[Jrsygrl51]

No problem. You will love it here. Safe travels!

[okie1962]

Originally Posted by Griffis

A little bit further north, around 26th and Yale there is a cool housing edition from the 50s done in what we'd today call retro-futuristic style. It was the first housing edition in the country with central heat and air standard. I've always dug that neighborhood.

That are is called Lortondale, it is very cool and is on the rebound. Very cool looking 1950s Modern homes.

[Griffis]

I've expressed this elsewhere on the OK forum, but I would like to make an additional comment (or a few) about Oklahoma in general. Just for people who are perhaps considering moving here.

When I was younger, I spent a good deal of my time in the state trying to figure out how to get out of Oklahoma. The politics and religious views (in general) are 180 degrees apart from mine. I thought of Oklahoma as too "dead-ended." Too provincial. And I detested (well, I still do) the Summer heat and humidity.

I have done a lot of Oklahoma-bashing in my time.

And I've gotten to experience the rest of the country and even a few other countries outside the USA, and have been fortunate to do so. No regrets there.

But my most recent return to Oklahoma was just back before Thanksgiving a couple of months ago, after three years in Portland, Oregon and eight years total away.

Maybe it's me getting mellower...maybe it's partially the fact that we moved back when it wasn't so freaking hot...but my attitudes towards the state have changed a lot for the better.

Weather aside, what can a person considering a move to Oklahoma expect? On the positive side, that is...

For one, even though the central part of the state is largely plains and pretty flat and uniform, there really is a lot of topographical diversity, from the Wichitas to the Ouachitas to the Ozark foothills to the Black Mesa. It runs from a very Southwestern, desert-type landscape to very lush with rolling hills.

For another, the skies. I've never experienced the like anywhere else. So vast. The sunrises and sunsets are like a gift...you can see all the amazing colors--pink, grey, blue, orange, violet--recede on for miles and miles. And the cloud formations can become unlike anything I've seen anywhere. At night it's easy to get out in the country where the stargazing is just unparalleled. The storms, too. The best thunderstorms you can find, if that's your thing.

Finally, the people. I do believe in some sense that people are the same in really significant,. fundamental ways from place to place and culture to culture. We all mostly want the same things...we want our kids to be happy and healthy. We don't want to have to worry about food and shelter. We want some togetherness with our neighbors. We aren't any group of us all that different from any other group in a lot of ways.

But overall the people here really are salt-of-the-earth, shirt-off-their-back kind of folk. Unpretentious, kind, solid.

So, beyond the relatively low cost of living and population density from place to place within the state, there is a lot to recommend Oklahoma, and I haven't even covered many of them here.

There. There's my sales pitch.

[cfrepro]

Kids sports sounds like the main criteria. I spent many years in Tulsa involved all the school districts as a football official and Dad.

I would rank the places I would move by school district:
1. Jenks
2. Union
3. Owasso
4. Bixby
5. Broken Arrow

These are all larger school districts with good sports programs.

[dwmmg08]

If you can handle small town living near the big city, Pryor seems pretty good, and has a good football program, and housing is not expensive. So far, I'm really liking it!

[rockyinyourradio]

Griffis drove the main points home. Excellent post by him. I will add.. I have been to Seattle. I would give my eye teeth to move there but some things are much better here in Oklahoma.. like cost of living, significantly less.. especially gas. People are pretty friendly but as with anywhere else, you do have your anal orifices. Culturally, Seattle still beats us hands down.. but Oklahoma City and Tulsa is catching up. Tulsa has some great shows that come every year. The BOK Centre is a great addition to Tulsa.

My chief complaints with Oklahoma is the weather... the summer heat is intense and we are in the midst of an epic drought that I doubt will end soon (See the Oklahoma weather thread for more info) You will be trading living in earthquake country for tornado alley (we can even throw in a little quake or two to make you feel at home!). Griffis is right also about the thunderstorms.. they can be fierce, sometimes even a little scary, but mostly in the spring and early summer, and many people who have lived here for many years have yet to even see a tornado.

I would highly recommend you rent for the first year. You aren't the first ones to consider a move here from the PACNW.. I know several have done so and most have adjusted well but I guarantee you'll miss the ocean and those beautiful forests and mountains. The good thing is that Tulsa does have alot of trees and once you get up towards Grand Lake, Tenkiller Lake and on into the Ozarks.. you'll love that area and the lakes are nice. Let us know what you decide and how the move goes..