Searching for nice smaller town near OKC... (Oklahoma City, Norman: condo, credit card)

[wendyleigh]

Another couple of areas you should not rule out are Piedmont, Yukon and Mustang areas. It is not very diverse in those areas, but it sounds like the type of place you are looking for. BTW, you mentioned soccer. There are some good indoor soccer leagues that form in two indoor soccer places in the OKC area. That might be a good route for your son to explore where he could find a place to play soccer. I cant think of the names of them right now, but I know one of them is off of Reno. Good Luck!

[Emery'sMommy]

I'd also agree that Yukon and Mustang are great places, near the city but very rural. We just moved down here from the nw side and I love that there's fields and open land out here instead of buildings and neighborhoods all over the place.
Another place you might want to check out if you can afford it is the deer creek area, west of Edmond. There's some beautiful land out there.

I've also lived in Shawnee, temporarily for college. Although personally, I think the public schools there are horrible (I worked as a teacher's aid in the high school and also over in Bethel Acres at an elementary school) the town itself is cute and there's some great land there as well. Plus it's only about 45 minutes from downtown Okc so commuting isn't bad.

[mkfarnam]

At least there are no "Illegal Alien" Barbies. That is unless Ken has`nt smuggled her in yet.

[carvers wife]

Thanks for the help...Can you tell me why you think the schools are horrible there? Living looks very affordable there, but a good school is high on the priority list for us. What about Liberty Academy? I would be willing to pay the tuition if it's for a better school (and if it's affordable).
It's frustrating to know absolutely nothing about these areas- we've never been to Oklahoma at all and in just a couple months it will be our home.
Any school info for these areas would be great. How are the schools in Yukon/Mustang area?

[Emery'sMommy]

Originally Posted by carvers wife

Thanks for the help...Can you tell me why you think the schools are horrible there? Living looks very affordable there, but a good school is high on the priority list for us. What about Liberty Academy? I would be willing to pay the tuition if it's for a better school (and if it's affordable).
It's frustrating to know absolutely nothing about these areas- we've never been to Oklahoma at all and in just a couple months it will be our home.
Any school info for these areas would be great. How are the schools in Yukon/Mustang area?

I'm not sure about Liberty Academy, I'd do a search and see if you can't find any ratings for it.
As far as the public schools go, I've heard negative things about Shawnee High school with it's high amount of fights and disturbances.
Here's a list of "facts" I copied from a facebook group- not sure if they're all true or not but I wouldn't doubt it.

"This is for anybody that is from Shawnee, Oklahoma or anybody that's attended Shawnee Public Schools. It is appropriately called "Shawmpton" because it is Oklahoma's Compton.
Some reasons why it is called Shawmpton:
1. It has the highest teenage birthrate ratio in the entire United States. And that's a fact!
2. The high school has about a 63% dropout rate.
3. There are more fisticuffs involving girls then there are fisticuffs involving guys.
4. More marijuana is grown in Pottawatomie County (ironically known as Pott. County) then in any other county in the state.
5. The 2005 Basketball Homecoming game was interupted because cops had to tackle and arrest a kid in the middle of the court who got caught breaking in to the locker room.
6. Shawnee proudly has the lowest test scores in the state.
7. Currently discussing closing campus for lunch because of hit and runs done by the students.
8. The high school campus has "lockdowns" at least once a week. For those that don't know what that is, it is when nobody is allowed to leave their current classroom as the police and drug dogs sweep the halls.
9. A freshman football player got stabbed in the locker room by another freshman football player in 2005. It made the news...
10. Had to have most of the student population tested for Tuberculosis after several students were infected. It also made the news...
11. Almost all druggies pass the random drug tests."

So that being said I would definitely consider private schools in Shawnee. Someone else may have a better opinion than me who's gone there, I've just helped in a class for behaviorally disturbed students and it was apparent that some of the kids there had major problems.

As far as school districts go in Mustang/Yukon, from what I've heard Mustangs are very good. My husband and sister in law attended jr high and sr. high in Mustang and said they were good schools. Sure it probably has its share of problems as well but it's much better imo than the Oklahoma City school district. I think Yukon's are ok as well.

[carvers wife]

Okay. I guess we'll reconsider on Shawnee. I did like the cost of living out there, but a good school is a top priority. Liberty Academy came up with some negative stuff on the Yahoo- It's so hard to discern all this when you hear differing opinions. I'll check out some other areas. Still searching for input from anyone who has it to offer....Thanks.

[peggydavis]

I lived in Harrah from the time my daughter was in 6th grade until she was a junior in HS. I was very pleased with the schools, the teachers, and the community. She was a national merit scholar and she also played on the junior varsity soccer team. A lot of new development since I left there, but I would be sure to check out that area. Cost of an acerage that way is much less than the north or west side of the metro area, and no Barbies!

[Emery'sMommy]

Originally Posted by peggydavis

I lived in Harrah from the time my daughter was in 6th grade until she was a junior in HS. I was very pleased with the schools, the teachers, and the community. She was a national merit scholar and she also played on the junior varsity soccer team. A lot of new development since I left there, but I would be sure to check out that area. Cost of an acerage that way is much less than the north or west side of the metro area, and no Barbies!

I agree, Harrah is on the east side of the city, where it's greener and hillier. You might also check out Choctaw, Jones and Arcadia Lake.

[carvers wife]

I did look at the Harrah school website and it sounds good. My son is a good kid- a red-blooded american boy. He is outgoing and will fit in easily. He's not necessarily college-minded and he gets 70-80's. I know he's capable of better, but that's just him. I'm not looking at a school based on ratings, just a place where it's safe and people have a heart for teaching and respect for one another.
We are just in search of simple country type living in a good district and we will definitely need a church family, as we are leaving a lot of people behind here, and that's an important thing to us.
We are trying to keep our total cost of living at 40% of my husband's income. I hope it's affordable around that area.
Thanks for the help.

[jonny13]

I would check into the following areas; and my pick for your desire to be 30-50 minutes from OKC, acreage, great schools, soccer and dirt bike trails for your son are in the order shown (many of them have already been mentioned in previous posts):

1) Deer Creek
2) Tuttle
3) Piedmont
4) Choctaw
5) Jones
6) Harrah
7) Mustang
8) Yukon

In my opinion, all of them are winners for what you are looking for. Some are better than others in different categories - such as Tuttle has a lot of acreage and dirt bike trails, whereas Deer Creek has more favored schools, etc. As I said though, they are all winners and within the commute time you mentioned.

Tornado's are worthy of concern anywhere in Oklahoma, but shouldn't necessarily be feared. Buy a weather alert radio and a storm shelter (I prefer the small ones installed in garage floors) and your set. The rest is up to fate.

Good luck on your home search and I'll be looking forward to saying "Howdy Neighbor", soon.