[K2000kid]

after growing up and trying to make a living in CT
i saved my meager earnings and decided to make the move
I have friends out there and on 5000 i can pretty much live for 3 months while trying to find work out there.
whats the economy like out there and how does the job market look
if people are leaving OK will i stand a good chance at a DECENT job?

I love that i can buy a house for $60,000 and thats if i want an inground pool with a three bay garage

[colleeng47]

Originally Posted by K2000kid

after growing up and trying to make a living in CT
i saved my meager earnings and decided to make the move
I have friends out there and on 5000 i can pretty much live for 3 months while trying to find work out there.
whats the economy like out there and how does the job market look
if people are leaving OK will i stand a good chance at a DECENT job?

I love that i can buy a house for $60,000 and thats if i want an inground pool with a three bay garage

The economy in Oklahoma is better than the rest of the country right now. Our unemployment rate is pretty low. What type of work will you be looking for? Some fields are doing better than others.

[PanhandleOkie]

Originally Posted by K2000kid

after growing up and trying to make a living in CT
i saved my meager earnings and decided to make the move
I have friends out there and on 5000 i can pretty much live for 3 months while trying to find work out there.
whats the economy like out there and how does the job market look
if people are leaving OK will i stand a good chance at a DECENT job?

I love that i can buy a house for $60,000 and thats if i want an inground pool with a three bay garage

Hey K2000kid, I live about 20 miles southwest of Guymon. What kind of work are you looking for? The Panhandle is pretty much summed up by farming/ranching and oil and natural gas exploration, as well as wind energy...and thats about it .

Have you ever been to Guymon before, I don't mean to rain on anyone's parade, but Guymon is a place to definatley visit first. Property values are so low for a reason. Seaboard Farms is headquartered just north of town with a mainly transient (illegal) immigrant population. The town has become run down in many aspects, what once were fun community events have turned into questionable outings. I love the Panhandle and the solitude that can be found in the country and the small towns and the only place I really have anything bad to say about is Guymon.

Hooker would be a great option, just up the road on US 54 and Texhoma would be another great place to check out. If you have children I wouldn't suggest Guymon Public Schools. Many parents have pulled their children out to go to Hooker Schools or Straight Schools due to issues with drugs and gang activity in Guymon. Property values in Guymon have fallen in the past decade or so due to poor upkeep and an influx in cheap housing for immigrant labor...so look before you leap. That 60,000 dollar home could become 50,000 in a few years.

Good things about Guymon is that there is STILL an aspect of a small town community, Pioneer Days is fun in May but going down in attendance due to reasons cited above. Sunset Park is pleasant and...yup thats about it.

I would really advise you to look around in the area...Beaver, Texhoma, Hooker, area all very nice (albeit very small) towns with great people and a safe environment. Guymon is the only place in the entire Panhandle I would urge people to avoid. I live out in the country near Texhoma and it is just truly heaven on Earth! Any other questions feel free to ask, and maybe your friends have some insight on Guymon that I don't!

[K2000kid]

Actually my friends moved to Texhoma, and they LOOOVE it they have jobs they love and compared to CT or anywhere in the northeast for that matter, its heaven on earth
Tornadoes vs drive-by shootings I'm gonna have to say tornadoes : )
I may have to suck it up and drive the 1900 miles i just hope i can hold out til spring I hate moving in the winter

[shariok]

Have fun moving to Guymon. You might want to visit the town first b/f you move. I have tons of family in the Panhandle of OK & TX. My parents used to live in Guymon and my best friend lives there now. I'm sure there are some jobs out there... There is a college, Panhandle State University which might offer some jobs, I don't know...
I'll just say, Guymon doesn't fit "my" taste, but you might love it there.
Happy moving & good luck!

[lasomeday]

You know Guyman and Texhoma are hundreds of miles apart and are completely different? You might want to check and see some pictures and see what parts of Oklahoma you want to live in. The is a wide variety of terrain here, so whatever you want besides the ocean and snow skiing you will find it.

