[Annemieke Roell]

Originally Posted by okie1962

Only problem Jenks has is it nasty little tendencies to attract tornados. They have had several in the last few years. One was so bad it moved the whole city 7' north and caused a tsunami that engulfed the lower parts of the city. Somehow they managed to rebuild but if it happen once it could happen again.

You mean the higher being couldn't protect its lily white fans? What is this world coming to .....

[Ecovlke]

LOL. 1/2 Mvskoke here. The rest is French/Irish from the Alabama side. My grandfather once said, "if you boys don't stop marrying those White girls there will be no full-bloods left."

Oklahoma:

Bad:
Schools. We have a high dropout rate, high rate of teen pregnancy, and not great scores on standardized tests. There are some good schools though, Jenks, Union, Booker T. Washington (one of the best).

Low pay for teachers and poor benefits. That's what I hear but don't follow. You'll have to vet that one. My girl is 26, so I don't follow the goings-on in the state educational system.

**** poor highways. We are ranked 4th in the nation for the number of toll roads. You won't be able to drive much of anywhere in the state without paying a toll. Plus, don't be expectin' to see those nice rest stops like they have in Washington, and Oregon. Okies will give you a picnic table in the sun and no restroom on highways with no toll. You get a McDonalds on the toll roads.

Good ole' boy politics. I'm sure someone somewhere is making millions from those tollroads. It's certainly not the regular citizens.

Climate: I loath Oklahoma summers. On a July night what you'll get is 95 at midnight with high humidity. It sounds like you may like that, so go for it. It's sticky, hot and stinks.

The Good:

People are generally friendly. They are to me anyway, but I'm not Black or Mexican. And I live in Tulsa and find people in the Northeastern part of the state are more progressive than Western OK. I have a friend who is the director of one of the big tribes' environmental departments. A degree in engineering, and smart as a whip. She's not a 1/2 blood like me. She's full blood. a couple of years ago she stopped in a small western Ok town to gas up the GSA vehicle and was refused service. I believe her because I know her and know she's no whiner victim. Anyway, that attitude persists here in ultra conservative states, but I haven't personally encountered it in a long time. I still hear a lot of "N" this and "N" that, and of course lots and lots of Mexican bashing.

Other than that, most people here are quite friendly and are ready and willing to help someone. People will actually stop and check on you to see if you're okay. If I'm parked on a country road as I do when I get ready to pull a streamwater sample, if one of the locals sees me and doesn't know me they will ALWAYS stop to make sure I'm okay, not broken down, and not in need of assistance.

Oklahoma has many different ecoregion types. Take your choice of the Crosstimbers forests near the Tulsa area, the Ozark mountains, tall grass plains in Osage Country (we have the only or the biggest tallgrass praire preserve in the U.S.....people have come from Brazil to study the conservation management of that reserve), the plains of Western Oklahoma (love that red dirt!). We have ecoregion diversity!! But....we're definitely not Western Washington.

In Oklahoma, there are plenty of things to complain about, but if you look, there are plenty of things to enjoy.

[Annemieke Roell]

Originally Posted by _redbird_

Good post, Bass.

Seriously, the only negative I have about schools is we hear how underpaid our teachers are and how many teachers go to TX.

Go TEXAS football!

True. But then again, good parents produce well educated kids, regardless how bad the schools may be.

[Annemieke Roell]

Originally Posted by _redbird_

I hear Flower Mound, TX is nice this time of year. And Taco Bell passes for mexican food there.

That over by Waco?

[Annemieke Roell]

Originally Posted by Ecovlke

L
Oklahoma:

Bad:
Schools. We have a high dropout rate, high rate of teen pregnancy, and not great scores on standardized tests.

Sorry, but that should be blamed on the parents, not the schools. The schools have NO authority left so the students walk all over the teachers.

Parents should reverse this nonsense of teachers not being able to discipline the students.

My kids are grown up but if they were still in the school system anywhere in this country I'd be homeschooling them

[silas777]

Originally Posted by Ecovlke

Oklahoma:

Bad:
Schools. We have a high dropout rate, high rate of teen pregnancy, and not great scores on standardized tests. There are some good schools though, Jenks, Union, Booker T. Washington (one of the best).

Low pay for teachers and poor benefits. That's what I hear but don't follow. You'll have to vet that one. My girl is 26, so I don't follow the goings-on in the state educational system.

**** poor highways. We are ranked 4th in the nation for the number of toll roads. You won't be able to drive much of anywhere in the state without paying a toll. Plus, don't be expectin' to see those nice rest stops like they have in Washington, and Oregon. Okies will give you a picnic table in the sun and no restroom on highways with no toll. You get a McDonalds on the toll roads.

Good ole' boy politics. I'm sure someone somewhere is making millions from those tollroads. It's certainly not the regular citizens.

