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I am here to do as I always do, ask the community for some feedback. As a prior military member, my family and I are no strangers to moving and acclimating to our surroundings, however, now that we are out, we are in the midst of our 4th move in 5 years. I am a california native, and my wife is a Bostonian. We find ourselves in a very difficult situation. We are currently in our 2 year of a house mortgage. After working for some contact companies, i have decided to go back to school. My wife and i have paid all of out bis and are just paying for a mortgage and our 2 cars.
This is where we stand:
-We have a house in IDAHO. We fear having to pay 2 rents/mortgages
-I've been offered a job in the $25+/hr job in OKC
-We have 3 kids
-im mixed (black and white) my wife is White. (what, if any, problems would might we have).
We are not sure how to go about making this decisions. OKC was never an option for us as we know nothing of OKLAHOMA. I would like to get some information from you all about what kind of things we should consider when moving to OKC and the surrounding areas. Some of the things we are concerned about are below. Any information good and bad would be greatly appreciated.
-cost of living
-crime rate
-school system (we currently home school, due to lack of education emphasis here)
-how far will 6k/month go in OKC and the surrounding areas. (i plan to be sole bread winner)
-Traffic in and out of okc and from and to surrounding areas.
-which ares should we research in terms of living in.
-Weather tendencies. Tornadoes are MY biggest fear.
-Gun Laws (very easy going here in IDAHO) we have many guns and would hate to part with any of them.
Again thank you to all that choose to answer. We would like ALL comments, and will take what we see here for what its worth, but will help in our research into making our decision.
I am here to do as I always do, ask the community for some feedback. As a prior military member, my family and I are no strangers to moving and acclimating to our surroundings, however, now that we are out, we are in the midst of our 4th move in 5 years. I am a california native, and my wife is a Bostonian. We find ourselves in a very difficult situation. We are currently in our 2 year of a house mortgage. After working for some contact companies, i have decided to go back to school. My wife and i have paid all of out bis and are just paying for a mortgage and our 2 cars.
This is where we stand:
-We have a house in IDAHO. We fear having to pay 2 rents/mortgages
-I've been offered a job in the $25+/hr job in OKC
-We have 3 kids
-im mixed (black and white) my wife is White. (what, if any, problems would might we have).
I'd be surprised if you had any problems related to this unless you relocated to a small town.
We are not sure how to go about making this decisions. OKC was never an option for us as we know nothing of OKLAHOMA. I would like to get some information from you all about what kind of things we should consider when moving to OKC and the surrounding areas. Some of the things we are concerned about are below. Any information good and bad would be greatly appreciated.
-cost of living
[b]Probably slightly lower than Idaho
-crime rate Bad in certain parts of OKC. Not bad in others
-school system (we currently home school, due to lack of education emphasis here)
Home schooling his really big here and highly organized. Suburban schools are decent in OKC
-how far will 6k/month go in OKC and the surrounding areas. (i plan to be sole bread winner) Tight but doable.
-Traffic in and out of okc and from and to surrounding areas. Usually not horrible compared to big metros but probably worse than Boise
-which ares should we research in terms of living in. Depends on where your job is. But any suburban area save Midwest City and Del City are going to be safe with decent schools. NW OKC and extreme far SW OKC are ok.
-Weather tendencies. Tornadoes are MY biggest fear. Tornadoes happen obviously but for those of us who live here you realize the odds of getting hit by them are pretty low. Hail is a bigger hassle for most people. Most volatile weather is Mid March through June. But the storm tracking is extremely high level. You get a heads up days before there is activity and usually a couple of hours once activity forms.
-Gun Laws (very easy going here in IDAHO) we have many guns and would hate to part with any of them. What gun laws?
Again thank you to all that choose to answer. We would like ALL comments, and will take what we see here for what its worth, but will help in our research into making our decision.
Oklahoma is not all that dissimilar to Idaho in terms of some of the rugged individualism. However, Oklahoma is going to likely seem very southern to you all er y'all.
It's not a bad place to raise a family as Oklahoma is pretty grounded and it still has a soul. When I say that I guess what I'm saying is that we are not inundated with transplants which turns the culture on it's ear like many places. While some people claim that people here are unwelcoming to outsiders, I don't sense that. I certainly know that we are not hostile to them like some places are to Californians.
