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Old 08-18-2015, 12:56 PM
 
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I am considering a move to the Ardmore area. All I hear about is how high the crime rate is in Ardmore and that you don't want your kids in Ardmore public schools. Can someone please tell me more about this? Why is the crime rate in Ardmore more than double the national average? Please don't tell me that it's because of I 35 or the size of the town. I am coming from a city of about the same size and also on a major interstate highway. Are there surrounding areas that are better? What about the school systems? Any information will be appreciated, but please don't tell me it's bad without elaborating. Thanks.
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Old 08-18-2015, 06:01 PM
 
Location: USA
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I know of a young couple who live in Ardmore and like it a lot. There's a high crime rate in the town where I live, but I only know about it from reading the newspaper. I suspect it's the same in Ardmore.
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Old 08-18-2015, 07:27 PM
 
Location: OKIE-Ville
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I lived in the Ardmore area/Southern Oklahoma for many years. It's a great place to live.

I think the schools are just fine. Some of the Snoots who worry about that stuff send their kiddos to Plainview, but I think Ardmore is just fine personally.

You'll run into some of the Old Money types here and there from Ardmore.....folks tied in deep to the Noble Foundation and oil money. However, it's pretty rare I think. For the most part, just your average down-home Okie comprises Ardmore. My kinda folks.

Some good stuff goin' on in Ardmore is that there is a new Chick-Fil-A there and a Chicken Express with some of the best sweet tea you can drink outside of my wife's. We also enjoyed eating at the Cotton Patch and the best BBQ you can put in your mouth, Smokin' Joes, is right up the road in Davis. I'd move back to Ardmore in a heartbeat if my work allowed it.

Great area. Ya'll will do fine. I say go for it. And, if you ain't from Oklahoma then WELCOME!
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Old 08-19-2015, 06:36 PM
 
Location: Oklahoma
17,606 posts, read 13,425,275 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bethjana View Post
I am considering a move to the Ardmore area. All I hear about is how high the crime rate is in Ardmore and that you don't want your kids in Ardmore public schools. Can someone please tell me more about this? Why is the crime rate in Ardmore more than double the national average? Please don't tell me that it's because of I 35 or the size of the town. I am coming from a city of about the same size and also on a major interstate highway. Are there surrounding areas that are better? What about the school systems? Any information will be appreciated, but please don't tell me it's bad without elaborating. Thanks.

Ardmore is great. It's close to DFW, close to OKC Norman, close to some excellent lakes, has the Arbuckles 15 minutes away. Not far from beautiful eastern Oklahoma. Not far from the Wichita mountains. Has a really good golf course in town.

Schools? Plainview, as mentioned earlier is the school system of choice for the upper middle class and wealthy. It's in the southwest corner of town. Other schools that are small and close by are Lone Grove and Dickson that aren't too bad. Ardmore school isn't bad. Nobody wants to say it but it's big "issue" is it has a higher percentage of black students

Ardmore has some good restaurants and has a few great little hamburger stands. There is some culture there due to the legacy of all the oil money there. The hospital is probably as good as you'll find for a town that size.

You could do a lot worse.
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Old 08-21-2015, 04:42 AM
 
1,889 posts, read 2,010,186 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bethjana View Post
I am considering a move to the Ardmore area. All I hear about is how high the crime rate is in Ardmore and that you don't want your kids in Ardmore public schools. Can someone please tell me more about this? Why is the crime rate in Ardmore more than double the national average? Please don't tell me that it's because of I 35 or the size of the town. I am coming from a city of about the same size and also on a major interstate highway. Are there surrounding areas that are better? What about the school systems? Any information will be appreciated, but please don't tell me it's bad without elaborating. Thanks.
Was born and raised in the area and have returned after living away for a long time.

