[Jammie]

Going through the boards, I don't notice any Okie's looking for info to relocate to a different state. I've noticed that a few of you move to different Oklahoma cities, but does anyone from Ok ever relocate to a different state? The only posts I've ever seen is young people who went to college in OK being anxious to get done and go back to their state. Is everyone that happy living in OK that they don't desire to live elsewhere? I know there were a couple posts where everyone didn't seem totally content, but also commented on that there were a lot less desirable places to live. So what makes OK nice enough that the Okies stay there for life?

[Nameless]

Lots of people tend to have deep roots here. My family is from the upper midwest and although I've lived here my whole life, I feel more at home when I visit up there.

[Griffis]

Personally I can't WAIT to get out of here. In fact, I've left a few times but always end up being lured back because of family issues. My own family plans to leave the end of this year or early next year. FOR GOOD.

I know tons of people who can't wait to split Oklahoma. Just about everyone I went to undergrad college couldn't wait to leave, and they left as soon as they could. I'm in grad school now and aside from the people in the program who already have jobs in the state they are trying to advance in, pretty much everyone I know wants to leave.

Here are the pros:

-Relatively inexpensive
-Relatively low crime (outside of Tulsa and OKC)
-Relatively friendly people

And here are the cons (the way I see 'em):

-Incredibly muggy, humid, hotter than hell summers (about a month and a half of well over 100% temps with zero rain this summer)
-Little to no culture
-Rednecks, rednecks, rednecks
-Ultra conservative rednecks
-Ultra Christian rednecks
-Nothing to do but futtbawl
-No scenery to speak of. All the surrounding states are prettier. Most of Oklahoma is flat, ugly and baked yellow and brown from the heat

[Jammie]

OOOOH rednecks??? I understand though that it's pretty around Tulsa with rolling green hills, etc. Do you feel that it is? I don't think we'd want to live in a small town there (unless possibly Grove), but Tulsa appears to have a lot to offer. I guess I'll know more in about three weeks.

Which surrounding state do you think is prettier? Is Arkansas pretty? And where are you going when you leave there?

[Griffis]

Jammie, as much as I bash it (I'm really sick of being here but I also get itchy feet and need a change now and then), there are some things to recommend about Oklahoma (see prior post)...the rednecks aren't as big a problem in bigger cities, but it's still there.

Unfortunately, OKC and Tulsa have quite high violent crime rates anymore. Well above the national average, and make NYC look like a safe haven.

Grove is pretty in parts (run down in others...surrounding area is pretty) Tahlequah is fairly charming for a town in OK. Even Paul's Valley, South of OCK is pretty, though depressed--it does have Sulfur Springs nearby which, despite the foul name, has some prettiness to it.

There are some people (who shall remain Nameless!) who would argue with me, but I think it's inescapable that the Tulsa area is far prettier than the OKC area. Tulsa itself is a prettier town too, with (in my humble opinion), more cultural activities, museums, better schools overall, nicer parks, a little more artiness to it without being terribly pretentious, etc. Tulsa is in the Ozark foothills so is a little more lush and hilly and green than OKC which is surrounded by flat yellow prairie and red clay.

And I mentioned surrounding states but actually the eastern part of Colorado is as flat and dull as most of Oklahoma. Kansas, too, isn't so hot if you are looking for scenery, and neither is the area of Texas bordering Oklahoma.

However, all three of those states (and the Missouri Ozarks) have much prettier areas than anything in Oklahoma. Arkansas is WAY more beautiful in most parts than Oklahoma, but it still has some ugly towns. And I think the redneck factor is even worse in Arkansas. However, Fayetteville is a pretty cool town with a decent university and Eureka Springs is downright gorgeous. A mountainside Victorian town right in the heart of the Ozarks. Tourist trappish, but a nice area.

As far as where my family hopes to relocate, I'll have to go where the best job is, but any state south or west of Oklahoma isn't even on the list of states under consideration.

We are interested in: upstate New York, Vermont, Northeastern Pennsylvania, the Bangor, Maine area, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and possibly Minnesota (I grew up there.)

We don't want to go West--we have been there before. Some great places but it's getting even more expensive and crowded near the coast and the inland West is soon going to have massive problems with water, etc. Large parts of Montana and Wyoming are sitting on top of a supervolcano, upper Nevada and the Dakotas are too remote and isolated and the water issue may be a growing concern.

