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CHECOTAH ROCKS!!!! And Eufaula ain't far behind them but at least Eufaula can say "We kick your Wildcat Tails in FOOTBALL!!!"
I grew up in Eufaula but lived 13 years in Checotah before we had to move. I LOVE Checotah and Eufaula is not "quite" love....but close!
I lived there for ten years. There is a lays bus service in checotah but no hospital I forgot to mention but there is one in eufaula. U could get rental house for that much and there is more that on apartment complexes there. I really did enjoy it there just needed to be closer to family. On the plus side when u do get a car it something u r close to a lake
Thanks, StillwaterTownie. I just checked that intersection out on Google Maps. Can't tell what that really big red building is with the dark roof, though. Oh wait....it's a bank. I see a Subway, Daylight Donuts, Consumers IGA and I think the bank you're referring to and I'm seeing is Stillwater National Bank, right? Can't get the zoom thing to work on the bank sign. The traffic looks kind of busy for pedestrians to navigate comfortably. Are there any rent houses in that general area?
Here's an idea to try. This site, Get Your Walk Score - A Walkability Score For Any Address scores the walkability of any address you enter. I found downtown area residential addresses of Stillwater tend to have higher walk scores than the corner of 6th and Washington.
Last edited by StillwaterTownie; 06-14-2010 at 07:43 PM..
I lived there for ten years. There is a lays bus service in checotah but no hospital I forgot to mention but there is one in eufaula. U could get rental house for that much and there is more that on apartment complexes there. I really did enjoy it there just needed to be closer to family. On the plus side when u do get a car it something u r close to a lake
The bus service would be nice to be able to fall back on. I've never been to Checotah and only been through Eufaula once when I was a kid. I'll definitely have to check them out. Thanks
Good point, nightbird47, and one I hadn't thought of. I guess having bus service, when needed, for occasional, longer-distance trips would be important.
Sorry about your current transportation situation. I hope you are able to get a replacement car that suits your needs soon. In the meantime, think of all the money you're saving on car payments, auto insurance, gas, oil, routine maintenance, repairs, parking, toll roads, car washes, and etc.
The really crummy part was the van I had had JUST been worked on and was pretty much factory spec when it was stolen and parted out. Unfortunately, the parts were worth more to theives than the whole car. Since the car I'd get was being repaired nearly monthly I decided it was better to go with public transportation and rides. I still miss having a car however.
I'm wondering if the cost of shipping helps balance out all that other stuff. I order a LOT of stuff online and have it delivered. But even when you do have stores nearby, there are times when you still have to have a car, or at least someone who will give you a ride when you need it. Picking up a few things from the store and carrying them home is one thing. Picking up a sack of pet food, kittty litter, more than one gallon of milk, more cans... all these are a problem.
I find one big shopping gives me a base for food costs so I end up spending less, also have fewer temptations that pass you by if you don't spend as much time shopping.
Currently I'm spending a lot on getting the house worked on or stuff to do it myself. After I get further there I will think of a car. If I had a car I would have way too many excuses to go "out" and not get anything done.
Here's an idea to try. This site, Get Your Walk Score - A Walkability Score For Any Address scores the walkability of any address you enter. I found downtown area residential addresses of Stillwater tend to have higher walk scores than the corner of 6th and Washington.
I've been fooling around just a little while with the Walkability Score thing to try to get some perspective and I've already noticed some interesting things, that is, if the info there is reliable.
Seems Stillwater, as a city, is much more walkable than OKC, for example. And W. 6th Ave. and S. Washington St., even though you say its not the best of Stillwater, rates very high on the walkability scale. I searched at random for some addresses in downtown Stillwater and came up with 8th Ave. and Duck St., which has a still significantly higher walkability score than 6th and Washington. But apparently, that is where the community center is, so would it have lots of residential properties, as well?
Are there generally plenty of rentals available in the downtown residential areas of Stillwater?
Sorry, but I'm kind of a nut for things like this Walkability Score gadget and got sort of carried away with it. So, here goes with more FYI:
* Tulsa as a whole scores very high but Stillwater is right up there with it.
* Muskogee, another place of interest to me, scores right up there with them.
* Tahlequah, which is extremely attractive to me, scores high on the walkability scale but still significantly behind both Stillwater and Tulsa and more on a par with OKC.
* Bartlesville, another of my interests, scores very high but still somewhat short of both Tulsa and Stillwater.
* Norman, where I've actually lived in the past and therefore provides a reference point in evaluating these data, totally kicked butt at five points from the very top of the scale.
