[Synopsis]

Originally Posted by nocoldiron

Let's be real-tornado alley scares people,100 temp with 95% humidity speaks for itself,bugs,bugs,bugs, and poisionous snakes!, and a true Oklahomian will tell you the ice storms are worse than all the rest!! Most people look at the red dirt (only in 33 counties out of 60 ? counties),muddy rivers and flat,flat,dry land(once again,not everywhere but a lot of OK) and don't want to live there.I like Oklahoma but I am planning on moving to the east side where it is mountainous,black dirt, and has 12 months of rain.Might move around Lake Tenkiller because I like clear water."Grapes of Wrath" still scares people about Oklahoma.I live in one of the most beautiful places (Oregon),at the foot hill of a mountain with a well known salmon river 3 blocks away and the ocean 14 miles away.The weather is so mild,heat in most houses is space heater and no one has air conditioning.I can drive 2 hours and go to the ski resorts but see snow only a couple of days a year at my house.I also only see the sun in the summer,I have 8 months of rain and clouds.I own a little home that might sell for 50,000 there but will go for 190,000 here.Can't wait to move back,I hate the cloudy winters,miss 4 seasons,and want a mortgage free house. Like the people better,friendlier and more polite in the Midwest.I've lived in Oklahoma and want to go back.

Well, git outta there already! Nocoldiron, what do you do? Are you retired or are you looking for work in Ok? Sorry, I know you've probably posted this before.

[mkfarnam]

Originally Posted by nocoldiron

Let's be real-tornado alley scares people,100 temp with 95% humidity speaks for itself,bugs,bugs,bugs, and poisionous snakes!, and a true Oklahomian will tell you the ice storms are worse than all the rest!! Most people look at the red dirt (only in 33 counties out of 60 ? counties),muddy rivers and flat,flat,dry land(once again,not everywhere but a lot of OK) and don't want to live there.I like Oklahoma but I am planning on moving to the east side where it is mountainous,black dirt, and has 12 months of rain.Might move around Lake Tenkiller because I like clear water."Grapes of Wrath" still scares people about Oklahoma.I live in one of the most beautiful places (Oregon),at the foot hill of a mountain with a well known salmon river 3 blocks away and the ocean 14 miles away.The weather is so mild,heat in most houses is space heater and no one has air conditioning.I can drive 2 hours and go to the ski resorts but see snow only a couple of days a year at my house.I also only see the sun in the summer,I have 8 months of rain and clouds.I own a little home that might sell for 50,000 there but will go for 190,000 here.Can't wait to move back,I hate the cloudy winters,miss 4 seasons,and want a mortgage free house. Like the people better,friendlier and more polite in the Midwest.I've lived in Oklahoma and want to go back.

Why is it that people out west,mostly those who have never been here, look at OK, and immediately see "flat land"? Just because there are little to no mountain ranges and you can see miles beyond you nose does not mean that is flat land. The truth is that's OK, is more green rolling hills than anything.

[cobolt]

Midwest people are the BEST. I can't wait to get out of the hell that is WA state!

[nocoldiron]

Trying to finish this house,we should NOT have saved the bathroom till last + today I get to dig until I find the septic lid so we can have it pumped.We are both disabled on military pension,it's taken us forever to refinish this little house but it is gorgous!! George says whatever health he had left,remodeling this house took it. Then we sell it to a rich Californian We now want land (5-10 acres) and we can afford it in Oklahoma. The biggest detriment to OK in my book is cockroaches-I have not seen one in the last 6 years.I HATE cockroaches.Eskimo's have 50 words describing snow,people who live in the great plains have how many to describe basicly flat land? Yes, Oklahoma land does roll (heck of a lot more than Kansas) but to people who are use to mountains, it's flat. I think most people who drive through OK on HWY 35 or 40 don't see a lot of the interesting parts of OK.I remember trying to sleep days so I could drive through KS and OK at night in the summer to miss the heat.I sure never thought of it as a "scenic trip".What does a seatbelt ticket cost now? It's about $190.00 here-they always gave me $10.00 seat belt tickets in OK and a warning to keep it under 80

[karibear]

Originally Posted by mkfarnam

Why is it that people out west,mostly those who have never been here, look at OK, and immediately see "flat land"? Just because there are little to no mountain ranges and you can see miles beyond you nose does not mean that is flat land. The truth is that's OK, is more green rolling hills than anything.

