[jfrebel]

I was raised an Okie. being visually impaired I decided to head out to another state with better transit, and since my sister was moving to colorado, I came along for the ride. that was about 4 years ago.

I've decided to move back to oklahoma to be closer to family. Also the cost of living is cheaper than colorado.

I got my sights set on Norman OK right now but I'm open to other options. Tulsa, Stillwater, and OKC, also maybe Moore.

Norman appeals to me and tops the list because it has okay transit, (including a van to pick you up and take you where you need to go) and is safer than OKC, Stillwater or Tulsa from what I've seen online. It's also got an interesting music school that caught my eye. I like playing country, bluegrass and folk music.

some questions I have is what are some good apartments to look at that are low cost but also not ran down slums, with cockroaches, or where half the appliances don't work? from what I hear norman doesn't have much in the way of gangs and such, but I don't want a bunch of drunken frat boy neighbors either, or neighbors who cook meth.


a studio or one bedroom is what I need. any recommendations for places to check out? 3 places that caught my eye are brandywine, stoneridge and port of the trails. I'm open to other places too.

also why do none of the apartments have tornado shelters?

lastly I'm not a sports guy. will people hate me when I don't know or care who's playing in the thunder's or boomers or whatever? LOL I know sports are big in norman. I got nothing against it, I just don't care. LOL

[eddie gein]

I'd recommend somewhere west of i-35 in the more suburban area of Norman. Traffic out there is bad but if you aren't the one driving I guess it doesn't matter. If you live out there you wouldn't even have to go into the University side of Norman (east of I-35 if you didn't want to).

[Bass&Catfish2008]

Originally Posted by jfrebel

I was raised an Okie. being visually impaired I decided to head out to another state with better transit, and since my sister was moving to colorado, I came along for the ride. that was about 4 years ago.

I've decided to move back to oklahoma to be closer to family. Also the cost of living is cheaper than colorado.

I got my sights set on Norman OK right now but I'm open to other options. Tulsa, Stillwater, and OKC, also maybe Moore.

Norman appeals to me and tops the list because it has okay transit, (including a van to pick you up and take you where you need to go) and is safer than OKC, Stillwater or Tulsa from what I've seen online. It's also got an interesting music school that caught my eye. I like playing country, bluegrass and folk music.

some questions I have is what are some good apartments to look at that are low cost but also not ran down slums, with cockroaches, or where half the appliances don't work? from what I hear norman doesn't have much in the way of gangs and such, but I don't want a bunch of drunken frat boy neighbors either, or neighbors who cook meth.


a studio or one bedroom is what I need. any recommendations for places to check out? 3 places that caught my eye are brandywine, stoneridge and port of the trails. I'm open to other places too.

also why do none of the apartments have tornado shelters?

lastly I'm not a sports guy. will people hate me when I don't know or care who's playing in the thunder's or boomers or whatever? LOL I know sports are big in norman. I got nothing against it, I just don't care. LOL

You mean the SOONERS?!

Nah, you'll be fine. Just don't cheer for the Texas Longhorns or wear any burnt orange and I'm guessing you won't have any problems.

[jfrebel]

LOL no worries about that. I wouldn't know what the long horns did unless somebody told me and then I'd look like a dope when I didn't know who was what or got a basketball team mixed up with a football team, etc or getting team names wrong, or confused by sports terminology. LOL

so then I'm forced to either not say anything and look snobbish or just confess I don't know anything about it, nor do i care to, and then some may take offense to that.

I remember one time when I worked in sales on the phone some guy asked me if I was into hockey and then hung up on me when i said no.

It could put me in a bind. now if folks simply shrug and change the topic when they see I know nothing of sports, then there won't be any issues. it'd be like if I brought up country music and they turn out to be a rock fan, I'll just shrug and change the topic.

Eddie and Bass, thanks for the input so far. I hope others add inout too. the more information I have the better.

[Wyllyam]

Norman may be just the place. I really liked it, spent three years there, but it was the middle 90's, so it's grown tremendously since then. I lived in two different complexes, and while the fraternities, etc., hang out at their own big monster houses, you will have loud drunken neighbor stuff every now and then. There's no escaping it in a college town, unfortunately. There was a lot of culture when I was there centered around the music building to the "brick" neighborhood of shops, and when I drove through last year it had grown a bunch. Tulsa and OKC seem to have more violent/wacko apartment issues than I ever saw in Norman.

[jfrebel]

thanks for the input! do you remember if they had places that cater to bluegrass, folk music, and traditional country?

Also something else I wonder about is religion and politics. now I'm laid back and don't like to argue with or put anybody down, preferring to live and let live. but I am an atheist. I'm also a democrat. I know oklahoma is in the bible belt and staunchly republican.

