Arriving in tulsa this weekend!! Thanks to all for your help!!! (Broken Arrow: lease, houses)

[Raelyn28]

Although Owasso is a very nice town we decided against it. It is just too long of a drive for us and the traffic is horrible on the freeway.. We decided on Broken Arrow. It is amazing how sometimes you think you know what it will be like before you get there and it isn't. This happened to us as well when we moved from California to Oregon. I had the town all picked out, schools picked out and a church. We ended up in another town on the other side of Portland.. I think we will fit in just fine in Broken Arrow... Sorry Brian, I know you were pushing for Owasso but it just wasn't a good fit for us... Maybe if we didn't have kids but I couldn't even imagine doing that drive into town for activities and we are an active family Anyway, I appreciate all your help with this and we will be moving at the end of July first of August. I will still be around to ask questions....

Originally Posted by Raelyn28

Hi, I just wanted you all to know that I will be in Tulsa this weekend and for the entire week. My husband and I will finally be househunting. I appreciate all your help and every suggestion and opinion that I have recieved. This has been a very helpful site. I do have another question. Is there any nice restaurants perhaps with live music that my husband and I can try? We would like a nice place to go for an evening. We won't have kids with us so this is sort of like a vacation for us if you know what I mean.

Again, thank you for all your help. We have decided on the Owasso area. We like the schools and how it is a little bit away from the city. We believe it is a nice fit for our family. The housing situation will be a little hard for us since we will not be buying a home right away, so we will be downsizing.

I will let you know how our trip went...

[Raelyn28]

Hi Jammie,

Well we thought we would like Owasso and we do but it just didn't work out. Between not finding any rentals that would work for us and the drive to Owasso from the Tulsa area plus other reasons we have decided to stick closer to Tulsa. We found a home in the Broken Arrow area. At first we really wrestled with the two locations and finally through a series of events we ended up choosing BA...

I think Owasso is nice but because we are a busy family I really didn't think the drive would work for us. I have been in a smaller town before and I didn't like the traffic problems and commute. Also... we just could not find any place to live. We found a lease option to buy in Owasso that we fell in love with but the owner backed out and said he wanted to sell his home ASAP. We do not want to buy at the current time.

Anyway to make a long story short we found a home and now are spending our last few days trying to enjoy a few restaurants. I went to a concert for free. We are also trying to get to know the town.

My opinion of Tulsa, I haven't seen enough to comment yet but it is pretty much like I imagined it to be. I think that Washington is prettier, I miss the pine trees but I think the Tulsa people are much more friendlier. People have bent over backwards here to help us in everyway. People at restaurants spend several minutes in detailed conversations where as Washington people for the most part don't have the time of day. Everyone there is into themselves and you are lucky to get a smile let alone a conversation. I think people are more important then trees and natural beauty so I think I will like it here. I just wish I could have the best of both worlds.

Anyway, I will keep you all up to speed with our moving adventures Thanks for the VALUABLE advise and suggestions... We will be here for good the first part of August...

Raelyn



uote=Jammie;9918194]Trip report, please. I've been following your story since you first started posting so I'm also curious to hear what you think about Tulsa. Oh, and if you get a chance, take a drive over to Grove. It's such a neat area.[/quote]

[briansgi]

Raelyn, glad you found a place! BA is a great community with very good schools. It's access into Tulsa is excellent now since the BA expressway was widened a few years ago. You made a good choice! Too bad the home owner backed out on the lease/purchase option. Homes are selling pretty well in the Tulsa area so I can understand what the owner is saying. We closed on our house the other day, I'm glad that process is over!

[Goodpasture]

To paraphrase Colbert, "Have you found Tulsa to be a great place or the greatest place?"

[Jammie]

Raelyn, I'm glad you finally made it there and got to check things out. You did a good job researching, but it's still not the same as actually being there. At least you knew a LOT before you ever visited and didn't have to start from scratch.

We actually kind of liked Jenks and the southwestern end of Tulsa. The traffic seemed to be a bit less there and the area was quite pretty. We also found the people to be friendly and helpful. We were kinda lost. (not used to large cities) LOL

If you have extra time on your hands and are looking for something to do before you return home, slip over to Grove. I think you'll be really surprised.

[Raelyn28]

Well today was another story in itself. My husband and I took a drive through the downtown area (Cherry Street) driving up and down the area. Then we just traveled along the river all the way down to Jenks ending up at the RiverWalk. I have to say I am VERY impressed and my view of Tulsa has changed quite a bit. It is very nice along the river. As another Okie had stated to me several times it reminded me of Portland in that particular area and I love that. I kind of wish I would have checked out the Jenks or Bixby area before choosing a home in BA but then again was told the kids in the schools there are very spoiled. I believe we made the right choice in selecting the Union District for our kids.. More of a balance of diversity of race, culture and the area is also nice (although not as nice as Jenks). Jenks is what I am used to and I am looking forward to that trip to the Grove... We will be going to Jenks on future weekends with our kids and dog, riding our bikes along the river (we used to do that in Portland). There are not many biking trails in Spokane so we have missed doing the biking thing. I will wait until the weather cools down. Too hot today for me, especially on bikes!!

Anyway, this is alot of fun and I can't wait to share all this with the kids!!! We are leaving on Sunday for Washington, moving this next week and will be here for good on Saturday the 1st. We have LOTS to do.... Everything everyone shared on this forum is pretty much right on. I printed out a lot of the suggestions on the forum and have went to restaurants and places mentioned here. I would have been absolutely lost without the forum. It has been a gold mine of information. Thanks to EVERYONE for their time and valuable suggestions!! You can call me BA girl now!!!

[Jammie]

Hey, you'll have to put your new location up in the corner.

It sounds like we kind of like the same type of areas/scenery since you also liked the Jenks area. Wait until you get to Grove. You'll have wished you would've moved there. Well, except for the fact that it's small and there aren't many jobs. It'd be an excellent spot to go for the weekends though and I think you'll really be surprised at how nice of an area it is.

You will definitely have your work cut out of you this next week. I'm anxious to hear how you like it once you get moved and all settled in so keep us posted.

[Raelyn28]

I will keep you all posted on our progress. Hopefully, prayerfully my kids will like it here. It is very different. The food is excellent and I cannot believe how good the steak is!! Yum!! Have a great weekend..

Originally Posted by Jammie

Hey, you'll have to put your new location up in the corner.

It sounds like we kind of like the same type of areas/scenery since you also liked the Jenks area. Wait until you get to Grove. You'll have wished you would've moved there. Well, except for the fact that it's small and there aren't many jobs. It'd be an excellent spot to go for the weekends though and I think you'll really be surprised at how nice of an area it is.

You will definitely have your work cut out of you this next week. I'm anxious to hear how you like it once you get moved and all settled in so keep us posted.

[BAGuy]

Where did you go for steak? There are so many great places in Tulsa!

[Goodpasture]

If she says Golden Corral, I'm gonna be plumb disgusted