Help!! a possible job relocation to the Tulsa area.. need advise!! (Broken Arrow: appointed, fit in)

[Raelyn28]

Hi, my husband has a job offer in Tulsa. He passed his interview and they are flying him to Tulsa on June 2nd for the second interview. Here is where I have lived. Omaha Nebraska, Southern California, Oregon and now Washington State. I would prefer something pretty and green, a smaller town but good schools with great athletics is a must. We have two boys, one going in to High school the other 5th grade. They are both football and baseball fanatics so sports is IMPORTANT!!! We would like to rent a nice house for awhile before we buy. We are in the process of selling a 3600 square foot house, so we need something similar. We really do not want to sell any furniture. A nice area is a must... pretty surroundings???

I have never been to Oklahoma. What will we expect? Are the people, kids friendly? My 14-year old is having a tough time with the move because he is scared that the kids won't be nice to someone new.. I have heard that the midwest is different than the Pacific Northwest although I truthfully remember Nebraskans being friendlier than people on the West Coast.

What is the weather like and what is there to do?

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated cause I am kind of scared for my kids. I am flexible and can fit into anything but they are truly West coast kids and aren't used to anything else.

Your help would be greatly appreciated....

[lasomeday]

Coweta is a small town, and very green. It is the most affordable. The sports there are good. Coweta is a very nice small town. It has hills and tall trees. One of my friends is the football coach there. He is really smart and a talented coach. I am not sure about the properties out there.

If you want your kids to go to a megaschool. Then Jenks or Union are your bet. They dominate sports. They have about a thousand in a graduating class though. Which in my opinion is way too many.

People in Oklahoma are a little bit friendlier than Nebraskans and Oregonians. It is definitely hotter than both, but bearable. The sun will be out a lot. It is windy in the spring and part of the winter. Fall is the best time of year. The trees change colors and the hills are spotted with yellow, orange, and red.

You will love Tulsa. It has a big city feel, but it is not spread out too much. It is in "Green" Country which has lots of tall trees.

[dekes1969]

raelyn


couple of questions for you

1 where about is your hubbie's job going to be..this will help with commute and zeroing on place to live.

2 you are going to find that your housing dollar is going to go alot farther in Tulsa so you will be happy with the cost of a home in your price range

3 are rpivate schools an option because if you chose the tulsa city proper you will want to think private for your kids

4 the schools and thus the areas i would recommend are coweta as mentioned before, bixby, glenpool,collinsville, skiatook, and claremore... these are all districts with in the a 40 minute drive of the tulsa metro and they are not the mega schhols like BA, jenks, owasso, and union

5 this leads me to the next questionhow far or close to metro do you need to be ??

6 you will find tulsa to be very green with lots of lakes summer temps in the 90's and winter highs in the 40's .. it a rolling hills area and it get more hilly east and south of the city.. if your hubbie can do alonger drive their are area that will be more rural... tulsa metro is a grid laid out city so getting around is very easy

7 anything else let me know.. i have a unique perspective lived in tulsa for 5 years but i did relocate so i can understand what you going thru

[Raelyn28]

Hi, Thank you so very much for the valuable information. I kind of was doing some research on my own last night. I looked at Owasso and Broken Arrow. The Broken Arrow homes are awesome and the High School looked amazing. You didn't mention that area too much. As far as my husbands job, he will be working at a very big hospital in Tulsa. I am not sure the name of it and I can't reach him because he is currently out of town. I can check and get back to you. Do you think my boys will think it is boring or hicksville?? (Sorry, that is what I have been told, but never been there). I have realized that most people judge places according to TV which is totally bizarre. I went to California in the 80's thinking it would be like the TV shows with palm trees everywhere, blue skys, etc. only to be very disappointed. It wasn't at all what I expected. I love this site because I can actually talk to someone who is there.. Thank you for your help. My husband doesn't mind a commute of 45 minutes or less...

Raelyn

[dekes1969]

i will tell you this there is nothing hicksville about tulsa it is a large metro area of 1 million people.... BA is your typical suburb and tulsa's largest close to 100,000 people... the high school has over 4000 people in it to large for my taste... owasso is a booming area but they did not plan their growth well and it too is approaching graduating classes over 1000 people... did not say where is oregon or washington you are speaking about but you will find tulsa will have almost all the major amenities....and if your sons are ball players you can not find a better place for both sports then eastern oklahoma

[briansgi]

Check out Owasso! Great community and is the fastest growing city in Oklahoma for a reason! Great school system, great sports program, especially baseball. Owasso just won another state title, they seem to do that every year! From a resell perspective you would want to live in an area that is the fastest growing, your property will appreciate faster and sell quicker then other areas. Owasso also has two major expressways south into Tulsa, and both are NOT toll roads!

PS - Garth Brooks could live anywhere in the world, and he chose to live in Owasso.

[BigOkie]

Originally Posted by briansgi

Check out Owasso! Great community and is the fastest growing city in Oklahoma for a reason! Great school system, great sports program, especially baseball. Owasso just won another state title, they seem to do that every year! From a resell perspective you would want to live in an area that is the fastest growing, your property will appreciate faster and sell quicker then other areas. Owasso also has two major expressways south into Tulsa, and both are NOT toll roads!

PS - Garth Brooks could live anywhere in the world, and he chose to live in Owasso.

He actually lives closer to Claremore, but whatever. I'm sure most people don't hinge where they live on where Garth and Trisha are living at the time.

And if she's talking LARGE hospitals, it's likely that he's probably getting work at St. Francis, which would lend itself more to Broken Arrow or even Jenks or Glenpool. Until I know which, I can't be sure. Last I checked, there were no large hospitals near Owasso. There are large hospitals located at 81st and Hwy 169, and in midtown Tulsa (Hillcrest/St Johns) or possibly even OSU Med Ctr (downtown).

That is unless you want a headache of a drive in, since the traffic coming into town from Owasso on US169 during the construction they're doing will not be easy for the next few months.

[lasomeday]

Broken Arrow appears nice, but it is a massive mega school. It only has Juniors and seniors at the "high school". It has about 1400 in a graduating class. It is nothing like the small school you mentioned. Your kid will be a number or a letter like the buildings. There are so many they are lettered.

[briansgi]

Actually I live on Grand Lake now - you jealous - you should be!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Owasso now has two brand new hospitals, read the papers! Oh yea, the fish are biting too! Caught these two beauty's off the dock Sunday night! I'm the one holding the fish in case you needed some guidance! I know I look much like those green slimy things, just needed to clarify that.

[Goodpasture]

Looks like you are holding the one on the right WAY closer to the camera...........trot line?