Is norman pretty laid back on religion and politics? or will I be dealing with lots of aggressive christian proselytizers, or people that think I'm a traitor who voted for a communist?

I'm hoping I can say "my religious and political views are personal, lets change the subject" and that be the end of it. if it is, I'll be able to get along with anybody. my family down there, is fundamentalist christians and think Obama is a communist muslim who wants to destroy america, and yet I get along with most of them because we agree to disagree. meanwhile there's others who are no longer on speaking terms with me, and what little they say about me, I can't repeat.

So what's Norman like culturally? are the people laid back, accepting and friendly?

feel free to share your input. same goes for stuff not yet answered like info about the apartments I mentioned, other cities I might consider, etc.

thanks for the input so far.

[Bass&Catfish2008]

Originally Posted by jfrebel

thanks for the input! do you remember if they had places that cater to bluegrass, folk music, and traditional country?

Also something else I wonder about is religion and politics. now I'm laid back and don't like to argue with or put anybody down, preferring to live and let live. but I am an atheist. I'm also a democrat. I know oklahoma is in the bible belt and staunchly republican.

Is norman pretty laid back on religion and politics? or will I be dealing with lots of aggressive christian proselytizers, or people that think I'm a traitor who voted for a communist?

I'm hoping I can say "my religious and political views are personal, lets change the subject" and that be the end of it. if it is, I'll be able to get along with anybody. my family down there, is fundamentalist christians and think Obama is a communist muslim who wants to destroy america, and yet I get along with most of them because we agree to disagree. meanwhile there's others who are no longer on speaking terms with me, and what little they say about me, I can't repeat.

So what's Norman like culturally? are the people laid back, accepting and friendly?

feel free to share your input. same goes for stuff not yet answered like info about the apartments I mentioned, other cities I might consider, etc.

thanks for the input so far.

Culturally, Norman is similar to any other sizable suburban South-Central town. Most folks are church-goers or at the very least, loosely affiliated. Most likely someone will invite you to church at some point.

I tend to find most folks laid back in Norman and the metro in general. I would not lead with "I'm an atheist and Obama got my vote," however. I have not run into any aggressive/Fundi-types there.

You'll be fine.

Alright, now let's practice: "GO SOONERS!"
(*repeat 21x a day until move is complete*)

[eddie gein]

If you are an atheist democrat than Norman is one of the few places that you will find a cluster of like minded people who are in close proximity, however, most of them live on the university side of Norman (east of I-35). Norman is also one of the few places that the atheists/humanists are actually organized to any degree. Probably most of the activities you might want to attend will be around the campus. So I would disregard the previous suggestion of being west of I-35 and consider being closer to campus.

Here is the Atheist site you need to visit. I know that Norman has a "Naturalist group" that you can access from this site.

http://www.oklahomaatheists.com/

As far as the bluegrass and such, Guthrie, OK has one of the top bluegrass festivals in the country which is about 60 miles north of Norman. I'm sure Norman may have a concert here and there but not anything I know about that is annual like. OKC probably has some acts playing around town as well.

[jfrebel]

LOL! go sooners!

yeah @ bass, don't worry, I don't like talking politics and religion with people who I don't know. now if its with a friendly sort who can have civil disagreements, and I know them well enough to know its okay, it can be fun and educational for us both as we learn each others perspective, but right off the bat, no way. I don't want punched or to alienate people. I've got a fiddle store guy up here in colorado who is a republican christian and always makes remarks when I come by for strings or whatever, (sure I'll fix that crack in your fiddle, too bad we can't fix obamacare!) and he has no idea that I'm on the other side. I just say yeah, uh huh, laugh and move on. he keeps my business though because he's a nice guy and does good work. I think I can get along with most people. even if they disagree if they're not the angry hostile types, its no big deal.

@ Eddie thats good to know. now where I live isn't such a big deal as I can always go to east norman to do whatever even if I live in west norman. for me with regard to living, I want a place thats reasonable in cost, safe, clean, not ghetto or run down, and friendly neighbors. Even if they're all devout pentecostals and think Tom Cole is too liberal, if they're aren't pushy or hostile to me, then I don't really care. LOL

my dad is a pentecostal preacher, and hates obama. we get along great and I can't wait to be able to see him more. we typically steer clear of religion and politics though we occasionally get into it. If i can get along with him, I can get along with any friendly sort, no matter how much we disagree on stuff like that.

now if I can find safe reasonable costs near campus, hey thats a bonus.

[StillwaterTownie]

Originally Posted by jfrebel

Also something else I wonder about is religion and politics. now I'm laid back and don't like to argue with or put anybody down, preferring to live and let live. but I am an atheist. I'm also a democrat. I know oklahoma is in the bible belt and staunchly republican.

If Norman is like Stillwater there is surely a county Democrat headquarters building where Democrats go to meet at least once a month.