But now here's where I have to wonder about the whole thing:
* Tampa, FL, which is supposed to be absolutely deadly for pedestrians scored very high for walkability, right up there with Tulsa, Stillwater and Muskogee.
The really crummy part was the van I had had JUST been worked on and was pretty much factory spec when it was stolen and parted out. Unfortunately, the parts were worth more to theives than the whole car. Since the car I'd get was being repaired nearly monthly I decided it was better to go with public transportation and rides. I still miss having a car however.
I'm wondering if the cost of shipping helps balance out all that other stuff. I order a LOT of stuff online and have it delivered. But even when you do have stores nearby, there are times when you still have to have a car, or at least someone who will give you a ride when you need it. Picking up a few things from the store and carrying them home is one thing. Picking up a sack of pet food, kittty litter, more than one gallon of milk, more cans... all these are a problem.
I find one big shopping gives me a base for food costs so I end up spending less, also have fewer temptations that pass you by if you don't spend as much time shopping.
Currently I'm spending a lot on getting the house worked on or stuff to do it myself. After I get further there I will think of a car. If I had a car I would have way too many excuses to go "out" and not get anything done.
Yeah, when you get to that point where car repairs cost as much as new car payment each month or worst case scenario, are saddled with both, you are better off without a car.
I agree with you that there are times when you've just gotta have a car, just like there are times when you''ve gotta do some shopping on a large scale. Also, I can see how those shipping costs could get to be a lot after awhile. I do think that buying for at least a week ahead does help save money in the long run and is an especially good idea in the winter, when you might not be able to get to the store as often as you had planned. Buying for a week at a time has become my way of doing things, from force of habit, if nothing else. On the other hand, there have been lots of times I bought for the week and realized at some point within two or three days that I didn't feel like eating anything I'd bought. I had a friend who used to buy her food daily, depending on what she was feeling like that day. It seemed to work for her and she told me that she wasted less food that way. So, I guess it all comes down to what works for you.
If you own your own home, fixing it up is a great investment. Yeah, sometimes owning a car leads to driving just for the sake of....well, driving. Personally, I think you're on the right track and probably building a more solid and balanced foundation, (albeit, a bit more slowly), than many of your peers, who spend a disproportionate amount of their time, resources and energy on transportation.
Yeah, when you get to that point where car repairs cost as much as new car payment each month or worst case scenario, are saddled with both, you are better off without a car.
I agree with you that there are times when you've just gotta have a car, just like there are times when you''ve gotta do some shopping on a large scale. Also, I can see how those shipping costs could get to be a lot after awhile. I do think that buying for at least a week ahead does help save money in the long run and is an especially good idea in the winter, when you might not be able to get to the store as often as you had planned. Buying for a week at a time has become my way of doing things, from force of habit, if nothing else. On the other hand, there have been lots of times I bought for the week and realized at some point within two or three days that I didn't feel like eating anything I'd bought. I had a friend who used to buy her food daily, depending on what she was feeling like that day. It seemed to work for her and she told me that she wasted less food that way. So, I guess it all comes down to what works for you.
If you own your own home, fixing it up is a great investment. Yeah, sometimes owning a car leads to driving just for the sake of....well, driving. Personally, I think you're on the right track and probably building a more solid and balanced foundation, (albeit, a bit more slowly), than many of your peers, who spend a disproportionate amount of their time, resources and energy on transportation.
Right now I have a pile of ceiling fans ready to install, just have to finishe with the ceilings first. I found someone who isn't an electricion to put them in atleast who does it all the time. 100 dollars an HOUR????? My living room is going to be a Victorian style with modern lines and I have it half done. Driving me crazy beina able to see it finished....
What I'd really like to do is take a day trip once in a while, down Route 66, out in the open areas and just enjoying the space. Coming form literally no open space unless the city decided to set up a large park before the housing crept in, its still a huge thrill to see it. And getting out *myself*. But I have a nice small house thats going to be all mine so I can temperarily adjust.
A small meat market opened a couple of weeks right next to me which is great, and his is all fresh, and he is eventually going to sell a few other things like milk and eggs and cheese too. All local. I really like that there is something available so close. And he gives me bones for my dog too. Walmart won't do that.
I think you have to decide if you can go without daily shopping before you decide where you live. Just like you have to decide what is most important to have around you, stores or movies or space or neighbors. And the beauty of today is that so much of the non priorities can still be found and bought/watched via the net.
