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Potential job would be in Enid (military Reserves or civil service). Either way, it wouldn't be a short PCS like active duty, it would be a long term employment kinda thing. Lived there a year circa 2006. I don't particularly find it suitable for gainful employment for the wife and more importantly, I don't think the schools cut the mustard. I guess I just don't want to raise my kid in Enid. Nothing against the place. It's not even a safety argument. I just prefer to raise them in a more academically competitive environment just like I was. Enid may fit the technical definition of urban, but it's semi-rural to me with respect to raising my family there.
If I were to take a job up there, I would be thinking on doing whatever variation of a commute (either straight commute, or geo-bacheloring the weekdays, or some part-week commute in between those alternatives) in order for the kids to have competitive schools and suitable dining and shopping amenities for us the rest of the week and for myself on the weekends.
I haven't been to Stillwater, but being a college town replete with young people appeals to me. My experience in college towns has been very positive as a college student, even from the perspective of throwing roots as a family unit in a college town. They're usually diverse due to out of state money influence, vibrant (due to younger aged service industry workers) and otherwise have good schools on the heels of the flagship university that supports the town. I would like to know just how accurate would that be to say of Stillwater.
OKC we know, since wife is from there. We know it satisfies our needs. Obviously the commute would be a killer in anything but the uppermost NW corner.
At any rate. Any input or feedback is appreciated!
Im not sure Stillwater is going to be your best spot. It is a college town and that is ALL that is there. The life of that town revolves around the students. NW Oklahoma City is very nice. I lived there for some time and enjoyed it. You can find places that are nice, quiet, but a stones throw from the culture of the city. I would agree that Enid is a dump and cannot blame you for not wanting to live there. Check out areas around Lake Hefner and Lake Hefner Parkway. I would say no to edmond unless you really like Yuppies and the average family with 2.5 kids. Its way too suburban. But the areas around Hefner and May and very nice and close to many restaurants, shopping, plus have good school systems (or so I was told)
I've been living in Stillwater for almost a year and plan to move soon. The restaurants are pretty bad in general, with a couple of exceptions. Shopping options are also pretty limited compared to what you would find in OKC. I would guess if dining/shopping are important to you, that you would be happier in OKC. A lot of people here tend to go to OKC or Tulsa on the weekends, especially if they are not really involved with the college community. The thing about living in a college town is that unless it's your alma mater, you probably won't find it all that interesting. It also gets pretty annoying at times.
Don't know anything about the Stillwater schools, although I have never heard anyone complain about them.
I haven't heard much good about Enid either.
Also, there would be more job opportunity for your wife in OKC. Seems like most of the jobs in Stillwater are service industry type jobs that favor college students.
Copy all. Sounds like NW OKC would be a better long term fit for us then. The commute distance is about on par what it would be from Stillwater. Looking at real estate prices in the NW area it seems reasonably affordable. We'll eventually make more specific research on school districts in NW OKC (from my understanding Putnam City vs Piedmont).
We also share the sentiment about Edmond. It is a very nice area indeed and very desirable, but it's a longer commute for me and higher real estate prices for not much more gained, as far as our family needs are concerned.
Im not sure Stillwater is going to be your best spot. It is a college town and that is ALL that is there. The life of that town revolves around the students.
LOL, you're so wrong and uninformed, it's just pitiful. It's obvious, you have never drove down N. Perkins Rd, to realize Stillwater has an industrial district. That's why Stillwater is called a blue collar college town. Oh, well, I bet some people have lived in Stillwater for years and don't know about N. Perkins Rd. It just seems vacant countryside out that way, so why venture there?
Way back in the 1960s, city leaders saw it didn't have much of a property tax base to work with since it couldn't tax OSU, so it realized it had to do something about it. As a result, today Stillwater has one of the most reliable and drought resistant sources of water in the state along with a dependable source for electrical power. If only those efforts to attract industry had worked out better, Stillwater would have been a better town than it is today.
Naturally, the students don't have much money, so much of what money they have flows to OSU, not Stillwater. After all, when I go to stores and restaurants, I usually see very few of them there. No wonder, many of them have spent their money on beer drinking at the strip.
Last edited by StillwaterTownie; 08-10-2013 at 11:32 AM..
Potential job would be in Enid (military Reserves or civil service). Either way, it wouldn't be a short PCS like active duty, it would be a long term employment kinda thing. Lived there a year circa 2006. I don't particularly find it suitable for gainful employment for the wife and more importantly, I don't think the schools cut the mustard. I guess I just don't want to raise my kid in Enid. Nothing against the place. It's not even a safety argument. I just prefer to raise them in a more academically competitive environment just like I was. Enid may fit the technical definition of urban, but it's semi-rural to me with respect to raising my family there.
If I were to take a job up there, I would be thinking on doing whatever variation of a commute (either straight commute, or geo-bacheloring the weekdays, or some part-week commute in between those alternatives) in order for the kids to have competitive schools and suitable dining and shopping amenities for us the rest of the week and for myself on the weekends.
I haven't been to Stillwater, but being a college town replete with young people appeals to me. My experience in college towns has been very positive as a college student, even from the perspective of throwing roots as a family unit in a college town. They're usually diverse due to out of state money influence, vibrant (due to younger aged service industry workers) and otherwise have good schools on the heels of the flagship university that supports the town. I would like to know just how accurate would that be to say of Stillwater.
