[dgk180]

hello everyone

Im going to be moving to either oklahoma city or tulsa in the next 3 weeks, so i was hoping to get some information before i do.

which city is better for employment, and which has more to do for a 23 year old culinary student.

also i read somthing about a immigration law there but i couldn't find out if its still in effect. im actually being forced to leave fl where i live now due to illegals getting all the work. so it would be nice if it still was.

thanks in advance.

[Mom2My3]

I have live in both OKC and Tulsa. I prefer Tulsa over OKC!! Tulsa is a nice, CLEAN city with a lot of nice areas to live, shop, and eat. Tulsa has a great downtown they are slowly refurbishing and there are some super restaurants down there....being a twenty-something you would find plenty to do!! Tulsa also has wonderful suburbs with great apartments, rentals, or afforable homes to buy. Three great communities, which blend right into Tulsa, are Bixby, Broken Arrow and Jenks. All have great shopping, restaurants and housing. Those suburbs are low in crime too!! It is so easy to get anywhere is the Tulsa area...all the # streets go East and West and all the named streets go North and South...too easy!! Tulsa has every restaurant you could think of and good service. Overall, it is a clean, well organized city. Not many hispanic people left in Tulsa and black people mainly (not all and I am not being racist here!) live in the North part of Tulsa. You should be able to work and stay employeed!
OKC is older, a little on the dirty side. It has a few LARGE suburbs. There are toll roads everywhere and it is not easy to get around! There is not a lot of character to OKC and seems to be a lot more crime here and there. The people in OKC are terrible drivers - my husband had his first wreck ever in OKC! Make sure have good car insurance!! The people in OKC are not friendly. There is the University of Oklahoma which houses many obnoxious fans who seem to think there are superior - especially if they wear their OU garb. You will not get to know your neighbor easily - they do not want to know you...unless you go to their huge church down the street. Tulsa has a church on every major intersection, but OKC has a few that are really huge. Some of the smaller churches are struggling. The outlying areas are very farm like and hard to get to restaurants, shopping and night life. Being the capitall - there are more minorities (again, not racist - stating facts).
If I haven't convinced you already....GO TO TULSA!! My parents have lived between OKC and Tulsa for 60 years and they hate OKC! OKC is also tornado alley and has been hit many, many times every Spring. Pick Tulsa....check with the chamber of commerce websites and others sites - arm yourself with all the info you can before you move!! BEST OF LUCK!!

[Jammie]

About the immigration law~about two years ago Ok. passed a law that was fashioned after the one in Farmer's Branch, Tx. If you want to work in OK, you MUST be a legal American citizen. Not long afterward, Tulsa added to that same law that if you want to rent an apartment or house in Tulsa, you also must be an American citizen.

[Bass&Catfish2008]

Originally Posted by Mom2My3

I have live in both OKC and Tulsa. I prefer Tulsa over OKC!! Tulsa is a nice, CLEAN city with a lot of nice areas to live, shop, and eat. Tulsa has a great downtown they are slowly refurbishing and there are some super restaurants down there....being a twenty-something you would find plenty to do!! Tulsa also has wonderful suburbs with great apartments, rentals, or afforable homes to buy. Three great communities, which blend right into Tulsa, are Bixby, Broken Arrow and Jenks. All have great shopping, restaurants and housing. Those suburbs are low in crime too!! It is so easy to get anywhere is the Tulsa area...all the # streets go East and West and all the named streets go North and South...too easy!! Tulsa has every restaurant you could think of and good service. Overall, it is a clean, well organized city. Not many hispanic people left in Tulsa and black people mainly (not all and I am not being racist here!) live in the North part of Tulsa. You should be able to work and stay employeed!
OKC is older, a little on the dirty side. It has a few LARGE suburbs. There are toll roads everywhere and it is not easy to get around! There is not a lot of character to OKC and seems to be a lot more crime here and there. The people in OKC are terrible drivers - my husband had his first wreck ever in OKC! Make sure have good car insurance!! The people in OKC are not friendly. There is the University of Oklahoma which houses many obnoxious fans who seem to think there are superior - especially if they wear their OU garb. You will not get to know your neighbor easily - they do not want to know you...unless you go to their huge church down the street. Tulsa has a church on every major intersection, but OKC has a few that are really huge. Some of the smaller churches are struggling. The outlying areas are very farm like and hard to get to restaurants, shopping and night life. Being the capitall - there are more minorities (again, not racist - stating facts).
If I haven't convinced you already....GO TO TULSA!! My parents have lived between OKC and Tulsa for 60 years and they hate OKC! OKC is also tornado alley and has been hit many, many times every Spring. Pick Tulsa....check with the chamber of commerce websites and others sites - arm yourself with all the info you can before you move!! BEST OF LUCK!!

