[obuchiteck]

Originally Posted by obuchiteck

I found a house that I really like but it's in Ocheleta, but I'ts only 6 miles away from work.

OK.. NO WAY ON OCHELETA! You were rite.

So I just got done with my visit and here is what I observed and the questions I have. First off, I was highly impressed with Bartlesville. The food and local charm exceeded my expectations.

I had a burger and Guinness at the “Two sisters pub” and the place was exactly what I was looking for. It would be at home in any of Chicago’s trendy neighborhoods. The burger was OK and the sweet potato fries were crispy. I’m looking forward to checking out the rest of the menu. What I really enjoyed was my favorite past time of people watching. I was there around 7ish and I noticed even families felt comfortable eating and hanging out at this time. Granted I wouldn’t have my family in any pub after 8. Then for breakfast I had a donut at “Daily Doughnuts”. Now that joint will be getting a lot of my money! The glazed doughnut was out of this world. What I had was close to a perfect doughnut. What made it the bees knees was the fact that the doughnut had this buttery flavor to it that I’ve never tasted with a glazed doughnut.

I was quite surprised that the drive from Owasso to Bartlesville even faster then I expected. It wouldn’t be a problem commuting from Owasso to Bartlesville. Witch is a good thing. I’m still having problems finding anything promising properties to rent in Bartlesville. Anyone see anything 3bedrooms or more I would appreciate a heads up. I would still prefer to stay in Bartlesville. I absolutely fell in love with that town and would love to live there.

I have a question. In Chicago I loose about 30% of my paycheck to taxes. What is the average taxes for OK? We also pay taxes on Groceries here, how about there?

[swake]

Despite the whining over taxes you might hear Oklahoma is a very low tax state. State income tax tops out at about 7%, someone making a decent living will pay an effective state state rate of 3-4% after deductions. There is a 8-9% sales tax on basically everything you might buy in a store. Property taxes are relatively low as well, it varies by school district but expect to pay about 1% a year of a homes value in taxes. Everything combined you will pay well under 10% of income on state and local taxes.

[briansgi]

My son works for Siemens in B'ville but he wanted to stay close to Tulsa so he bought a new house off of 146th street just east of highway 75. He said his commute is 35 minutes and he car pools with 3 other co-workers. You will find if you want to live in the Collinsville/Owasso area you will have plenty of other people you could car pool with to save on fuel. Food for thought.

[Klhbrown]

In my opinion, if you're from Chicago you'd probably enjoy Bartlesville. If you were from a small town in Illinois you may not like it so much. Bartlesville has more of a upper-class (sort of) city mentality. I was born and raised in a suburb of Minneapolis and moved to Bartlesville about 10 years ago. I thought it was a great place. We have since moved to much smaller Ponca City, which definitely has more of a rural feel. After living in Ponca for years, I get frustrated with Bartlesville when I go back because of the traffic & attitude. But, as I mentioned above, if you're fresh out of the city you should enjoy it. It won't have all the conveniences of big city or suburban living, but it has more than most places in OK.
Owasso is a bit of a drive from Bartlesville. Really, everything is a bit of a drive from everything else here. Lol.

[Klhbrown]

If you're set on living IN Bartlesville choose the east side, unless you like historic homes, in which case Dewey & Johnstone just west of downtown have some gorgeous homes.

[Wyllyam]

Originally Posted by obuchiteck

OK.. NO WAY ON OCHELETA! You were rite.

So I just got done with my visit and here is what I observed and the questions I have. First off, I was highly impressed with Bartlesville. The food and local charm exceeded my expectations.

