Ya'll Need a Job?

John got on an immigration soapbox recently, so I thought I would offer an opinion on an article that I ran across on the Yahoo! homepage last week. The article listed Forbes' Top Ten Cities for Jobs. Much to my surprise, Tulsa and OKC cracked the top ten for the first time, with Tulsa coming in at #6 and OKC coming in at #10. OKC ranked #4 for income growth, which was one of the main reasons for being in the top ten. I was proud of my hometown, so I went through the pictures link in the middle of the page. Each city I passed, including Salt Lake City, Raleigh, Phoenix and Jacksonville had a picture of a modern skyline. Urban setting. Substantial infrastructure. You get the picture. Even Tulsa and Wichita had respectable pictures. Then OKC's picture.

Let me first preface by saying that the bombing memorial is a beautiful and poignant place. I have been there and can understand why it is our #1 tourist attraction. However, the picture used in the article is the worst picture of the memorial I have ever seen. If you have never been you would probably have no way of knowing that the picture is from there. I found this picture in 2 seconds. Why not incorporate the chairs in the photograph?

For the people that have no idea that the picture is of the memorial, it perpetuates the image of OKC being a cow town. No skyline. No urban district. For a few others it probably reinforces the notion that our city is only known for it's disasters. When people think of Miami, do they just think of hurricanes? I would have preferred a picture of Bricktown, the canal, OUR skyline, or even the Cowboy Hall of Fame over the one that was presented. I hope we continue to host Big 12 Tournaments and can get the Sonics to come. The only way to change the city's image is to get people to visit and see for themselves.

Let me know what you think......agree or disagree with me about the picture?