[Synopsis]

I remember when I was a kid growing up in Gerty. The one store had a sign that said "Gerty Gro," meaning Gerty Grocery. My sister always looked at that sign and said "I wish so." I, like you and jessaka Guthrie Kid, have not always looked at growth as the end all be all. If I move to a small city like Tahlequah or Guthrie I'd pretty much want them to stay just like they were when I moved there.

[Parkerpa]

Sorry, but its OKC for me!! With that said, OKC has several smaller towns
that border it. Edmond is nice, Yukon,Moore, Norman are all great places,but
much larger than 20,000. Most towns outside of OKC and Tulsa metro are fading away, and have been for many, many years. NO JOBS!!

[Jammie]

Originally Posted by Parkerpa

Sorry, but its OKC for me!! With that said, OKC has several smaller towns
that border it. Edmond is nice, Yukon,Moore, Norman are all great places,but
much larger than 20,000. Most towns outside of OKC and Tulsa metro are fading away, and have been for many, many years. NO JOBS!!

Sorry, I beg to differ. I've never been to OKC, but I've heard a lot of good about it and it sounds like it's a very nice place. But I have been to Tulsa and the surrounding area (metro and beyond) There's absolutely nothing dying about that area. There are actually thousands of employment opportunities in the Tulsa area. And let's not turn this in to a Tulsa/ OKC debate like in the past. Both are very nice and it just depends on what people prefer. Actually, from what I understand, the original poster has already made her trip and chosen her area which is in Colorado.

[nmnita]

We just returned from our 6 day whirlwind trip. After looking at 5 areas and meeting 4 realtors we have decided on either Bella Vista, AR or Grove, but we do have one more place to look, believe it or not, we want to visit Mo. It appears taxes, etc are lower there.

Now about Grove, we just fell in love with the people and the area. You can find homes from below $100,000 to upwards of $500,000 and more.

We really liked the area just outside of town, but only about a couple of miles. Our realtor did tell us the county is very poor, but of course Grove doesn't fit into that catagory. We like the fact it is a growing area, (certainly not dieing) but isn't growing as fast as Bella Vista. Bella Vista also was more expensive and seemed to have a little bit of snobbery about it.

We will probably take a trip back in early spring with ideas of trying to buy then.

NIta

[Jammie]

OMG Nmita, I was waiting to see what you thought of the area. Grove is also the area that we absolutely loved, but the problem is that I still need to work for several years and there aren't many employment opportunties there~YET. That may change in the future though. Isn't it just the coolest area though?

We've been through parts of Mo. and it's ok, but we will probably never live there. What area did you like in Mo?

[bjb123]

We are planning a trip to Oklahoma in the fall to check-out some areas on the eastern portion of the state for possible relocation (we're in n. central Ohio now). I keep seeing Grove mentioned in a few of these threads so I'm curious & from what I've seen on the net, it looks real nice. We're quite a ways off from retirment so jobs are always a concern.
Can someone tell me what the local residents do for employment? Is the area strictly a retirement community? Or, do the locals just commute for jobs?
Looks like this area will be on our list for one of our stops, so if anyone has any info on local restaurants or lodging I'd appreciate your opinion too. (We enjoy "Mom & Pop" types of eateries )
To nmnita: 6 days, 5 areas & 4 realtors you must be exhausted .


Any info would be helpful. Thanks.....

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by Jammie

OMG Nmita, I was waiting to see what you thought of the area. Grove is also the area that we absolutely loved, but the problem is that I still need to work for several years and there aren't many employment opportunties there~YET. That may change in the future though. Isn't it just the coolest area though?

We've been through parts of Mo. and it's ok, but we will probably never live there. What area did you like in Mo?

We didn't actually look in Mo, but thought we would our next trip. The only place we are even thinking about right now is Noesha which is 1/2 way between Grove and Joplin. We just want to make sure we don't overlook anyplace as this will be our last move I am sure.

As for retiring or needing to work: I am a part time travel agent working out of the house. As long as there is DSL available (part of Grove has it, part not) I can live anywhere as many or most of my clients are even in the area I live in, Pat would like to work part time for another 5 years. We are concerned about this for him, but we may just settle for less in a house and forget about working.

later,

Nita

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by bjb123

We are planning a trip to Oklahoma in the fall to check-out some areas on the eastern portion of the state for possible relocation (we're in n. central Ohio now). I keep seeing Grove mentioned in a few of these threads so I'm curious & from what I've seen on the net, it looks real nice. We're quite a ways off from retirment so jobs are always a concern.
Can someone tell me what the local residents do for employment? Is the area strictly a retirement community? Or, do the locals just commute for jobs?
Looks like this area will be on our list for one of our stops, so if anyone has any info on local restaurants or lodging I'd appreciate your opinion too. (We enjoy "Mom & Pop" types of eateries )
To nmnita: 6 days, 5 areas & 4 realtors you must be exhausted .


Any info would be helpful. Thanks.....

We are exhausted and confused, but certainly glad we made the trip. Next time we will fly to OKC or Little Rock and rent a car.

Grove does have a lot of retired people, also lots that are middle aged, but not a whole bunch of young families. As for employment, that will be a problem in any of these smaller areas. It is 40 miles from Joplin, Mo which is the closest really big city.

We happened to hit the town when there were several events going on so didn't have too many choices for lodging, I had made reservations in advance. They have several places on the lake but the prices seemed high to us. We just wanted to stay someplace for one night. We ended up at the Best Western. It was typical of any chain like that, clean rooms, a fairly nice contenental breakfast and very near the center of town. It wasn't anything elaborate, but certainly fit our needs. As for dining, again, there are places near the lakes that sounded good and a couple little places right in town. The actual town (old part) is only a few blocks long.

Hope this helps a little. As much as we did like Grove, you may want to consider Bella Vista, Ar as well. Employment would be much easier to find I think. This is just a thought.

Nita

[Mattie Jo]

One of the reasons why I didn't even bother to look at Grove was the real estate prices. Tahlequah had the cheapest prices in the east that also had a short drive to a VA Hospital, which was one of my own considerations.

[bjb123]

Thanks nmnita for the info. Other than to see Bella Vista, AR in my atlas I haven't heard much about it. I'll have to do some snooping around. We have heard from some acquaintances up here in N. Ohio that Fort Smith, AR might be better for employment opportunities as well. Best Western would work for us too since we typically don't spend much time in our room - just so it's clean & comfortable. I think we'll be driving this trip & will probably not make any reservations this time. I'm hoping we can be gone for 10 days or so. I jokingly (but half seriously) had my hubby promise me this move would be close to water. It looks like there will be lots of communities with lakes close by in this region.

To Jessaka, boy I keep forgetting we'll need to be somewhat close to a VA facility too. My husband doesn't visit there extremely often - yet but will as we get older. I wish we could come to OK this summer, but waiting til fall does give me the opportunity to gather information & maybe make a few contacts along the way. I hope you are feeling better.
Best regards, Betsy