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COL: pretty close, but Tulsa probably cheaper
Education: Knoxville
Climate: Knoxville
Economy: Knoxville
Housing Stock: Tulsa
Safety: Knoxville
Transportation: Knoxville
Location: Knoxville has more central, major interstates going through it, and is closer to east cities
Air Service: Knoxville
Scenery: Knoxville
Recreation: Knoxville
Culture: Knoxville
Dining: close but Knoxville
Downtown Area: Tulsa has much taller and more skyscrapers. Knoxville is great downtown on the ground though - tie
Better Future: Gonna go with Knoxville here
COL - very slight edge to Tulsa, though both are affordable
Education - Knoxville
Climate - Knoxville
Economy - Tie
Housing Stock - Tie
Safety - Knoxville, though both are safe
Transportation - Knoxville
Location - Knoxville
Air Service - Not sure
Scenery - Knoxville, hands down
Recreation - Knoxville, hands down
Culture - Too subjective
Dining - Knoxville
Downtown Area - Knoxville
Better Future - Knoxville, but Tulsa will do well too.
Overall - Knoxville by a landslide for me. Knoxville has so much to do for a metro its size and the opposite is true for Tulsa. Knoxville's scenery is much better too. Those to metrics makes this a no-brainer for me.
COL: pretty close, but Tulsa probably cheaper
Education: Knoxville
Climate: Knoxville
Economy: Knoxville
Housing Stock: Tulsa
Safety: Knoxville
Transportation: Knoxville
Location: Knoxville has more central, major interstates going through it, and is closer to east cities
Air Service: Knoxville
Scenery: Knoxville
Recreation: Knoxville
Culture: Knoxville
Dining: close but Knoxville
Downtown Area: Tulsa has much taller and more skyscrapers. Knoxville is great downtown on the ground though - tie
Better Future: Gonna go with Knoxville here
Knoxville wins this match up.
I've been to both places more than once. I find Knoxville more attractive visually BUT:
Air Service - not as good in Knoxville
Dining - no, but not that either are stellar
Culture - no I don't recall anything culturally significant in Knoxville to succeed Tulsa.
Education: Both generally have bad city public schools, and solid suburban ones, but Tulsa has some pretty fancy private schools that Knoxville lacks and Booker T. Washington -the highest ranked high school in Tulsa rates significantly higher than L&N Stem Academy -the Knoxville equivalent. K-12 edge Tulsa. UT is much bigger and better than TU, so tertiary education goes to Knoxville
Climate: Knoxville is more moderate and Tulsa is in the heart of tornado alley. Knoxville wins this one
Economy: Tulsa has a significantly larger economy . 2019 GDP US$ 58billion versus Knoxville at US$45 billion. Tulsa wins this one
Housing Stock: Tulsa - by a very long way. Mid century oil money gave midtown Tulsa some of the best looking residential neighborhoods in the country. There is nothing in Knoxville that remotely compares. Both cities have quite large stretches of bombed out looking neighborhoods, but parts of North Tulsa are worse. The suburbs are a wash
Safety: Both have very high crime rates. Tulsa slightly worse
Transportation: Both almost entirely car-dependent. Lame -ass bus service is the closest thing to public transportation.
Location: Do you want Dallas or Atlanta to be your big city fix? The Smokies are much closer and nicer than the Ozarks. Edge Knoxville
Air Service: Chances are you are changing planes in ATL or DFW
Scenery: Tulsa is green and pretty and a river runs through it. Knoxville is greener and prettier and a river runs through it. Knoxville here, but Tulsa scenery surprised me in a good way.
Recreation: outdoor recreation Knoxville, but for almost everything else Tulsa. Tulsa has two world-class art museums: The Philbrook and the Gilcrease. The Knoxville Museum of Art is distinctly parochial in comparison. They are both good live music towns but Tulsa has the Woodie Guthrie museum, Crains and a world class performing art center in the BOK center. You can hear great live music in Knoxville but neither the history nor quality of venues is really in the same league as Tulsa. The Gathering Place in Tulsa has justly been heralded as the best new city park of the last decade by the New York Times amongst others. Knoxville does not maximize the recreational potential of its riverfront as well.
Culture: Subjective, but I find Tulsa more interesting. It is one of very few U.S. cities with a palpable Native American presence. It is a bit Southern, a bit midwestern, a bit Yankee even - look at the street names, large and influential Jewish and Arab communities - the latter mostly Lebanese. For 50 years or so from the late 1920s through the 1970s, it could justifiably claim to be the Oil Capital of the World, and then the oil companies began decamping for Houston in the 1970s. That legacy is still very much visible in the architecture, culture and institutions. When I first went to Knoxville, I expected an overblown SEC college town like Fayetteville or worse, Tuscaloosa, instead I found a lively, interesting smaller city.
