Coolest Neighborhoods - Best place to live in OKC? (Oklahoma City: attorney, house)

[eddie gein]

Originally Posted by rockyinyourradio

One other thing you need to consider.. within two hours of OKC are some great places to discover, like the Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge, a great place for hiking and fishing. There is great diversity to Oklahoma, contrary to popular belief who are not acquainted with this state, there is alot more than dusty, treeless plains. Just go up towards Tulsa and on east around Grand Lake and Lake Tenkiller, you have lots of trees, great fishing and overall, really beautiful scenery.

Southeastern Oklahoma is about as pretty as the central part of the United States gets.

Oklahoma is one of the most diverse states in the country. It actually has more ecoregions than does Oregon.

[Daveismoving]

Flintysooner - that's pretty funny. I like the way you quoted me. I definitely sounded fickle. I'll avoid words like hip, vibe, chill, cool, heady, green, and rad. I will stick with the modifiers "interesting," "active," and add "cultural."

[flintysooner]

Originally Posted by Daveismoving

Flintysooner - that's pretty funny. I like the way you quoted me. I definitely sounded fickle. I'll avoid words like hip, vibe, chill, cool, heady, green, and rad. I will stick with the modifiers "interesting," "active," and add "cultural."

Actually I am very interested in neighborhoods and communities and the elements that contribute to making places livable and enjoyable for people.

The "young" period is pretty short and quickly replaced by the child rearing, family period which is much longer. That gives way to the empty nest period which often is another transitional period but for many is much longer than the child rearing time.

There's the retirement period which begins with a significant transition yet again.

Then there are others and all have rather interesting similarities as well as distinct differences in terms of how place contributes to life.

You aren't alone in asking the question.

[aroy3]

Originally Posted by rockyinyourradio

Hey David: In honesty, I've only been to Portland a couple of times; loved the city and you will miss it once your here. BUT, OKC is not that bad of a place to live. I've been in this area since '96.. we have two years more here at most and hopefully relocating back up in the Minnesota area where my wife's family comes from, but that's mainly because I miss the north, not enough seasons for me.. that said, that's my only real complaint.

What I do like here and I think you'll pick up on immediately is that overall, this is a pretty friendly city, infact probably one of the friendliest for a city of it's size. There is alot to do culturally, you'll probably have to look a little more than back in Portland but it's not devoid of anything to do. The places mentioned like the Paseo is definitely a cool place and there are alot of great restaurants and bars to check out. One of my favourites is The Red Cup, a really nice coffee place off of western near NW 30th. There are some really good vegetarian type restaurants popping up these days that you'll like if that's your thing.

As far as safety in the neighbourhoods in question, there are some safety issues but the overall crime index is not that bad. Stay away from the south and east sides of the main OKC area. Those places tend to be the worst.

One other thing you need to consider.. within two hours of OKC are some great places to discover, like the Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge, a great place for hiking and fishing. There is great diversity to Oklahoma, contrary to popular belief who are not acquainted with this state, there is alot more than dusty, treeless plains. Just go up towards Tulsa and on east around Grand Lake and Lake Tenkiller, you have lots of trees, great fishing and overall, really beautiful scenery.

Hope this helps some.

Right on. I live south of Seattle right now and just visited Portland. It was a very neat city. However, if sunlight, or the lack of it, affects your mood then you might really like OKC. I am from Oklahoma and miss it terribly (especially the sun). There are some neat little areas in OKC, as mentioned in the previous posts, and some good museums. Biking or walking in towns and cities in OK requires you to get creative. Get a map and plan your routes through neighborhoods and through business parking lots. Trying to ride on the road just might get you killed, seriously. Biking and walking is a definite possibility, just plan ahead.

And, yes, OK is very biologically diverse. The Wichitas and Ouachitas are gorgeous! I absolutely love hiking and biking in the Wichitas. There is so much to do, but yes, you might have to hop in a car a little more than you might like. Anyway, I didn't notice when this was originally posted. So, not sure if you're already there. I hope you're find your way around and enjoying it if you are. Good luck

[smicka]

Hey David! I moved to OKC from Portland and all I can say is you will love the difference the sunshine (even on cold days) will make in your life! LOL... It's amazing. You mentioned walkability, it's a trade off. Walkability vs. sunshine and... republicans. It's a bit of a culture shock but you get used to it. Anyway, I've lived in NW and SE Portland and nothing in OKC will compare to the character that Portland offers. The area near OU Medical was actually listed as safe when I lived there but not much to do in that area. Oklahoma City has "pockets" and every location mentioned above especially Edgemere Park, Western & the NW 40's are good. I have a friend that lives on 43rd near Blackwelder and it is such a great street!! OKC does have it's charm, it just takes a little searching. Happy Hunting!

