Be Glad We Live In Oklahoma City

[Sooner&RiceGrad]

Oklahoma City is a boomign city!

According to Universal Publication's Edmond is America's best suburb.

According to Expansion Management magazine we are America's 8th hottest city.

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Someone may want to check this: Standard of Living? I may have seen us at the top of this too.

[Sooner&RiceGrad]

We also have one of the nation's top 3 arts festivals.
We have the world's largest piece of chihuli glass.
We boast the national cowboy and softball hall of fames.
We are the Horse Show Capital of the World.
We have what I think is the nation's biggest university art museum.
We boast the Southwest's largest entertainment district.
We have some of the nation's best medical centers too! (Baptist, St. Anthony, OU, etc, etc)

My def of Southern: A compilation of Southeastern and South Central. I think we have more southern accents than Midwestern. I think we are closer to being Western than Midwestern.

[okcpulse]

We are no doubt a booming city! I hope to move back home in the future, but until then, while living in Texas, Oklahoma City and Oklahoma will be my vacation destination. After all, 90 percent of my family and in-laws live in Oklahoma City and Tulsa. It will be amazing to see Oklahoma City continue to grow beyond even our wildest dreams, to see the city pushing the boundaries even we didn't think were possible.

BTW, Sooner&RiceGrad, you forgot one more recognition...

We have one of the south's best downtowns, according to Southern Living.

[JOHNINSOKC]

I think it is awesome that this city is getting more recognition from national business publications like Expansion Management! I really think our business leaders should follow the very proactive example of Nashville's leaders in getting corporate relocations. I've lived in Nashville and it's very similar to OKC, except of course, the geography. I keep hearing that the Chamber and city leaders are getting tons of prospects, but after a few months go by, we never hear anything else about it. Hopefully, by landing Dell, we can get a lot more coming in that will put OKC at the top of next year's list. If we can just land ONE corporate headquarters, it would be HUGE. Any thoughts??

[mranderson]

We are no doubt a booming city! I hope to move back home in the future, but until then, while living in Texas, Oklahoma City and Oklahoma will be my vacation destination. After all, 90 percent of my family and in-laws live in Oklahoma City and Tulsa. It will be amazing to see Oklahoma City continue to grow beyond even our wildest dreams, to see the city pushing the boundaries even we didn't think were possible.

BTW, Sooner&RiceGrad, you forgot one more recognition...

We have one of the south's best downtowns, according to Southern Living.

Only one problem. Oklahoma City is NOT in the south. We are in the lower midwest.

[floater]

Only one problem. Oklahoma City is NOT in the south. We are in the lower midwest.

Tulsa may be able to make that argument, but OKC is more southern. Southern in folkways/culture, plains in geography (at least most of it), western in style and attitude.

Anyway to jump on the bandwagon:

One of the best zoos in the country
The most affordable housing in the country
One of the best costs of living in the country
One of the best financially-managed cities (IMO) in the country
One of the healthiest in terms of room for growth
One of the best Asian districts in the central US
One of the best ballparks in the country
The best minor league operation (the Blazers) in the country

[Floating_adrift]

Actually it is NOT in the midwest.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midwest

It IS however, in the South.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Southern_states

[Sooner&RiceGrad]

“We have one of the south's best downtowns, according to Southern Living.”

Ahh yes, you have been reading okcchamber.com. I didn’t post ths because most Oklahomans don’t really think we are southern, all though, it’s really just up for debate. The only easy thing to say is that we are South Central, which is usually clumped up there with the Southeast to form the South.

“Tulsa may be able to make that argument, but OKC is more southern. Southern in folkways/culture, plains in geography (at least most of it), western in style and attitude.”

I think Tulsa is 75% Southern. I think Oklahoma City is 65% Southern. Tulsa does have a more Southern appeal, even if it is really nice by the South’s poor standards. Wouldn’t you rather be in a region that makes us look good? I think considering us Midwest is really stretching it. No region is drastic enough to cover land from Detroit down to Oklahoma City.

“One of the best zoos in the country”

This is fact, more or less because of polls and reviews.

”The most affordable housing in the country
One of the best costs of living in the country”

These are the same, but still true. I would ignore Forbes when it ranks cities, they seem to not like OKC, 18 is a little low on that list for us. I would concentrate on what magazines like Fortune and EM say.

