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Old 02-15-2015, 08:02 AM
 
Location: Oklahoma
17,632 posts, read 13,448,531 times
Reputation: 17555

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Atlguy39 View Post
Eddie, as you pointed out, I don't blame OKC for everything. But having said that, I'm a 40-something year old guy looking for a wife and to start a family. This ain't the place for that. I probably won't have much luck back in Atlanta or if I move to Dallas either because of my age and relying too much on internet dating where women in their 30's cut their age limit off at 39. So yeah, I am stuck in the worst dating city ever, but it is compounded by my age. Can't totally change that with a move. Aside from that, the weather is awful here, people aren't inclusive if you haven't known them their entire f'ing life (because it isn't a "transient" city like others since NOBODY really wants to live here for any reason other than their family is from here). There isn't much in the way of professional sports (I miss my football team and baseball team), festivals, mountains, concerts, etc. Its just blah for me. That's because I'm a big city guy, with all the traffic, pollution, crime, and all the negatives that go with it. I'm not a country boy. This "city" is for country people. Its not a real city, though much better than it was 15 years ago, from what I hear. The small consolation is I like my job and the restaurants here, but it just isn't enough. So thats my rant.
Yes Atlanta is on a different level than OKC if you are used to that. DFW is similar to Atlanta. OKC is more on the level to DFW as Birmingham is to Atlanta.

We are plains city. We have the resources of a plains city but outside of DFW, OKC is the biggest city on the plains (if you don't count Denver). So we are about as good as it gets in this region. I only maintain that OKC is big enough and diverse enough that no matter what you are into you can find a pier group at some level. It won't be as dynamic as it might be in other places but it will exist for the most part.

I can appreciate your criticisms because they aren't unfounded, but people shouldn't move to a place expecting things that the place can't deliver or can't control.

It'd be like me moving to Buffalo, NY and screaming bloody murder about the snow.
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Old 02-15-2015, 09:37 AM
 
Location: Oklahoma City, OK
5,353 posts, read 5,768,684 times
Reputation: 6561
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rubi3 View Post
It's astonishing to me that you have failed to find the woman of your dreams in OKC or at least a woman to date. I can't imagine your age being a detriment.
Why do you say that? I'm not fishing for a compliment or anything, but I'm in a city where people get married at 22. I'm a fish out of water here. And yeah, I'm told I look like I'm in my 30's, but it makes no difference. I did date a woman who was 10 years younger and had a child and wanted another one. Was considering marriage, but she just wanted a man to rescue her and really just wanted a rich guy, as it turned out. Thats also the mentality here. The women aren't professional and want to be taken care of. I'm not THAT old fashioned.
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Old 02-15-2015, 09:41 AM
 
641 posts, read 1,065,411 times
Reputation: 870
You are making BIG generalizations, and you are hurting your own chances.

You can easily trick your subconscious to believe and make real any imagined constraint which you want to impose on yourself.

I've read about and seen enough about Atlanta to conclude that the girls are not especially virtuous there, and they do not wait a long time. Atlanta is just a larger version of Tulsa or OKC when you get right down to it, people are people. OKC has its blueblood class, if that is what you are looking for, as any other city has.

Last edited by teakboat; 02-15-2015 at 10:12 AM..
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Old 02-15-2015, 10:28 AM
 
Location: C-U metro
1,368 posts, read 3,203,124 times
Reputation: 1192
I will say that the BIGGEST knock on OKC for Young Professionals is the lack of continuity in the city. There are some nice parts of the city that are all a 20 minute drive away from each other. You'll drive through industrial parks and ghetto residential to get from one to another as well IF you don't take highways. The other knock for YP's, IMHO, is that the city itself has terrible schools (excluding charters) with no bright spots like Edison or Booker T in Tulsa. YP's want good schools for their kids and the conventional wisdom of buying in a good HS district doesn't apply to OKC. It sends those high income families to the 'burbs unless they make enough to pay for private school. To me, issues at OKCPS will prevent gentrification in OKC along with the atrocious sway Oklahoma law gives negligent property owners.

I think ATLguy has a point. OKC is a city for country people. Nobody I've met from the eastern half calls OKC "the city" but a lot of people in the western half do. It's the place the western half congregates whereas the eastern half tends to congregate at the various lakes (SE) or Tulsa (NE). If OKC weren't trying to be the mega-city "Seattle wished it could be", fewer people would take offense to moving there. It's false advertising and that just makes people mad. That's why OKC gets a lot of "boring" complaints. OKC gave them the impression it was fun and exciting like Seattle or Dallas, not dowdy and make-your-own-fun-place like Grandma's Farm.
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Old 02-15-2015, 10:35 AM
 
641 posts, read 1,065,411 times
Reputation: 870
I agree, I am just pointing out that all things being equal, you should make the best of your situation. Every place on the map has some interesting quality, even if it would not be your first choice. Later you will probably move on, and remember OKC one way or another.

