Raelyn, I know you weren't talking to me, but I'm wondering if you've ever been to Tulsa. I hope you aren't moving without even having visited there. Just my opinion, but it may not be a good idea to do that.
I can't compare Portland to Tulsa since I've never been to Portland, but I can tell you some neat things about Tulsa.
1. The people there are very friendly and mannerly. I came out of a restaurant alone and a gentleman opened the door and then made an extra effort to get the outside door for me. That sticks with me cause it was an extremely polite gesture.
2. We went to see the Boston Ave. Church because the architecture is fabulous. It was pouring rain and a man got out of his car and came over to ours. He wondered if we were there for the animal blessing and he wanted to let us know it was postponed. Now an animal blessing is very impressive to me, but so was the fact that the guy got drenched just to let us know that.
3. They have awesome museums.
4. On the outskirts of Tulsa (Jenks, to be exact), they have a cool aquarium.
5. Tulsa is a large city to us and we ended up getting lost.
We made an illegal u turn on a ramp and when we got to the bottom, we met a police car with two officers in it. They could've easily sited us, but evidently they saw we were out of staters and lost and just gave us a break even though they could've fined us.
6. It seems like they have a pretty good nightlife with Cain's Ballroom and also, there is a casino on the east side of Tulsa~can't remember the name of the burb it's in.(Catoosa, maybe?) We drove past it and it looked gorgeous. Now they've added another casino and my guess is that both have entertainment. We didn't really pay a lot of attention cause we aren't really into going out later at night.
7. Contrary to people's fears about OK, no one shoved Christian literature into our faces or demanded we go to church with them. It really wouldn't have offended us anyway.
8. Sports~no specifics cause we don't pay attention to it, but I know Tulsa has it for people who are interested.
9. River Parks~unfortunately the Arkansas R. was very low when we were there.
10. Economy~although the unemployment rate isn't fabulous there, it's doing much better then more then half the country.
11. The cost of things~very reasonable. You know how you vacation some places and "greed" just keeps popping into your mind? In Tulsa, it's more like~"Wow, how come so cheap?" At one of the museums we went up to the front desk to pay to enter and they said, "Oh, no~it's just a free will donation over there."
12. The zoo~it was kind of off season so we didn't get to see it at it's best, but again~we thought the entry fee was dirt cheap.
13. Gardens~if you love flowers, they have a beautiful garden with several acres of flowers there and they keep it up very well. Wish I could remember the name of it, but I never do.
14. If you ever watch the weather channel and catch it when they show Tulsa more in-depth (happens very ocassionally), you'll see people jogging at the River Parks and that tells me that they are into exercise and fitness. I mean they show a LOT of people out jogging/walking and enjoying nature and that's important to me.
15. On the flip side of health~
~we smoke~no chainsmoker here, by any means, but I do have an occasional puff and wondered what the reaction would be when I went outside a restaurant to have one. I'd been given the impression that I would be shunned, but it was the total opposite. A few people even chatted as they walked by. That told me that it's a live and let live mindset.
16. You know the bumper stickers in some areas of the country that say, "Ya seen it now go home"? I didn't see a one of them and that attitude is just not there. Many of the people we struck up conversations with had no idea if we lived there, just moved there, or if we were just vacationing in the area. That tells me that the friendliness was genuine and not limited to vacationers.
17. Lush surroundings. Tulsa has a lot of trees and greeness. (Yea, I make up words.
) We were actually surprised at how clean Tulsa is because often cities aren't that way. People seemed to take pride in their lawns and many yards had flowers. Things just seemed well kept.
18. I like some of their politics. Tulsa wants only legal American citizens or people with green cards living there. May seem controversial to some, but I also prefer that we do things legally if we're going to be here.
19. Compassion toward the less fortunate. Tulsa takes care of their homeless. I believe they even built something specifically to house them and that's important to me. There are areas of the country where the homeless are shunned and IMHO that is an awful attitude and mindset. It's not like that in Tulsa from what I can tell.
20. Something that's very important to me~love and respect for animals. I've checked and they do have a Humane Society and better yet~they have Animal Rescue groups.
The flip side~
1. Crime. Tulsa does seem to have problems with that. I read the Tulsa World online quite frequently and there have been several articles about how they're trying to put more officers in some areas to get it under control. The good thing is that they are aware of it and aren't just shoving it under the carpet. They want to fix it.
2. Ice storms~although I don't live in an area where I can throw stones at other people's weather
, Tulsa does get an ice storm on occasion. People do lose electricity and that could be a hardship. But since you're from Omaha, I'm sure you've dealt with worse winter weather then Tulsa has ever imagined.
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