[Johnhw2]

Durant = SE Ok
Durant is growing and doing Ok

OK?

[thepastorsson]

Originally Posted by #1soonerfan

The "Dixiest" part of Little Dixie. McCurtain, Pushamataha (sp?), Choctaw Counties all have some really beautiful natural areas contrasting with some jarring poverty. I've been to Antlers, Hugo, Idabel, and Broken Bow and they are probably some of the poorest places I've been outside of Miss. Delta. Its really depressing how a lot of the locals seem to reject education and economic development as some sort of horrible plot from the elite to change their lives.

If I were a non-local I would be very weary about going down there willy-nilly. Yes there are some great friendly folks, but in general the local populace is not too fond of outsiders. Take it from personal experience. Its often been said that Little Dixie is its own mini-state and they operate by a different set of rules.

I think there is truth to this. I grew up mostly in California but my mom is from the Antlers area and we vacationed there every year visiting family.

Believe me, it is called Little Dixie for a reason. The culture, ideals, accent, and over all vibe is decidedly southern. And unfortunately, Antlers and the surrounding area does have a lot of poverty, some of it very striking to witness.

Regarding Antlers again, I do have to say this little town has held on fairly well, all things considered. And there are some beautiful homes and even neighborhoods there, such as the neighborhood on the right on the way out of town if you take the main road north at the fork. My aunt and uncle have lived there for years and it's quite nice.

[BA_OKIE]

Originally Posted by linicx

Oklahoma is the Native State. It has the second largest Native American population in America. It is also a natural state with grand lakes, beautiful streams, rolling hills, and abundant wildlife as well as red earth and miles of dust - depending where you live.

Oklahoma is a poor state as much as Alabama and Georgia are poor states. It has highs and lows, good and bad, but by-and-large there are far more worse places to live in the United States. Oklahoma is the only place I would live twice. Despite the negatives it has some wonderful positives if you know where to look.

You didn't even come close to making a statement that could hold any ground. Your statement was solely based upon the state of Oklahoma's median income compared to the median income of other states. Let's just take into consideration the cost of living. It just so happens that Oklahoma's cost of living is lower than any other state in the entire US except for Tenn. which are considered equivalent. This is very much like saying Gross - taxes = Net or Income - Cost of living = Net savings. Now don't run off and say that this is all there is to determining how rich a state is but it should be sufficient to point out how meaningless your statement was. Then there are things such as certain states having or not having income tax (Texas) that may have or should have swayed the median income. Keep in mind that statistics can be used to prove any side of any issue right or wrong.

[BA_OKIE]

[quote=This is my town!;22693981]I think it's terrible the way you categorize people in or from small towns as being un-educated, insestious and missing teeth. How degrading. Who placed you on the judgemental pedistal? I've been in the US Navy 22 years and am from Fairfax Oklahoma. Yes... A small town in the middle of no where. I also own a home in Virginia Beach and purchased a Farm outside of Fairfax. I like many have been a positive contributor to every city or town that I have had the opportunity to live in. I have a BS with Major in Biology as does my wife. Missing teeth, making moonshine, pickin' a banjo, incest, etc?? How dare you make judgement like that. Take a look around, you may be amazed at what you see once you open your eyes![/I'm glad to hear you stick up for the town you live in when I moved to Broken Arrow 30years ago it was a lot smaller than it is now but you can still find that small town spirit. The only difference is now you have to go looking for it. I met a nice man from your town & over the years my wife and wife have considered him as our handyman. We give his name out to others we know because he & his boys do such a great job. I envy him sometimes knowing he is going home back to a town where everyone knows everyone and it's no surprise when your neighbor helps you out. We try to help our neighbors & they look at you like you're trying to pull the wool over their eyes. Well God bless you all. ]

[bchris02]

Elohim City. It's just west of Fort Smith and not an incorporated city, but strange things happen in that place.

[Chicaner]

I am going to have to say the worst place is North Tulsa. I grew up on Grand Lake, I loved every minute of my childhood and early adulthood. I thought that I was going to move away to a better area when I was 18 and knew everything. I have lived in Tulsa way too long. However, I don't seem to remember the summers being as hot on Grand Lake as they are in B.A. What I hated about living near the lake though, were the weekenders. Those people from Tulsa that came down on Friday and left on Sunday and cared naught for anything other than themselves. I can't tell you how many times I was almost killed by an errant speeder that wasn't watching where they were going, and driving like a bat out of h*ll down the dirt roads and/or weaving on the main roads (highways) from all the liquor they had consumed. Bernice is a different place, some of the houses are older and run down, but not all of them. It wouldn't be such a speed trap if you weren't SPEEDING when you blew through there. LOL Some of the best catfish I caught were on Grand Lake, huge ones too.

