Moving from Australia to Oaklahoma City

[FutureArchitect]

OakDale!!!!!!
East of Okc.
Very nice.

[lasomeday]

Our public transit is bad, but there isn't much traffic, so don't worry about having to drive. Oklahoma drivers aren't that aggressive and you will be able to get almost anywhere in OKC in less than 30 minutes. It might take 45 to get to Norman from Edmond.

[CDMOK]

Heritage Hills, which was mentioned earlier in the thread, is absolutely one of the most beautiful neighborhoods in OKC. I do some housekeeping for homes in the area and they're really awesome, historical homes.

Great for trick-or-treating, too! The rich folks always hand out handfuls of the good stuff

[ash dundee]

Originally Posted by wowelle

My husband has recently got a good job in OKC (about $350,000 a year). We are planning to move there for around 8 months and see how it goes. We had a daughter in university, a daughter about to go into year 11 (im assuming her junior year) and a 10 year old son.
All want to move with us but we are unsure about oklahoma as we know little to nothing about it. We currently like in Sydney australia in the inner suburbs about a 10min drive from the centre of the city and enjoy exciting social lives. Edmond and Nicholas Hills look nice, how far are they from the centre of the city? Also what are good schools and is it possible to transfer to a good university. Any Ivy leaugue colleges nearby? (she had a very good final score and attends the top university in sydney) We are looking for a 4bedroom+ house in a safe/nice area with good schools.
looking to spend over $1,000,000 on a house
any advice?

I am from Sydney, have been living here for a number of years. Did you move here?

[FourOhFive]

I dated a chick from Sydney once. She was a lot of fun. It was in AZ though. I don't hear many different accents here in Oklahoma with the exception of Redneck...if that even counts?
Oh, and I do apologize for being off of subject, but it looks like the subject question has been answered.

[soonerguru]

I seriously doubt someone from such a cosmopolitan city would enjoy living in a cloistered, parochial gated community like Gaillardia. Perhaps I'm wrong.

[AustraliansInTheUSAdotOrg]

Originally Posted by wowelle

Hey thanks for all the feedback!
i was delighted when got so many responces its great to see how friendly everyone seems...
...and finally are there many australians in oklahoma?

Hey wowelle, there's a growing group of Australians In The USA who are networking & working together to help keep the community of Aussie (& Kiwi) expats across the US in touch...

We have a facebook page for our national network - search: "Australians In The USA"

There you will find a list of our "geographically relevant / convenient" groups throughout the USA - one for each and every US state - including OKLAHOMA ! (the specific groups welcome & serve expats who are current or past residents of that state, & are from, or who have family who are from, down under).

Look forward to seeing you there.

Cheers !
Darren.

[AustraliansInTheUSAdotOrg]

Originally Posted by ash dundee

I am from Sydney, have been living here for a number of years. Did you move here?

Hey Ash Dundee - Ditto the above/previous post to you too!

Look forward to see you there!

Cheers!
Darren.

[lordblazer]

Originally Posted by dufekin

Congratulations! Good luck getting through immigration (unless you're already US citizens). A salary of $350,000 US / year is roughly 10 times the average for an Oklahoman. You didn't say where in OKC your husband will work, but given the salary, I can guess that it's most likely an oil/gas or other energy company. Devon is located downtown, and Chesapeake is near Nichols Hills; several other energy companies are located in the City. I'm not sure how long commutes you find acceptable, but your housing location in the States will determine public schooling options for your children. So we'll discuss education first.

Anyone can apply to almost any of the thousands of colleges and universities anywhere in the United States, and if you can get into the United States (legally or sometimes otherwise), secure admission, and pay tuition (or get adequate scholarships), you can attend. Every state maintains one or more "state" ("public") universities that offer reduced tuition and sometimes full scholarships to "residents" of that state; these institutions generally allow and invite residents of other states to apply and attend, paying higher tuition, but some offer comprehensive financial aid packages to students from other states. Qualifications for residency vary considerably among states. Because university education is often quite expensive, I highly recommend deciding upon a major program of study before applying to universities; otherwise, you often will find that most universities don't offer your major. For most Americans, "Ivy League" schools provide education not much better than solid "state" universities. The Ivy League itself comprises several large private exclusive universities in the northeastern states, at least a thousand miles away from Oklahoma. University of Oklahoma (in Norman) offers several highly prestitious programs (e.g., meteorology) but doesn't rank among the country's highly selective universities (relatively easy admission). Texas does contain several large, highly selective, prestigious (mostly public) universities. Your college student probably should plan to graduate in Sydney before relocating to the States, perhaps for graduate school (if she's inclined to do that).

