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Thanks everyone, your insight is so helpful. Besides cost of living one of the biggest reasons we are moving is for our twins so they can live in a family-friendly healthy environment with better schools. OK looks to offer that.
Thanks too Stillwater, I guess I should reconsider OKC. I liked it from the videos I saw. Is it true that Tulsa is less friendly? I read info to that extent on here in an older post. There were comments that it was more divided by income and clicky so not so welcoming to newcomers. That has me a little concerned because it reminds me of Portland, OR.
To answer #4 for you, suburbs that have a traditional downtown in the OKC metro are Norman, El Reno, Yukon, Bethany, Edmond, Noble, Purcell, and Guthrie. In the Tulsa metro there's Sapulpa, Sand Springs, Bixby, Jenks, Broken Arrow, Coweta, Claremore, Skiatook, and Collinsville. There may be a few that I've missed.
Thanks everyone, your insight is so helpful. Besides cost of living one of the biggest reasons we are moving is for our twins so they can live in a family-friendly healthy environment with better schools. OK looks to offer that.
Thanks too Stillwater, I guess I should reconsider OKC. I liked it from the videos I saw. Is it true that Tulsa is less friendly? I read info to that extent on here in an older post. There were comments that it was more divided by income and clicky so not so welcoming to newcomers. That has me a little concerned because it reminds me of Portland, OR.
Sunny,
I think that's probably true of everywhere to some extent.
Many people in Tulsa (and T-Town suburbs), like OK City, are from smaller towns who moved closer to the city for work. Most small-town folk are considered clickish because they're used to smaller crowds and maybe not having to work as hard at making friends and building relationships. I grew up in a smaller town and I've lived in a few smaller Oklahoma towns as well, so I know what that's like.
I've lived in several different places outside of Oklahoma so I'm used to having to build new relationships with other people from different U.S. regions/cultures. It takes work. I lived on the West Coast (full disclosure: never been to Portland though) and I learned pretty quickly that the culture on the West Coast is quite a bit different than what I was reared in here in the South-Central of Oklahoma. It's different. People do relate differently to some extent. Oklahomans tend to be very outgoing/friendly/helpful on a superficial level. For example, it's not uncommon at all for Okies to strike up a conversation with people they've never met. However, I have heard (mostly here on City-Data) that transplants have a difficult time forming real solid relationships with people who are born/raised Okies.
I think the people here in Oklahoma are very nice compared to some of the other places I've lived. However, I'm biased AND I have family throughout Oklahoma, the Tulsa area being one of those places. Hence, I don't think Tulsa is clickish at all, but again, I'm biased.
My suggestion would be this (which I'm sure you already assume): It will take some work to form relationships. I don't know if church is an option for you and your family, but I'm positive it comes as no secret to you that many, if not most, social relationships begin at church in Oklahoma. It's just one of the main norms of the culture here. That being said, don't be offended if you get invited to church or a church outing/event of some sort; it's just folks trying to be friendly, not invasive.
KayneMo, thank you! I google walked Edmond last night and thought it looked like a nice smaller city/large town, and I will check out the others you listed.
Bass, thank you! I would welcome friendly, it always beats unfriendly and getting invited to a church outing would be fine with me. I understand the smaller town people moving closer to the city for work, I've seen that many places too, and I have moved to some smaller cities and got on quite well, but indeed it takes work. Always easier to do though where people are friendly. OR is a funny place, the south is extremely friendly and the north, Portland Metro, IMO completely opposite. Ironically I have cousins in Broken Arrow I've never met but made contact with a few years back when I discovered one of them had posted a family tree on Rootsweb.com. Having family even if it's distant may be a way in. Thanks again.
Tornado chance is just that....a chance. The chances are going to be just about equal wherever you move to in Oklahoma. Just because Moore has had a bad run of it lately doesn't mean its going to get a break for a long time or a break at all.
Its like a coin toss. Doesn't matter if you get heads 100 times in a row. The 101st toss heads still has a 50% chance.
So I would ignore any preference based on tornado history. Just get a shelter. If the home doesn't have one yo can get one for less than 3K and big nice one for 10K. The preference is in this order.
1. In ground, away from house.
2. Above ground, away from house.
3. Above ground, in house. (usually in garage or a safe room in the bedroom)
4. In ground, in house. (usually in garage)
You want it to be separate from the house so you do not become trapped by the house falling on it.
In ground shelters are protected from the wind and from stuff that flying through the air hitting it.
But in ground shelters in homes are typically built flush to the floor, so flooding can fill it. If the house collapses on you and your shelter floods, well this isn't a movie and your not Indiana Jones.
Not every home has a shelter. Lots of people use their neighbors or a community shelter.
Last edited by justanokie; 02-19-2016 at 05:29 PM..
Thanks justanokie. I know I would feel safer with one. I read somewhere there's a 1/10,000 chance of your home getting hit and that's enough chance for me. I seem to always have those weird odds against happening things happen. I figured there were community shelters but I wondered about how much time you have to get to one, especially dragging young kids along. Good to know you can retrofit one for not too much money since this opens up property options tremendously. Cheers.<br>
1. Can anyone give me an idea of house insurance costs for an average 1500 sq ft house? I was wondering if the tornadoes bump the price of house insurance up a lot.
2. What are utilities like in these two areas? I'm pretty frugal with heat/ac and I'm referencing a newer, one level home with vinyl windows and insulation if that helps.