[Synopsis]

Originally Posted by lasomeday

You know Guyman and Texhoma are hundreds of miles apart and are completely different? You might want to check and see some pictures and see what parts of Oklahoma you want to live in. The is a wide variety of terrain here, so whatever you want besides the ocean and snow skiing you will find it.

Guymon and Texhoma are only 22 miles apart lasomeday. I think you are thinking of Lake Texoma, which is in Southern Oklahoma.

Texhoma, Oklahoma and Guymon are both in the panhandle of Oklahoma.

To be honest, I'd LOVE to live up there. It's a really solemn place that is exactly what I need right now; solitude.

[Peace_Maker]

I am also from Texhoma. The Panhandle is a nice place, but it is no where near as nice as it was in the pre-seaboard days. Guymon has gone downhill in the past 14 years. Jobs are usually plentiful espcially in agriculture (ie labor) as by my count cows outnumber people in Texas county by about 13 to 1, I'm sure the ratio is worse with pigs.

One thing to keep in mind about the Panhandle is you better like or be able to tolerate the wind. I'm not talking about a little breeze, I am talking about just about every day the wind blows 15-30 mph. At times is gets 40-60 mph. We have those dust storms like in the old pictures from the dustbowl days. Sometimes so many tumbleweeds collect on six strand barbed wire fences the fence falls over. If you like windmills or kites this will be a paradise to you.

Oh you better get used to no trees, being able to see forever (no hills) and very little rain. Overall the area is quiet to the point of being boring that's why the weather is the main conversation topic and weathermen are Amarillo's biggest celebrities.

Last thing you have to be able to get by in a rural area. Keep in mind the nearest big city is Amarillo at 120 miles away. If you want to buy anything not sold at Walmart, a grocery store, a Farm-Ranch store, or a Mexican store, you better be prepared to order it online or drive a long way. There is not much to do by big city standards.

[PanhandleOkie]

Originally Posted by Peace_Maker

I am also from Texhoma. The Panhandle is a nice place, but it is no where near as nice as it was in the pre-seaboard days. Guymon has gone downhill in the past 14 years. Jobs are usually plentiful espcially in agriculture (ie labor) as by my count cows outnumber people in Texas county by about 13 to 1, I'm sure the ratio is worse with pigs.

One thing to keep in mind about the Panhandle is you better like or be able to tolerate the wind. I'm not talking about a little breeze, I am talking about just about every day the wind blows 15-30 mph. At times is gets 40-60 mph. We have those dust storms like in the old pictures from the dustbowl days. Sometimes so many tumbleweeds collect on six strand barbed wire fences the fence falls over. If you like windmills or kites this will be a paradise to you.

Oh you better get used to no trees, being able to see forever (no hills) and very little rain. Overall the area is quiet to the point of being boring that's why the weather is the main conversation topic and weathermen are Amarillo's biggest celebrities.

Last thing you have to be able to get by in a rural area. Keep in mind the nearest big city is Amarillo at 120 miles away. If you want to buy anything not sold at Walmart, a grocery store, a Farm-Ranch store, or a Mexican store, you better be prepared to order it online or drive a long way. There is not much to do by big city standards.

Exactly...couldn't put it better myself. Hey Synopsis, there's a few houses for rent in Texhoma, we could always use the extra number to add to the population sign!!

[Rickd203]

Originally Posted by K2000kid

after growing up and trying to make a living in CT
i saved my meager earnings and decided to make the move
I have friends out there and on 5000 i can pretty much live for 3 months while trying to find work out there.
whats the economy like out there and how does the job market look
if people are leaving OK will i stand a good chance at a DECENT job?

I love that i can buy a house for $60,000 and thats if i want an inground pool with a three bay garage

Looks we're thinking the same thing kid. I don't have any one town in mind but with my military pension, I could go just about anywhere in the state. The panhandle sounds good for wind generators but I also want a garden fruit trees and a few livestock. I have been working with container gardens and drip irrigation so I might be able to make it work. I did see dust storms when I lived in Lubbock. I would prefer not seeing them again unless I found some really good cheap land.