>>>>>
The people in OKC are not friendly. There is the University of Oklahoma which houses many obnoxious fans who seem to think there are superior - especially if they wear their OU garb.
<<<<<

Easy now, Friend....this is just a little too far over the top.

Are you an embittered Okie State fan? Or better yet, a rogue Longhorn fan trollin' around on our state board? Upset that the Sooners are King in Oklahoma? Don't be jealous...we're King over ALL college football! I'll give you the benefit of the doubt...maybe you were just foolin' a little bit.

By the way, I'm a big fan of OK City and Tulsa. They both have strengths/weakness....but IMO, they're two of the best cities in America! (I'm not partial or anything, LOL.)

[Mom2My3]

BassandCatfish2008 - I will let you guess which University I graduated from...
I was not trying to be harsh in saying that people in OK (OKC) are not friendly. It is the truth. My parents moved over the border into another state about 10 years ago and I have lived outside of OK. Once you step outside and come back in...you see it. When I moved to the South, I met the friendliest people. They were warm, generous, and sought out friendship from their neighbors. These are communities where people walk their kids to school and all the parents visit with each other. These are communities where you can easily get to know the parents on your kids sports team...everyone comes together as neighbors and a community. That does not happen in OK!! They only come together for tragedy or beer!! This is true of other Mid-west states - not all but some.

I agree - Tulsa is a great city. I lived there for many years. I would definitely choose it over OKC!
Tulsa is cleaner, better organized and has much nicer suburbs. It is easier to get around town too.

The best areas around OKC (for families) would be Edmond, Norman, and 45 minutes commute to Stillwater. I did include Norman (home of OU) because it is a nice college town like Stillwater - although it is right up against OKC and all that comes with that.

[okcpulse]

Originally Posted by Mom2My3

BassandCatfish2008 - I will let you guess which University I graduated from...
I was not trying to be harsh in saying that people in OK (OKC) are not friendly. It is the truth. My parents moved over the border into another state about 10 years ago and I have lived outside of OK. Once you step outside and come back in...you see it. When I moved to the South, I met the friendliest people. They were warm, generous, and sought out friendship from their neighbors. These are communities where people walk their kids to school and all the parents visit with each other. These are communities where you can easily get to know the parents on your kids sports team...everyone comes together as neighbors and a community. That does not happen in OK!! They only come together for tragedy or beer!! This is true of other Mid-west states - not all but some.

I agree - Tulsa is a great city. I lived there for many years. I would definitely choose it over OKC!
Tulsa is cleaner, better organized and has much nicer suburbs. It is easier to get around town too.

The best areas around OKC (for families) would be Edmond, Norman, and 45 minutes commute to Stillwater. I did include Norman (home of OU) because it is a nice college town like Stillwater - although it is right up against OKC and all that comes with that.

There are toll roads everywhere in OKC??? Try one toll road... the Kilpatrick Turnpike. That is it. Tulsa is locked off by toll roads. OKC's freeway system is better organized and both cities have their roads on a one mile grid. OKC has alot more nice areas than you are giving credit for. Try Midtown, southwest OKC, northwest OKC, Nichols Hills and Forest Park/Lake Aluma.

OKC doesn't have more nice areas than Tulsa, but you left out a few. I don't think Tulsa has much nicer suburbs, but to each his/her own. I've been to all suburbs of both cities many times over. Each has its own qualities that put them all on pretty much a level playing field.

Edmond has excellent schools, beautiful neighborhoods and is a very clean suburb for having 82,000 people. Moore is definitely transforming, and Norman is exactly how you described.

I agree that OKC has a history of not being a clean city, but much is being done. And OKC deserves credit for having lofty goals. Both OKC and Tulsa have many qualities that other cities jsut don't have, and one of those is the drive to one-up each other, which in hindsight elevates the quality of life for both cities.

I disagree that people in OK are not friendly. They are very friendly. And you cannot judge a state's population on a few rowdy OU fans. Are they your friends? Do you know them personally? I mean, in all honesty if I am not going to get to know any of these people I am not going to waste my time. I have chosen my friends and family for life, so I leave well enough alone.