[StillwaterTownie]

Originally Posted by Lillywhite

I echo Irishlover.

OKC does not have 'cool' neighbourhoods either, not by the standards of the North-west anyway. If you go the Paseo District - the place that all the locals call "European" and "artsy" - it's like a tiny sanctum in the middle of a really terrible part of the city. It's isolated and not well-poulated - far from thriving.

And I don't think that the huge old graveyard near the Paseo District helps much with the atmosphere. The graveyard is kinda interesting to drive through for spotting names of people on the tomb stones who were once big in helping to make Oklahoma City history.

[ogb4]

Originally Posted by irishlover

The hipster neighborhoods are....

This quote is comical.

But first a little color before I tell you why. #1) I am an Oklahoma native, yet I have yet to spend one day of my career in the state. 2) I currently live in Portland. 3) I'm moving to Oklahoma City in a month for a job. 4) I googled "Coolest places to live in OKC" and this thread was the 3rd link.

While I suppose the definition of "hipster" is universal, I'd imagine the quantity of them inhabiting a particular area required to generate the generalization of "neighborhood" is relative. I'd wager that Pioneer Square on a rainy Tuesday afternoon has more hipsters in its one square block than Oklahoma City has within its city limits. Imagine living in a city full of nothing but Apple Store employees and you get the idea.

That being said, I can't wait to get back to my home state. Can't say I'm looking forward to the summertime and burning my ass on the car seat but I'm looking forward to OU games and chicken fried steak.

This thread is pretty helpful for any newcomers and I, like others that use this type of info, are thankful for the insight you all have provided.

[SouthXSW]

Originally Posted by irishlover

Areas around these hipster neighborhoods are in higher crime areas. My home would be considered to be in a "good" area...literally on the border of Crown heights..and we were burgled TWICE in less than 2 years while away on vacation. The problem is some streets are MUCH better and re gentrified than streets literally one block away where many homes might still be dilapidated and rented very cheaply. The area down around Classen and NW 23rd-30th in the Asian district is downright scary sometimes.

I lived in the area near 23rd & Classen for a short period while working in OKC. While the neighborhood east of Western north of 30th is pretty nice the neighborhood to the south (near the Paseo) is still pretty dicey but getting better. The neighborhoods north of 23rd and south of 50th between Classen and Western are sketchy as well, with certain streets that should be avoided at night. 30th between Classen and Western is one of those streets, from my experiences a couple years ago. Still a gentrifying area with pockets of good and bad.

I was back in that area just recently and went to a fantastic Guatemalan restaurant called Cafe Kakao at 30th & Classen. Lots of great Vietnamese restaurants in the area and lots of Vietnamese people live in those neighborhoods, especially the more nicer neighborhoods west of Classen and north of 30th. The neighborhood north of 23rd and south of 30th and west of Classen is where OCU is located and still has some rundown areas mixed in, but the university has been buying a lot of them and building new apartments for students.

[CoreyS]

Wow lots of cool info in this thread... wish it wouldve existed 3 months ago. I just got here from Hawaii and wouldve loved to find the "hipper" areas. instead i live right outside of moore and this area is nice and a great place to live but far from "cool". im moving into town next year as soon as my current lease is up.

one thing i'm sure you'll notice pretty quickly especially coming from portland, and not really surprising, but the general vibe i get from this area is very conservative. but i like how downtown is actually making efforts to improve and update and create a more youthful urban living environment.

[ou_norman]

Originally Posted by ogb4

This quote is comical.

While I suppose the definition of "hipster" is universal, I'd imagine the quantity of them inhabiting a particular area required to generate the generalization of "neighborhood" is relative. I'd wager that Pioneer Square on a rainy Tuesday afternoon has more hipsters in its one square block than Oklahoma City has within its city limits. Imagine living in a city full of nothing but Apple Store employees and you get the idea.

We are definitely no Portland or Austin, but I recently moved to one of the downtown residential neighborhoods and the community is very much young, creative, modern, urban, musical, "hipster." Cheap prices, huge "buy local" culture, and emerging creative industry have actually brought up OKC's "hipster factor" pretty dramatically over the last three years. Most of it is probably from kids deciding to stay here instead of moving to Austin, but I don't think it's unrealistic to expect getting an influx of true outsiders soon. Also helps that Wayne Coyne's 60,000 twitter followers constantly are reading tweets like "PSYCHADELIC SUNSET IN OKC" or about his various projects in the city.