[mrsadams03]

Hello,
I was wondering if anyone here could give me some insight small towns?
I am from Minnesota and I live in a small town of about 5000 and belong to a Missouri Synod Lutheran church where my children go to school and I am looking for a simular environment in OK. I would like to move closer to my grandmother without loosing the closness of a small town. We were looking in to Choctaw. Anythoughs. My husband does water and sewer work and will be looking for work in a bit if anyone can give any leads. I would be very greatful. Thanks Shelia

[Griffis]

Lutherans are not a big denomination in this state, but the larger towns do have Lutheran churches and congregations. Tulsa has a very lovely Lutheran church.

I'm from Minnesota and I'd go back in a heartbeat if I could. It snows less here, but we get brutal ice storms sometimes. And of course, some areas are tornado-prone.

I would avoid Choctaw! In fact, if you are looking for a nice place, I would recommend sticking to the Tulsa area of the state. It is more lush and hilly and there is more culture and things going on.

Some towns around Tulsa that are pretty, small and friendly:

Muskogee, Tahlequah, Owasso, Jenks, Berryhill. Bixby isn't bad either. I wouldn't look at Broken Arrow. It's like Tulsa's strip mall annex.

As I said, I can't wait to get out of Oklahoma. The politics are too conservative for me, high school football is the most important thing to most people here.

And as for avoiding the cold, wait until you've had 40-plus straight days of no rain, 98% humidity, and 100+ temps (with the heat index making it feel like well over 110 degrees.) The asphalt hits 150 degrees often and even late into the night you can see heat waves radiating up from the ground where it's been stored.

The summers here are miserable. Miserable.

[Mattie Jo]

I am planning on leaving Sunday for the Tahlequah area. I have heard about the heat, but it still seems like the best idea. Air conditioning will help.

[Pope]

Yes, air conditioning will help but it won't help when youre outside. It can get real bad here. Sometimes it's hard to breathe from being outside cause of the heat. But I half enjoy it cause I also hate the cold =D You might like it here, I live in Ponca btw. Small town, only bout 25,000 people.

[Jammie]

Hi Mrs. A. We're from So. Dak. and are also heading for OK in about three weeks. I've always wanted to see Tulsa and have often heard that it's beautiful there. I've seen pics of some of the gardens and architecture and if it only looks half that nice, I'll be happy.

We've had it with the cold, too. We won't be able to actually relocate for well over a year yet, but we're definitely looking. I'll take the heat any day before the cold temps we get up here. I'm sure you're well aware of what I mean.

What part of Minn. do you live in? If it's Northern Minn. I'd head out before winter sets in.

There's a town that we'd like to stop and see on our way back from Tulsa. The population is probably about 5,000 and it appears to be somewhat more of a retirement community, but it looks very nice. The name of it is Grove. It looks VERY interesting and peaceful there.

[Jammie]

I just wanted to add that I have a friend who's sister lives near Tahlequah and she commutes to work there. She raves about the town. I think the population there is something like 17,000. Correct me if I'm wrong cause I don't even live in OK YET.

[Nameless]

The farther south and east you are in the state, the warmer it will be. Tulsa is hot compared to Minnesota in the summer, but at the same time it may not be warm enough for you. Depends on how warm you want it. Don't rule out OKC area too, it does have trees and greens. Just not as much.

Where are you coming from in Minnesota? I have some family in Winona and anywhere in Oklahoma would seem flat compared to there.

[Griffis]

It is far easier (and cheaper) to get warm in the winter than to get cooled off in the summer. Hope you keep that in mind.

Grove is a very pretty little community. Not sure of the population. Parts of it are a little run down but it is one of the prettier places you'll find on Oklahoma.

Again, be aware that arts and culture aren't big draws in Oklahoma; football is..high school, college (OU/OSU, yawn)--it's so important I've actually seen them pre-empt television shows to give a freakin' high school football score. God it's ridiculous.

And again (again) having lived extensively in both, I would not hesitate to recommend Tulsa and the Tulsa area over OKC to anyone. That area is far prettier, more progressive, etc. Tulsa has its nasty, ugly areas too, but it does have some beautiful areas (Cherry Street is cool, parts of Riverside Drive, Woodward Park, Brookside at night).

I will say that OKC has its pretty parts too, but the nicer areas are mixed in with real slums and fugly buildings and desolate looking strip malls. The layout of that city makes no sense, it's difficult to navigate and all around it is pretty much flat, yellow land over red clay.

[Jammie]

HOt is good. Depending on where Mrs. A. lives, she could have fierce winters, even worse then we do in SE So. Dak. There are two towns in the northern part of Minn. that always compete for the coldest in the nation. Nearly every winter day one of the towns is the winner of the prestigious award on the weather channel. It appears that OK could have a bit of a chill during a couple winter months, but hopefully it doesn't get the cold, cold cold we get up here. It looks like nearly every day in OK gets above freezing even in January. Is that really true?

[Nameless]

In January I'd say that only 10 - 20% of the days stay below freezing in OKC or Tulsa.