Tell me about Oklahoma City

SkyHog

SkyHog

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Everything Offends Me
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Good places to live for rural areas, is the city nice, what to avoid, etc.

Is it a good place to raise a family? Does grass grow there? Aside from tornadoes, standard weather patterns, etc.

Thanks.
 
they have a great rowing scene, several big boathouses and the US National Lightweight team trains there. Good soaring too.
 
Lived there through 6th grade (when I was 19).

It's one of the few places in the US where you can stand in mud up to your ass and have red dirt blow in your face.
 
SkyHog said:
Does grass grow there? Aside from tornadoes, standard weather patterns, etc.
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Yes grass does grow there....it is actually fairly green as I recall.

But it is hot as hell in the summer! I'd take Phoenix in the summer anyday over OKC (100+ degrees and 99 percent humidity).
 
SE part of town belongs to Tinker AFB. When I was working at Tinker, I had an apartment on the NW side of town. Because of my schedule, traffic wasn't a problem. That was a few years ago, so I don't know what the situation is like now.

I would imagine it's like most large cities - your well-known chain stores & restaurants, a fairly good university, school system varies depending on the part of town, and so on.
 
Not sure about family life there. I'm sure like every other place there are good places and bad. You'll get all 4 seasons but watch out for the ice. I had more ice problems than tornado problems in Oklahoma. You're right by CAMI so do the altitude chamber, it's free for pilots. There is a beautiful waterfall on the border of Oklahoma and Texas and an ice skating rink in OKC that would make great weekend family adventures.There is also a biplane flyin close by every year. A few good places to fly in oklahoma too including Ponca City pancake breakfast (~1.5 hour by plane from OKC) and a few local places like Norman and Wiley post which has great burgers!

Just don't become an OU fan...you and I would have to have a talk. ;)
 
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Old Geek said:
I was there one day on business. Hot, humid, sweaty and lots of people that smoke.
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I have similar recollections, although I was there a bit longer than a day. Let's just say that I had a job one summer in OKC. When I went there I had hair like Ted DuPuis....I cut the hair off after a week of working outdoors in that miserable heat.
 
Last time I rolled through that area was on my motorcycle and it was pushing 106 degrees and humid as hell. I guess my question would be what motivates you to move there? If the job is worth it - the area probably would be too.
 
SCCutler said:
Gaston's is an easy trip...
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Windwood and FlyBq are not

I also hear that the wind comes sweepin down the plain and the corn is as high as an elephants eye. Other than that I don't know much about it other than I had a friend in Jr. High that moved there from my neck of the woods and did not like it at all however I think that was a cultural thing as when the school techer and principal tried to admiinster corporal punishment he told them not unless ya wanna get decked. But that was a looonnng time ago.
 
OKC is a nice place, but here are a few things Oklahoma doesn't have.
1. Major sports teams.
2. Cool summers.
3. Low humidity.
4. Tall trees.
5. Good roads.
6. Clean lakes and rivers.
 
Dean said:
OKC is a nice place, but here are a few things Oklahoma doesn't have.
1. Major sports teams.
2. Cool summers.
3. Low humidity.
4. Tall trees.
5. Good roads.
6. Clean lakes and rivers.
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In all fairness, they do have the Thunder now.
 
It does get windy here, but most of the time it's not too bad. It's an interesting place; kind of a big-small town. Most people here are very friendly and talk to you all day long, but the metro is as big as Dallas. The city seems to actually care about its appearance. About 10 years ago the downtown area was basically a run-down ghetto and they essentially remodeled it into Bricktown which is a very nice, safe place to be now.
The chain stores are here, but you don't have to look very hard to find a local store that sells the same thing. I don't know about the taxes and schools since I don't have to worry about that right now. I'm fairly certain they have a state income tax but no property tax. I live in NW OKC and it's pretty nice; I have access to pretty much anything I need.

The GA scene here is pretty awesome. We have airports all over the place. I go out to Sundance (KHSD) every Sat. and just bum around and hang out with all of the pilots. You definitely aren't treated like an outsider at the smaller airports. I have not ever missed a trip to a Sat. morning breakfast because I couldn't find someone to ride with. That's another thing, when it's not IMC there is a fly-in breakfast somewhere within 2 hrs.

You don't have to drive very far to be outside the city. It seems pretty easy to live in the rural parts and still get where you need to be on time. Even at 5-o'clock I have never had to sit in traffic for very long (unless on IH-35, that road is a perpetual bumper to bumper machine).

