Need Help (Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Norman: for sale, apartments, rental)

[LisaMarie]

Some of you may have already read that my family and I are going to be moving out there to OK. I've been searching for apartments now for weeks and I found one today that I kinda like and I can't find any ratings at all on this place and I was wondering if anyone had any information on this place or if anyone has heard any good or bad things about this place, I don't want to end up getting into a place that's not safe. The name of the place is called: Citadel Suites & Apartment Homes and the address is:
5113 N. Brookline Avenue
Oklahoma City, OK 73112

Also the woman I spoke with told me my son would probably go to Monroe school and I think that's OKC public school, any info on that school would be great as well..ty

If anyone has any information about the place or area please let me know. Thanks in advance.

[Griffis]

Lisa-- are you dead set on OKC?

Now, I'm familiar with OKC but don't know much about that specific area.

Thing is, there are some decent parts of OKC, but a lot of sketchy areas too. Also, the two are intermingled quite often. A real nice area will be right in between a couple of slums, etc.

For all I know, that may be a fine address and a great apartment, so I'm not trying to dissuade you. BUT I was thinking you might consider Norman.

Norman is only about 20 miles south of OKC. Lots of people commute (though rush hour traffic on 35 can be a mess sometimes.)

Anyways, you can be from Norman to OKC in no time flat and Norman is quite nicer than OKC in my mind. It's smaller, but still close to 100,000 people(maybe more by now)...jobs are readily available, rent is about the same as OKC. People are friendly. It's a nice community (not that people in OKC aren't friendly, but ...you know...)

Norman has a good hospital, many clinics, good schools (my kids go to Norman schools) and a fine university.

There are probably more options for night life in OKC, but Norman has some cool bars and clubs, tons of restaurants, less traffic, nice parks, all the shopping you could want, and most of all, Norman is FAR easier to get around than OKC and you don't have to worry about crime at all. Maybe some petty crime, but nothing like OKC which, like Tulsa, has a higher crime index per capita than NYC.

Anyway, it's something to consider. Even if you were working in OKC (and you could probably do the exact same work in Norman) or just wanted to be more in the thick of a big downtown area, you can be in OKC in 15 minutes.

Norman isn't a great town, but it's one of only 2 or 3 places I'd ever consider living in Oklahoma. (OKC is NOT one of the places I'd choose to live, but that's my personal opinion.)

The only other thing about Norman is that it's not quite as diverse as OKC. Much more of a "whitebread" community, if you know what I mean. However, it is getting a little better and when the university is in full swing of Fall and Spring semester, there are tons of students from all over the globe around town.

(The area around the university has tons of cool shops and places to eat also.)

Anyway, not to knock OKC (though I often have on this board)-- there are far worse places you could live, but if you have children I would strongly advise you to at least consider Norman.

[Jammie]

Griff, what are the other places you'd live in OK?

[Griffis]

Tulsa area or Tahlequah. I lived in Chickasha for awhile too, which has a great little university but not a whole lot to recommend the town. Ada fits that same description.

There are some pretty towns to visit, and I've been all over the state in some depth, but I'd only live in Norman, Tulsa or Tahlequah.

And only if for some reason I had to be in Oklahoma any longer than I have been. As soon as I find a job in a state my wife and I consider not a lateral move or a step down, we're out. I never want to spend another summer in this part of the country.

[LisaMarie]

Thank you Griffis, I am going to check out that city as well. I appreciate your help alot.

[Griffis]

I do hope you'll consider Norman. It's a great alternative to OKC. I'm not trying to paint OKC as a such a terrible place, though I've called it a hell-hole on this very forum. I've lived in worse places and I'd take OKC over real cruddy cities like Houston, Detroit, Phoenix, Miami, etc. All places I truly despise.

But it IS hard to get around a lot of the time and has far more crime and the schools aren't anywhere NEAR as good as Norman schools.

I dunno, I'm not in any kind of love affair with Norman, but again, being so close to OKC for all those things you'd want there, but still having a lot of shopping (cool shops downtown and around campus, Best Buy, Hastings, lots of Blockbusters and other movie rental places, bowling alleys, parks, skating rink for the kiddies, huge mall, BRAND new Super Target, two mega-WalMarts plus lots of other grocery stores, health food stores, lots of restaurants including ethnic cuisine, antique stores, theaters, decent hospital, lots of businesses of all kinds)-- it's really got everything you'd want in a big town/small city pretty much in a metro area. Plus it's doing nothing but expanding. Tons of economic growth...this isn't my thing, but they are building what is to be the third largest outdoor mall in the United States in Norman.

There's lots of new apartments and houses for rent and for sale (some are pricey, but it's on par with OKC to be sure).

The primary thing is the kids. Some OKC schools are in really very bad shape. There is a lot of gang business in OKC and lots of drugs. A lot of areas are very congested and the ones that aren't are often just sorta creepy. The places that don't fit THOSE descriptions are mainly very wealthy areas. You'd have to be real well to do to live in those spots.

I would not personally let my kids too far out of my sight in OKC and that includes sending them off to school. Bad things can happen anywhere, but we are pretty safe in Norman. I rarely hear of real crime here, but it's sure on the news every night from OKC.

The worst aspect of Norman is, to me, the insane zeal people here have for the OU football team, The Sooners. I'm not a big sports fan anyway, and certainly don't see the reason behind huge fan craziness over a team made up largely of people from other states who can't wait to graduate and get the hell out of Oklahoma.

Of course, you find the same football team fanatics in tons of simalarly-sized towns, or pro-team fanatics in lots of other cities.

Home game days are a drag. There are a couple of main streets you can't even get to because of the traffic. In fact, a great deal of the traffic is people heading here from OKC for the stupid game.

I'd also suggest that, if you really are driven to live in a city of 300,000 or more people, you look into Tulsa instead of OKC. It's tons prettier up around there, though it has a lot of the same issues that OKC has as far as traffic, gang stuff, etc. I personally believe most of the schools are better than OKC (I've lived in both cities and my kids went to Tulsa schools for a time) and in Tulsa it is much easier to figure out the good areas from the scary areas, locate them and then avoid them.

Whatever you choose and wherever you end up, good luck and welcome to OK from a (hopefully) soon-to-be ex-resident.

[AK123]

I've lived in worse places and I'd take OKC over real cruddy cities like Houston, Detroit, Phoenix, Miami, etc.

I would never put all those cities in the same sentence. Detroit is bad, yes. Miami, not much better but does have a few positives. Phoenix isn't too bad. Houston is a nice city that too often gets an unfair bad rap.

[Griffis]

I've been to Houston many times. I'm from Texas and lived near Houston off and on for quite a while. Calling it a blight on the face of the nation is being gracious. Factor in the absolutely terrible weather and traffic and it's the worst of the cities I listed.

[Jammie]

Hey Griff, thanks for another positive about Tahlequah. We're considering that over Grove. I'm not sure why, but something just tell us to give that town more consideration.

[Griffis]

Hey Jammie! Well, it sorta depends on what you want. Grove is a little more small-townish and isolated, whereas Tahlequah is still far from being a city, but is still pretty, close to the country, and has a lot more going on.

I'm not an expert on Grove but it strikes me that Grove is a place that is more likely to be stagnant, if not on a decline, economically-speaking and as far as younger people moving out, but Tahlequah is on the upswing and will probably remain pretty hearty.

Seems like housing options would be far greater in Tahlequah over Grove as well.