Enid OK ? Love it? Hate it? Why? Sound off here (Kingfisher: housing, rent)

[someguy73703]

Hello, Ive lived in enid off and on for a few years i used to really like it here but im finding that i dont really fit in around here and dont seem to have much in common with alot of the local folks , most people here are nice however and i do think its an "ok"place to raise kids ..kinda.. Anyway if your from enid lets hear what you like or dont like ..

[BelgianPea]

Originally Posted by someguy73703

Hello, Ive lived in enid off and on for a few years i used to really like it here but im finding that i dont really fit in around here and dont seem to have much in common with alot of the local folks , most people here are nice however and i do think its an "ok"place to raise kids ..kinda.. Anyway if your from enid lets hear what you like or dont like ..

hi, i am not from enid (im from Belgium) but i have been living in enid since januari this year. i have to say i pretty much feel the same way like you do.
the people seem to be nice but i dont really fit in and cant find people i have stuff in common with

other than that i cant really form an opinion if its good or bad. its a little "there's no place like home" so Belgium is where my heart is.
so im a bit biased to really see and feel what enid is like

[someguy73703]

Originally Posted by BelgianPea

hi, i am not from enid (im from Belgium) but i have been living in enid since januari this year. i have to say i pretty much feel the same way like you do.
the people seem to be nice but i dont really fit in and cant find people i have stuff in common with

other than that i cant really form an opinion if its good or bad. its a little "there's no place like home" so Belgium is where my heart is.
so im a bit biased to really see and feel what enid is like

While the people are overall friendly, I Seem to not "vibe" with anybody around here, It just seems so different in NM and CO where people will strike up a conversation with you or you them and before you know it your having a drink or coffee and you've met a good friend but around here i cant figure out why most people are so stand-offish. They look at me surprised when i crack a joke or try and strike up conversation .
Welcome to the USA by the way...

[peggydavis]

Gosh, it sounds like Enid is a whole 'nother country! I have never been to Enid much. We used to go up there to buy tractors and such. The people seemed pretty friendly, but we were spending money. We liked to go to the Mexican restaurant near the Ford place. There was a Mexican store near there too and I bought a pinata one day.

We took our truck up there for service, and my husband asked for a loaner car so he could go to the antique store. They gave us a junker with no A/C! Well, it did run, but we didn't find any antiques.

Enid has some pretty houses, and I have always noticed how clean the town always looks.

[happytown]

Originally Posted by peggydavis

Gosh, it sounds like Enid is a whole 'nother country! I have never been to Enid much. We used to go up there to buy tractors and such. The people seemed pretty friendly, but we were spending money. We liked to go to the Mexican restaurant near the Ford place. There was a Mexican store near there too and I bought a pinata one day.

We took our truck up there for service, and my husband asked for a loaner car so he could go to the antique store. They gave us a junker with no A/C! Well, it did run, but we didn't find any antiques.

Enid has some pretty houses, and I have always noticed how clean the town always looks.

PeggyDavis I feel the same way...Enid is great...Big parks, old homes/mansions, great golf courses. Even a small downtown w/ a few old skyscrapers/highrises. I once had a girlfriend that lived there....and loved it. If Vance airforce base closes it will be a disaster for that community....Hope that doesnt happen.

[peggydavis]

Duh, in my post above I had Kingfisher confused with Enid. I think I had a senior moment. OK, now I will talk about Enid.

Once we went to a two day seminar in Enid, so we stayed at a motel there. The planes (jets) from Vance were flying low right by the motel. I thought it was really fun to watch them, one right after the other. It was a no smoking motel so I had lots of entertainment as I stood outside. I hope we don't have any more BRAC. The whole process made me very worried.

The place where the seminar was held was very beautiful, inside and out.

Enid also has a famous sculptor and artist. His first name is Harold. We went to his gallery at lunch time and it was really cool. He made the sculpture that is on display in Stockyards City. (Packingtown is what I always called it)

I also like all the grain elevators in Enid. The downtown is very pretty and does have tall buildings. I wonder how many stories high the tallest building in Enid is? We noticed all the very beautiful homes, and there were so many of them.

[happytown]

Enid is somewhat known for its food...Spelled backwards its....Dine. lol

[someguy73703]

I actually was reading somewhere the other day. Enid has the largest grain capacity in the united states. If i wasn't being so lazy id look it up. One thing I don't like about Enid is The Food, Pretty plain Jane. I will say the Starbucks is really Friendly Much more so then the Other coffee house ,That's big here in Enid , you'd think when Starbucks came to town they would have been a lil more nice to keep patrons and go for that "support Enid business" crowd but they were extremely rude every time I was there and never really busy. So i go to Starbucks and they are always extremely nice and helpful i would hang out there for awhile if it wasnt so dang small. Enid has been undergoing a big cleanup project which is OK its just too bad that property rights are not really respected in this town but i think that is happening everywhere which doesnt make it any more right . The brain drain is very prevalent here! I wont get started on the public schools(yet) So it is important that parents do all they can to educate their children beyond ...way beyond what the PS can do. We shouldn't expect so much from such incompetence anyway..okay i said i wasn't gonna start on the schools (yet) LOL ...

[Celia9393]

I was actually born in Enid a looooooooooong time ago. My school years were all spent in Garber--17 miles east. Then another 10 years in Enid before marrying one of the guys from Vance. His military career took us many, many places. Then he was hired by Northrop, the contractor at the base and we spent another 14 years there. The beautiful old homes and buildings were built by old oil money. Enid was always a boom or bust town. Boom periods brought lots of workers who left to follow the oil when the bust periods came. The large grain storage in Enid represented the tremendous amount of wheat that was raised on the surrounding farms. Many, many of the families descend from the very people who made the run into the Cherokee Strip. I am one of those. But the depression hit the area very hard. After WW2 things did improve. The late 70s & early 80s were a boom period. Housing was inflated and businesses doing well. In 1983, there was a downturn in oil prices and of course, the whole town was effected.

Having written all this, I still cannot give you a reason as to why you
do not "vibe". From my own experience and too many moves to count, I can say for sure that it does take time to feel at home in a new community. The places where I was happiest, were when we got involved with what was going on there. Find one person that you share an interest with and I will bet their friends will become yours too. Even when we returned to Enid, my job took me all over NW OK and my new friends were not my old friends. Now the few people I know there are either classmates or family. So every couple of years, I try to trek back to Garber Alumni where we remember the old days. Many of those classmates who flew the coop and settled around the country are now widow/widowers and have returned there to live. Believe me there are a whole lot worse places to be. Hopefully you will find some peace there too.

[Goodpasture]

I think you will find a couple of factors about Enid that contribute to your feelings. First is Vance. People from there are transient so it doesn't lend itself to long term relationships. Then there is the oil money and long term residents. People came to Enid during the land rushes......my own grandparents settled in Lacy (near Hennessey).....and established farms and long term relationships. When oil was developed, there was the "new folks" (oil field hands) and the "old folks" (old families). So between the oil field transients and the military transients, the more established families don't extend themselves to "new folks." And it is a small enough town that when everyone pretty much knows everyone (or at least your family) strangers are greeted with reserve.

If you are planning on being there long term, get involved in civic activities.......that will help break the ice, and it might get your grandkids accepted.............