I can't really say why there is more violent crime in Ardmore than avg but I do know that its almost all related to drug activity and is confined to east and north areas close to downtown. So if you don't choose to live there and avoid dealings involving drugs then its a very safe place. I don't really see much crime or hear about it happening to people I know or associate with, being a smaller town thats a pretty big percent of the population.

To the north above 12th street, the NW, West and SW sides have some great neighborhoods to live in. There are several new construction areas around and outside the town. New construction homes in the area can be had for about 150K or so. Out in the country with a few acres for about 200-250k. Older brick homes in established neighborhoods can be 90k to 180k. If you rent, I can only recommend Highland Park apts and Rock Creek apts (i think this is the name). The rest are sketchy as far as I know. With some time you can get a decent older home for 700 to 900 rent. The best ones usually go word of mouth so you should just rent a place (regardless if your buying or renting) get to know the area and get to know some people and tell them your looking for a place when your lease gets 4 or 5 months from ending.

Lone Grove, Dickson and Plainview all have good schools. The more well to do people in Ardmore try to get their kids into the Plainview school system to avoid kids that grow up in the gang/drug atmosphere. I personally don't think the Ardmore school is bad/rough at all, I think its more of a skin color thing. Its new and looks really nice and I know people that graduated from there that liked it. I wouldn't have a problem with sending my kids there. I think Plainview schools used to be really great, but they have slipped a lot.

Lone Grove is just about a 10 min commute and has some great homes also. Dickson is more rural with everyone owning homes on an acre or more.

Davis, Sulphur and Tishomingo are all short 40 min commutes on congestion free highways if you don't find what you like in Ardmore. Typical small towns with a few fast food chains, a walmart and a car dealer or two.

Healdton, Wilson and Ringling are about 30 mins east and are very small towns with very small schools. Ringling is probably the best of them school wise. Zanies is an excellent K-8 school that anyone can attend. Its a weird semi private type that doesn't charge but they do decline some kids, after graduating the kids can choose to attend any of the 3 area highschools regardless of what district they live in. The towns are all mostly typical small farm towns with a couple gas stations, an overpriced grocery, a liquor store, no fast food chains (a sonic in healdton being the exception) and about 20 churches. As you can imagine everyone knows everyone and establishing yourself into the "good" community will take some time, the right political views and a little religion. Most people living there commute to Ardmore to work or they farm full time. Housing will be even cheaper there but there is a smaller pool to choose from. I did see a nice small 3 bedroom brick home for 75K there and a really nice larger 3 bed for 110K in one of them just a week or two ago. A lot of times people there only advertise homes for rent or sale locally.

Its got everything you need at decent prices, with DFW just a 1.5 hr drive south you have everything you could want to shop for. Texas doesn't charge sales tax on grocery so we tend to pick up a lot of that when we make trips down there. A car with some decent gas mileage will allow you to take full advantage of having such a large metroplex so close.

There are a few good DRs but you may have to try several times to get into their practice. For any specialized care I highly recommend going to DFW and selecting a great DR instead of the just ok ones in Ardmore.

OKC is just 1 hr north but besides bricktown night scene really has nothing to offer that DFW doesn't have in spades.

If you like sports then Dallas Cowboys, Mavericks, Stars, the OKC Thunder and Texas Rangers are all within easy driving distance. OU Sooners are the closest for D1 college sports. Plus living in OK you surely want to be an OU fan right?

Lots of small indian casinos abound. Winstar is a very large one about 25 mins south that has some decent food and big stars in concert. Plus most concerts/tours stop somewhere in DFW.

If your working in Oklahoma its best not to try to live in Texas and escape OK state income tax. You won't escape it, because OK will require you to file and pay. Then your paying not only OK state income tax but the much higher property tax in TX if you own anything there.

Everyone up here refers to DFW as Dallas or DFW. So if someone says thats in Dallas they mean its in the DFW metroplex. Someone from DFW though, if they say its in Dallas, they mean Dallas...not Arlington, Forth Worth, Garland, Allen etc.