Climate: I loath Oklahoma summers. On a July night what you'll get is 95 at midnight with high humidity. It sounds like you may like that, so go for it. It's sticky, hot and stinks.

The Good:

People are generally friendly. They are to me anyway, but I'm not Black or Mexican. And I live in Tulsa and find people in the Northeastern part of the state are more progressive than Western OK. I have a friend who is the director of one of the big tribes' environmental departments. A degree in engineering, and smart as a whip. She's not a 1/2 blood like me. She's full blood. a couple of years ago she stopped in a small western Ok town to gas up the GSA vehicle and was refused service. I believe her because I know her and know she's no whiner victim. Anyway, that attitude persists here in ultra conservative states, but I haven't personally encountered it in a long time. I still hear a lot of "N" this and "N" that, and of course lots and lots of Mexican bashing.

Other than that, most people here are quite friendly and are ready and willing to help someone. People will actually stop and check on you to see if you're okay. If I'm parked on a country road as I do when I get ready to pull a streamwater sample, if one of the locals sees me and doesn't know me they will ALWAYS stop to make sure I'm okay, not broken down, and not in need of assistance.

Oklahoma has many different ecoregion types. Take your choice of the Crosstimbers forests near the Tulsa area, the Ozark mountains, tall grass plains in Osage Country (we have the only or the biggest tallgrass praire preserve in the U.S.....people have come from Brazil to study the conservation management of that reserve), the plains of Western Oklahoma (love that red dirt!). We have ecoregion diversity!! But....we're definitely not Western Washington.

In Oklahoma, there are plenty of things to complain about, but if you look, there are plenty of things to enjoy.

Good info thank you.

[Ecovlke]

Originally Posted by Annemieke Roell

Sorry, but that should be blamed on the parents, not the schools. The schools have NO authority left so the students walk all over the teachers.

Parents should reverse this nonsense of teachers not being able to discipline the students.

My kids are grown up but if they were still in the school system anywhere in this country I'd be homeschooling them

I agree. The teachers should be able to discipline those who refuse to follow classroom rules. I always told my daughter, "life's a pain, get use to it." I don't believe in coddling kids. Teach them to do for themselves, cook, clean, study and work. Both girls and boys. At least that way they will never need someone else to support them. Stand on your own.

[ERISAjunkie]

Originally Posted by _redbird_

If that is an idiotic rant, you asked for the good, the bad, and the ugly, there it is, and yet you refuse to accept our telling you like it is.

Very true. There is a real tendency in romanticing a potential place to live. Some bad reasone for moving to OK-

1- It's going to be cheap, cheap, cheap!

2- It's going to be just like Mayberry. Hiya Andy! Let's go to the fishin' hole!

3- It's full of people just like me!

4- Finding a job is just like picking apples off the tree in paradise.

5- I'm so smart and they're so dumb.

Not saying that Silas or anyone else here thinks this way. I live in NJ and have been planning the move (hopefully by November) for the past two years. These are some of the reasons my family and friends have been giving to explain my motives. They just don't understand.

[_redbird_]

Also it's impossible for anyone to say whether or not someone else will like it here or any other state.

If Silas wants to have an intelligent discussion and get along with respect, we can certainly do that. Personally, I would rather get along with people than constantly bicker, but others are motivated by debate. I also think it is fine to agree to disagree without calling someone's POV an ignorant rant. Some people are emboldened by the anonymity of an internet forum.

A lot of very good people come and go, for various reasons, and each has their own reasons for not staying.

We loved computerguy, and colleeng (from NJ) is and always will be a friend of ours. CG left and colleeng is still here. I think some people can adapt and others simply find better opportunities elsewhere.

I lived in panhandle TX for awhile, but the wages I earned made it impossible to stay. I loved the low humidity and the people, and it was right in between OK and NM. I had a good job too, just couldn't make the earnings I needed.

[silas777]

Originally Posted by ERISAjunkie

Very true. There is a real tendency in romanticing a potential place to live. Some bad reasone for moving to OK-

1- It's going to be cheap, cheap, cheap!

2- It's going to be just like Mayberry. Hiya Andy! Let's go to the fishin' hole!

3- It's full of people just like me!

4- Finding a job is just like picking apples off the tree in paradise.

5- I'm so smart and they're so dumb.

Not saying that Silas or anyone else here thinks this way. I live in NJ and have been planning the move (hopefully by November) for the past two years. These are some of the reasons my family and friends have been giving to explain my motives. They just don't understand.

Well said, there is definitely a tendencies to romanticize about a place we have never been or just been too briefly at one time of year. That is why I asked to get the real story from those who live there full time. I am also interested in the weather and climate of the different parts of the state, I would guess that is dryer in the western part, true?