[Guru's Guru]

Friends

I have been suddenly curious about Oklahoma. I do get the impression that it Oklahoma is a very conservative place, with what I imagine to be a 'church on every corner'

I am living in eastern North Carolina at the moment, which in itself is somewhat conservative. Guess what I am seeking would be the 'Austin' of Oklahoma- without the cost!

Any ideas would be very much appreciated, thanks.

[Lannie]

Norman would be your best bet. College town. My family lives there and I visit often. Very liberal, in my opinion.

[Guthrie Kid]

If you think Norman is "liberal" I am just curious as to what you might call Berkley or Boulder?
Norman is far from being liberal, trust me!
Not that there is anything wrong with that...

[Guru's Guru]

Guthrie Kid

Please clue me in as far as liberal places in OK, you seem to be hipped to what is really happening! So Berkley or Boulder might be good? Reasonable real estate is also of interest.

I am not against conservative places and people, they just are not for me. So if I move to OK from NC I don't want to go from the frying pan to skillet as they say.

Many Thanks
Guru

[Mattie Jo]

You may have to go from the frying pan to the skillet. Lol. My idea would be to search out a town that has a college and a Unitarian Church where you would find more liberal people. It isn't as bad as you might think. I happen to have spent over 10 years living in Berkeley and now I am living in Oklahoma.
But a college town in OK is not liberal in the least.

The churches are not on every corner, just every 3 blocks.

I lived near Austin in San Antonio for a while too, and I don't think that even Tulsa can compare. Why do you want to move to Oklahoma? Well, you mentioned price. I came here for several reasons, and that was one of them. And while I miss certain things in cities, I have come to realize you can't have everything. If you have an Austin here you also have costs go up and a lot of traffic. If you live in a small town you have beautiful scenery being that country is just minutes away and without traffic. I am still looking for a nice city to shop in, and it isn't Tulsa for me unless you like a mall. So soon I will go to Ft. Smith and check it out.

To live in Berkeley, CA you need to be rich, probably same with Boulder, Co.

[Synopsis]

Jessaka I'm curious as to why you can't seem to find the shopping you want in Tulsa. Have you been to the Utica area? I haven't been to Ft. Smith in years but it's much smaller and probably less likely to have certain amenities. But again I haven't been there so I couldn't say for sure.
As for the original poster's question. This type of question always makes me chuckle a little bit. I'm a moderate conservative and I would never really consider the politics of an area before I move. I've noticed that almost every time this question is brought up it's almost always from a liberal person and not vice versa. I'm not criticizing, but curious.
Anyway, to answer the question. Oklahoma is a solidly conservative state, but in general if you want to be around others with like minds stick close to the cities, which would be Ok City or Tulsa. I've found Tulsa to be a little more on the liberal side, but that's not from an official poll, just an opinion. I wish you the best of luck. I lived in NC for a couple of years and it's a beautiful state.

One more thing. In Tulsa, the mid-town and urban areas are probably going to be more liberal than the suburbs, such as Broken Arrow (which is way conservative).

[Guthrie Kid]

Oklahoma is one of two states that Bush won in every county (along with Nebraska). As pointed out in the post above, none of the universities are what could be called liberal.

The good deal about living here is the fact that no one is going to try and push their political agenda off into your face as is often the case in your "left wing" cities!

The one thing I do have a problem with is the church on every corner syndrome. If you are the least bit diffrent in your religious views, read non-christian here, and you are discovered...it can be very unpleasant.

Regardless, having lived in Boulder myself I can assure you Oklahoma is a much better place to live!

[Mattie Jo]

synopsis,

I have been to Utica Square, and while they have nice stores, what I am looking for is ambiance. I want an old fashioned historic district. I think Cherry Street in Tulsa would be more my liking, which is why somewhere on this board I said that I wanted to see Guthrie. I think Ft. Smith has such a district too, but only time will tell. While Fayetteville has a historic downtown, the shopping is at the mall.

I may be liberal in politics, but I really don't know. I don't really talk about religion or politics with others as I don't wish to get into an argument. So it doesn't matter to me that the Oklahomans are conservative or that many may be fundamentalists. I think what saves me here is that I go to the Unitarian Church where there are more liberals and some atheists, agnostics, etc. They accept whatever you want to believe as long as you don't hurt anyone. Also, they are not well liked by the Christian community, and very few places in Oklahoma have Unitarians, or so I am told.

[Synopsis]

I'm like you Jessaka. I am conservative, but I could really care less about one's politics; that's their own business and to be honest my BEST friends are all liberal. It's just different strokes for different folks, that's all.
Regarding shopping; Cherry Street has nice shops with ambiance, but you should really go to the Blue Dome district, there are a lot of quaint shops around there. Small art galleries, antique shops, you name it. Fort Smith is a nice town. I enjoy going to Arkansas quite a bit when I get the chance as well. I once lived in Danville, a small town about 60 miles East/Southeast of Fort Smith.
Cheers!

[orlsrr]

Oklahoma is very concervatis I don't think there are may librels here. you might want to go to austin. I live here in Oklahoma I moved from CA. I am ready to go back.