Scottsdale, AZ to Broken Arrow, OK Some questions (Tulsa, Howe: lease, houses)

[Beat_The_Heat]

We are considering a move from Scottsdale, AZ to Broken Arrow, OK. My husband is a building and fire inspector and the looming layoffs are killing us in the absolutely dead housing market of the Phoenix area. We lived in Flagstaff, AZ for many years and hunting, fishing and outdoors are our primary interests for recreation. We are also tired of the HOT and LONG summers in Phoenix and looking to move somewhere with a little more pleasant climate.

How is construction in Broken Arrow/Tulsa? Is there building happening? Is hunting on a draw or do you just purchase tags? Is there a lot of public land to hunt or do you need to obtain landowner permission in most areas? Are ATV laws reasonable? In AZ it is becoming impossible to operate an ATV in most areas without a driver's license, and our kids (9 & 11) both operate ATV's, though we aren't destructive to the land.

I work with dropout prevention and gang prevention in inner-city high schools. Are gangs and dropout rates an issue in the Tulsa area?

Any advice on if this might be a good move would be appreciated.

[kyle450rider]

If your husband is in the building market he shouldn't have a problem finding work. They are building houses like crazy around here. I'm not sure who is buying them but that ain't stopping contractors from putting them up. They have build over 16 houses just south of where I live in the last 18 months.

If your kids like to ride four wheelers they won't have a problem finding good spots to ride. If you go to thumpertalk.com and scroll down on the forums to "where to ride" you can look up oklahoma. I know you can ride at hudson lake, keystone lake and appalachia bay.

[teakboat]

I'd bet that you will be happy with Broken Arrow/ Tulsa area. The economy is pretty good, and the climate is much more pleasant than Phoenix. However, this summer it got unusually hot (over 110) and last winter it got unusually cold (-20) in NEOK.

There are unlimited outdoor recreation resources here.

[Goodpasture]

Originally Posted by Beat_The_Heat

How is construction in Broken Arrow/Tulsa? Is there building happening?

Over the last 5 years we have had about 12,000 residential building permits issued.

Originally Posted by Beat_The_Heat

Is hunting on a draw or do you just purchase tags?

Buy a tag and go hunting. Some land is private and you need permission, some land is leased so you risk trespassing,

Originally Posted by Beat_The_Heat

Is there a lot of public land to hunt or do you need to obtain landowner permission in most areas?

quite a bit of public land is available.

Originally Posted by Beat_The_Heat

Are ATV laws reasonable?

What ATV laws?

Originally Posted by Beat_The_Heat

I work with dropout prevention and gang prevention in inner-city high schools. Are gangs and dropout rates an issue in the Tulsa area?

Any urban area has problems.

[Beat_The_Heat]

Thanks for the info.

[briansgi]

If you like riding ATV's and if you move to this area, 3 hours to west is an outstanding sand dunes called Little Sahara. It's an absolute blast!

waynoka.com
Little Sahara State Park | TravelOK.com - Oklahoma's Official Travel & Tourism Site
Little Sahara, OK - Sand Dune Guide

[BAGuy]

Love Broken Arrow!! BA has one of the highest residential building rates in all of Northeast Oklahoma. Commercial construction is also on the rise with a new Target, Dick's Sporting Goods, Cinemark, and others being built in the last couple of years. A major Houston developer is planning a mixed use commercial development on more than 100 acres of land along the Creek Turnpike in south Broken Arrow near the Walmart Supercenter. All in all, construction is booming in the area considering the national economy.

[Les Pharis]

On the topic of gang prevention: you will find a niche here because Oklahoma has been very aggressive
in the area of privatized prisons and imported a lot of high-level gang members from California. Of course their families had to move here with them and now we have an even more acute problem than we had previously.