Dining: Both mediocre, but fine dining significantly better in Tulsa
Downtown Area: Downtown Knoxville is vibrant and pretty, but it is tiny - less than a square mile by most designations. Downtown Tulsa is at least 4 times that size, and while it has too many surface parking lots, it also has a fantastic collection of Art Deco buildings and skyscrapers, has twice the residential population of Downtown Knoxville, many more businesses and is enjoying something of a revival with a hipster invasion and generally feels a bit more sophisticated and cosmopolitan than Downtown Knoxville.
Better Future: Crystal ball broken . . .
I like Knoxville and the surrounding scenery is beautiful, but it feels quite a bit more generic. Tulsa can feel like a smaller Kansas City, but mostly it feels much more distinctive than Knoxville. YMMV.
The Supreme Court ruled that eastern Oklahoma, including Tulsa, is Native American territory. I honestly have no idea what this will mean in terms of the city's future. Will being "in" the United States but not "of" the United States make a difference in what Tulsa becomes in the future? Until we see how this plays out in practical terms, I'd be hesitant to make any predictions, good or bad, about Tulsa's future. FWIW, Knoxville does not face this issue.
Education: Both generally have bad city public schools, and solid suburban ones, but Tulsa has some pretty fancy private schools that Knoxville lacks and Booker T. Washington -the highest ranked high school in Tulsa rates significantly higher than L&N Stem Academy -the Knoxville equivalent. K-12 edge Tulsa. UT is much bigger and better than TU, so tertiary education goes to Knoxville
Climate: Knoxville is more moderate and Tulsa is in the heart of tornado alley. Knoxville wins this one
Economy: Tulsa has a significantly larger economy . 2019 GDP US$ 58billion versus Knoxville at US$45 billion. Tulsa wins this one
Housing Stock: Tulsa - by a very long way. Mid century oil money gave midtown Tulsa some of the best looking residential neighborhoods in the country. There is nothing in Knoxville that remotely compares. Both cities have quite large stretches of bombed out looking neighborhoods, but parts of North Tulsa are worse. The suburbs are a wash
Safety: Both have very high crime rates. Tulsa slightly worse
Transportation: Both almost entirely car-dependent. Lame -ass bus service is the closest thing to public transportation.
Location: Do you want Dallas or Atlanta to be your big city fix? The Smokies are much closer and nicer than the Ozarks. Edge Knoxville
Air Service: Chances are you are changing planes in ATL or DFW
Scenery: Tulsa is green and pretty and a river runs through it. Knoxville is greener and prettier and a river runs through it. Knoxville here, but Tulsa scenery surprised me in a good way.
Recreation: outdoor recreation Knoxville, but for almost everything else Tulsa. Tulsa has two world-class art museums: The Philbrook and the Gilcrease. The Knoxville Museum of Art is distinctly parochial in comparison. They are both good live music towns but Tulsa has the Woodie Guthrie museum, Crains and a world class performing art center in the BOK center. You can hear great live music in Knoxville but neither the history nor quality of venues is really in the same league as Tulsa. The Gathering Place in Tulsa has justly been heralded as the best new city park of the last decade by the New York Times amongst others. Knoxville does not maximize the recreational potential of its riverfront as well.
Culture: Subjective, but I find Tulsa more interesting. It is one of very few U.S. cities with a palpable Native American presence. It is a bit Southern, a bit midwestern, a bit Yankee even - look at the street names, large and influential Jewish and Arab communities - the latter mostly Lebanese. For 50 years or so from the late 1920s through the 1970s, it could justifiably claim to be the Oil Capital of the World, and then the oil companies began decamping for Houston in the 1970s. That legacy is still very much visible in the architecture, culture and institutions. When I first went to Knoxville, I expected an overblown SEC college town like Fayetteville or worse, Tuscaloosa, instead I found a lively, interesting smaller city.
There are some nice lakes, east of Tulsa. Along with some forested areas, and even small town hilly areas not too far from Tulsa in east Oklahoma. So I'd say you'd still find some nice scenery outside of Tulsa, even if it isn't quite equal to say what you'd see in Great Smoky Mountain National Park, or elsewhere(as far as most mountainous sections go) in the rest of east Tennessee.
Tulsa also isn't too far from Oklahoma City, so to a lesser extent OKC could serve as a step in big city fix if you didn't want to drive the longer distance to Dallas, or elsewhere (i.e. Fort Worth) in that area. Some other smaller cities not too far away too, i.e. Muskogee and Bartlesville. I do wonder if Tahlequah has a little local culture, considering it's a college town?