[linicx]

Excuse me! You have no idea what you are talking about. I based my statement on living in OKlahoma for nearly 25 years and traveling its roads. COL is subjective as I owned houses in MO and OK. My cost of car and home insurance was the same;. In OK I had a larger piece of land. License plates were cheaper in MO, as was the Personal Property Tax. There was no big difference in OTC drugs like aspirin. Visits to the doctor were higher in OK - except at clinics. Cost of groceries were not any different except when I shopped at Aldi or Food4Less in Joplin or the co-ops. Gasoline is higher in OK than MO; it always has been. Utilities are about the same - except the Electric co-op in NE OK is cheaper. Cost of Sudden Link Cable or AT&T wasn't any different except the taxes. Cell phones are not different; again it is in taxes.

Missouri has zero toll roads! But it does have Trader Joe's, the St. Louis Cardinals, the KC Chief's, St. Louis and KC., the Budweiser horses at Grant's Farm, the St. Louis Zoo, and one of the only two Top 25 Hospitals in the Midwest. St. Louis is the gateway city to the Southwest with I-70 and I-44. If you're traveling east it is the gateway to I-55 and Chicago or Memphis.

I didn't live in MO for the tourist traps. The best Cardiologist in the four state corner was in Joplin. In my book 15 miles is closer than 50. I moved to MO and he moved his office to the lake. I was now then driving the reverse 50 miles to OK and did so until we moved.

I stayed in Oklahoma for a reason. The medical care is superior to MO. The K-12 public schools are better than MO. OK has large bodies of water and it is a very beautiful state. It is an educational state where most people are friendly and the food is pretty good. You don't have to take kids far to learn new things if you homeschool. The Eastern half of Ok is very different from the Western half from the leafy trees and rolling hills to the red earth and flat land. You see it start to change about midway between Tulsa and OKC. I also traveled North to South on US 59 S. It is a beautiful drive in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains. It is also a beautiful drive along the Illinois River down to Tahlequah

I don't care what the median household income is. Do you want to know what poverty looks like in NE OK? Visit the reservations and Indian homes - the ones with no running water, or the slab house/linoleum floor and the 50 gal oil drum in the living room that serves as a heating source in the winter. You fry in the LR and freeze in the bedrooms. Thank the BIA in DC. Yes, OK is a poor state, but it is rich in history, culture, kindness to others, and it's filled with laughter.and happiness despite circumstances.

There is nothing that compares to boots on the ground, eyes that see, and an open mind.

Originally Posted by BA_OKIE

You didn't even come close to making a statement that could hold any ground. Your statement was solely based upon the state of Oklahoma's median income compared to the median income of other states. Let's just take into consideration the cost of living. It just so happens that Oklahoma's cost of living is lower than any other state in the entire US except for Tenn. which are considered equivalent. This is very much like saying Gross - taxes = Net or Income - Cost of living = Net savings. Now don't run off and say that this is all there is to determining how rich a state is but it should be sufficient to point out how meaningless your statement was. Then there are things such as certain states having or not having income tax (Texas) that may have or should have swayed the median income. Keep in mind that statistics can be used to prove any side of any issue right or wrong.

[linicx]

That's good news. Durant is a nice little town. The only time I was there I found an excellent buffet and a fabric store. Mother was a tailor; I was in that store a good five hours before we went to eat. It was about 2am when I finally rolled into Dallas.

Originally Posted by Johnhw2

Durant = SE Ok
Durant is growing and doing Ok

OK?

[Johnhw2]

Originally Posted by linicx

That's good news. Durant is a nice little town. The only time I was there I found an excellent buffet and a fabric store. Mother was a tailor; I was in that store a good five hours before we went to eat. It was about 2am when I finally rolled into Dallas.

Durant is doing good, the casino has helped not hurt the town imho. More restaurants due to the weekend casino crowd demand. Jobs are pretty good there and cost of living is good compared to Tx except for the state income tax....but with the lower property tax it may all wash.

There are few good places to eat now and also a good store for quilters like my mom is at 89 years old. She lives in the country about 5 miles from downtown on 5 acres and has a horse pen. She occassionally gets realtors dropping buy asking if she wants to sell....she doesnt, she does fine living on her own at this age.

Durant has some higher end home neighborhoods thanks to cardinal glass and he medical community living there. With its hills and greenery most of the year as well as lake texoma nearby is a nice town which is growing and improving unlike so many small towns. The university (their choice to call it that not mine) adds some cultural things like plays and concerts.

Dont get me wrong it is a small town so not for city lovers but a nice small town from my experience.

[linicx]

This is very good news. We liked Durant when we visited. I lived all over the Midwest in cities large and small. I am very much country, yet I do appreciate the amenities in cities such as Tulsa and Chicago, but I also appreciate the large parks in Peoria, and the Grand Lake and foothills in Grove just as much. I like Oklahoma.

OK has always had a strange way of defining post graduate schools. In one town I am familiar with a Junior College (a two certificate of completion school), is called Higher Learning Education Center. The Mayor said OKC Legislators didn't want any more schools called "college" in the area. ???

College is traditionally a four year Liberal Arts school that offers a BA, whereas the University offers a Masters and beyond. It is hard to say how the legislators defines any school outside of OKC or Tulsa.