Where to move-Tulsa, Broken Arrow, or Jenks? (Owasso, Sand Springs: best city, apartments)

[chelsea12927]

My fiancé and I are moving to the Tulsa area in the near future. He is going to be a police officer and I will be working in marketing. We are trying to decide which city (Tulsa, Broken Arrow, or Jenks) is better for us to live in. We are from the southwest Missouri area so we are somewhat familiar with Oklahoma. We know the basic information such as population, crime rates, etc but we would like to hear real opinions from real people. Here are some of our questions:
Which is best for a young couple just starting out?
Which is the best opportunity for jobs in our field?
Is there any are we should completely stay out of?
Where are the best school systems for future children?

Any information or advice would be very helpful.

We prefer places that are fairly large with many places to go have fun but we also like to feel safe. We don't really have a lot of preferences. We enjoy bowling, going to movies, athletics, animals, golf, anything like that. We are planning on renting a two bedroom house for 6 or 9 months to get a feel for the area then we plan to buy a house there for around $150-200,000. We plan to buy a 4-5 bedroom house once we decide to permanently settle down.

[flyingcat2k]

I will try to answer your questions but I'm sure others will have their opinion.

1) The best city will depend on what you are looking for socially. If you want to be around other younger couples, you will likely want to be in Midtown, Brookside or Cherry Street Tulsa. Broken Arrow, Jenks and Bixby tend to have older couples (35+) and are more conservative. Sand Springs also has a few younger couples but I'm not certain if they are north or south of the Arkansas River. The majority of the shopping centers, activities and all college sports are in the City of Tulsa.

2) I don't know which PD is best in area. I know many people who have issues with Tulsa PD but my personal experiences have been good in the past three years. From a marketing standpoint, I think most of the marketing positions will either be located in Tulsa or BA. I don't think Jenks, Sand Springs and Bixby have much in the way of corporate offices. As far as commuting to work, this would mean you would need to be on the east side of the Arkansas River to eliminate the bottlenecks of the bridges.

3) I would recommend staying out of North Tulsa unless you get to know those areas well. Most of the gun crimes in Tulsa are there. The other two areas are along US 161 between 21st and 51st and the area around 61st and Peoria. Other than that, the Tulsa area is pretty safe. Tulsa's crime rate has dropped over the past two years but it always seems to bounce up again.

4) The best school system as far as grades go is Jenks. Tulsa varies wildly as the charter schools and the magnet schools at Edison and Booker T. Washington are good but other schools in Tulsa need help. Owasso is good but doesn't get mentioned a lot as a good school district in my circles a lot. Union and BA aren't as good as their image makes them to be and my wife and I were not happy with our children's progress there.

PLEASE ignore the grading that was recently issued by the State Education department. The grading has been a subject of ridicule and derision by many people in the state and over 300 school districts told our illustrious State Superintendant, a dentist, that this grading system is garbage. It doesn't make sense and the math doesn't add up. For example, before the corrections (and still ongoing corrections) Edison gets an A in one category, a B in another and a combined grade of C. How does that make sense?

4A) Owasso is a good area but it is very risky from a housing standpoint. Many AA employees work there and if the maintenance facility at Tulsa International is shut down, this area will get hit very hard. The schools are probably the 2nd or 3rd best in the area based on graduation and competiency rates.


If you want to find a huge house (4-5 bd), you'll probably need to look in the Memorial HS district as your price range is low for that size in most of the Edison, Union and Jenks districts. If you wanted 2-3 bd at that range, Midtown and Brookside would be in play. You can also find something that size in BA at that price range but if you take a job in Downtown Tulsa, you'll have the worst commute in town (IMHO). The BA is bumper to bumper during rush hour but the majority of the other highways are not unless there is construction and there is construction on most of them right now.

[melolford]

My husband is taking a job working at Union Pacific in Tulsa. We currently live in Houston, TX. We too are thinking of moving up there. I work for a senior living facility and I know they are in Tulsa and Broken Arrow.Also trying to look at property up there. Will be bring our two children as well, so a great school district would be nice. Any suggestions?

[Sorge]

Originally Posted by melolford

My husband is taking a job working at Union Pacific in Tulsa. We currently live in Houston, TX. We too are thinking of moving up there. I work for a senior living facility and I know they are in Tulsa and Broken Arrow.Also trying to look at property up there. Will be bring our two children as well, so a great school district would be nice. Any suggestions?

BA or Union school district will be okay, especially if your husband's job is going to be at Rt169 and 51st. There is a bunch of new senior living facilities at 81st and Mingo (some still under contruction). The area around 81st and Mingo (and within 2-3 miles from it) has plenty of modestly (150-250k) priced houses AND some of the best apartments in town in case you plan to stay in an appartment before you are ready to buy a house.

[kyle450rider]

I moved to Jenks from KS 5 years ago. The wife and I really like it. Nice people and it's an easy commute to anywhere in Tulsa.