OKC we know, since wife is from there. We know it satisfies our needs. Obviously the commute would be a killer in anything but the uppermost NW corner.
At any rate. Any input or feedback is appreciated!
If it was me, I would just live in Enid. You could be doing a lot worse in Oklahoma than Enid. Anyway, you should visit Stillwater before deciding. If your experience is with bigger college towns, you might be disappointed, though. Unlike in Enid, there's no enclosed shopping mall. So I can see why the NW OKC area would be more appealing with its Quail Springs Mall. Much of the shopping in downtown Stillwater revolves around selling used merchandise. Some bars and restaurants are there, too. But it seems it's the only way for downtown to compete with the presence of two Wal-Marts and several big strip centers. Otherwise, much of downtown would be boarded up.
If living in Stillwater, be sure to make it the southwest part, so you can quickly get on highway 51 and on out without having to go through the rest of town. It's also more family oriented there, since it's well apart from OSU.
Schools are fine in Stillwater and getting better. Construction on two new elementary schools to replace two old ones are about finished. In a few years, construction on the new athletic village for the high school will probably start.
Most of the out of state influence at OSU comes from billionaire T. Boone Pickens and other wealthy donors. So there will be a lot of construction going on at OSU. It's new Athletic Village has hardly begun.
Since Stillwater is the only town I've ever lived in, it's best not to consider me a good source of opinion on Stillwater, good or bad, since I have no experience from living in other towns to go by.
Last edited by StillwaterTownie; 08-10-2013 at 11:49 AM..
A lot of people here tend to go to OKC or Tulsa on the weekends, especially if they are not really involved with the college community. The thing about living in a college town is that unless it's your alma mater, you probably won't find it all that interesting. It also gets pretty annoying at times.
Most towns that aren't very big are not all that interesting, anyway. But the interesting treat about living in Stillwater is that both OKC and Tulsa are just an hour away. I've never lived close to OSU, so seldom found things annoying.
I've been living in Stillwater for almost a year and plan to move soon. The restaurants are pretty bad in general, with a couple of exceptions.
Well, most of the restaurant scene in Stillwater revolves around a limited amount of well known chains. If you think that characteristic makes them bad, then they will be bad. However, I think Stillwater in getting a Texas Roadhouse was a pretty good catch, even if waitresses frequently forget to charge the bargain rate. Except for Lawton and Stillwater, no other Oklahoma town outside of OKC and Tulsa has a Texas Roadhouse.
Less of a good catch was with the Olive Garden. The inconsistency of the food and service at that restaurant has made it unworthy of getting a city tax incentive for coming in. While the menu isn't as huge, Davinci's is a good home grown Italian alternative to the Olive Garden. Less so with Joseppi's, unless you're looking for a nice bar or a fancier dining atmosphere.
Last edited by StillwaterTownie; 08-10-2013 at 02:16 PM..
Guilty as charged on that one, I generally consider chain restaurants to be a negative, although there are also some local places in Stillwater I haven't cared for either [Palominos, for example.] There are others that are good, but if someone really enjoys dining out they would probably enjoy living in OKC more.
Generally, if people are always going to OKC or Tulsa every weekend, I'd say they probably would be happier if they just moved to those places, unless there is some other reason for them to be in Stillwater. I don't actively dislike Stillwater, and am glad I gave it a shot, but it just wasn't a fit for me.
I'm actually surprised you haven't been annoyed more by the students, all I hear from the locals is how much they dread the students coming back in August.
Guilty as charged on that one, I generally consider chain restaurants to be a negative, although there are also some local places in Stillwater I haven't cared for either [Palominos, for example.] There are others that are good, but if someone really enjoys dining out they would probably enjoy living in OKC more.
Generally, if people are always going to OKC or Tulsa every weekend, I'd say they probably would be happier if they just moved to those places, unless there is some other reason for them to be in Stillwater. I don't actively dislike Stillwater, and am glad I gave it a shot, but it just wasn't a fit for me.
I'm actually surprised you haven't been annoyed more by the students, all I hear from the locals is how much they dread the students coming back in August.
I'd hate to chance being on the highway every day, commuting, considering how quick Oklahoma weather can turn bad. And keeping out of the way of deer would be another concern. My friend for a couple of years commuted every work day from Stillwater to an office sales job in NW OKC. She eventually got tired of it, and one time got her car pelted by big hail. She was glad to make it come to an end by landing a very similar job in Stillwater. Now she gets to work in less than 10 minutes.
OKC just seems like yet more chain restaurants to choose from, more places with a different name in front of Roadhouse, but then hopefully with a greater chance of hitting upon a very good locally originated restaurant.
If you live here long enough, the students are simply something you live with and expect. Without the students, thousands of people would have no jobs. I doubt the students congest the major streets any worse than it gets in OKC. However, conjestion on N. Perkins Rd. will only get worse from more people on it to get to the new Aldi grocery store, along with a huge new apartment complex now being built just off that road. It would be nice if Perkins Rd. could be widened to two additional lanes and/or a bypass highway built from the end of the Cimarron Turnpike spur southwest to Highway 51. I've heard someone comment that the streets haven't been all that less busy without the students.
Last edited by StillwaterTownie; 08-10-2013 at 10:04 PM..
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