Some neighbors were interested and stopped them in the street to ask questions, while others guarded their privacy.


"We just want to make sure the residents in the neighborhood know that the association was for them, whether they be renters or homeowners," Leonhart said. "We thought that was a very important message."

“I remember when it was all really nice houses,” says Greg Wilder of Crosbie Heights. “It’s coming back, though.” ZACH GRAY/Tulsa World

Walking Crosbie

Greg Wilder grew up in Crosbie Heights and still lives there today. He's active in the neighborhood association and updates its website.

"I've lived here my whole life," says Wilder, pointing to his house, which was once his grandparents' home.


The Crosbie Heights that Wilder, an accountant for Mazzio's Corp., remembers from childhood is much different than today's neighborhood.

"I remember when it was all really nice houses," he says and pauses. "It's coming back, though."


He points to a vacant lot that used to be a neighborhood gas station.

"I remember a little gas station because the owner would always give me IBC root beer. It was just a little two-pump. His family owned it and he passed away and it closed and was torn down."


But for all the empty lots and shabby houses, Wilder says he sees promise in new construction and renovation.


"Right here's a perfect example," he says, pointing to a house near the main thoroughfare of Third Street, which turns into Charles Page Boulevard. "There's a house that's basically falling down and they've come in and started redoing it."


Glenda Mims, the neighborhood association treasurer and longtime resident, wants Crosbie Heights to have a comeback much like midtown's White City neighborhood near 11th Street and Yale Avenue.

"This would be the perfect place," she says, "especially if they like to redo stuff like young people like to do."


One of her favorite places in Crosbie Heights is the Nogales Avenue Baptist Church, 102 S. Nogales Ave., which is nearly 98 years old. She points out that the construction of the Inner Dispersal Loop took out many houses in the area and hurt the neighborhood and church membership.


"People moved and had to buy new houses and found new churches in their neighborhood," Mims said. "It's such a beautiful church and it's so original."

Left: Rigo Camarena builds a gate in the driveway of his home in Crosbie Heights. Right: Billy Russell, 13 (right), tries to avoid being tackled by Anthony Horton, 14, as they play a game of football with friends in an empty lot in the Crosbie Heights neighborhood. ZACH GRAY/Tulsa World

Cautious optimism

Getting more people involved will take time, but the neighborhood association takes pride in small strides.


"There are some pretty nice houses here, but there are also some kind of not-so-great places," Leonhart said. "But it's all different walks of life. You go down to the Blue Jackalope, you get a cup of coffee, you sit and hang out, and there's no telling who's going to come in."


When the Blue Jackalope, 306 S. Phoenix Ave., opened in 2008, proprietor Scott Smith was already a resident of Crosbie Heights — and had been since 1997. He saw potential for a neighborhood coffee shop that sold some basic groceries. So far, he's pleased with what he's seeing.


"I kind of envisioned it as being the old corner grocery store when I opened it up, and it's taken on definitely a life of its own," Smith said. "It's become a community center that sells groceries. We get a lot of informal neighborhood networking."


His concerns for the neighborhood include traffic — in cars and on foot.

"One of our big issues here is doing something about calming traffic on Charles Page," he said.


He's also concerned that some might shy away from the area because it is near several social service agencies.


"There is a lot of traffic focusing through here," Smith said. "We all seem to coexist, but as far as bringing the neighborhood up, that will be one of the limiting factors."


But in the same breath, Smith mentioned a possible update of Newblock Park and Waterworks Art Studio as solid progress.


"You've got all these homes built in the '20s and I love walking to the library in five minutes."


Mills said she wishes there were fewer absentee landlords in the neighborhood, but she's still enthusiastic.


"I see every month a new house on a different block that's getting fixed up, I really do," she said. "It's a wonderful feeling."


Original Print Headline: Great heights

Kim Brown 581-8474
kim.brown@tulsaworld.com 
 

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