So anyway, hopefully an area of the Northeast that isn't too pricey.

Wish us luck. I'm getting too old to move around too many more times!

[Jammie]

Hey Griffis, I do wish you luck. I'm glad to hear some positive things about Tulsa again. As I said before, we're going there in a few weeks and I just have such high hopes that it will be the place for us. Of course, it's over a year yet until we can actually move. So. Dak. is a good state and we've lived here our entire lives. I really want a place where the winters aren't as cold and snowy as they can get up here. But since you've lived in Minn., you know what cold is.

You're the second person that has mentioned Eureka Springs as being pretty. I got a couple emails from a lady who lives in Tulsa and she said that Eureka Springs was her fave town. We're not allowing ourselves enough days to go and see it, but hopefully we'll like it down that way and see it on our next trip.

As far as going to the East Coast, I hope that everything turns out ok for you. It just seems like things are so expensive that direction. Like you, the clock is ticking for us, too. We're hoping that this will be our one and only relocation so we'll need to be sure before we do it.

[Nameless]

I don't recall saying OKC is prettier than Tulsa. Overall Tulsa has more to offer scenary wise (as long as trees and green are what you consider pretty) but I reiterate. It's not just dust outside OKC, I've seen numerous homes on the east side with tons of trees. Don't feel like you're in stereotypical Oklahoma at all. But yes, Tulsa does in general have better sceneary. As far as stuff to do goes, all I can say is the OKC yellow pages are still bigger

[klassylady25]

"Fayetteville is a pretty cool town with a decent university and Eureka Springs is downright gorgeous. A mountainside Victorian town right in the heart of the Ozarks. Tourist trappish, but a nice area."

Arkansas is beautiful......... but so **** clanish! I know I was from there! And if you aren't "One" of them you never will be.

I grew up in Dallas. Took a job in Fayetteville and made Oklahoma my home by choice. The people are resillent and hard working. Crime is crime as long as there are people. Talk to the school in Colorado, and that state is also beautiful.

The seasons are mild, the summer is not always. It can be cruel, but I've been here since 1986 and there have only been 2 over 100 summers, for extended times. This was one of them.

Rednecks is a term used - like ******, ***, etc.... and can be a derogotory name or endearing. Redneck was derived from the coloration of the skin that farmers gained when working the land. There is red dirt here, but there is also black and brown and grey! Sheesh....

Oklahoma..... is as good a place to live as anywhere. It's what you make it.

Candice
Edmond, Oklahoma

[Jammie]

KlassyLady, thank you for the warning about the clannishness in Ar. As I said, I'm hoping that Tulsa will be the spot for us, but someday we'd like to do a bit of driving around in Ark. I've heard the Ozarks are beautiful.

[Griffis]

KlassyLady, I've been here most of the years since 1982. If you think that there have only been 2 summers with lots of 100+ days, the summer heat must have fried your memory cells. No disrespect, but that just ain't so.

As for Arkansas, I agree. Like I said, maybe even MORE rednecky than Oklahoma. I mean, I think the KKK has a headquarters there, if not their main HQ. Plus there are a lot of sort of strip mall towns pretty much owned by Wal Mart. However, it is inarguably prettier than OK overall.

Jammie, again, you could do a lot worse than living in Tulsa, or other places in Oklahoma. It isn't my preference by any means whatsoever, but it may be just the thing for you. Here's wishing both our families find what we are looking for (bearing in mind any place has its problems and no place is perfect, etc.)

And KlassyLady, I agree to a point that life is what you make it, no matter where you are. There is a lot of truth in that. But also, a person can make a lot of decisions about where they live and the kind of geography and cultural climate they live in. I've lived pretty much all over the USA and have travelled in Canada, Mexico and Europe. Oklahoma ain't the be-all and end-all. Not by any stretch.

There are some great people in Oklahoma. Hell, most of my friends are from here, and they are as intelligent and interesting and kind as you'd find anywhere.

But the overall tenor of the state...doesn't appeal to me at all. The bulk of people I see are morons in pick'em up trucks sporting a stoopid OU flag on one window and a @&!#-ing "W" sticker on their rear windshield. Anyone who could STILL support that chimpface mofo lying ignorant sack of traitorous scum Bush and his henchmen like Satan..er, I mean Cheney is nothing but a backwoods idjit. And they grow them in huge numbers here.