[Yorkie_Mom]

Originally Posted by Synopsis

My neighbors are from Minnesota and love it down here. They hate the cold weather as well. As for everything else, they say Minnesota is a great place but the cold weather for much of the year is just a huge turn off. I wouldn't recommend breaking up a marriage for a move but if a person is so stubborn that they wouldn't consider their other half's opinions in such an important matter then that probably means there are other issues at hand. Have you tried to compromise and ask him to give it a try for say, two years? If he's not happy then you could always move back.

I started a thread in the Other Topics Forum, called ready to spread my wings, you may want to read it. Thanks, Yorkie

[ukyankee]

Hello, I live in the country near the town of McLoud. I moved there in 1992 from Oakland California. It has become home for me. The people are friendly and supportive. The pace of life is slow, so if you are looking for a fast life, this is not it. The Pottawatomie tribe has built a huge new casino near McLoud that is contributing to the economic development of the area.

McLoud is about 10 miles from Shawnee. Shawnee is growing rapidly which brings all the usual problems with it, but also the benefits of better shopping, restaurants, diversity. Property values have gone up, but you can still buy a decent size house with land for $100,000.

That said, I can tell you that I have been living and working outside London in the UK for the last three years. When I think of coming back to the US, I have looked at many states as possible options, but I always come back to OK because of the people and cost of living.
Hope this helps,
cheers!

[opportunity_on]

I currently attend OSU in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and it is definitely a safe town. Crime in the area (in my experience of living here) has definitely been on the low side; such things are inevitable, of course, but, if I remember correctly, Stillwater is often considered to be one of the safest college towns in the midwest. I think, in fact, it is the safest of the big 12 schools. Moderator cut: linking to competitors sites is not allowed As you can see, most of the crime is basic robbery, and, for the size of town, it isn't anything about to worry. There are several various residential areas in town, and the majority of them are quite safe.

I will say, however, that Stillwater lacks in much entertainment. This is true for most of north/north central Oklahoma, though.

I also attended high school in Stillwater, and the school system is quite good. The school recently built a new gymnasium and state of the art Performing Arts Center, and it is known for its students' high test scores.



I also used to live in Ponca City, and I can say that, as a whole, it is a more beautiful town than Stillwater. I feel that it might be a little less safe, but it still has a fairly large, respectable school system and a beautiful historic downtown area (Stillwater tends to prefer shopping centers).

Both have their fair share of trees, but Ponca City has larger parks.


Hope that helps.

[OOLOGAHJAZ]

If you want a small town with good schools (1500-1800 K-12) Oologah is great. It is by Lake Oologah and is 30-40 minutes NE of Tulsa.

[Yorkie_Mom]

I haven't given up on Oklahoma, so give me what you have got. We plan on heading out on May28th and would like some towns to visit, to see if any of them have a home type appeal for us.
If you want to pm me that is fine, otherwise, give me some ideas. Thanks, Yorkie

[scoobagirl]

Yorkie, I love Stillwater. Its about 50,000 people (about half in the university) and lots of shopping and things to do. My son spent 4 years there in college and we loved going to visit him.

Tulsa is an hour's drive one direction, OKC an hour's drive the other direction if you need city life or super specialized medical care. I would raise a child in Stillwater in a heartbeat.

Son moved to Bartlesville after college, its another really nice town, though smaller than Stillwater. There are lovely homes and good schools there too, maybe a little more conservative than Stillwater but its a great place to raise kids.

Owasso is a bedroom community of Tulsa that is growing by leaps and bounds. You might consider that - though its much larger.

Good luck, Oklahoma is a lovely place to live, with reasonable cost of living.

[Synopsis]

Originally Posted by scoobagirl

Yorkie, I love Stillwater. Its about 50,000 people (about half in the university) and lots of shopping and things to do. My son spent 4 years there in college and we loved going to visit him.

Tulsa is an hour's drive one direction, OKC an hour's drive the other direction if you need city life or super specialized medical care. I would raise a child in Stillwater in a heartbeat.

Son moved to Bartlesville after college, its another really nice town, though smaller than Stillwater. There are lovely homes and good schools there too, maybe a little more conservative than Stillwater but its a great place to raise kids.

Owasso is a bedroom community of Tulsa that is growing by leaps and bounds. You might consider that - though its much larger.

Good luck, Oklahoma is a lovely place to live, with reasonable cost of living.

Those are all excellent places to check out, and they are within a 100 or so miles of each other, which would make a good target area to look around in if visiting from out of state. Oklahoma, like Minnesota, is a fairly large state and although I suggested some areas in the South and East parts of the state - Bartlesville, Stillwater, and Owasso are GREAT places. Well worth checking out.

[Odie]

I live in Edmond, suburb north of OKC. It is safe and the school system is the best in the area. Cost of living in OK is very low, at least I think so. Homes can be a bit more pricey in Edmond b/c it is the place to be right now. I am sure you could find a really nice home for your price range. My only issue with OK is the spring season. Too many twisters for me! LOL

[eddie gein]

From what information you have provided I would look at B'ville, Ponca City, Claremore, Tahlequah, Muskogee and Stillwater unless you want a suburb of Tulsa.

They are all located in the North to Northeast quadrant of Oklahoma and would be easily seen in a few days.

I wouldn't bother with anything in NW OKlahoma except Enid which isn't that far from Stillwater.


Central OK, Guthrie, Chickasha, El Reno, Shawnee unless you want a suburb of OKC.

SW OK: Altus is the only town of the size you like but it is probably too far out of the way and is not all that great a place.

Southern OK: Ardmore is a really nice town that fits your size. I would say that it is the most similar to Ponca City and B'ville relative to oil legacy but I don't think it is in the same league as those places. It has milder winter weather than northern OK.

SE OK: McAlester and Ada are the only towns of the size you are requesting. McAlester is famous for Italian food and is a good jumping off point to the prettiest part of Oklahoma (although the area around Tahlequah and Muskogee is quite pretty)

Other up and coming non suburban towns in Ok are Pryor and Grove, who are smaller than some of the other towns but are pretty nice.

Let me (or any of us Okies) know if you need any more info. We would love to have some new company!!

[Jammie]

Is Ardmore as cute as Grove? Are the winters in Ardmore really much better then in the Northeastern part?