Los Angeles to Tulsa Questions? (Broken Arrow, Sapulpa: fit in, best city, sales)

[Bradytwin]

I was working on a television show at Warner Bros Studios 2 yrs ago, and got to talking to a co-worker (Grip) about the classic car he was driving. He told me that he was on a film shoot in Guthrie Ok and purchased the car from a local.
As we continued to talk he stated that he was very impressed with the area and generally Oklahoma, and how the people were so nice.
I became intrigued, and took a filght out to explore it with my wife.
We both liked it ---different and laid back.

Los Angeles isnt laid back-- its a rat race. I am 45 -- born and rasied there. It was the place to be, up untill somewhere in the late 70s; then it started making big(negitive)changes.
Here is my question?
I have concluded that Tulsa seems to be the favorite choice for many new comers. If the south part of Tulsa is the more promising area what is the best city? Broken Arrow, Bixby. Glenpool,Sapulpa. (Reasons).
Where is the Growth and new infastructure Going. (And why?)
What are the upcoming area(s) of tommorrow?
Your intelligent response would be appreciative.

Thank you.

[Synopsis]

Yes, Tulsa is quite a bit different that LA, but what area of the country isn't? LOL! :-)
South Tulsa is definitely upscale, but you might also want to look into midtown, which is where some really really neat, older homes are (many mansions).
There is currently a lot of growth in the form of a long-term infrastructure program called vision2025 (www.vision2025.info). I think the Jenks area is really an up and coming area, and as far as other up and coming areas I do think the downtown area will be revitalized. They are currently building an 18,000 seat, 550,000 square foot in the downtown; a web cam for viewing this project live is on the vision2025.info website (only the 'east' camera is working presently). There are tons of other projects going on as there was an increase in sales taxes to fund the whole gamut of projects. I lived there in the 80s and loved it. The area has a lot of natural beauty, with lots of hills, trees, and lakes. The downtown area is becoming an "in" place to move because of places like the Philtower lofts.
The Blue Dome district is a popular entertainment area downtown.
The one big drawback I've found about Tulsa is that it does have an unusually high crime rate for a city of its size. So, you will want to move into an area that is more upscale than in the cheaper, seedier parts of the city, which every city has, btw. There is a really good forum to interact with the people of Tulsa (tons of posters and very active), but every time I've offered that website on this forum I get lambasted by the forum moderators for "spamming," which I'm not doing because I don't profit in any kind of way from providing this information. If you can email me through the control panel on this board I'll provide you with that website. Moderator? Is it okay to provide that website on this forum? I can assure you that it is not spam, I'm just trying to help out. City Data is a fantastic website and I love it but in regards to Tulsa and Oklahoma in general it's just not as highly visited as a more local forum.
Anyway, good luck. I think you'll find Tulsa to be a great city with a lot to offer.
Below is a concept pic of the bok center, which is to be completed in 2008.

[gonefishing]

Originally Posted by Bradytwin

If the south part of Tulsa is the more promising area what is the best city? Broken Arrow, Bixby. Glenpool,Sapulpa. (Reasons).
Where is the Growth and new infastructure Going. (And why?)
What are the upcoming area(s) of tommorrow?
Your intelligent response would be appreciative.

Bixby is probably the nicest anymore....more expensive homes that way. Broken Arrow has SOME nice ones.

You didn't mention Owasso but it is nice. (In fact, Garth and Trisha live there.) It is just northeast of Tulsa.

And, yes, Jenks is a nice area.

But that is my taste so I could be all wrong. What are you looking for...land? Big house? New house? Old house?

May I ask what type of job you will be doing---telecommuting? I know of some areas where the land and homes are undervalued and there have just been some announcements made that might cause it all to start going up in value. (And I promise you-- I am NOT a realtor!)

[Cal777]

Hi. I am from Manhattan Beach. I have a wife and three daughters and I am 42. We left MB to "visit" Tulsa December 28th. Needless to say, my wife and girls stayed and I flew back to L.A. My kids LOVE it here. They have more friends and more fun then ever. Plus, we had 6 horses living "under" (not kidding ) the 405/110 and now they have GRASS! I am traveling back and forth. We had enough of the crime, crowds, and unfriendly people. Don't get me wrong....I AM "the" beach guy. But, we've had it with all the L.A. crap. I am in Tulsa right now getting ready to board a plane to L.A. We have been house shopping. Now, being from MB we are used to 2400 square feet for $3 million dollars. Not it Tulsa -lol.