They lump all the middle states together. The flattest land I've ever seen was parts of Kansas, Nebraska, and the Dakotas. Even the Badlands seem flat at first glance - until you get close enough to see all the cuts and arroyos breaking them up. But even now, if you go through some of those places where there are farms, there are miles upon miles of safflowers and sunflowers growing, and you would swear if you rolled a bowling ball across a field, it would roll for miles just as straight as an arrow. All that mostly flat land is why we get so many bizzards blowing down from Canada [which also has quite a lot of flat land, too].

[Jammie]

Kari, it sounds like you've been in my area? Did you get to go through the Black Hills on your way to the Badlands? East River of So. Dak. is flat, but about the western fourth is very hilly. We call them "Hills", but in actuality, they're mountains. It's just the translation from Lakota to English~Paha Sapa~Black Hills.

We thought eastern OK was nice and hilly so there definitely are parts of the state that have hills.

[colleeng47]

Sorry folks, but what's the big deal with hills? When we moved back to NJ from Nevada years ago, we picked central NJ to buy our house BECAUSE IT WAS SO FLAT. We liked the feeling of wide open spaces. If we wanted to feel closed in by mountains we went to the Poconos. Loved being there for the week of vacation, but always happy to get back to central NJ where we could see the horizon all around.

Flat land lends itself to spectacular skies. Amazing sunsets and when a storm is approaching, you can see it for miles. Heat and humidity? Sure -- it's summer. Turn on the A/C, or jump in the pool. Bugs -- who's bigger? I refuse to put the A/C on until it's time for bed (don't like to sweat when I sleep). If anyone gets hot I tell them to jump in the pool.

So many things make up a quality of life. I hear the people on the NJ forum b****ing about when they move out of the NJ area they can't get decent pizza or bagels. Excuse me? If that makes up your quality of life, you better stay where you are.

(rant over - I should have been a pioneer)

[mkfarnam]

I lived at the foot hill of the mountains in SoCal. If there were no mountains in Ca. it would be so flat the ocean would move in on it. Especially the Majove dessert. Also the terrain is so rough that OK, would put it to shame.
The only cattle country SoCal has is, Norco and Chino.

[mkfarnam]

Originally Posted by colleeng47

Sorry folks, but what's the big deal with hills? When we moved back to NJ from Nevada years ago, we picked central NJ to buy our house BECAUSE IT WAS SO FLAT. We liked the feeling of wide open spaces. If we wanted to feel closed in by mountains we went to the Poconos. Loved being there for the week of vacation, but always happy to get back to central NJ where we could see the horizon all around.

Flat land lends itself to spectacular skies. Amazing sunsets and when a storm is approaching, you can see it for miles. Heat and humidity? Sure -- it's summer. Turn on the A/C, or jump in the pool. Bugs -- who's bigger? I refuse to put the A/C on until it's time for bed (don't like to sweat when I sleep). If anyone gets hot I tell them to jump in the pool.

So many things make up a quality of life. I hear the people on the NJ forum b****ing about when they move out of the NJ area they can't get decent pizza or bagels. Excuse me? If that makes up your quality of life, you better stay where you are.

(rant over - I should have been a pioneer)

Flat land also brings farmland.

[yensid]

Ya'll don't like it when people put down Oklahoma, but you seem to put other places down a lot. ??

To the original poster- it sounds like you may really like it here based on your desires (I also read your other post). But make sure you visit for a while to make your decision. It is a different world than Cali and if you have any issues with weather (I think you mentioned it at one point), you may not like it here.
Couple things I thought I would mention. I talked to a friend in Orange County recently and the gas there is almost a dollar more. The car insurance doesn't seem much different to me, but I could be wrong. My agent said some of it is higher due to a high amount of uninsured drivers. We DO pay tax on groceries, which you don't in Cali. And I was surprised that the sales tax in my area is higher than when I was in Orange County. Other than that, things are mostly cheaper here....but, people do make less. I've seen a lot of things lately which say the median household income in some cities here is around $50,000-$55,000. As you would know, a household couldn't really survive with that amount in Cali. A house that would cost about ohhh....$800,000 in Cali, you can get here for about $180,000. Good luck to you!