Several good fishing lakes nearby. Lots of public hunting areas and its generally easy to find somewhere to hunt after you get to know a few people.

The only thing I have read so far that I disagree with is the restaurant situation in Ardmore. Its disgraceful that a town this size doesn't have a decent BBQ place or decent Steak place. In fact there are only a couple of decent restaurants that I go to. I can tell you that I would personally avoid Interurban and Santa Fe Cattle co at all costs. They are trying to bring back the downtown area and have opened up a few restaurants down there but they are all just so-so except Casa Romo which has been there for a long while now. Casa Romo is a pretty good mexican place. I do not go to El Tapatio after becoming away of some situations there I am not posting on a public forum. Everyone raves about Smoking Joes BBQ in Davis but I find it very dry and mediocre. Lots of people rave about the pizza joint down town, Ten Star Pizza, but its way overpriced and the food is just bland. There is a good pho place that opened but I have only eaten there once because pho isn't one of my fav thing to eat. I generally save my eating out budget for trips to OKC or DFW.

Last edited by justanokie; 08-21-2015 at 04:50 AM..
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Old 08-23-2015, 02:26 PM
 
Location: OKIE-Ville
5,542 posts, read 9,434,510 times
Reputation: 3296
Quote:
Originally Posted by justanokie View Post
Was born and raised in the area and have returned after living away for a long time.

I can't really say why there is more violent crime in Ardmore than avg but I do know that its almost all related to drug activity and is confined to east and north areas close to downtown. So if you don't choose to live there and avoid dealings involving drugs then its a very safe place. I don't really see much crime or hear about it happening to people I know or associate with, being a smaller town thats a pretty big percent of the population.

To the north above 12th street, the NW, West and SW sides have some great neighborhoods to live in. There are several new construction areas around and outside the town. New construction homes in the area can be had for about 150K or so. Out in the country with a few acres for about 200-250k. Older brick homes in established neighborhoods can be 90k to 180k. If you rent, I can only recommend Highland Park apts and Rock Creek apts (i think this is the name). The rest are sketchy as far as I know. With some time you can get a decent older home for 700 to 900 rent. The best ones usually go word of mouth so you should just rent a place (regardless if your buying or renting) get to know the area and get to know some people and tell them your looking for a place when your lease gets 4 or 5 months from ending.

Lone Grove, Dickson and Plainview all have good schools. The more well to do people in Ardmore try to get their kids into the Plainview school system to avoid kids that grow up in the gang/drug atmosphere. I personally don't think the Ardmore school is bad/rough at all, I think its more of a skin color thing. Its new and looks really nice and I know people that graduated from there that liked it. I wouldn't have a problem with sending my kids there. I think Plainview schools used to be really great, but they have slipped a lot.

Lone Grove is just about a 10 min commute and has some great homes also. Dickson is more rural with everyone owning homes on an acre or more.

Davis, Sulphur and Tishomingo are all short 40 min commutes on congestion free highways if you don't find what you like in Ardmore. Typical small towns with a few fast food chains, a walmart and a car dealer or two.

Healdton, Wilson and Ringling are about 30 mins east and are very small towns with very small schools. Ringling is probably the best of them school wise. Zanies is an excellent K-8 school that anyone can attend. Its a weird semi private type that doesn't charge but they do decline some kids, after graduating the kids can choose to attend any of the 3 area highschools regardless of what district they live in. The towns are all mostly typical small farm towns with a couple gas stations, an overpriced grocery, a liquor store, no fast food chains (a sonic in healdton being the exception) and about 20 churches. As you can imagine everyone knows everyone and establishing yourself into the "good" community will take some time, the right political views and a little religion. Most people living there commute to Ardmore to work or they farm full time. Housing will be even cheaper there but there is a smaller pool to choose from. I did see a nice small 3 bedroom brick home for 75K there and a really nice larger 3 bed for 110K in one of them just a week or two ago. A lot of times people there only advertise homes for rent or sale locally.