[mkfarnam]

Originally Posted by dgk180

hello everyone

Im going to be moving to either oklahoma city or tulsa in the next 3 weeks, so i was hoping to get some information before i do.

which city is better for employment, and which has more to do for a 23 year old culinary student.

thanks in advance.

Immigration Bill HR-1804........................ Tulsa(unofficially) tries to consider it's self exempt from the new immigration law.
http://www.legal-workforce.org/oklahoma

New Oklahoma Immigration Law is the Toughest Ever | Say NO to Illegal Immigration

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=62537

[#1soonerfan]

Oh brother, the great OKC vs. Tulsa debate. Care to take wagers on how long before this thread is closed?

I love Tulsa, and would move there in heartbeat if I could. Lots of arts and culture in a beautiful, hilly setting. But the one thing that irritates me about T-town is the lack of jobs, especially in my field. I would say overall that for better opportunites move to OKC. Both cities are doing pretty well (or less bad, whichever way you look at it) economically but OKC has the lowest unemployent rate of any metro over 1 million. I recently graduated from that snooty obnoxious school in Norman (!!) and I can tell you that many of my friends that are from Tulsa who tried to move back had difficulty finding jobs, moreso than OKC natives. Then again I don't know where is particulary easy right now. Look at it this way, people vote with their feet. Tulsa metro has grown about 6.8 percent from 2000-2008 and the city of Tulsa has about 15,000 people less than what is was in 2000. OKC metro has grown 10.5 percent and the city of OKC has grown 40,000 in the same time period.

Both cities are pretty good though and I would just put in some resumes in both to see what you could find. If this doesn't answer your question your more than welcome to search and view the many threads that bicker this same question over and over and over again!

[Bass&Catfish2008]

Originally Posted by Mom2My3

BassandCatfish2008 - I will let you guess which University I graduated from...
I was not trying to be harsh in saying that people in OK (OKC) are not friendly. It is the truth. My parents moved over the border into another state about 10 years ago and I have lived outside of OK. Once you step outside and come back in...you see it. When I moved to the South, I met the friendliest people. They were warm, generous, and sought out friendship from their neighbors. These are communities where people walk their kids to school and all the parents visit with each other. These are communities where you can easily get to know the parents on your kids sports team...everyone comes together as neighbors and a community. That does not happen in OK!! They only come together for tragedy or beer!! This is true of other Mid-west states - not all but some.

I agree - Tulsa is a great city. I lived there for many years. I would definitely choose it over OKC!
Tulsa is cleaner, better organized and has much nicer suburbs. It is easier to get around town too.

The best areas around OKC (for families) would be Edmond, Norman, and 45 minutes commute to Stillwater. I did include Norman (home of OU) because it is a nice college town like Stillwater - although it is right up against OKC and all that comes with that.

Yeh, I don't really care to guess what university you graduated from.

Also, your argument makes no sense due to the fact that Oklahoma is in the South and overtly culturally Southern: File:Census Regions and Divisions.PNG - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. I guess if you were a Deep South purist you could note some differences I'm sure.....but Oklahoma in its totality is essentially no different than the vast majority of Arkansas and Texas culturally.

I think you must be hanging out with some interesting characters when you come to OkieVille as many out-of-staters I have met comment that Okies are some of the nicest/most pleasant folks they've met.

I assume it is not your intention, but you come across as an elitist and a snoot.....something that Okies do not like. I would guess this is why you are not connecting with people in Oklahoma. Sometimes it helps to take a look in the mirror and examine oneself before calling out the wrongs of others.

Blessings and hope things are better for you next time you're in Oklahoma.

[Griffis]

I guess I'll add my voice to the chorus. I lived in Oklahoma many years. I moved away in 2006 so I can't really comment on the employment situation, but having lived and worked in both OKC and Tulsa (as well as some other towns) I have to vote Tulsa as well.

Both cities have their high and low points, but I find OKC to have more negatives than Tulsa.

The other two towns in Oklahoma I find livable are Norman (very close to OKC and home to OU) and Tahlequah (in the Ozark foothills so nicer scenery, home to Cherokee Nation and NSU.)

Neither Norman or Tahlequah might be the best choice for job hunting though. They are smaller towns. Tahlequah is roughly 75 miles outside of Tulsa.

I don't know how to phrase it or express it exactly, but I always found OKC to be somewhat depressing.