We do have tornadoes but most of the time they aren't too bad. We also have earthquakes too, and cold, and snow :). Short of tsunamis we get most of the other kinds of weather. It does get hot, real hot. We were at 114* for a few days this summer. I have never really felt the humidity though. That could be because of the drought or I'm just used to places like Houston.

If you want to know anything else feel free to ask. I'll do my best to answer it. If you end up coming in give me a holler, depending on the day I'll show you some of the fun stuff.
 
jesse said:
I guess my question would be what motivates you to move there? If the job is worth it - the area probably would be too.
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I'm trying to avoid letting a job dictate the move. Long story short, lives need a change, there's an opportunity there, its a much lesser position, but it would be a hell of a lot more of a fun job.

BUT - I don't want the move to be all about work. Been there, done that, and I don't want to do it again. So if OKC sucks, we ain't gonna do it.
 
SkyHog said:
I'm trying to avoid letting a job dictate the move. Long story short, lives need a change, there's an opportunity there, its a much lesser position, but it would be a hell of a lot more of a fun job.

BUT - I don't want the move to be all about work. Been there, done that, and I don't want to do it again. So if OKC sucks, we ain't gonna do it.
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one of our old Navy friends that lived next door and our kids grew up together lives in Prior OK, and they Love it.

If you believe in the traditional American values that made this country great you will Love it too.
 
Well, you lived in New Mexico for a long time. Oklahoma City is a lot like that except there are no mountains. There is grass, but I remember stepping off an airplane one October and surprising myself by remembering that I like brown grass. It turns brown in July or August and greens back up in the spring. The nice part of that is that you don't need to spend nearly so much time mowing.

As mentioned, it snows a little bit, but the winter season has really horrible ice. And hills. And icy hills that nobody knows how to navigate.

Moore, just outside OKC, has had a couple of really nasty tornados during the 20 years that I was gone. But you cannot expect that to be a predictor of where they will come next time. Nevertheless, wind is a real factor. That is why the trees don't get much over 30 feet. Anything higher just doesn't survive the heat and wind. I remember a day when Hubby climbed onto the rooftop to install a ham radio antenna in 30 kt. gusts because it was such a calm day.

I will be moving back to Tulsa (Collinsville, really) in another 1-1/2 years. So there is that. I'm prejudiced towards Tulsa over OKC, so I'd prefer the schools in Tulsa and the communities there. My experience is that you can usually find the good community if you look for it. Do try to find a place where you don't need to dive for cover when the neighbors start shooting, again.

Looking forward to seeing you there if that is what you decide.
 
AuntPeggy said:
Well, you lived in New Mexico for a long time. Oklahoma City is a lot like that except there are no mountains. There is grass, but I remember stepping off an airplane one October and surprising myself by remembering that I like brown grass. It turns brown in July or August and greens back up in the spring. The nice part of that is that you don't need to spend nearly so much time mowing.

As mentioned, it snows a little bit, but the winter season has really horrible ice. And hills. And icy hills that nobody knows how to navigate.

Moore, just outside OKC, has had a couple of really nasty tornados during the 20 years that I was gone. But you cannot expect that to be a predictor of where they will come next time. Nevertheless, wind is a real factor. That is why the trees don't get much over 30 feet. Anything higher just doesn't survive the heat and wind. I remember a day when Hubby climbed onto the rooftop to install a ham radio antenna in 30 kt. gusts because it was such a calm day.

I will be moving back to Tulsa (Collinsville, really) in another 1-1/2 years. So there is that. I'm prejudiced towards Tulsa over OKC, so I'd prefer the schools in Tulsa and the communities there. My experience is that you can usually find the good community if you look for it. Do try to find a place where you don't need to dive for cover when the neighbors start shooting, again.

Looking forward to seeing you there if that is what you decide.
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Albuquerque is off the table. That much we have decided. Personally, I love North Carolina so much I'd love to stay here, but I don't know what opportunities I'd find. My skills are pretty niche, which makes it tough to find stuff to do.

But, that said, I know that W/S ain't gonna work for long, since there's really only one thing to do here, and I'm doing it now. I'm trying for Raleigh, so lets see how that pans out. OKC came up only because I got a call back already on an opportunity there.

Sounds like mixed reviews though:

Bad - wind, heat, humidity, brown grass most of year, tornadoes
Good - Grass, values, rural settings, and from what I can tell, lots of farming, which I like.

