2011 Was a Downtown Boom Year for Oklahoma City

"[I]t was a year in which the combination of private and public investment downtown created a dramatically new skyline, one shown to television viewers nationwide, thanks to a Nike campaign featuring NBA star Kevin Durant and network-televised Thunder basketball games.

With plenty of lists giving accolades to the city on cost of living, housing, entrepreneurship and quality of life for retirees, the good economic news sweeping Oklahoma City in 2011 wasn't without some debate. The city's increased use of public-private initiatives in 2011 saw a new wave of questioning by critics who are asking whether too much is being given away in the name of economic development."

The city is aggressively luring businesses to the city through incentive programs, and the downtown area is expecting to see some new residential growth and retail activity in the coming year.

Thanks to Nate Berg