Here it is.....there is only one place to buy. 21st street to 45th street between Peoria and Lewis. Unless....you have horses. We are trying to decide between 2 houses in the Utica Area (best place for someone from L.A. to be in this town) and a beautiful horse farm in Sapulpa. It's 14 minutes to Tulsa (just drove it) but seems much farther away.

Broken Arrow is cookie cutter houses that have little increase in value. The builders built the same house hundreds of times. Jenks, is the home of the McMansion. Every million dollar house looks exactly the same with the same rooms, etc. Gets funny after a while. You will get no appreciation and the houses sit. The best house on the market is 2.3 million and has sat for 9 months. The builder is begging for offers. South Tulsa has WAY overdone the english cottage style house, and every McMansion is the same. No character (though 2 of the builders I would highly recommend). The Utica area has character. Purchase there, remodel it and you will make some money. Beautiful streets and houses with style. That is if you don't have three daughters begging for a horse farm - lol. But, we may purchase in Utica and still buy a farm. That's how inexpensive it is here compared to L.A.

Get out of dodge when you can! I have met 4 families from L.A. here and they all love it. It's so inexpensive in Tulsa you can go get your fix of L.A. 4-5 times a year and leave.

[Bradytwin]

Originally Posted by Cal777

Hi. I am from Manhattan Beach. I have a wife and three daughters and I am 42. We left MB to "visit" Tulsa December 28th. Needless to say, my wife and girls stayed and I flew back to L.A. My kids LOVE it here. They have more friends and more fun then ever. Plus, we had 6 horses living "under" (not kidding ) the 405/110 and now they have GRASS! I am traveling back and forth. We had enough of the crime, crowds, and unfriendly people. Don't get me wrong....I AM "the" beach guy. But, we've had it with all the L.A. crap. I am in Tulsa right now getting ready to board a plane to L.A. We have been house shopping. Now, being from MB we are used to 2400 square feet for $3 million dollars. Not it Tulsa -lol.

Here it is.....there is only one place to buy. 21st street to 45th street between Peoria and Lewis. Unless....you have horses. We are trying to decide between 2 houses in the Utica Area (best place for someone from L.A. to be in this town) and a beautiful horse farm in Sapulpa. It's 14 minutes to Tulsa (just drove it) but seems much farther away.

Broken Arrow is cookie cutter houses that have little increase in value. The builders built the same house hundreds of times. Jenks, is the home of the McMansion. Every million dollar house looks exactly the same with the same rooms, etc. Gets funny after a while. You will get no appreciation and the houses sit. The best house on the market is 2.3 million and has sat for 9 months. The builder is begging for offers. South Tulsa has WAY overdone the english cottage style house, and every McMansion is the same. No character (though 2 of the builders I would highly recommend). The Utica area has character. Purchase there, remodel it and you will make some money. Beautiful streets and houses with style. That is if you don't have three daughters begging for a horse farm - lol. But, we may purchase in Utica and still buy a farm. That's how inexpensive it is here compared to L.A.

Get out of dodge when you can! I have met 4 families from L.A. here and they all love it. It's so inexpensive in Tulsa you can go get your fix of L.A. 4-5 times a year and leave.

Thanks Cal777 and the other two folks that have posted replies, You should hit some nice weather in L.A for the next couple days. Your post are all informative and I enjoy hearing the various opinions and perceptions.

[Synopsis]

It's not a non-existent building, it's in the process of being built and to be honest it's going to be a lot nicer than Ford Center. I'm not here to debate OkC over Tulsa or vice versa Shad. To get a look at this "non-existent" building, you can go to the link below. It looks like it's progressing quite well to me.

http://vision2025.info/camera.php?camera=arenacamera.

One more thing, I didn't think that having hills in a city would be a negative unless you are vertically challenged.

[mcheatherly]

I was stationed in San Diego for four years and travelled to LA a lot. Tulsa is a great place. If you sell some property in LA and move to Tulsa, you are going to get a lot of bang for you buck. I now live in Jenks. Jenks has the best school district, although some will say it is Union. I graduated from Union and my kids go to Jenks. Difference of night and day.