Douglas Edgemere

[EndersDrift]

I do most of my shopping at Publix and Costco. Are there any Costco/Sams/BJs type of places maybe under a different name?

I've also been looking at OKC on Street View in Google Maps and noticed that the area around Edgemere doesn't seem to have Sidewalks. Does traffic really move that slow or are there just no pedestrians even in evening for a short stroll?

[debzkidz]

We have Sam's Clubs in OKC, but not in that part of town. Sorry I didn't mention that before. To me, Sam's just falls under the Walmart umbrella. No Costco's or BJ's in Oklahoma. BJ's doesn't come this far west.
As for pedestrian traffic, there's just not much. When you see people out walking or jogging, they usually tend to stay on the side, residential streets.

[EndersDrift]

Well got a second interview scheduled conference call style via skype for next week. Sounds like they had some other interviews take place in person.

In mean time have been looking more at houses and apartments. Looks pretty sweet I just wish I knew what to search for on Craigslist to get that immediate area. Uptown as I was told on here it is called didn't really work, Paseo only found 1 item. Any idea what I should type in on Craigslist to find this immediate area?

ps, just looked at what the drive is going to be like from Orlando to OKC... I'm seeing 3 different options depending on how slow I want to go but none of them look bad.

[EndersDrift]

Well finished the interview. They asked me What I think of Oklahoma and why I choose it (among the other more obvious answers). Was able to give them good and honest answers thanks to this thread.

No job offered just yet but they mentioned doing yet another video interview.

[ou_norman]

Glad your interview process still seems to be going well! That's a lot of interviews.

Groceries- We just found out we're getting a Whole Foods within the next year, almost 100% sure that it'll be going in around Classen and 63rd St, which is just north of your target area in Edgemere Park. We have Sam's Club in Oklahoma City for bulk shopping. As debz mentioned, the huge Asian market Super Cao Nguyen around 25th and Classen is a good place for a lot of specialty items including fresh seafoods and produce that you wouldn't find in many stores.

Crime-wise, conventional wisdom says stay west of I-235 (centennial expressway) and stay north of I-40.

Venues- are you talking music? What are you into? Check out the Conservatory, the Zoo Amphitheater, Blue Door, Blue Note, Bricktown Ballroom, Diamond Ballroom, most bars/holes-in-the-wall are places in OKC to see live music. We get a lot of big popular national acts at the Ford and Cox Centers, as for independent music we get lucky occasionally but often get bypassed for Dallas or Cain's Ballroom in Tulsa. You have to watch carefully, never know what might come up. Norman's Opolis and the OU campus often get good independent acts. Also if you're a music fan in OKC it's a great opportunity to get into the local scene, which is largely psychadelic and experimental rock/pop (some of the more widely known/critically acclaimed bands include Flaming Lips, Starlight Mints, Stardeath and White Dwarfs, the Evangelicals, The Non, Uglysuit, Colourmusic). The Academy of Contemporary Music just finished its first year in Bricktown, with 200 students learning music performance and production in rock/pop/country/etc. They'll double their enrollment to 400 for next year, and already the school is starting to form a lot of bands that are putting together ACM showcases in the city- so that'll be interesting to see where it takes our music scene.

For Craigslist- I found quite a few options by searching Edgemere [Park], Mesta [Park], Jefferson [Park], Paseo, Heritage [Hills], and Midtown in apts/housing for rent. These are all parts of the Midtown-Uptown residential area north of downtown. These searches seemed to turn up a lot of nice historic buildings turned into renovated apartments with hardwood floors, cool arched doorways between rooms, great charm.

Mesta Park - $625 - 1br / Mesta Park Area (http://oklahomacity.craigslist.org/apa/1729133967.html - broken link)
Mesta Park - $630 - 2 br / MESTA PARK ART DECO APT (http://oklahomacity.craigslist.org/apa/1711516762.html - broken link)
Edgemere Park - 595 - 1br / Beautiful Historic Edgemere Park Apartment (http://oklahomacity.craigslist.org/apa/1719665043.html - broken link)
Jefferson Park - 545 - 1br / Cute 1bed/1bath in historic Jefferson Park (http://oklahomacity.craigslist.org/apa/1725140941.html - broken link)

Belmont at Jefferson Park $650 1br Page Title
Claremont Apts in Midtown studios $475 Claremont Apartments. Next to Sieber, 1/3 the price! (http://oklahomacity.craigslist.org/apa/1728873939.html - broken link)

You're right on sidewalks- a lot of areas are mysteriously missing them. Only a few arterial streets have traffic that might be at unsafe speeds, a lot of the streets are neighborhood streets with slow traffic. However, OKC is in the process of building 350+ miles of sidewalks mainly in these inner city areas.

[EndersDrift]

Hey thanks a lot for the information! Yeah they emailed me and hinted at checking my references and I'd like to think I have some strong ones (Deans, Politicians, Supervisors, and Professors) so I'm really hoping. What is the [Park] or [Hills] do? I've never heard of doing that in Craigslist.

Man I wish I had confirmation already that 2 br Mesta Park sounds great. I'm hoping for a second bedroom to use as an office/studio to keep my work separate from my living room.

Some of those venues look cool but I actually meant more the ones that have poetry readings and maybe a jazz club. I found UCO Jazzlab but wondering if there are any more. Maybe even a lounge that plays House music. And where those Poetry readings happen. Are there any regular old clubs that have dancing to pop music? Maybe around UO?

[EndersDrift]

Got an email from them today, they've been busy to check references but asked me to do another interview (that will make 3) on Wednesday. I can't imagine a company doing all this and then not offer a position.

In other news I love how small Oklahoma City is compared to where I live. If I can find an affordable place in Midtown which it looks I'll be able to I'll be within a 10 mile radius of just about everything. I'll probably own a car but use a bike for my day to day commute if the weather is nice. Looking at Riversport for an Annual pass. Not sure where I'll do actual weight lifting just yet but hopefully there's some place.

[ou_norman]

Sorry, the brackets weren't in my search- I meant that I just searched "Mesta" but wanted to also show the full neighborhood name so you'd know for sure what they're called.

There was a place called Galileo's in the Paseo for a really long time that had poetry readings a lot, but I think I heard recently that it was closed, but might already be replaced with a similar business. The Paseo's cafes I think would be the best place to find some kind of poetry night, but I'm not really sure about that. Plenty of normal dance clubs in Bricktown like SKKY and Citywalk. I like Kamp's in the Asian District on Wednesday nights- it's a deli/florist that hosts "Robotic Wednesday" which is a DJ dance party and a lot of fun.

For jazz- there is a blues/jazz bar in Bricktown called the Biting Sow that has live music almost every night. Bourbon Street Cafe, also in Bricktown, has jazz some weekends. And the Deep Deuce Grill too, since the area is sort of jazz-themed due to its history.

[okie1962]

I can understand why a lot of people outside of Oklahoma would be reluctant about a move into Oklahoma if they are not Christian.

Just look at some of the laws that our redneck legislators have force on us that have nothing to do with making Oklahoma a better place to live, but have more to do with pushing their religious agenda on all of us Okies. A good example is the Ten Commandments monument that is going up on the Capitol lawn, or the new anti abortion laws.

Legislators like Mike Ritz and Sally Kern are examples of the Christian Jihad that has taken over our government and makes Oklahoma look uneducated and intolerant. I have friends who live out of state who are always asking me how I stand to live in such a place.

A lot of us don't realize the damage that these fools do to Oklahoma. Most Oklahomans do not subscribe to their point of view nor do we believe their backward way of thinking, but we are all paying for it.