We certainly don't have the mountains that they have out west but we are only a day drive from the front range of the Rockies in New Mexico and Colorado.
Oklahoma is not all that dissimilar to Idaho in terms of some of the rugged individualism. However, Oklahoma is going to likely seem very southern to you all er y'all.
It's not a bad place to raise a family as Oklahoma is pretty grounded and it still has a soul. When I say that I guess what I'm saying is that we are not inundated with transplants which turns the culture on it's ear like many places. While some people claim that people here are unwelcoming to outsiders, I don't sense that. I certainly know that we are not hostile to them like some places are to Californians.
We certainly don't have the mountains that they have out west but we are only a day drive from the front range of the Rockies in New Mexico and Colorado.
Hope that helps.
EddieG hit the nail on the head.
I can't see ya'll having any trouble racially; I see African-American and Anglo couples often. A church I used to go to had many white-black couples and Native-Anglo combos, and even a few Latino-Anglo couples which seem to be more rare.
As for the guns, you'll be looked down on for NOT having a case full!
Welcome to the Great State of Oklahoma!
P.S. 1) Learn the State song. 2) No BSU gear allowed.
Oklhoma City Is Going Through A Transition 1993 to 2014
Quote:
Originally Posted by TetonTank
Good Evening/Morning,
I am here to do as I always do, ask the community for some feedback.
Quote:
As a prior military member, my family and I are no strangers to moving and
acclimating to our surroundings,
Quote:
Quote:
Reply howest2008....I'm a AA borne and raised in Oklahoma a veteran of two
military services the new OKC will be a very nice fit for you because you can max your income and develop a solid retirement fund for yourself and family , and add to that OK has some of the Top Elite School in USA.
Quote:
...Original Poster..
however, now that we are out, we are in the midst of our 4th move in 5 years. I am a california native, and my wife is a Bostonian.
Quote:
Reply howest2008......If you and wife are mentally tough and know how to
light a candle instead of cursing the darkness you will add greatly to the OKC Urban Experience there in OKC .
Quote:
Original Posters.....
We find ourselves in a very difficult situation. We are currently in our 2 year of a house mortgage. After working for some contact companies, i have decided to go back to school. My wife and i have paid all of out bis and are just paying for a mortgage and our 2 cars.
Quote:
Reply howest2008....Keep house in Idaho as a rental property under the control of a local Real Estate Company that has a track record of getting and keeping stable renters in theirs managed properties. Keep your two cars , but if you run into trouble with your Idaho Rental Property Sell It...
Quote:
Original Posters......This is where we stand:............
-We have a house in IDAHO. We fear having to pay 2 rents/mortgages
-I've been offered a job in the $25+/hr job in OKC
-We have 3 kids-im mixed (black and white) my wife is White. (what, if
any, problems would might we have).
Reply howest2008.......$25.00 an hour will make you and your wife a King and Queen in OKC , however don't believe the Hype about Interracial Couples they are there but it's not as common as CA and bean town.....I'm going o break my response down into two section PT 1 and PT 2
Quote:
We are not sure how to go about making this decisions. OKC was never an
option for us as we know nothing of OKLAHOMA. I would like to get some
information from you all about what kind of things we should consider when
moving to OKC and the surrounding areas. Some of the things we are concerned
about are below. Any information good and bad would be greatly appreciated.
-cost of living
-crime rate
-school system (we currently home school, due to lack of education emphasis
here)
-how far will 6k/month go in OKC and the surrounding areas. (i plan to be
sole bread winner)
-Traffic in and out of okc and from and to surrounding areas.
-which ares should we research in terms of living in.
-Weather tendencies. Tornadoes are MY biggest fear.
-Gun Laws (very easy going here in IDAHO) we have many guns and would hate to
part with any of them.
