Oklahoma City held as an example at creativity forum

Both agreed the key to improving cities is educating young people and attracting and retaining talented workers.

Cornett said Oklahoma City has made progress in those areas with the three MAPS programs.

“Oklahoma City has tapped into the idea that quality of life is the No. 1 ingredient for economic development,” Cornett said. “We see our young people clamoring to live in Oklahoma City now.”

Both Johnson and forum moderator Carol Coletta, president and chief executive of CEOs for Cities, were impressed with Oklahoma City's ability to create a vision of a better city with the MAPS programs and see it through to completion.

Johnson, a former NBA all-star with the Phoenix Suns, was elected mayor of his native Sacramento in 2008. He echoed Cornett's comments on quality of life, saying it was one of three main reasons he ran for mayor.

“I wanted to live in a cool city,” Johnson said.

He recalled in his final year with the Suns asking his teammates their least favorite NBA cities. The answer: Milwaukee, Salt Lake City and Sacramento.

Johnson said after an NBA game, players usually got back to their hotels in Sacramento about 10 p.m. The last thing they wanted to do was order room service, but they had no other options because downtown was deserted after 5 p.m.

Young, educated professionals are of the same mind, Johnson said. He has stressed the importance of the arts in creating a higher quality of life and job creation.

“It's about vitality,” he said. “It's about having something to do even if you don't want to do it.”