Pro's and Con's of Oklahoma City (Tulsa, Edmond: real estate market, apartment complex, mortgage)

[bobcat07]

I will be relocating to obtain a teaching job next summer and I am interested in the Oklahoma City area. What are the schools like? How is the real estate market? And lastly what are some fun activities to do in Oklahoma City? Any responses or other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[cshodges]

I live in a suburb of Tulsa, but OKC is nice. Depends on what you are looking for. They have a world class zoo, 2 good malls, lots of resturaunts. Lake Heffner is a popular place to walk around the lake, wind sail, sail, boat etc. Couple of resturaunts on the water. Edmond is where most of the new money is and the nicer schools. I would assume that is the best pay for teachers as well. Much different than Tulsa as far as terrain is concerned. Flat, red dirt. OKC stockyards are HUGE, lots of events at the fair grounds,horse racing etc. Easy to navigate OKC. Best thing about OKC is it is an easy drive to Dallas, Tulsa or KC.

Realestate is great in OKC. OKC and Tulsa are both undervalued markets. Prudential Detrick Realtors are very big and very good. I work for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage and do loans state wide and nation wide. Have family in the OKC area and have a great title company and appraiser we use there. If you would like to get approved for your financing, you can visit my web site at REMOVED. My contact information is there as well. We have special programs for teachers as well.

Good luck and welcome to OK!

[City]

OKC is a nice place to live and the schools are varied. Edmond is the town just north of OKC, with good schools. Best bet in the OKC school district - charter schools. Most if not all are tuition-free, but you do buy supplies and uniforms, and some have a registration/enrollment fee that is very reasonable. There is the Putnam City school district, northwest OKC area. Farther northwest, better schools. Farther southwest, bordering the town of Moore, there are some very good schools in the new home development areas. Private schools are here also, they do cost. New teachers start out around $27,000, and a lot have been going to Texas for higher salaries. They recently did receive some pay increase, and higher for teachers w/national certification. Cost of living is reasonable. Tornado "season" is spring and fall (if living in OKC, they seem to hit the south side more frequently, may be due to more open space, or they just follow the same path every time). 3 malls in OKC are Penn Square (very good mall), Quail Springs, both north side, and Crossroads, on the south side. Thing about here is that you can have a lot of homes and other buildings, then just within a mile, farmland and open space. Job market is still not great though, with companies downsizing/shutting down. All combined, we enjoy it here.

[shadow42]

I am originally from Long Island, NY and now reside in So. CA. We will most likely be moving to OKC and from all the research I have done, will look for a home in Edmond. The homes are beautiful there. My question has more to deal with the people. I am wondering if it is hard to meet people and make friends. This has been very difficult here in California. The people are very friendly and nice out here, but friendships are very superficial and it really gets to me. I also have two young boys, ages 3 and 21months, so I am sure I will meet people once they go to school. Any suggestions on how to meet people once we arrive would be great.

[sgrizzle]

People here are relatively friendly. I think edmond is a good suggestion. I live in Tulsa which is a bit more rural than OKC proper is, but the OKC suburbs are very nice. Both cities are aiming to reinvent themselves as major urban environments and there are tons of capital improvment projects going on all over the state for this and the upcoming state centennial. The whole state is getting that "new car smell" so it's a good time to be here.

[IGotJack]

I moved from Tulsa to Edmond/OKC. I LOVE it here!

We're just starting out our family, so the zoo, malls, parks, lakes, omni-plex, etc. are all really great for us. Schools here, are GREAT! Well, but in the Edmond side. I've had to deal with two of the elementary school and I've been really impressed with both! Not really sure about the OKC schools.

For a three year old and 21 month old, OKC is awesome. We get yearly passes to the zoo and omniplex and love it! I've always done child care, so I always took the kids we had. My son is only 6 months old right now, so he's not really big enough for that stuff yet. He loves the malls though, ha ha!

I guess I'm not overly helpful. We just love it. I've talked to my husband and we're hoping to stay here for good. We both went to college here and my husband works at the college still. Once he's done here (depending on if he moves up or just stays), we'd like to move further into Edmond.

[hobohobo5]

Originally Posted by bobcat07

I will be relocating to obtain a teaching job next summer and I am interested in the Oklahoma City area. What are the schools like? How is the real estate market? And lastly what are some fun activities to do in Oklahoma City? Any responses or other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Schools in Okc are ok if they're Putnam city schools. okc schools hav no money. Because everyone goes to
Putnam city schools.