What about stuff to do? We like doing outdoorsy stuff. I know camping is probably pretty much out since there's no mountains, but what about other stuff to do? Aviation is big, which is nice, but I've pretty much resigned my fate for a little while to not be flying during the first year or two of fatherhood...
 
bigred177 said:
It does get windy here, but most of the time it's not too bad. It's an interesting place; kind of a big-small town. Most people here are very friendly and talk to you all day long, but the metro is as big as Dallas. The city seems to actually care about its appearance. About 10 years ago the downtown area was basically a run-down ghetto and they essentially remodeled it into Bricktown which is a very nice, safe place to be now.
The chain stores are here, but you don't have to look very hard to find a local store that sells the same thing. I don't know about the taxes and schools since I don't have to worry about that right now. I'm fairly certain they have a state income tax but no property tax. I live in NW OKC and it's pretty nice; I have access to pretty much anything I need.

The GA scene here is pretty awesome. We have airports all over the place. I go out to Sundance (KHSD) every Sat. and just bum around and hang out with all of the pilots. You definitely aren't treated like an outsider at the smaller airports. I have not ever missed a trip to a Sat. morning breakfast because I couldn't find someone to ride with. That's another thing, when it's not IMC there is a fly-in breakfast somewhere within 2 hrs.

You don't have to drive very far to be outside the city. It seems pretty easy to live in the rural parts and still get where you need to be on time. Even at 5-o'clock I have never had to sit in traffic for very long (unless on IH-35, that road is a perpetual bumper to bumper machine).

We do have tornadoes but most of the time they aren't too bad. We also have earthquakes too, and cold, and snow :). Short of tsunamis we get most of the other kinds of weather. It does get hot, real hot. We were at 114* for a few days this summer. I have never really felt the humidity though. That could be because of the drought or I'm just used to places like Houston.

If you want to know anything else feel free to ask. I'll do my best to answer it. If you end up coming in give me a holler, depending on the day I'll show you some of the fun stuff.
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Great info. I will probably hit you up when I come to town.
 
Nick I never knew you liked grass so much.

my observation has been that if you're not careful that year or two turns into about 20.
 
tonycondon said:
Nick I never knew you liked grass so much.

my observation has been that if you're not careful that year or two turns into about 20.
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I love grass. Best times for me is just sitting on my lawn tractor and mowing my cares away. Plus, it looks great.

I hear you about the time slipping away. Family first, though, always.
 
SkyHog said:
I love grass. Best times for me is just sitting on my lawn tractor and mowing my cares away. Plus, it looks great.

I hear you about the time slipping away. Family first, though, always.
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If you like NC you really should look into Raleigh.
 
i find that there are a lot of other things i'd rather do with my time than mow grass. I do attempt to cover the bare dirt in my yard with something green but i don't really care what it is and i mow as little as possible. bigtime heat and drought helped with that last year.
 
TMetzinger said:
Um... Are you able to make the real-estate deal work out?
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Yep. We are under due diligence. Just decided to cancel the deal to ensure we don't lock ourselves here. Was a nice house, and a disappointment for sure, but....family first, always.
 
Nick:

Oklahoma is not all flat and dull - look at your sectional. There are some awesome camping locations not too far away.

You may notice: Oklahoma's one of those places folks love to make fun of. My experience is, if they are making fun of it, there's probably some pretty good reasons to be there.
 
yea actually eastern OK has quite a bit of terrain, lots of hanggliding and some fixed wing soaring on the ridges there. There are several good sized state parks, sure plenty of outdoors hiking/camping opportunities around there. I'd like to get down there some day with the glider to do some ridge soaring
 
SkyHog said:
What about stuff to do? We like doing outdoorsy stuff. I know camping is probably pretty much out since there's no mountains, but what about other stuff to do? Aviation is big, which is nice, but I've pretty much resigned my fate for a little while to not be flying during the first year or two of fatherhood...
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Eastern OK is not too far away and it is beautiful. Lot's of trees 'n hills 'n camping that way.
 
tonycondon said:
yea actually eastern OK has quite a bit of terrain, lots of hanggliding and some fixed wing soaring on the ridges there. There are several good sized state parks, sure plenty of outdoors hiking/camping opportunities around there. I'd like to get down there some day with the glider to do some ridge soaring
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You have a 2-seater and you're giving rides right? ;)
 
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