That said, I agree that Tulsa has more continuity and urban density, a richer, more midtown-ey and hipper look and feel to it. I would prefer Tulsa if I were in his shoes.
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Old 02-15-2015, 11:02 AM
 
Location: Oklahoma
17,632 posts, read 13,448,531 times
Reputation: 17555
Quote:
Originally Posted by flyingcat2k View Post
I think ATLguy has a point. OKC is a city for country people. Nobody I've met from the eastern half calls OKC "the city" but a lot of people in the western half do. It's the place the western half congregates whereas the eastern half tends to congregate at the various lakes (SE) or Tulsa (NE). If OKC weren't trying to be the mega-city "Seattle wished it could be", fewer people would take offense to moving there. It's false advertising and that just makes people mad. That's why OKC gets a lot of "boring" complaints. OKC gave them the impression it was fun and exciting like Seattle or Dallas, not dowdy and make-your-own-fun-place like Grandma's Farm.
How is Tulsa any different? Where do people move into Tulsa from?

Secondly, when marketing a city what do you expect from the marketers? They are going to put their city in the best light. Anybody who completely believes in the hype is pretty dumb. Especially coming to this area of the country.
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Old 02-16-2015, 08:43 AM
 
Location: C-U metro
1,368 posts, read 3,203,124 times
Reputation: 1192
There are a couple of different reasons.

One, the cheerleaders at the Oklahoman are just as bad at hyping the city as the tourism bureau. This gives people a false impression as newspaper reporters tend not to be overly enthusiastic (outside of the style section) and certainly don't rumormonger like Lackmeyer. TV reports usually can't be seen outside of the local viewing market so on-air hyping really doesn't make an impression on people looking to move to a city. Hyping in the newspaper certainly gets to other cities much more easily due to the web. Comparing everything to what's in Seattle or Sonics or Pre/Post Thunder gets old. For the record, Tulsa Mayor Bartlett added a new cringeworthy note by saying "We're the next Austin." Thankfully, everyone knows he's an idiot and the paper won't be following up with a 2 page article saying why.

Second is that OKC has the worst entertainment options of the 7 NBA only cities. Memphis might be close to OKC but the remaining cities (Portland, Orlando, San Antonio, SLC and Sacramento) blow them out of the water. People may have been to those other cities and think there are similar level attractions in OKC like water parks, amusement parks, natural parks, entertainment districts, ect. Granted, no city could touch Orlando in those other areas but OKC has far to go to be on par with the others.

As far as people moving to Tulsa goes, according to the IRS/Forbes map, people moving to Tulsa outside of Oklahoma are from other metropolitan areas. For OKC, they get some out of state rural areas like Roswell/Clovis, NM. These are likely military moves but the military itself tends to get more people from rural areas. That adds to the "big city for rural folks."
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Old 02-16-2015, 12:28 PM
 
Location: Stillwater, Oklahoma
30,976 posts, read 21,487,738 times
Reputation: 9675
I would imagine one must not be too shy to get out and socialize, such as joining groups or organizations that share your interests while hoping not everybody there is married or going steady.
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Old 02-16-2015, 01:00 PM
 
Location: Pawnee Nation
7,525 posts, read 16,913,807 times
Reputation: 7110
Quote:
Originally Posted by Goodpasture View Post
I don't mean to be harsh, but I think you should probably stay in Philadelphia.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PickinNgrinin View Post
Well an update for ya...moved to OKC, lived in Deep Deuce and it was a miserable experience. Deep Deuce was nice but I'm not sure why anyone wants to live in OKC. There is absolutely nothing to do. Every female in her 20s is either married or has kids, rarely both, it's like the single mom capital of the world. You people were not lying about college sports you take that serious, not as much as church though, you would think each church is a pro sports team what with the bumper stickers, sweatshirts, and people going door to door passing out flyers....insane.I don't really understand it but glad you have something that makes you feel special. I don't understand why everything and everyone is so country, I saw a total of about 3 farms, there is no wildlife to hunt, and news flash I hear fishing is big but people you don't need to wear camo to fish, they are in the water and can't see you anyway. Also enough with the honkin trucks, there's no reason for it, it hardly snows and you rarely need 4wd...be smarter people. OKC is like a real city's little brother with downs, it tries so hard to do well and be cool but it just has something holding It back from getting ahead in life and you can't help but feel sorry for it. Good luck to all you people still stuck there, hopefully you're not in oil because you will soon be unemployed. As some poster in this thread said earlier I'd probably be on the first wagon train home, well you sir were correct...I'm back on the East coast where people and life are normal.
and you thought I was just kidding......................
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Old 02-16-2015, 01:04 PM
 
Location: USA
7,776 posts, read 12,380,855 times
Reputation: 11812
Quote:
Originally Posted by Atlguy39 View Post
Why do you say that? I'm not fishing for a compliment or anything, but I'm in a city where people get married at 22. I'm a fish out of water here. And yeah, I'm told I look like I'm in my 30's, but it makes no difference. I did date a woman who was 10 years younger and had a child and wanted another one. Was considering marriage, but she just wanted a man to rescue her and really just wanted a rich guy, as it turned out. Thats also the mentality here. The women aren't professional and want to be taken care of. I'm not THAT old fashioned.
I don't think you said anything which was fishing for a compliment..... Some people get married at 22 here and some in MA get married at 22. Some don't. My son-in-law had 3 daughters from his first marriage and all of them were in their thirties (with no children) when they married. They were not alone.
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