[FutureFormerCalifornian]

Thought I'd weigh in here............ DH and I just relocated sight unseen from Stockton, CA (ghetto) to Edmond, OK. Edmond is BEAUTIFUL. I love the gentle rolling hills and brick architechture. UCO was lighted up for Christmas like a gingerbread house and the Edmond Library had an impressive light display as well.

We've been here less than 2 weeks but have already met all our neighbors (apartment building - will buy a NICE house for a song in a few months <G>) I actually wanted to shoo them away as we unloaded the moving truck because we were under a deadline. People make conversation in line @ the store. An important piece of mail from DH's former employer wound up in neighbor's mailbox. He was nice enough to stuff the envelope under our door (we lost a lot of mail to wrong mailbox when in CA I think.).

I feel like Lot from the Bible. I have never looked back once we hit the OK border. I was worried about the OK topography because there is NOTHING from Barstow to the OK border except some cheezy dinosaurs to lure tourists in in AZ, native american kitsch in NM (parts of NM were very pretty with the red mesas off to the left with the base of the snowcapped Rockies ahead) and a 1,200 foot (I think) tall cross off the side of I-40 in Groom TX which you can see for miles.

Next task is to look for work. I got laid off from my job in CA when I gave them my FIVE week notice. The cost of living is so much lower that we can actually live on it.

How to meet people - do a myspace or yahoo search of things you like to do and join those groups NOW so you can lurk and get a feel of the group. I joined one group (a hobby I like to do) about 6 weeks before we moved and intro'd myself and even posted a few times. The group had an activity on January 6th which I attended in person. Sure it was scary and daunting to face a room full of strangers (nah, I used to TEACH in CA so not much scares me!!!) but they were like pre-friends because the groundwork had been laid in advance.

With advanced planning I think it's fairly easy to adjust to a new life.... Except the weather. I am freezing my butt off and I understand it's only going to get colder and people laugh and point at me with my beanie, scarf and mucklucks on when the daytime high that day was 31. I have a very tiny, very old Chihuahua I absolutely can not keep weight on because even if I clothe her, she still is burning too many calories because she is shivering way more than she did in CA.

[shadow42]

FutureFormerCalifornian....what a nice post. I too am a Californian trying to get out of here! I am originally from the east coast but have lived in OC for the past 10yrs and am sooooo ready to get out. Would have done it 3yrs ago, but my husband wasn't ready. Now that we are on the same page, we are looking at Edmond as one of our options (he works for Boeing and there is a facility at the airforce base in Ok city). I have been to Edmond to look around for a weekend...not much time. On the positive, I didn't hate it, but also didn't walk away wanting to move tomorrow. There are so many negatives written in this forum and almost no positives regarding OK. I am wondering if you have children. I have two young boys, so schools are important. I have to say, the homes are just beautiful in Edmond and look like they are build so much better than my new house here in OC. I saw on the positive side...

very affordable housing....just unbelievable. I was drooling!
great public and private schools in Edmond

Not so sure about....
1.how easy it is meeting people...a question no matter where we move
2.whether people are friendly only superficially (as here in OC) but never really become your good friends (one huge reason I hate CA!)
3. Will I be able to adjust (I am originally from Long Island, New York) to living there
4. Will my children have things to do (soooo much to do here in OC, doesn't seem like many places can compare)
5. I hear the summers are just awful

If anyone can respond to these questions honestly, I would appreciate it. Also, good luck with your move FFC.

Regards.....

[sunshine85]

OKC is great for meeting new people, and on the whole it has a nice personality and lots of things to do for a city its size. People here are more genuine than a lot of other areas; even though it's a decent-sized city, it doesn't have the cruel corporate mindset that a lot of large urban cities have.

As far as adjusting from NY or CA, it's going to be a huuuuge adjustment. Politically, the state is very conservative.

I can't really answer for kids because I have none.

The summers here suck, I won't lie. They are HOT and this past summer, we had fire after fire. The apartment complex I live in was 1/2 a mile from a large fire and we were evacuated. It was scary. If the heat doesn't intimidate you, you'll be fine. Keep in mind, coming from CA, the heat is totally different here. It's very humid.