Again thank you to all that choose to answer. We would like ALL comments,
and will take what we see here for what its worth, but will help in our research
into making our decision.
howest2008 I will answer part 2 in a later post I have just ran out of time...God Speed With Your Move
Location: The edge of the world and all of Western civilization
984 posts, read 1,192,051 times
Reputation: 1691
-We have a house in IDAHO. We fear having to pay 2 rents/mortgages
-I've been offered a job in the $25+/hr job in OKC
-We have 3 kids These three go hand-in-hand. That's a good wage for OKC, but if you intend to be the sole breadwinner and you're trying to support five people, that will probably be tight when you consider all expenses.
-im mixed (black and white) my wife is White. (what, if any, problems would might we have). Probably few if any in the OKC area.
We are not sure how to go about making this decisions. OKC was never an option for us as we know nothing of OKLAHOMA. I would like to get some information from you all about what kind of things we should consider when moving to OKC and the surrounding areas. Some of the things we are concerned about are below. Any information good and bad would be greatly appreciated. I'd strongly recommend visiting the area first. If you can, then get on Yelp and find things you would want to do and come see if you like it or not. In other words, don't treat it as a vacation, but try to do day-to-day things instead.
-cost of living Fairly low, but increasing noticeably. Also, some things are actually more expensive here than elsewhere, and some things seem cheap but have hidden costs. For me, gas is one such thing. It was more expensive at home than here (and still is), but I spend more on gas here because I typically need to drive farther to do things as amenities are more spread out here. This, however, is relative. The larger, denser population at home also meant more convenience in location (closer grocery stores, banks, etc.)
-crime rate Overall bad and above the national average, but seems to be unevenly distributed and more concentrated in some areas.
-school system (we currently home school, due to lack of education emphasis here) Needs improvement from what I understand.
-how far will 6k/month go in OKC and the surrounding areas. (i plan to be sole bread winner) See first answer.
-Traffic in and out of okc and from and to surrounding areas. Not as bad as larger cities, but can be frequently frustrating and slow-going. The city really needs to improve road conditions, plus start putting in median lanes, left-turn lanes, wider roads, better public transit, etc. Also consider weather can negatively impact traffic.
-which ares should we research in terms of living in. I would use Zillow to find a concentration of what's in your budget. From there, compare it to crime reports and better school districts. I think another thing you didn't mention is what you need/want nearby and how far you're willing to commute.
-Weather tendencies. Tornadoes are MY biggest fear. Variable. Tornadoes may or may not happen too. Last year was bad, this year wasn't. Just last week the roads were like driving on a skating rink because of a freak winter storm.
-Gun Laws (very easy going here in IDAHO) we have many guns and would hate to part with any of them. Lax.
Good Evening/Morning,
I am here to do as I always do, ask the community for some feedback. As a
prior military member, my family and I are no strangers to moving and
acclimating to our surroundings, however, now that we are out, we are in the
midst of our 4th move in 5 years. I am a california native, and my wife is a
Bostonian. We find ourselves in a very difficult situation. We are currently
in our 2 year of a house mortgage. After working for some contact companies, i
have decided to go back to school. My wife and i have paid all of out bis and
are just paying for a mortgage and our 2 cars.
This is where we stand:
-We have a house in IDAHO. We fear having to pay 2 rents/mortgages
-I've been offered a job in the $25+/hr job in OKC
-We have 3 kids
-im mixed (black and white) my wife is White. (what, if any, problems would
might we have).
Quote:
We are not sure how to go about making this decisions.
OKC was never an option for us as we know nothing of OKLAHOMA. I would like to
get some information from you all about what kind of things we should consider
when moving to OKC and the surrounding areas. Some of the things we are
concerned about are below. Any information good and bad would be greatly
appreciated.
Traffic in and out of okc and from and to surrounding areas.
Reply howest2008 no problemoo
-
Quote:
which ares should we research in terms of living in.-Weather tendencies. Tornadoes are MY biggest fear. Reply howest2008....Build A Shelter for $2,000 to $10,000 and protect your family
Quote:
-Gun Laws (very easy going here in IDAHO) we have many
guns and would hate to part with any of them. Reply
howest2008 Check the OKC Police DEPT OCPD
Again thank you to all that choose to answer. We would like ALL comments, and will take what we see here for what its worth, but will help in our research into making our decision.
Order OKC Newspapers and Chamber Of Commerce literature for newcomers and make a visit and scout out OKC for yourselves and make an informed decision about this city ( OKC ).
