Episode 1: Designing Neighborhoods For How People Want To Live - Wheeler District with Ashley Terry

We were thrilled to have Ashley Terry, VP of Development for Wheeler District on the Building Culture Podcast.  Wheeler District is a Traditional Neighborhood Development, or TND, just a mile from downtown Oklahoma City.

Ashley Terry has an amazing story.  She started off as a hairdresser and as her career progressed she started to feel the itch for something more.  Upon reading one of Jan Gehl's books, it completely changed how she saw cities and architecture, and how it shapes peoples' lives, so she decided to get more involved wherever she could in that arena--even though she didn't know what the end goal was.  Eventually, the opportunity to work for Wheeler was presented, and she took it with a "give me anything to do and I'll figure it out" attitude, and just a few years later she is VP of Development in one of the largest and most successful developments in Oklahoma City, got her MBA on the side, runs the local ULI, and much more. Can't wait for you to hear her story, and also about what they are doing in Wheeler District.  You may not be from Oklahoma City, but there is something for everyone in this podcast!

WHAT IS A TND?

What do fancy terms like "TND" and "New Urbanism" actually mean?  It simply means that these neighborhoods are designed around the human experience.  It takes what people want, things like safety, privacy, community, vibrancy, beauty, public spaces, convenience, shopping, schools, range of housing options, etc, and THEN figures out how to express those features, those desires and values, in the fabric of the neighborhood, and in the architecture itself.

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