By Daniel Lapham/Staff Writer
published April 20, 2008

Thanks to several housing developers, some state incentives and the municipal government, a rebirth appears to be taking place in the neighborhoods that make up El Reno’s northwest area.

The area that lies between Country Club Road, Choctaw Avenue, Sunset Drive and the Union Pacific rail yard is referred to as the Northwest Community, said Robert Coleman, community development director.

“There is a sort of rebirth occurring right now in the Northwest Community,” he said. “You have Pleasant Oaks Addition and the Neighborhood Housing Services OKC Homes, most recently. Then we have seen some activity from Native American Housing Services and the Community Action Agency in the past.”

The area under the Northwest Community umbrella is actually several different neighborhoods, but they all are deeply steeped in El Reno history, Coleman said. The area began as the historically African American community and business district. An area that once boasted thriving restaurants and nightclubs over time began to lose residents. The number of abandoned and dilapidated structures began to increase. As a result of the decreasing economic development in the Northwest Community and the decrease in the area’s population, Coleman said the area fell below the poverty line, thus qualifying it to be incorporated as an Oklahoma Department of Commerce Opportunity and Enterprise Zone.

“This is the only opportunity and enterprise zone in Canadian County,” Coleman said. He said an opportunity and enterprise zone is an area that offers state incentives as a way to help attract economic development and residential growth.

As a part of this program and others that are related, Coleman said, Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS) approached the city about building in El Reno. The city provided 12 lots to NHS in 2006. Building started in 2007 and Coleman described the progress as good.