Sorry To Break This To All Of You Oklahoma City Oklahoma Haters..... But OKC Is One Of AMERICA'S TOP TEN BOOM CITIES (Tulsa: earthquakes, law)

[StillwaterTownie]

Originally Posted by bawac34618

The two deal-breakers for me are the hyper-conservative politics (it feels like this place is run by a Baptist taliban sometimes) and the violent severe weather season. Other states are legalizing marijuana and Oklahoma just repealed alcohol prohibition in 2016, and it doesn't go into effect for two years so that rural counties have the opportunity to go dry. The churches have way too much power here in the state government. There are plenty of liberals in Oklahoma and most are raging mad at the state government, but it doesn't make a difference because the Baptists have a complete monopoly on the state government. All they care about is banning abortion, oppressing LGBT people, injecting religion into science classes, and controlling what people put into their bodies. No Oklahoma GOP legislator should dare say they are for "small government." The only issues that the Oklahoma GOP actually does believe in small government on are gun rights and environmental regulations.

Speaking of state politics, Republican State Sen. Tom Dugger made an interesting statement in his Saturday commentary in the editorial page of the Stillwater News Press, writing, "We need to ensure Oklahoma's economy has stabilized before additional revenue reductions are enacted." This was in response to the bill eliminating the trigger to further reduce state income tax when revenue collections increased. So to me, if this is characteristic of how Republicans legislators feel, then they are looking forward to the day when they can resume cutting incomes taxes to further reduce revenue, rather than to better fund state core services, such as education and infrastructure. I think Republicans want to wean everybody off of state government services and expect cities and counties to take up the slack. If Oklahoma voters agree, look forward to these Republicans being voted back in 2018 and 2020. Anyway, I'd advise people in Oklahoma, who are thinking about it, to go ahead and move to a better run state. At any rate, absolutely don't continue to stay here, if your life is dependent on state government for anything. Oklahoma Republican legislators are geared up toward helping make life easier for their donors, the already well off. The poor will either have to sink or swim.

[eddie gein]

Originally Posted by bawac34618

More the former, though I wouldn't call it "enlightened." OKC isn't the worst place to live, but living in a coastal area or major city can really change your perspective. I find a lot of people who have lived here their entire life don't really understand how things are in other places. That doesn't apply to everyone though as I know people who have lived in other places and while they may have various levels of likes or dislikes about OKC, we can usually agree on the two things I mentioned in my previous post. With that said, what is better or worse for me might not be for everyone.

Life as a child or teen is very different than life as an adult. We all tend to romanticize the past, forget the negative, and focus on the positive. I was in a toxic job situation where I lived before and also wanted to mend things with my family. I never really wanted to come back here but I thought I could make it work. I also went through gay-to-straight conversion therapy after moving back here which messed me up quite a bit emotionally. My real mistake was getting myself into a financial situation where leaving is almost impossible.

I have changed a lot as a person in the five years since I have been here.

I appreciate the very insightful and heartfelt response. That certainly puts things in perspective. Again, I realize things are not ideal for a person in your situation in Oklahoma, however I really, really encourage you to reach out to like minded people and groups in OKC. They ARE there and they are welcoming in that almost all of them have had a similar story to your own.

[Howest2008]

Originally Posted by bawac34618

More the former, though I wouldn't call it "enlightened." OKC isn't the worst place to live, but living in a coastal area or major city can really change your perspective. I find a lot of people who have lived here their entire life don't really understand how things are in other places. That doesn't apply to everyone though as I know people who have lived in other places and while they may have various levels of likes or dislikes about OKC, we can usually agree on the two things I mentioned in my previous post. With that said, what is better or worse for me might not be for everyone.

Life as a child or teen is very different than life as an adult. We all tend to romanticize the past, forget the negative, and focus on the positive. I was in a toxic job situation where I lived before and also wanted to mend things with my family. I never really wanted to come back here but I thought I could make it work. I also went through gay-to-straight conversion therapy after moving back here which messed me up quite a bit emotionally. My real mistake was getting myself into a financial situation where leaving is almost impossible.

I have changed a lot as a person in the five years since I have been here.

bawac34618
I also went through gay-to-straight conversion therapy after moving back here which messed me up quite a bit emotionally. My real mistake was getting myself into a financial situation where leaving is almost impossible.



howest2008
Now I understand completely , American Christians tend to try to make non-Christians act and behave like Christians. You certainly can not force a square peg to fit inside of a round hole or a Homosexual to convert into a Heterosexual without that person seeking to make that interpersonal change themselves.

[Plutonic Panda]

I'm here visiting OKC and it's amazing how much the city is progressing. It is really starting to pick up the traits that major cities have. Took me 2 hours to go 20 miles yesterday. Never experienced that here before. No wreck or anything. Noticing a lot more party life. More people dressing fashionable. Good ****. OKC is always one of my favorite cities and it can become really special.

[StillwaterTownie]

Originally Posted by Plutonic Panda

I'm here visiting OKC and it's amazing how much the city is progressing. It is really starting to pick up the traits that major cities have. Took me 2 hours to go 20 miles yesterday. Never experienced that here before. No wreck or anything. Noticing a lot more party life. More people dressing fashionable. Good ****. OKC is always one of my favorite cities and it can become really special.

I've certainly noticed more traffic than several years ago on I-35 when driving to the city. Anyway, I'll never be a big city person. Traffic is bad enough in Stillwater. My brother hates Stillwater, because of all the heavy traffic. He lived in Cushing for a long time and is used to putting up with less traffic there. He eventually got tired of that, too, and moved to the country. He grew up in the country, so it's more like home. I came along later and grew up in Stillwater.

[stiffnecked]

Originally Posted by Plutonic Panda

I'm here visiting OKC and it's amazing how much the city is progressing. It is really starting to pick up the traits that major cities have. Took me 2 hours to go 20 miles yesterday. Never experienced that here before. No wreck or anything. Noticing a lot more party life. More people dressing fashionable. Good ****. OKC is always one of my favorite cities and it can become really special.

Who cares about "fashionable" except shallow people? What difference does that make about anything?

[Threestep2]

Originally Posted by stiffnecked

Who cares about "fashionable" except shallow people? What difference does that make about anything?

Sit on a bench outside of WallMart of the year 2016 It may be retro but here it might never have changed.

[sibelian]

Originally Posted by cboatner

With the exception of SLC, Raleigh and Houston, OKC carries a major cost of living advantage. Is it the weather? Other top ten positions have their drawbacks; SLC=greatest snow on earth, Raleigh=summer heat, humidity & hurricanes, Houston=summer heat, humidity & hurricanes.

Houston hasn't experienced a hurricane since Sept 2008 ("Ike"). OKC gets tornadoes yearly, does it not ? As well as ice, snow, wind, and hail.

[Howest2008]

Yes and Oklahoma City metro get the deadliest tornadoes on earth F4"s....

[KayneMo]

^ The OKC metro doesn't even make the list of 25 deadliest tornadoes in the US, much less on earth. Bangladesh seems to have the world's deadliest tornadoes.