Its got everything you need at decent prices, with DFW just a 1.5 hr drive south you have everything you could want to shop for. Texas doesn't charge sales tax on grocery so we tend to pick up a lot of that when we make trips down there. A car with some decent gas mileage will allow you to take full advantage of having such a large metroplex so close.

There are a few good DRs but you may have to try several times to get into their practice. For any specialized care I highly recommend going to DFW and selecting a great DR instead of the just ok ones in Ardmore.

OKC is just 1 hr north but besides bricktown night scene really has nothing to offer that DFW doesn't have in spades.

If you like sports then Dallas Cowboys, Mavericks, Stars, the OKC Thunder and Texas Rangers are all within easy driving distance. OU Sooners are the closest for D1 college sports. Plus living in OK you surely want to be an OU fan right?

Lots of small indian casinos abound. Winstar is a very large one about 25 mins south that has some decent food and big stars in concert. Plus most concerts/tours stop somewhere in DFW.

If your working in Oklahoma its best not to try to live in Texas and escape OK state income tax. You won't escape it, because OK will require you to file and pay. Then your paying not only OK state income tax but the much higher property tax in TX if you own anything there.

Everyone up here refers to DFW as Dallas or DFW. So if someone says thats in Dallas they mean its in the DFW metroplex. Someone from DFW though, if they say its in Dallas, they mean Dallas...not Arlington, Forth Worth, Garland, Allen etc.

Several good fishing lakes nearby. Lots of public hunting areas and its generally easy to find somewhere to hunt after you get to know a few people.

The only thing I have read so far that I disagree with is the restaurant situation in Ardmore. Its disgraceful that a town this size doesn't have a decent BBQ place or decent Steak place. In fact there are only a couple of decent restaurants that I go to. I can tell you that I would personally avoid Interurban and Santa Fe Cattle co at all costs. They are trying to bring back the downtown area and have opened up a few restaurants down there but they are all just so-so except Casa Romo which has been there for a long while now. Casa Romo is a pretty good mexican place. I do not go to El Tapatio after becoming away of some situations there I am not posting on a public forum. Everyone raves about Smoking Joes BBQ in Davis but I find it very dry and mediocre. Lots of people rave about the pizza joint down town, Ten Star Pizza, but its way overpriced and the food is just bland. There is a good pho place that opened but I have only eaten there once because pho isn't one of my fav thing to eat. I generally save my eating out budget for trips to OKC or DFW.
Ya'll don't like Cattle Rustlers? You can get a good steak there.

There used to be Blue Pig BBQ in Ardmore and it was really really good. I don't know why it went out of business. KC's is pretty darn good too and has great catfish on Fridays from time to time.

There actually is a small corner Smokin' Joes in the older area of downtown. Tastes great but they give smaller portions than the mother ship in Davis.

I agree about Ten Star Pizza. It's not anything too special. It's average.

The place right next to it, below the wine shop, is really good though. Some great fried green tomatoes. I can't remember the name of it though.

And I'll have to respectfully disagree on Smokin' Joes: it's quite a bit better than anything you can get in Texas unless we're strictly talking about brisket.
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Old 08-24-2015, 06:21 AM
 
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Originally Posted by Bass&Catfish2008 View Post
Ya'll don't like Cattle Rustlers? You can get a good steak there.
No. I have went there 3 times. Once it was ok, the other 2 times it was terrible.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bass&Catfish2008 View Post
There used to be Blue Pig BBQ in Ardmore and it was really really good. I don't know why it went out of business. KC's is pretty darn good too and has great catfish on Fridays from time to time.
I don't dig KC's and I never went to Blue Pig BBQ because the owner is a registered [cut]. I heard he went under for a few different reasons dealing with taxes and the building he was in needed significant a/c upgrades the owner was unwilling to provide.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bass&Catfish2008 View Post
There actually is a small corner Smokin' Joes in the older area of downtown. Tastes great but they give smaller portions than the mother ship in Davis.
It closed. I have heard but cannot confirm it was shut down by the owner of Smokin Joes due to their inability to maintain standards agreed upon in a franchise agreement. They had to sell because of course they also signed a non compete clause that prevents them from opening a BBQ place. Again, I dunno if its true or not, I think the official reason they gave was the time they had to devote to running the place was too much.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bass&Catfish2008 View Post
I agree about Ten Star Pizza. It's not anything too special. It's average.
agreed