There are some other sizable cities in east and central Tennessee (i.e. Chattanooga, Nashville, Kingsport), but that for a lot of such places one may face a longer such drive to get there. Though at least it isn't far from western NC and other interesting parts of eastern TN, if you wanted to do a side trip somewhere. I.e. Asheville, Waynesville, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, etc.
I only wish I could visit both cities, since I get that feeling both are nice. Have that odd feeling for city amenities and certain other categories (maybe not outdoor activities, though), that my gut makes me think I'd probably prefer Tulsa. But who knows, as I bet both cities probably wouldn't be bad to live in.
COL - very slight edge to Tulsa, though both are affordable
Education - Knoxville
Climate - Knoxville
Economy - Tie
Housing Stock - Tie
Safety - Knoxville, though both are safe
Transportation - Knoxville
Location - Knoxville
Air Service - Not sure
Scenery - Knoxville, hands down
Recreation - Knoxville, hands down
Culture - Too subjective
Dining - Knoxville
Downtown Area - Knoxville
Better Future - Knoxville, but Tulsa will do well too.
Overall - Knoxville by a landslide for me. Knoxville has so much to do for a metro its size and the opposite is true for Tulsa. Knoxville's scenery is much better too. Those to metrics makes this a no-brainer for me.
Tennessee is on my radar for a potential place in which to relocate. I’ve never been to the state, however. I have spent a lot of time in Oklahoma, though, and I’m very familiar with the Tulsa area (my dad lives in Broken Arrow). I also have family in the Poteau and Muskogee areas. Eastern Oklahoma is very pretty: rolling hills, forests, rivers, and lakes. Scenery is very important to me. I can’t imagine living in an area devoid of natural scenery and pretty countryside — and that’s a big reason as to why I recently left the Los Angeles area (Cerritos to be exact) because I grew tired of living in a sprawling, continuous concrete jungle! I need wide open spaces. I’m currently in Southern Washington state (about 50 miles north of Portland, Oregon) and it’s really pretty up here. However, real estate and rentals are fairly expensive, so I’m exploring possibly relocating to a lower cost of living state — and Tennessee is on my radar (specifically eastern Tennessee, most notably the Johnson City/Bristol areas — because I prefer a bit of elevation to offset some of the summer time heat and humidity.
But if Washington weren’t so expensive, I wouldn’t mind staying here. The several months of grey skies and drizzle, however, does get old after a while. I like cool, rainy weather, but not for such long periods. I know that Tennessee would have more consistent sun, but the summertime heat and humidity would be an issue.
Trade offs, Trade offs — life is all about trade offs!
There are some nice lakes, east of Tulsa. Along with some forested areas, and even small town hilly areas not too far from Tulsa in east Oklahoma. So I'd say you'd still find some nice scenery outside of Tulsa, even if it isn't quite equal to say what you'd see in Great Smoky Mountain National Park, or elsewhere(as far as most mountainous sections go) in the rest of east Tennessee.
Tulsa also isn't too far from Oklahoma City, so to a lesser extent OKC could serve as a step in big city fix if you didn't want to drive the longer distance to Dallas, or elsewhere (i.e. Fort Worth) in that area. Some other smaller cities not too far away too, i.e. Muskogee and Bartlesville. I do wonder if Tahlequah has a little local culture, considering it's a college town?
Surely, Keystone Lake just to the west of Tulsa can also count as a nice lake. Controlled discharges from Keystone Dam help keep flooding limited in Tulsa along the Arkansas River during unusual heavy rain periods.
Tahlequah as a small college town is a liberal island in northeast Oklahoma. Slightly closer to Tulsa is the much bigger college town of Stillwater. For local music culture, it's where Red Dirt music originated with a bar on the strip, the Salty Bronc, that honors the originators of it. It's country rock.
Stillwater is also where Garth Brooks and the All American Rejects got their starts. Willie's Saloon where Garth Brooks first sang is still open to this day. In 2019, OSU celebrated the grand opening of its new McKnight center to the New York Philharmonic playing Beethoven's 3rd. The Philadelphia Orchestra is expected to perform there in 2021. Stillwater now has a facility that is able to attract the world's greatest in orchestra music. Tulsa probably identifies closer to OSU than OU, since OSU is closer.
Bartlesville is very great for having the only Frank Lloyd Wright skyscraper plan that was ever built. It also has an architecturally interesting community center for being round. There it holds a Mozart festival every year. A good town to live in, if Tulsa is too big. And unlike most small towns in Oklahoma, it's not on the decline.
Unfortunately, Muskogee is a less remarkable town and has been stagnant to declining for a long time. It's mainly famous for having a castle for medieval hobbyists and fans to gather. Unfortunately, the Best Buy store there recently had to close. The Stillwater Best Buy is still open.
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