[obuchiteck]

What am I getting myself into? I might be working for a company in Bartlesville and I wanted to get an idea of what I’m getting into, where to live, eat, and so on.

Me and my family are from Chicago and love food, music, beer, and football. From my research it looks like Owasso is the place to live, but are there other choices?

First, where to live? I’m looking for neighborhoodie type of places. Somewhere where I won’t feel that I’m out in the sticks. I like parks, and to be a cheep cab ride home from a bar if necessary. Speaking of pubs, are there any open on Sunday? I have to watch football, and would prefer to do it at a sports bar. What are the different areas of Bartlesville?

I’ll think of other stuff later. My brain is a bit fried from a busy day. Thanks for any response. I’ll try to be more coherent tomorrow.

[StillwaterTownie]

Thank you for your interest in a great Oklahoma town since, Bartlesville is one of the best of the bigger small towns in Oklahoma. So why look elsewhere to live unless you want to be closer to Tulsa? Hopefully, Bartlesville has alcohol laws that allow pubs to open on Sunday like how it is in Tulsa. Bartlesville is more famous for its architecturally unique community center where its Mozart festival is held every year than for its pubs. I'm afraid you'll find that Oklahoma doesn't have much of a pub culture. But at least Bartlesville is big enough to have a Buffalo Wild Wings.

[obuchiteck]

See that’s what I’m concerned about. I looked online and all the pubs I could find in Bartlesville are closed on Sunday. Nevertheless that wouldn’t deter me to live in Bartlesville. I was just joking, sort of.

I was thinking of living about midway between Tulsa and Bartlesville, that way I can go to Tulsa on a whim and still have a somewhat short commute to Bartlesville. I also could only find a Rugby Team in Tulsa, nothing in Bartlesville.

[#1soonerfan]

May the company you are looking at working at be a very large energy company? Not naming any names...

I knew quite a few people from college that went to work for this particular company. Surprisingly several of them liked Bartlesville. Let me just say that personally I do not care for small towns but Bartlesville may be the only non-metro small town I would live in OK. It has a large amount of culture (symphony, festivals, etc.) then you would expect from a town of 40K.

With that being said, it is a small town and will simply lack a lot of amenities that other cities will have. It is VERY conservative so bars/pubs on Sunday will be a no-no. I do know of at least one person who has a loft in DT Tulsa and works up there. Its a bear of a drive but she is a very urban person and would not do well in Bartlesville. I would imagine Owasso would be doable, but still about 40 miles to DT Bartlesville. There are some very nice subdivisions along Highway 75 in Collinsville and Skiatook that may trim that down. Plus 75 isn't congested by any means. Those towns are probably be your best bet as the true "halfway point" between the 2 is the middle of nowhere. You'll still be close enough to Cherry Street and Brookside in Tulsa if you need a quick weekend jaunt for a pint somewhere.

[StillwaterTownie]

Originally Posted by obuchiteck

See that’s what I’m concerned about. I looked online and all the pubs I could find in Bartlesville are closed on Sunday. Nevertheless that wouldn’t deter me to live in Bartlesville. I was just joking, sort of.
.

Yeah, that seems to be a bad, sad side effect in the tradition and culture of Oklahoma small town life. For some reason they have laws that shut the bars down on Sunday. Not even restaurants are allowed to sell anything stronger than 3.2% beer. Maybe it's assumed that it would go against God's will to serve alcohol on Sunday or downright sinful. I detect next to ZERO interest in my town and county to get the people to go to the polls to make the county WET on Sunday. It's just a well honored tradition townspeople don't want to do away with, similar to the way it's against Oklahoma state law to sell cars on Sunday. It's simply a time honored state wide tradition.

It does get worse in Oklahoma. In the most backward Oklahoma counties the strongest you can get 7 days a week is 3.2% beer.

[ou_norman]

In my opinion living in Bartlesville would be far superior to living in Owasso. Bartlesville has the feeling of a city much larger than it is (and does not feel like a suburb) with surprising skyline and culture. Because of Conoco, you will meet people living in Bartlesville who have lived all over the world, are highly educated, and not really your typical small town types. The downtown is really nice and I think several new bars have opened in the past few years. As young people continue to come in working for Conoco the businesses cater to them more and more. And while Owasso is closer to Tulsa, Bartlesville is only about 45 minutes from DT Tulsa if you want to go to events. The occasional 45 minute drive to Tulsa would be a lot better than a daily 30 minute drive from Owasso.

[debzkidz]

I've never lived in Bartlesville, but I know a lot of people who have. These are all well educated people from all over the country, and even a few from other countries. Every one of them loved their time in Bartlesville. And when they would be transferred out, they were all sad to leave.

[ramyers]

Originally Posted by #1soonerfan

It is VERY conservative so bars/pubs on Sunday will be a no-no. I do know of at least one person who has a loft in DT Tulsa and works up there. Its a bear of a drive but she is a very urban person and would not do well in Bartlesville. I would imagine Owasso would be doable, but still about 40 miles to DT Bartlesville.......You'll still be close enough to Cherry Street and Brookside in Tulsa if you need a quick weekend jaunt for a pint somewhere.

Do we REALLY want to be telling someone to DRIVE to a pub...then drive home with alot of other people on the roads AFTER they've been to the pub? Shouldn't we be thinking through our advice a little better than that?? I'm an Oklahoman who lives in this area...I have a spouse who drives these roads...and kids who drive these roads....ALL Of whom are sober when they do so.
Please be careful about the advice you're giving...my family's life may be at risk here.

[Rubi3]

Originally Posted by ramyers

Do we REALLY want to be telling someone to DRIVE to a pub...then drive home with alot of other people on the roads AFTER they've been to the pub? Shouldn't we be thinking through our advice a little better than that?? I'm an Oklahoman who lives in this area...I have a spouse who drives these roads...and kids who drive these roads....ALL Of whom are sober when they do so.
Please be careful about the advice you're giving...my family's life may be at risk here.

Do you think a person will drive to a bar to drink, just because an anonymous poster on a website made a comment? Are you so easily influenced? If you aren't, why do you think others will be so weak minded? Are you SURE your kids are sober when they drive?

[Exaday]

You people realize that more people live in Chicago than live in Oklahoma? Clearly it would be a huge adjustment. Bville is a decent place to live. Low crime and all that stuff. It does not really have the feel of a typical small town, though it is a small town. Not going to claim it is culturally as diverse as a world city like Chicago. Come on :P

But it beats most any other town of it's size. You might like it. Tulsa is large enough to be a suburb of Chicago. It's only 45 mins north of Bville, shorter than it takes you to drive a few blocks in Chitown. Forgot about traffic you'll never see that again. YOu'll LOL at what Okies call traffic.

What else...

The weather is pretty nasty up there. I know you probably think you're used to bad weather, but I think you'd be a little surprised how gnarly NE Oklahoma is. Icestorms, floods, blizzards, tornados, droughts and now apparently Earthquakes :P

Oklahoma City is the closest real city, still small by your taste. It's like 3.5 hrs away.

Perhaps you should visit.

Live on the east side. Colonial Estates is the best, but yeah East side not west. They have less murders in a year than you are used to in a day though so not like it's a real dangerous town or anything.

Stronger beer than 3.2 can be purchased in liquor stores. Some people drive up the road to Kansas for stronger beer. They can't sell it cold is the rule. They can sell it warm in a liquor store though. Can't buy after 2am on weekdays and 9pm on week nights.

The people in Oklahoma are the salt of the earth though, you'll never meet nicer people.