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bass&Catfish2008 View Post
The place right next to it, below the wine shop, is really good though. Some great fried green tomatoes. I can't remember the name of it though.
Not sure what place your talking about here. Around the main street wine depot there is Casa Romo, Cafe Alley, Red Dirt Brewhouse, Ten Star Pizza and Hamburger Inn. All are pretty good but Ten Star. I dunno about Red Dirt, as I have never eaten there. Hamburger Inn is an old school mainstay that has always produced great grilled patty melt style burgers. Cafe Alley can be really good and can be a real pain due to incredibly poor service and tendency to run out of items on the menu.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bass&Catfish2008 View Post
And I'll have to respectfully disagree on Smokin' Joes: it's quite a bit better than anything you can get in Texas unless we're strictly talking about brisket.
What else would you judge a BBQ place around OK/TX on besides brisket? Smokin Joes is dry and well overcooked. That or they are using poor quality meat. Probably both. Their chicken is dry. I would buy some chopped thats doused in BBQ sauce and make a sandwich any day of the week but I cannot recommend their sliced. Proper brisket should be moist enough to need no sauce.

Edit:
I had to cut out the part about the Blue Pig BBQ owner. Not posting that info on public forum under my screen name even though I know it to be 100% true. Its a major reason he was never gonna get real support in this town.
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Old 08-24-2015, 11:08 PM
 
Location: OKIE-Ville
5,542 posts, read 9,434,510 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by justanokie View Post
No. I have went there 3 times. Once it was ok, the other 2 times it was terrible.



I don't dig KC's and I never went to Blue Pig BBQ because the owner is a registered [cut]. I heard he went under for a few different reasons dealing with taxes and the building he was in needed significant a/c upgrades the owner was unwilling to provide.



It closed. I have heard but cannot confirm it was shut down by the owner of Smokin Joes due to their inability to maintain standards agreed upon in a franchise agreement. They had to sell because of course they also signed a non compete clause that prevents them from opening a BBQ place. Again, I dunno if its true or not, I think the official reason they gave was the time they had to devote to running the place was too much.



agreed



Not sure what place your talking about here. Around the main street wine depot there is Casa Romo, Cafe Alley, Red Dirt Brewhouse, Ten Star Pizza and Hamburger Inn. All are pretty good but Ten Star. I dunno about Red Dirt, as I have never eaten there. Hamburger Inn is an old school mainstay that has always produced great grilled patty melt style burgers. Cafe Alley can be really good and can be a real pain due to incredibly poor service and tendency to run out of items on the menu.



What else would you judge a BBQ place around OK/TX on besides brisket? Smokin Joes is dry and well overcooked. That or they are using poor quality meat. Probably both. Their chicken is dry. I would buy some chopped thats doused in BBQ sauce and make a sandwich any day of the week but I cannot recommend their sliced. Proper brisket should be moist enough to need no sauce.

Edit:
I had to cut out the part about the Blue Pig BBQ owner. Not posting that info on public forum under my screen name even though I know it to be 100% true. Its a major reason he was never gonna get real support in this town.
Answer: Pork my Okie Brother, pork. Long spare ribs (which Smokin' Joe's has in abundance) are where it's at. Just my preference.

Brisket, in my opinion, is something that the wife and most home-based cooks can do pretty well. Real pork ribs, on the other hand? Not often. Gotta go to the professionals for that.
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