moving from okc to tulsa? (Bartlesville, Phillips: sale, job market, transfer to)

[99zx2]

hey, all!

wife and i are looking to move from okc. we've been thinking about going out of state, but haven't found that "perfect" place yet. This weekend, some friends and i went on a camping trip to tahlequah and had to drive thru tulsa. The city is a lot greener than okc, and my best friend (who is from tulsa), said the jobs are more available there. I work in the financial sector right now, but def. on a look-out for a better position (tulsa seems to have more openings in my are of expertise).
I don't meant to start a war of words, but would like to hear what tulsa has to offer: job wise and entertainment wise as well. We don't have any kids, so that's not a problem... yet

Thank you, all!

[teakboat]

I like Tulsa better, the vibe and the way it looks, the lay of the land, etc. I am self-employed so can't offer much on job market info. But the economy seems ok to me. We don't attend many events either, so not much of a judge, but seems like lots of acts have been coming to Tulsa.

[flyingcat2k]

I'm sure the trolls will weigh in on this but I think the financial industry here is a little more old money than new money. Most of the new money is in OKC with Chesapeake and Devon hiring people at astounding salaries for those of us in the energy business. Tulsa has a lot of old money floating around from when it competed with Houston for oil capitol of the world. I notice more stock brokerages and financial instrument offices in downtown Tulsa but I've never spent any time in downtown OKC to compare it to.

If you are a gas trader, it is hard to not be in Tulsa with ONEOK, Williams, Enterprise and Atlas all having either their HQ or pipeline ops centers here. Even Phillips is closer to Tulsa as their day-to-day pipeline ops are all now relocated back to Bartlesville. The only major gas pipeline ops not in greater Tulsa are El Paso (Colorado Springs, Houston), Kinder Morgan (Houston), Duke (Charlotte) and DCP (Denver).

If you are into the music scene, the BOK center was top 5 in the country for music acts 2 years running. When music tours make money in a city, they tend to go back again and again. There is also a decent underground scene that has been brewing for a while. Most bands in the Blue Dome district are original acts, not cover bands. If you like cover bands, they tend to play the free events such as 5th Night at Utica Square. The three casinos are starting to get more music as well.

If you are into sports, there is University of Tulsa or ORU but Tulsa isn't a rabid sports town like OKC is. Tastes are definitely skewed towards NCAA rather than the pros. There are plenty of tickets available for games "day of" unless it is OSU or OU playing. There are big HS rivalries but that's just normal.

[kyle450rider]

Originally Posted by flyingcat2k

I'm sure the trolls will weigh in on this but I think the financial industry here is a little more old money than new money. Most of the new money is in OKC with Chesapeake and Devon hiring people at astounding salaries for those of us in the energy business. Tulsa has a lot of old money floating around from when it competed with Houston for oil capitol of the world. I notice more stock brokerages and financial instrument offices in downtown Tulsa but I've never spent any time in downtown OKC to compare it to.

If you are a gas trader, it is hard to not be in Tulsa with ONEOK, Williams, Enterprise and Atlas all having either their HQ or pipeline ops centers here. Even Phillips is closer to Tulsa as their day-to-day pipeline ops are all now relocated back to Bartlesville. The only major gas pipeline ops not in greater Tulsa are El Paso (Colorado Springs, Houston), Kinder Morgan (Houston), Duke (Charlotte) and DCP (Denver).

If you are into the music scene, the BOK center was top 5 in the country for music acts 2 years running. When music tours make money in a city, they tend to go back again and again. There is also a decent underground scene that has been brewing for a while. Most bands in the Blue Dome district are original acts, not cover bands. If you like cover bands, they tend to play the free events such as 5th Night at Utica Square. The three casinos are starting to get more music as well.

If you are into sports, there is University of Tulsa or ORU but Tulsa isn't a rabid sports town like OKC is. Tastes are definitely skewed towards NCAA rather than the pros. There are plenty of tickets available for games "day of" unless it is OSU or OU playing. There are big HS rivalries but that's just normal.

I never knew Enterprise had an office here in t town. Atlas, I believe was sold to Chevron end of last year if I remember right. You left out magellan in your list. They probably pay the most out of the tulsa companies you listed.

[flyingcat2k]

Originally Posted by kyle450rider

I never knew Enterprise had an office here in t town. Atlas, I believe was sold to Chevron end of last year if I remember right. You left out magellan in your list. They probably pay the most out of the tulsa companies you listed.

+1 I did forget Magellan.

Atlas still trades separately from Chevron so I'm thinking that either Chevron owns a silent stake in Atlas Partners or they haven't closed on the sale of the company. Too bad as the giant sucking sound in Houston only gets bigger and bigger.

[kyle450rider]

Originally Posted by flyingcat2k

+1 I did forget Magellan.

Atlas still trades separately from Chevron so I'm thinking that either Chevron owns a silent stake in Atlas Partners or they haven't closed on the sale of the company. Too bad as the giant sucking sound in Houston only gets bigger and bigger.

You got that right! I work for one of the above mentioned companies and I hope I never have to transfer to houston. I hear horror stories of 2hr commutes and only needing to travel 30 miles.