3. Can you tell me what DMV costs are like and do you have to have a safety or smog inspection annually? These are very affordable here in OR, a sharp contrast to CA for instance. My car is a 2006.
4. Between the two metro areas does one have suburbs that feel more like small cities? I like cities with populations of 100K or less and both Tulsa and OKC are much bigger that that so I was wondering if there are actually just smaller cities with a central core on the outskirts of either metro or if they are all sprawling burbs with shopping centers.
5. I understand that OKC gets more severe tornadoes than Tulsa, does anyone know if specific areas around OKC are more affected than others, N vs S etc?
6. Last...in the ads for homes only some list storm shelters. I guess I would have thought every home would automatically have one, is this not the case?
1. I live in Moore and own a ~2000 square foot home in a newer nice subdivision right next to 2 schools and shopping. My annual insurance costs are $2300. You can get a very good home in OK for right around $90-100/sq. foot. Some of it will even be brand new construction and post 2009 efficiency standards. I understand this is pretty much impossible in OR.
2. Usage will vary by the size of your family and your heat/AC usage. I am solo and my water/trash/sewer runs $50/mo, in the spring time electric averages around $75, and gas around $25. In the summer my electric may go up to $150 and gas will remain at $25 (hot water heater). In the winter, electric will be around $75 and gas $120.
3. No smog or safety inspections here (Thank God), no front license plates, and yeah the most they'll do is check your odometer reading if you purchase and title a used car. Yearly tag registration is around $60-$90 (depends on how long you've had the vehicle registered), full coverage auto with an excellent driving history will run anywhere from $800-$1200/year for an average family vehicle (seats at least 4, not sports, economy engine, mid $30k purchase price).
4. OKC and Tulsa, as a whole are both rather large geographically, but getting around in both is easy because of how the roads are arranged. Assuming it isn't rush hour, I can go from the southern edge of the OKC metro to the northern edge in probably 35-40 minutes? Both do consist of smaller suburban bedroom communities on the edges (since that is how that "oh dreaded" sprawl thing happens). For each little community that comprises the larger metro, you're going to have the standard amenities like a grocery store, hardware store, few restaurants, post office, etc.. so that you don't have to trek across the city for common items.
5. There has been a lot of Moore bashing in this thread, but I'm surprised that some of it is coming from people who live in OK. Even if Moore has been hit hard twice, it's statistically insignificant. For every year that Moore hasn't been hit by a tornado, I can think of other areas that have been hit hard but in a different way. I think it was maybe '09 or '10 when Edmond and North OKC got softball sized hail that punched holes in peoples roofs. Last year during the intense rain, West Norman got flooding and severe hail (this is worth pointing out because everyone at one point thought West Norman was invincible to bad weather). Bridge Creek, which is a growing affluent town to the SW of Moore got hit last year or the year before. What matters most is that Oklahomans are some of the most helpful and charitable people as a result of having gone through so many disasters. Just have a good insurance policy and if the bad happens then you'll be taken care of.
6. I was born and raised in OK and I would say that only within the last decade is when mother nature has gotten rather pissed off. Even though we are in tornado alley, it just wasn't that common to have storms back then, so the storm shelter practices are just keeping in tune with time. You can always get a decent storm shelter installed in any home for a few thousand dollars so I wouldn't consider it a point worth even thinking about. I know a lot of people who live in Moore who, while being aware of the threat of tornadoes, would rather put that money towards a pergola or billiards table than put in a shelter. Not saying they are stupid, but saying that a lot of people know that the actual threat just isn't consistent enough to worry.
Thank you fiberpills! I appreciate your help. You are right, crappy houses in Eugene, OR that need some renovating sell for $175-$200 sq ft and that's Eugene, a large college town with no great industry. If you want into a much better neighborhood with better schools you'll pay even more. Presently there exists a fanatical entry into this state and I'm not sure why (It's not for jobs.), but that combined with low inventory has put the housing market into a climbing frenzy. I am impressed with house prices in OK relative to good schools and feel it would be a healthier place culturally to raise our kids. I read about the horrific tornado in '13 and then another in '15 that hit Moore and you folks living there must really be ready for a break. Thanks again.
Thank you fiberpills! I appreciate your help. You are right, crappy houses in Eugene, OR that need some renovating sell for $175-$200 sq ft and that's Eugene, a large college town with no great industry. If you want into a much better neighborhood with better schools you'll pay even more. Presently there exists a fanatical entry into this state and I'm not sure why (It's not for jobs.), but that combined with low inventory has put the housing market into a climbing frenzy. I am impressed with house prices in OK relative to good schools and feel it would be a healthier place culturally to raise our kids. I read about the horrific tornado in '13 and then another in '15 that hit Moore and you folks living there must really be ready for a break. Thanks again.
Hope to see you make the move here.
Some would call me crazy, but I'd rather live in Moore with the yearly threat of deadly tornadoes if it means I can put more of my income into my "fun fund" and have great neighbors and low population density. I guess that means I'm not a city person.
Some would call me crazy, but I'd rather live in Moore with the yearly threat of deadly tornadoes if it means I can put more of my income into my "fun fund" and have great neighbors and low population density. I guess that means I'm not a city person.
I hear ya. My friends in Cali are worried they'll never see the kids again but they rarely see them now. I figure with a lower cost of living I'll see them more often being further away. It's nice to be welcomed too, thank you, appreciate that.
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