[405travelgirl]

I'd suggest Stillwater too, just make sure it's not too small for you.

It's nice because it's surrounded by rolling hills, lakes & tons of dirt roads to explore. It also has 4 grocery stores (don't get too excited, two of them are Wal-Marts), many of the normal chain restaurants, a handful of good local ones, decent shopping: Ross, Old Navy, Best Buy - under construction now) Hobby Lobby, etc and a cute downtown area that has live music during the summer & recently they've added an ice skating rink in the winter.

The college brings in activities that many of the locals participate in, but it also brings 25,000 hormonal 18-20somethings every fall, man that makes me sound like an old hag, but they can wear on a person just being honest. You go from a nice quite summer, restaurants & stores aren't packed then wham, they all come back, traffic is crazy, there's a 2 hour wait at freakin IHOP and Wal-Mart runs out of bananas!

Back to the good part: the crime is crazy low here; there are many churches for you to choose from; the people are overall nice & respectful; there are many different neighborhoods - new & old and prices are very reasonable; my family & friends say the schools are great; there are enough people coming through here for the college that pretty much no one will care where you're from or who you are aside from coworkers & neighbors (not in an unfriendly way, they're just not really nosey); there are a lot of parks & it's a great place to raise a family.

And, that's all I got! It sounds like renting in OKC at first while you get a chance to spend some time in various towns will be very beneficial.

Best of luck to you!!

[ERISAjunkie]

Originally Posted by 405travelgirl

I'd suggest Stillwater too, just make sure it's not too small for you.

It's nice because it's surrounded by rolling hills, lakes & tons of dirt roads to explore. It also has 4 grocery stores (don't get too excited, two of them are Wal-Marts), many of the normal chain restaurants, a handful of good local ones, decent shopping: Ross, Old Navy, Best Buy - under construction now) Hobby Lobby, etc and a cute downtown area that has live music during the summer & recently they've added an ice skating rink in the winter.

The college brings in activities that many of the locals participate in, but it also brings 25,000 hormonal 18-20somethings every fall, man that makes me sound like an old hag, but they can wear on a person just being honest. You go from a nice quite summer, restaurants & stores aren't packed then wham, they all come back, traffic is crazy, there's a 2 hour wait at freakin IHOP and Wal-Mart runs out of bananas!

Back to the good part: the crime is crazy low here; there are many churches for you to choose from; the people are overall nice & respectful; there are many different neighborhoods - new & old and prices are very reasonable; my family & friends say the schools are great; there are enough people coming through here for the college that pretty much no one will care where you're from or who you are aside from coworkers & neighbors (not in an unfriendly way, they're just not really nosey); there are a lot of parks & it's a great place to raise a family.

And, that's all I got! It sounds like renting in OKC at first while you get a chance to spend some time in various towns will be very beneficial.

Best of luck to you!!

Dear friends,

Thanks to all for such great advice. Unfortunately, even though I was amoung the most highly qualified, I didn't get the job I was hoping for . It's kinda tough applying for positions so far away. The home grown talent carried the day. Oh well...

The good news is that I'm just eighteen months away from a generous early retirement so that I'll be able to live where I please in Oklahoma. Given that, I was happy to hear you talk so highly of Stillwater. I'm going to vist Oklahoma again in May. I'll be sure to visit. It sounds almost perfect except for the influx of all the college kids. That could be a blessing as well because I hope to get some kind of employment to supplement my income and get me out of the house. I've had it with crowds though so I really appreciate the heads-up!

Thank you for all your kind thoughts. I'll keep pluggin' away!