Possible move to Norman. Will it work? (Cherokee: apartment, rental)

[tigergirl]

Just Moved Out Of Norman And There Is A Small Area Of Duplexes That Are About 4 Blocks South East Of The Football Stadium. My Kids Went To The Elementry School. Nice Area Walking Distance And I Don't Think It Is Very Expensive. They Have 1 And 2 Bedrooms. If You Want More Info I Can Get It For.

[ogre]

From the information you all have offered, I'm picturing a real hometown USA kind of place. I get an image of neighborhoods with big shade trees, and large older houses with wide front porches, and maybe an intriguing variety of architecture. I also like the sound of that nice outdoors area immediately to the east, as well as the local nightlife. OU itself sounds great. I've had good impressions from the information I've dug up about the school, and the things people here have told me add to that positive view.

Soonermeteor, I forget to respond to your question before, but I'm either an aspiring writer or a fledgling writer, depending on how much work you feel someone has to have published to cross that line from aspiring writer to just plain writer. I'll be studying creative writing in graduate school. OU has an MA program, rather than the master of fine arts degree that is the traditional terminal degree in creative fields. I'm looking at both MA and MFA programs. The MA degree, though not viewed as the final step, will work for me, as I'm planning to go on for the doctorate.

Thanks to everyone for the helpful information.

[ogre]

Tigergirl, thanks for the offer to provide info on duplexes. I'll wait on that offer for now. I'm still way early in the exploratory stage to be getting specific about housing possibilities. I'll keep your offer in mind, though. Thanks.

[eddie gein]

The Writing department I think is located in Kaufman or Gittinger halls which are the west side of the south oval. The west side of campus is really pretty but it is a bit pricey (for Oklahoma). If I didn't have a car I would live north of campus. It is a little cheaper than the west side of campus and has more varied types of housing (less homeowners there). It is good because you can get to campus, or campus corner or downtown on foot or by bicycle easily to find restaurants etc.
The north side of campus also is the area that seems to attract a more diverse group of people culturally. The area SE of campus is also like this but it is a real hike to any food places from there.

Norman (around campus) feels like a lot smaller town than 100K. It feels like about 25 K. Most of the suburban sprawl is out by I-35 and they have been able to keep the campus feel throughout all these years.

[ogre]

Originally Posted by eddie gein

The Writing department I think is located in Kaufman or Gittinger halls which are the west side of the south oval. The west side of campus is really pretty but it is a bit pricey (for Oklahoma). If I didn't have a car I would live north of campus. It is a little cheaper than the west side of campus and has more varied types of housing (less homeowners there). It is good because you can get to campus, or campus corner or downtown on foot or by bicycle easily to find restaurants etc.
The north side of campus also is the area that seems to attract a more diverse group of people culturally. The area SE of campus is also like this but it is a real hike to any food places from there.

Norman (around campus) feels like a lot smaller town than 100K. It feels like about 25 K. Most of the suburban sprawl is out by I-35 and they have been able to keep the campus feel throughout all these years.

It's great to get info like this, about specific parts of town. Even something about the campus, and the buildings where I'd be spending plenty of time if ultimately I were to choose the program at OU. Thanks a lot for the detailed info. Take care.

[MajorHart]

Originally Posted by ogre

This is helpful. Norman sounds nice. It sounds like what I've pictured--fairly close to a city but with enough going on locally to have the sense of being its own place, not just a generic suburb--but it's good to get a picture from people in the know. It also sounds as if the rents in the area are in line with what I expect to be able to afford, and that it's easy to get around in Norman without (motorized) wheels.

When I asked about tornadoes and spiders I was being a bit tongue-in-cheek, though both of them do make me a little nervous. I've kind of guessed that the fact that the buildings in OK are not all concrete bunkers is a clue that the tornado situation is manageable. Also, the info that recluses are most likely to prefer living in clutter, so that keeping things reasonably neat should head off any problems, is good to have.