Right now I have a pile of ceiling fans ready to install, just have to finishe with the ceilings first. I found someone who isn't an electricion to put them in atleast who does it all the time. 100 dollars an HOUR????? My living room is going to be a Victorian style with modern lines and I have it half done. Driving me crazy beina able to see it finished....
What I'd really like to do is take a day trip once in a while, down Route 66, out in the open areas and just enjoying the space. Coming form literally no open space unless the city decided to set up a large park before the housing crept in, its still a huge thrill to see it. And getting out *myself*. But I have a nice small house thats going to be all mine so I can temperarily adjust.
A small meat market opened a couple of weeks right next to me which is great, and his is all fresh, and he is eventually going to sell a few other things like milk and eggs and cheese too. All local. I really like that there is something available so close. And he gives me bones for my dog too. Walmart won't do that.
I think you have to decide if you can go without daily shopping before you decide where you live. Just like you have to decide what is most important to have around you, stores or movies or space or neighbors. And the beauty of today is that so much of the non priorities can still be found and bought/watched via the net.
Given the choice, I'd take space but even that would get old after awhile, especially when I got hungry and started looking for food.
The good places do tend to be expensive. You could always work as labor on someplace like Catalina Island or one of the Channel Islands. Unfortunately, the old standby of light-house keeper is no longer being used, so those spots are gone. Another thought is to join the merchant marine, which is an excellent place to be contemplative and write a novel. You will have to be careful, though, because you might loose a finger or two or be washed overboard, but standing watch on the bridge of a ship in a hurricane can be exhilarating, once you get used to the pitching and weaving. Working offshore in the oilfields of the North Sea or North African desert also works, as does an assignment--no matter how menial--at McMurdo station, but those jobs are a little difficult to get sometimes.
All of the above have the benefit of you living, as John Twelve Hawks might say, "off the grid".
Then again, you are right, you could live someplace like Weleetka, Oklahoma, for almost nothing, but you would have spend all your time scratching out a living and having no time for writing.
Finally, look into finding work at a small college--the physical plant, editing, writing press releases, even the kitchen. You would at least have at your disposal a fine library and with a college ID card you can order books from any university in the country. Most colleges also have off-campus housing consisting of houses donated to the college. Not particularly great housing, but cheap if not free.
So, I'm interested in simplifying my life in order to focus on some things that are really important but have been neglected, thus far. In order to accomplish this, I'm thinking of moving to a smaller town with a slower pace. I want to be in a place where, if necessary, I can live without a car for at least, a few years.
I'm thinking it would need to be a small to medium-sized town where regular essentials like the grocery store, post office, bank, etc., are located within a relatively compact radius with residential neighborhoods included. I'm okay with walking long distances, so that "compact radius" could be a few miles, just so my ice cream doesn't have time to melt before I get home from the store.
Now it occurs to me that the place I'm looking for may not be in a small town at all but maybe just a nice walkable, well-planned neighborhood in a larger city, so any ideas are welcome. I'm open to "thinking outside the box" and if someone suggests this place doesn't exist in Oklahoma and I'm better off looking at, for example, Eureka Springs, AR, then I'll consider that to be good advice, as well.
Having lived here all my life, I know how crazy this quest sounds but humor me, there's a madness to my method.
Sorry, I meant to respond to this the other day.
The only area I really know anything about that might fit your requirements is in Moore, OK near the intersection of S 19th and Santa Fe. There are two apartment complexes there around a golf course and there are several residential developments also near there.
Near the intersection are 3 banks, Walgreens, CVS, cleaners, 7-11, couple of strip centers including one with a restaurant, liquor store, and yogurt place.
Just east of the golf course and one of the apartment complexes there is going to be a new Target store built and just east of that is a Home Depot, Jack In The Box, Chili's, Starbucks, Chick-Fil-A. Across from the Jack In The Box is a Carl's Jr and east of it is a Chicken Express and just east of it is an Aldi's. The Target will have groceries, too.
At the corner of 19th and Telephone which is 1 mile east of the apartments there is a Wal-Mart, Lowes, and a whole bunch of other stuff both north and south of 19th.
Less than one mile north of 19th and Telephone Road is the Warren Theater which is really an excellent venue and just a little further is the Moore Hospital.
On Saturdays there are lots of joggers and often the bicycle club starts out in that area.
I've been told the apartments are pretty nice but not exactly luxurious.
Moore is a little over 50,000 population now but it remains much like a small town.
Not sure if this description helps you or not but was all I could remember.
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