Help with deciding on location

I am hoping that someone in Oklahoma can help me out. My family is looking forward to moving to Oklahoma from Houston in which we have lived for a year and hate it. My husband (welder/fitter) and I (medical billing/coding specialist) wishing to continue my education in teaching; and three children 12 (sports fanatic), 6 (little gymnast), and 4 (my dancer). We enjoy all outdoor activities such as hiking, swimming, boating, and would like a city with parks and things for the children to do. If any one could help I would greatly appreciate it. We lived in Champaign, Illinois for most of our lives and loved it there but the jobs are not plentiful for our career fields. Tired of the rat race on freeways, unfriendly people, traveling for ever to reach anything, and working an hour and half away from our home just to have a decent place to raise our children. Please help, thank you all!!!

Help with deciding on location

I know what you mean, Tsalagi; every time I go to Houston I wonder ';How do these people live like this?';

Here are the towns (arranged in generally decreasing size) with state universities where you could complete your teaching credentials: Tulsa, Lawton, Norman, Edmond, Stillwater, Claremore, Ada, Durant, Tahlequah, Weatherford, Alva, Langston. I%26#39;m leaving off private colleges because of the expense and community colleges where you cannot complete a bacehlor%26#39;s degree. Norman and Stillwater have the major state universities (OU and OSU) where you%26#39;ll find a more traditional student population while the smaller regional colleges tend to have a less traditional student body (which means that you might well feel more comfortable in one of the smaller schools). Also, a few places have ';distance learning centers'; (Enid, Ardmore, Idabel, etc.) where you might be able to complete a degree from an off-site college, but you%26#39;d have to inquire locally to see if that is possible and how long it might take.

Generally speaking, the larger towns are going to have the most employment opportunities, but some of the smaller ones are experiencing good growth (Ada, Durant, Claremore). And, of course, the larger ones are going to require you to do the most driving (though nothing like Houston).

Generally speaking--and there are plenty of exceptions--you%26#39;re going to find the most lakes and hiking trails in the eastern half of the state. The western half has several lakes and trails, but they tend to be more isolated. As you move west to east across Oklahoma you gradually leave the High Planes region with its dryer climate and expansive skies (like eastern New Mexico or Colorado) and gradually enter the Ozark Mountain region with its lush, rolling hills (like Arkansas or much of Missouri); thus, more of the hiking and boating will be in the eastern side.

Let me know if you have more questions. I am a professor at one of those colleges listed above (Ada)

Help with deciding on location

Radio has a good list.

To take it one step further, Oklahoma City is convenient to Edmond and Moore is convenient to Norman and OKC, so if you wanted to move to OKC or Moore it would be easy enough to locate centrally to at least two public universities (OU/Norman and UCO/Edmond) and serveral private universities (Southern Nazarene University/Bethany and Oklahoma City University/OKC, as well as a few smaller private colleges and universities.)

The traffic in OKC is not bad compared to Houston - in fact it%26#39;s not traffic at all compared to Houston. The worst traffic situation in the area is living in Edmond and working downtown or south. But I don%26#39;t know anyone living within 50 miles of their job that takes more than an hour to reach there - and most commutes in the OKC area are 30 minutes or less.

There are a lot of hospitals in the OKC area - Integris/Baptist, Mercy, Integris/OU Med Center, St Anthony%26#39;s - and large doctor%26#39;s building/partnerships close to each.

Outdoor activities are a relatively short drive to just about anywhere in the state, although more convenient to the Eastern part of OK. And both Tulsa and OKC abound with sports opportunities for children and adults. And both OKC and Tulsa have numerous dance classes for all ages.

The one place Tulsa excels over OKC is in the Arts. OKC has a robust arts community and one of the premier Arts Festivals in the region, and we have what is becoming a very good Museum of Art with a wonderful Theater for what is a great film program. Then Edmond has Shakespeare in the Park every summer as well. But Tulsa has a slight edge in the arts with some of their programs.

I believe the main thing that will differentiate the places you may want to live is the employment opportunities for both you and your husband. OKC has a robust economy at this time, as does Tulsa, but as Radio said the job market will be more limited in the smaller communities. As such, I would suggest looking at both the Tulsa and OKC metropolitan area job markets first.

Good luck in your hunt.

Thank you, modcon and Radio63 for your replies to my inquiry, I will be sure to take all the information presented and do a thorough search. We look forward to our move, thanks again.

I did not attend either schools but I do know that UCO in Edmond has a better Education program that OU in Norman. I have several friends who just received their education degrees and can pretty much pick their jobs in the school districts of their choice. They have jobs for next year in Deer Creek, Edmond and Norman. Your kids will continue to enjoy their hobbies pretty much anywhere in the OKC Metro area so I would recommend going to the Oklahoma Department of Education website and checking out the grade cards for various schools. Top of the list will be Edmond and Deer Creek. Edmond Memorial has the highest ACT scores in the state.

Most of the schools in suburban OKC are great. OKC schools not so much with the exception of Nichols Hills Elementary, Bell Isle, and Quail Creek Elementary. Someone else might be able to add a few others. If you choose to move to OKC your job commute should not exceed 25 minutes to just about anywhere from anywhere. Best wishes on your relocation. ( Just remember the move might be a little tough on the 12 year old. This is a hard age.)

Thanks for the feedback Pokedaughter. I have done a little research into the schools (both in and around the OKC area for the children), and from what I see I am totally with you on your response. My son is pretty excited about the move. We are consulting with one another about each others opinions when we do various searches together, so hopefully by working together this has relieved some tension that might have been there in the beginning. Thanks for your response, We look forward to this move.