My question about busses to OKC was more about Greyhound and the like. I know that the local transit system shuts down early in the evening (kind of surprising for a city this large). If I can get downtown by intercity bus, I don't mind walking around quite a bit. I can check on intercity busses easily enough. The last I checked, the Amtrak Heartland Flyer made only one run per day in each direction, and those were the wrong times--going TO OKC at night, and FROM the city toward Norman in the morning. If this has changed, I'd be glad to get the latest info, since traveling by train would be a pleasant way to get there.

Football? Well, two other schools on my list of possibilities are Ohio State and Nebraska (sorry about considering one of your rivals, but at least it's not Texas!), so there are a few places I could end up where I would need to like football. It's not so much a question of liking football as the fact that I'm generally more interested in professional sports than college (maybe because up in the Boston area, where I'm from, about the only sport where most local colleges have traditionally been strong is hockey, which is one sport that doesn't interest me much). But hey, I can adjust!

Bottom line: It's clear that Norman would work for me, so I can concentrate simply on looking at OU's graduate program, without being concerned about whether living in the area would be manageable. Thanks again for the info!

Nebraskans are hard to get to know and are not friendly until you've been there a long time. My wife graduated from Dana University in Nebraska and she agrees. Nice enough people but cold until you've been there a long time.

Oklahomans are naturally warm and friendly. I don't know why that is but everytime I've entered the state, the friendliness was noticable.

On the spiders, I lived in Arizona 12 years and now live in Missouri and I still shake out my clothes, socks and shoes. We have the recluse here too, although I've never seen one - so when we clean out our basement - we will wear long gloves.

Majorhart

[ogre]

Originally Posted by MajorHart

Nebraskans are hard to get to know and are not friendly until you've been there a long time. My wife graduated from Dana University in Nebraska and she agrees. Nice enough people but cold until you've been there a long time.

Oklahomans are naturally warm and friendly. I don't know why that is but everytime I've entered the state, the friendliness was noticable.

On the spiders, I lived in Arizona 12 years and now live in Missouri and I still shake out my clothes, socks and shoes. We have the recluse here too, although I've never seen one - so when we clean out our basement - we will wear long gloves.

Majorhart

Thanks for the additional info, MH. What you say about the friendliness of Oklahomans certainly seems true if the responses I've gotten on this forum are any indication. I'm continuing my research into graduate programs, so I'll see whether OU makes my short list of schools to apply to. If so, Norman definitely seems like a place where I'd enjoy living.

If you look at my original post, you'll see that I asked about tornadoes as well as spiders. I'm more nervous about the spiders. Maybe it's because I know they're all around, even if they do usually stay hidden, while logic tells me that even in central OK the chances that any one spot will be nailed by a tornado are very slim. The spiders do kind of creep me out, but I'll deal with that if the time comes. For sure, it's not going to keep me away from OU if that's where I'm meant to be. Thanks again for adding your thoughts. Take care.

[Mattie Jo]

I spent a lot of money hiring a bug man to fog my house for brown recluse. He didn't go a good job next time around. Now I am complaining to the company. Then I asked several if they had brown recluse spiders. Most didn't, but the one woman that did said she went to farm supply, got three foggers and used them inside her house, and she didn't have any for 10 years after. She is seeing them again this year. You can fog the attic, house, and cellar or under house. After I have finished my contract with this bug company I will do my own.

Most people in that part of OK have storm cellars. You may want to debug them too.

[peggydavis]

Good point, Jessaka. I always put a fogger down in my storm cellar at the beginning of spring and the beginning of fall. So I guess I'd better do that pretty soon.

The only spiders I kill on purpose are brown recluse and black widows. These spiders live in many places in the US, not just in Oklahoma. I don't think anyone should not move to OK because of spiders.

[Jammie]

I have a bug question~we don't fog our houses up here unless it's a bad year for ticks. BUT I was reading in a southwestern state last night where they were discussing scorpions. One poster stated that if you have a cat, you won't have scorpions. Has anyone found the same to be true with brown recluse spiders? It doesn't seem to matter with regular ones so the question may be silly, but I'm just curious.