For high school, you can attend the local public high school; taxes pay the expenses for the operation of such schools, and students pay no tuition. Oklahoma City and its suburbs contain roughly thirty-some public high schools, which vary considerbly in quality. At several schools, many students do not speak English as a first language. Your daughter may qualify for a special school, magnet school, or other public school, but don't count on it. A word of caution: the school year started last week, so it's imperative that you get established now if possible. If your daughter is particularly academically advanced, whether generally or in some specific discipline, then she should try to enroll in advanced placement (AP) classes, the highest level of academic coursework generally available in American high schools. If she scores a "5" (the highest possible score) on the exam in May, then she almost certainly will receive college credit for that class. For a grade of "3" or "4," she may receive college credit. (That means that she won't have to take those classes in college or pay tuition for them; she cannot ace the AP examinations without knowing practically everything that those classes would cover anyway.) If you are considering public high school, then you should shop for housing based on their attendance zones. You may want to inquire which schools produce the greatest number (or proportion) of "5"s (or at least relatively high grades) on AP examinations in disciplines that interest your daughter.

You also have the options of parochial (Catholic) school, private religious (generally Protestant, mostly Baptist) schools, home schooling (where you teach your daughter and/or son, perhaps with the aid of private tutors), and perhaps non-religious private schools (although I'm not sure that any exist).

For your 10-year-old, almost anything will do. He wants to do well in mathematics and get into pre-algebra as early as possible; I believe that starts in the 6th grade now, although perhaps that comes from my experience in other states. Parochial schools at this level generally offer considerably superior education to public schools, but exceptional students can succeed in public schools, especially one that feeds into a superior public high school.

Nichols Hills is a very affluent inner suburb; Edmond is a northern outer suburb and home to the University of Central Oklahoma, a second-tier state institution. As I understand, the entire City (including suburbs) contains fewer than one hundred million-dollar residences. You can get a large, almost palatial place for $250,000, and it's possible but not exactly easy to score a "decent" 4-bedroom place in a not-so-nice neighborhood under $100,000. Some on this forum will argue that you should take extreme care to avoid crime, and certain segments of the inner city (particularly the heavily Hispanic neighborhood around Capitol Hill High School and the heavily black neighborhoods near and east of the State Capitol) do include considerable gangster populations. Even if you do choose to live in such a neighborhood (and I don't recommend it for someone of your apparent means), the criminals probably won't do anything serious to you. My advice, especially for your daughter: avoid drugs, and don't associate with gangs. Even the nicest neighborhoods (like Nichols Hills) occasionally experience the scourge of criminal behaviour. Gated communities can offer some additional protection.

If your husband works downtown, I'd recommend Heritage Hills, a neighborhood of large mansions about a mile north of downtown, especially if you can get a superior public high school or choose to use private, parochial, or home schooling.
You can look at houses for sale at REALTOR.com - Real Estate Listings & Homes For Sale

Having spent a significant amount living in OKC. The East side is not all that bad. Though I live north of 36th St. near Wild Wood. But overall the NE side of OKC has the lowest crime rate in entire city. I often feel less safe on the NW side of the city. More stuff tends to happen there. NE side is really really quiet especially if you go further east near spencer. Though it is predominately black I think that is most likely why this guy is saying more gang related stuff happens on the NE side. There are gangs, but they aren't nearly as active on the NE side of the city as they are in other parts of the city. I had a relative who was living on the NW side and near Edmound for awhile. Her house was broken into several times. She has since then moved to the NE side, and has had no problems since then. It does depend on where you live on the NE side though. South of 23rd st. isn't all too bad, but depends. You have affluent people living in these areas, but only because they grew up there. Anyway just had to defend the part of the city I lived in when I was living in OKC. Anyway this is the issue you will run into as an australian family. Everyone has different perspectives often falsely so.

Originally Posted by StillwaterTownie

Nah, the main reason people get bored in Oklahoma City is because they don't have the money required to gain admittance to all the cool things to do, such as the various events at the Ford Center. I don't think that will be a problem with her family.

I have money to go to those things, but chose to do cooler things in Tokyo, Shanghai, Istanbul, DC, etc. :P

OKC is a boring place to live if you're young, but its great for elderly and families. To be fair OKC isn't as boring or authoritarian as Singapore was. I enjoyed S/pore, but overall it gets a bit too sterile. The edge OKC has over that place is quite huge except for mass transit. But it is same here in the DC area transit is superior.