Thank you all for your responses. It seems to be a lot like Idaho with many more suburbs around, but the communities seem to be the same. I don't think this will be as much of a culture shock going from idaho to oklahoma as it was going from california to idaho. I have grasped the small city atmosphere, and with our background of military moving around, we don't have problems adapting. This will hopefully be our last and final move.
I believe that i will accept the job offer, and with the above information we will conduct as much information as we can in order to make this transition as smooth as possible.
One last question: I plan on moving out there and stain in an apartment while my family stay behind and gets our affairs in order. Can anyone suggest a way to find housing for about 6 months. A find a roommate blog, or apartments that deal with low cost short term housing. any programs for transitioning people that will allow me to stay for up to 6 months while i get housing for my family here in OKC........???????
[quote=TetonTank;37441711]Thank you all for your responses. It seems to be a lot like Idaho with many more suburbs around, but the communities seem to be the same. I don't think this will be as much of a culture shock going from idaho to oklahoma as it was going from california to idaho. I have grasped the small city atmosphere, and with our background of military moving around, we don't have problems adapting. This will hopefully be our last and final move.
I believe that i will accept the job offer, and with the above information we will conduct as much information as we can in order to make this transition as smooth as possible.
Quote:
One last question: I plan on moving out there and staying in an apartment while
my family stay behind and gets our affairs in order. Can anyone suggest a way
to find housing for about 6 months. A find a roommate blog, or apartments that
deal with low cost short term housing. any programs for transitioning people
that will allow me to stay for up to 6 months while i get housing for my family
here in OKC........???????[/quote]
You have two options (1) low priced motels have really low monthly rental rates sometimes (2) Get an apartment on a 6 Month Lease .Maybe you would have to look at a classified add for a roommate ....CL Craigslist... http://sfbay.craigslist.org/
Oh this slipped my mind it would be a whole lot cheaper to just " rent a room at some ones house " in OKC ( just look under rooms for rent )
Last edited by Howest2008; 11-28-2014 at 06:38 PM..
Thank you all for your responses. It seems to be a lot like Idaho with many more suburbs around, but the communities seem to be the same. I don't think this will be as much of a culture shock going from idaho to oklahoma as it was going from california to idaho. I have grasped the small city atmosphere, and with our background of military moving around, we don't have problems adapting. This will hopefully be our last and final move.
I believe that i will accept the job offer, and with the above information we will conduct as much information as we can in order to make this transition as smooth as possible.
One last question: I plan on moving out there and stain in an apartment while my family stay behind and gets our affairs in order. Can anyone sug.gest a way to find housing for about 6 months. A find a roommate blog, or apartments that deal with low cost short term housing. any programs for transitioning people that will allow me to stay for up to 6 months while i get housing for my family here in OKC........???????
Tammaron Village Apartment in northwest Oklahoma City has short term rentals. It's fenced, gated apartment complex so it's quite and they keep the hooligans and gangbangers away. I lived there for 3 months when I came down for surgery and it was clean and quite.
Oklahoma is not all that dissimilar to Idaho in terms of some of the rugged individualism. However, Oklahoma is going to likely seem very southern to you all er y'all.
It's not a bad place to raise a family as Oklahoma is pretty grounded and it still has a soul. When I say that I guess what I'm saying is that we are not inundated with transplants which turns the culture on it's ear like many places. While some people claim that people here are unwelcoming to outsiders, I don't sense that. I certainly know that we are not hostile to them like some places are to Californians.
I agree its not welcoming to outsiders. Sure, people will be friendly to your face and you'll think "wow, this place really is friendly". However, when you try to get to know people and hang out with them, good luck. You'll be busy working and spending time with your family anyway, so it may not be a huge deal, but I'm guessing it will be hard for your wife. Also, I hope you like going to church. If you ask anyone how to meet people, thats what they'll tell you is to go to church. I don't know what the weather is like in Idaho, but its not great here. Tornadoes, strong winds, harsh winters, 100 degree summers. Its crazy. This year has been pretty good compared to normal. 2013, my first full year here was terrible weather. Cost of living is pretty good and traffic isn't bad.
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Oklhoma City Is Going Through A Transition 1993 to 2014
