I love a good before-and-after. These two images of Oklahoma City are currently being used in campaign material supporting the city's third Metropolitan Area Projects (MAPS) program, which should give us 6 miles of modern streetcar, an enormous downtown park to be the center of a new 1000 acre urban neighborhood, bike/walking trails, etc, when voters go to the polls on December 8. The first MAPS has sparked about $4-5 billion in downtown investment over the last 10 years, as seen in the "after" picture.
California St, Oklahoma City, 1998, one of the worst parts of town. You can see the Bricktown Ballpark (first of original MAPS projects) under construction at the end of the street.
Same view, about 5 years later. Today this stretch of buildings visible in the picture hosts the Academy of Contemporary Music (Paul McCartney's music college), retailers, nightclubs, bars, restaurants, loft apartments, and office space.