It starts where the church signs begin to outnumber road signs, and it ends where people quit pretending they don't recognize each other at the liquor store.
~
Oklahoma is home. Tulsa is "the city". Oklahoma and Tulsa will always be home, and that's probably why I'm here. I don't know if I'd up and move here from another state. Lots of great stuff here, but if I had to move to a strange land I'd pick somewhere...greater.
PROS:
-Cheap as heck to live here. Seriously.
-People are usually easy to get along with. There are buttholes depending on where you are, but "small town friendliness" is pretty common.
-Awesome, awesome thunderstorms that you're not going to see anywhere but the plains. If you don't love storms, you're not an Okie.
-There's lots of outdoor activities to do if you seek them out.
-Not too many big city problems.
-Oklahoma has some cool history.
- We get a taste of all 4 seasons, but man it tastes weird sometimes.
CONS:
-Bit too "socially conservative". That does contribute to many of our issues IMHO. If we were as old fashioned and churchy as some like to pretend, there would not be pregnant kids and burnouts everywhere. We need to wake up and cut the act. We're a bit twisted on social laws and attitudes. Plus it's hard to meet like minded people sometimes.
-Not enough snow. Winters are too dry and windy.
-The summer heat is more than oppressing. You can taste the air, smell it, and feel it giving resistance as you try to walk. We all look pissed off and hungover during the late summer. It literally feels like a bad hallucination every time you walk outside. You can hear the heat. The humidity talks to you. It crawls all over you, and on the worst days it rapes you. I've gotten into cars so hot that I saw Hank Williams playing a Ukulele in the passenger seat for several miles until the AC caught up (then he switched to guitar
).-Not enough woods and hills. (eastern Oklahoma has them, and it's the only part of the state I'd live in)
-Great music history and scene, but we seem to often miss my favorite acts when they tour.
- Oil, gas or airplanes. You either work with them, or their workers put money in your pocket. That's what we have, and we depend on them.
But Oklahoma over Florida? No contest. Yeah, we're better than America's wang. You couldn't pay me to move further south than Oklahoma.
Some of us are ok with that!
Yeah...that's why we are number one on so many lists.
Lists of what?
Awesome thread, I’m pretty much convinced. Everything that you guys have that is bad we have much worse. We have your summers here except the heats kills us about 8 months a year. Sounds good can’t wait to move.
Thanks
Thanks
We're high on the obesity/poor health list.
Teen pregnancy
Meth and prescription drug abuse
Divorce
Child abuse
Poverty
Anyway, lots of Southern states are high on those lists. Oklahoma has its good points, but it ain't paradise.
I'm a native Oklahoman. Grew up out west in the Enid area where the summer sky is pretty much red dirt and wind. Went to college in Stillwater and love that town to no end. Spent a couple of years in Oklahoma City before moving to Tulsa in '97. A few years back I was convinced I needed to leave and start fresh somewhere else. Then kids came along and that all changed. Now, I'm quite happy here. I really don't think it would be any better anywhere else. I'm getting ready to buy a house and am REALLY happy to live in Oklahoma since the cost of real estate is sensible. I'm not going anywhere, at least until the kids are of age and then I'll probably still hang around. This is home.
Would you like to move to california, new york, michgan.......? If so then do it. Dont degrade our state because you either feel the need or just because you feel the need to justify it.
I think you'll like it here better than Florida. Heat, rednecks and cranksters won't exactly be strangers to you. I think you're right in that you have all our cons only much worse. No offense.
Oklahoma has great deer hunting, it's only getting better. Plus lots of other hunting. A decent variety of fishing can be found within a short drive. Gardening is not a problem. The part of the state you're looking at is scenic as heck.
If I ever move it'll be to the Ozarks. Maybe the Pacific Northwest if I ever lose the need to stay within a short drive from "home" (and whitetails). All in all Okiehoma is not bad.
Oh, give it a rest. I don't want to leave my family and friends, but it doesn't mean they don't have faults. The guy wanted unbiased reviews, not WE ARE THE BEST EVER AND THAT LITTLE GIRL IS NOT PREGNANT THAT SHIRT JUST FITS WEIRD AND THATS NOT A CRANKSTER IT'S JUST A SKINNY GUY WITH ALLERGIES AND THOSE AREN'T DRUGS WE DONT' DO DRUGS HERE WE LOVE JESUS AND THOSE WOMEN AREN'T IN PRISON IT'S BIBLE CAMP.
