Want to relocate, Bixby, Broken Arrow, Osswao, Jenks (Tulsa, Owasso: condo, crime)

[krisdd]

Hi everyone,

I have been reading forums here and I have been finding some great information.

My husband and I are from NY. We are tired of the expensive cost of living here. In January we went to visit my father who resides in Weleetka. He drove us around Jenks, and we saw a model home. It is amazing at the pricing of homes from Ok to NY. We are considering relocating.

Can anyone tell me the good, bad and the ugly of all the areas mentioned above? I can transfer thru my job to Tulsa, however my husband would have to find a new job. He is an executive Chef. How are the jobs in the areas? Is the job market scarce there?

What about crime in the areas? I saw that the Riverwalk is going up for auction. Are there any other areas of shopping rather than going into Tulsa?

I try to read the online paper everyday to get a feel for OK. I go to Tulsaword.com and some other site I bookmarked. Is there a local paper. I wemt on line to the chamber of commerence for Jenks, but I have not found any useful information there.

If anyone could help that would be wonderful.

Thank you.

Kristine

[swake]

There is a local paper for Jenks/Bixby/Glenpool but the name escapes me, it’s pretty worthless. They have started calling these three suburbs “South County”. I know, very awful and cheesy. Jenks and Bixby are very nice and a lot alike, Bixby is the largest of the three but has poor highway access and some traffic issues. Glenpool is smaller and less wealthy. Jenks has almost no crime, I would assume Bixby is the same, Glenpool is going to have some minor crime. The three towns combined have something like 50-60k people.

The Riverwalk is not the primary retail area for Jenks, it’s more touristy and night life than shopping. Jenks does not have much in the way of big box stores but there is a good amount of retail on Main and on Elm near main. The main grocery store in Jenks is about the best store in the state and there is an all organic grocery store is under construction near Main. For bigger stores Jenks is surrounded by big shopping centers. Just to the south of Jenks (and I mean across the street from Jenks) on US75 in Glenpool is a large shopping center called “The Shoppes at South County”, the name is more upscale than the center but it’s nice enough and has all the basics. A mile north of Jenks in Tulsa also on US75 is a huge million square foot super regional shopping center called Tulsa Hills that has about anything you could need and is still growing. There’s another large center that is right across the bridge that’s next to Riverwalk. It’s in Tulsa but is under 2000 feet from Jenks. Any of these centers are less than 10 minutes from anywhere in Jenks. The city also has good highway access with US75 going to downtown Tulsa and the Creek Turnpike going to south Tulsa. The Creek can get you to the Woodland Hills area in under 15 minutes and that’s the largest shopping mall and shopping district in the state. Restaurants that would have executive chef kind of positions are going to concentrated in the south river area in and near Jenks, the Woodland area and the Midtown/Downtown areas in Tulsa. You will find that Tulsa has excellent (though sometimes poorly maintained) highways and basically no traffic outside of the Woodland Hills area/North Bixby.

[krisdd]

Thank you Swake. Is there any other areas you could recommend other than Bixby, Glen Pool, Jenks that you may suggest would be a good area to look into as well. Thanks again.

[swake]

If you want real suburban than Jenks is about the best there is. But look in the city too. I don’t know your price range or where you would be working but Midtown/Downtown is definitely worth a look. Most of the city of Tulsa is pretty suburban and generally pretty nice.

I personally don't care for Owasso or Broken Arrow.

[flyingcat2k]

There is a growing food and arts industry in Tulsa. It seems like the people that are moving to town are interested in supporting the local business rather than big-box-and-mega-restraunt. That said, those people are moving to Tulsa or Bixby proper. Most people I know living in Jenks, BA and Owasso are still big-box buyers.

Executive chefs here aren't in great demand from what I know but the restaurant industry is growing. IF he wants to stay an executive chef, he may be looking at OKC as OKC's Fortune 500 companies (CHK, DVN, Continental Resources, ect.) do use them. Tulsa publicly traded companies tend not to have them but some of the private companies may.

[Wyllyam]

Having just bought a home in Owasso (2500 sq ft for less than 200k), I can attest to the fact that the difference in home prices will make you smile. Yes, I've lived in bigger cities, but you couldn't even buy a condo in most larger cities for what you can buy the average 4 bedroom 3 bath house here. And, you won't lose as much even if the market drops more, since you started at such a low buy-in price. With a decent down payment and these interest rates, home payments are low enough that you'll feel quite safe in this economy.
The next question is do you have school concerns? Personally, if I didn't have kids, I would find a beautiful house closer to downtown Tulsa. As it is, I bought in Owasso due to the schools (which the kids love), but I also hear very good things about Jenks. There is way more rush-hour traffic than what I believe has been presented to you, but it's mostly because they are upgrading every major street in Tulsa at the same time. It's silly, and it brings us to a standstill for an hour twice a day. The major strike against Owasso may be that the primary artery is so clogged during rush hour. If your job allows you to drive outside of the normal 8-5 schedule, this will be a non-issue. I'd rank your needs for us and I believe we could rank the suburbs according to your preferences: Commute (to which part of town), Schools, Shopping, Culture, Crime-rate, Home Price, etc.
Either way, if you visit again or move, welcome!

[Foxworthy5]

There's a sizable new shopping center being built close to both Jenks and Glenpool. Bixby is suffering growing pains. While Bixby may not have a monopoly on this, the city government is not trustworthy. Having an agreement signed, sealed, and delivered so-to-speak means nothing.

[Foxworthy5]

I agree with flyingcat2k, OKC is a more progressive city with major investments in infrastructure compared to the Tulsa area. Besides the Tulsa area generally only gets the crumbs left over from legislative spending. Oklahoma is one of the few states in which the largest city is also happens to be the capital.

[Okiegirlfriend]

I tell everyone to check out this site before you consider buying any house.

FEMA Floodsmart

[krisdd]

Thank you all for your replies.