I had a burger and Guinness at the “Two sisters pub” and the place was exactly what I was looking for. It would be at home in any of Chicago’s trendy neighborhoods. The burger was OK and the sweet potato fries were crispy. I’m looking forward to checking out the rest of the menu. What I really enjoyed was my favorite past time of people watching. I was there around 7ish and I noticed even families felt comfortable eating and hanging out at this time. Granted I wouldn’t have my family in any pub after 8. Then for breakfast I had a donut at “Daily Doughnuts”. Now that joint will be getting a lot of my money! The glazed doughnut was out of this world. What I had was close to a perfect doughnut. What made it the bees knees was the fact that the doughnut had this buttery flavor to it that I’ve never tasted with a glazed doughnut.

I was quite surprised that the drive from Owasso to Bartlesville even faster then I expected. It wouldn’t be a problem commuting from Owasso to Bartlesville. Witch is a good thing. I’m still having problems finding anything promising properties to rent in Bartlesville. Anyone see anything 3bedrooms or more I would appreciate a heads up. I would still prefer to stay in Bartlesville. I absolutely fell in love with that town and would love to live there.

I have a question. In Chicago I loose about 30% of my paycheck to taxes. What is the average taxes for OK? We also pay taxes on Groceries here, how about there?

Taxes aren't too bad. Sales tax i believe is around 8.5%? Property tax is higher in Tulsa county (Owasso) than Rogers or Washington. I grew up in Bartlesville, left for 20 years, and came back to live in Owasso so that I can get back to Bartlesville to visit family yet still get to all the places in Tulsa I need to. Owasso has some rentals, but the prices seem a bit steep. (Check the Tulsa Craigslist for finding them.) I bought after the first year as home prices right now are unbelievably cheap. Either way, a burger and a Guiness is about the best way to spend an evening or weekend IMO, wish I knew more ppl to do this with...my favorite when I can't get to Bville is Fox & Hound in South Tulsa, screens on every wall and a true pub atmosphere...Bartlesville is struggling to build a night-life, and the downtown is at a crossroads. I hope these places (Two Sisters, Frank and Lolas, Sweet Lou's, etc.) make it, as it was a ghost-downtown when I moved away years ago. I'll certainly support them when I'm in town.
Either way, welcome to the area!

[MOKAN]

Originally Posted by Klhbrown

If you're set on living IN Bartlesville choose the east side, unless you like historic homes, in which case Dewey & Johnstone just west of downtown have some gorgeous homes.

Can you provide a little more detail? What's on the east side of town?

[ou_norman]

Originally Posted by MOKAN

Can you provide a little more detail? What's on the east side of town?

Highway 75 is the major artery on the east side of town. It has the shopping mall, big box stores, and suburban style subdivisions.

West side of town has historic homes and downtown, and further west (past railroad tracks) there is a more low income area.

They are separated by a sizable floodplain as you can see from Google Earth.

[StillwaterTownie]

Originally Posted by ou_norman

They are separated by a sizable floodplain as you can see from Google Earth.

Yeah, I've noticed how dramatic looking the separation is, more so than how the Stillwater Creek flood plain separates southwest Stillwater from the rest of Stillwater.

[macluffy]

Originally Posted by MOKAN

I personally like that places like Oklahoma actually have a real local culture. I don't want every place to be the same. There are folks who are very theoretical and see everything on a national scale that selectively have no respect or appreciation for real local cultures rooted in tradition and history, such as Oklahoma's, that if they had their way would have this entire country be homogenous and would (or are they already?) force coastal/liberal/new school (whatever you want to call it) ways on places like Oklahoma - which is ironic because these same folks tend to covet varying European and world cultures and select subcultures here at home in the US. What it boils down to is a lack of respect and not seeing certain segments of Americans as validly choosing their own cultural/traditional route. The words fascist and dictatorial have been used to describe these people. Who want to destroy others' culture. What I'm defending here is what many are referring to when they suggest American culture is being attacked and those attacking it often seem befuddled as a response. They seem befuddled because either they haven't experienced it, don't see it, and therefore don't realize it really exists, or they flatout have no respect and want it destroyed.

Wow- was browsing City-Data looking for small, pleasant, conservative and "unspoiled" towns to live in. I think I just found my dream city- Bartlesville!