”One of the best financially-managed cities (IMO) in the country”

The OKC city council is very… controversial. They have an abnormal tendency to like to help it’s citizens, and they invest money in finding them jobs. Other American’s consider this self defeat, it’s however you look at it.

”One of the healthiest in terms of room for growth”

One day OKC will be bigger than Dallas, simply because we cover more land. If there was a way we could lose some of it, but make sure we can pick all of it up again in the future, that would be great, but there isn’t. We are better off in the future with all this land, it just says OKC will grow forever, cities like Dallas and Tulsa won’t.

”One of the best Asian districts in the central US
One of the best ballparks in the country
The best minor league operation (the Blazers) in the country”

Now, I know the ballpark one is fact, but is there anything to factually back up your first and last claim?

[floater]

”One of the best financially-managed cities (IMO) in the country”

Moody's gives it a 1AA bond rating, very respectable. But again, IMO
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”The most affordable housing in the country
One of the best costs of living in the country”

These are the same, but still true. I would ignore Forbes when it ranks cities, they seem to not like OKC, 18 is a little low on that list for us. I would concentrate on what magazines like Fortune and EM say.

Close but not quite the same; the first contributes to the second. Other major costs (public higher education, utilities, tax policies, fuel/commuting time etc) can take a bite of the affordable housing edge
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”One of the healthiest in terms of room for growth”

One day OKC will be bigger than Dallas, simply because we cover more land. If there was a way we could lose some of it, but make sure we can pick all of it up again in the future, that would be great, but there isn’t. We are better off in the future with all this land, it just says OKC will grow forever, cities like Dallas and Tulsa won’t.

I totally agree this is a double-edged sword, but it does allow OKC to capture new developments that may attract wealthier households. Cleveland, where I'm living, is almost 100% surrounded by lake or suburbs. As a result, it is getting killed with every new suburban development.
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”One of the best Asian districts in the central US
One of the best ballparks in the country
The best minor league operation (the Blazers) in the country”

Now, I know the ballpark one is fact, but is there anything to factually back up your first and last claim?

Okay, I admit the first is more rah-rah than fact, but from what I've seen in Dallas and other cities in the US, many Asian business centers are located in strip mall developments that are hardly reminiscent of a Chinatown. OKC's is. The last claim is courtesy of....the Blazers, but attendance records show it is the king at least in hockey.

[Midtowner]

Actually it is NOT in the midwest.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midwest

It IS however, in the South.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Southern_states

Also the Great Plains.

[Sooner&RiceGrad]

We are too far from Canada to worry about hockey, lol. Here, we like FOOTBALL!!!! Baseball too!

[Patrick]

I will agree that this is a football state. That's for sure!

I think hockey has really made some progress over the years. The Oklahoma City Blazers have broken every attendance record in the CHL. So, our citizens have obviously showed an interest in fighting...I mean hockey! lol! If it weren't for the NHL being on strike right now and having financial problems, I'd be willing to bet Cornett and company would be lobbying for an NHL team. I think one would succeed here, given the proper corporate backing (Devon, KerrMcGee, OG&E, Sonic, Chesapeake, Express Sports, etc.). But we'll just have to wait on it. Also, one advantage is that we already have an NHL arena.

I think an NFL team might possibly have success here, but face it.....OU/OSU have been the cornerstone of football here for many years, and if given the choice between purchasing Sooners tickets or NFL tickets, I'm guessing many would choose the former. Also, we currently do not have a facility to support NFL.

Although baseball is popular in our city and state, I just don't think we have the population base to support it. For major league baseball to succeed you have to have 30,000+ fans for 80+ games a season. We're lucky to get an average of 6-8,000 at the Redhawks. Sure, that's minor league and I'm sure major league would attract more people, but we're just so far off the attendance mark even with our minor league team to attract a major league team.

NBA could be a possiblity, but we have the failure of the Oklahoma City Cavalry haunting us! And the OklahomaCity Ballhawgs never even got off the ground. Sure, the Ballhawgs failure can't be blamed on fans, but on ownership....but still, we just haven't proven that we can support an NBA team.

Major League Soccer is still growing, and might be a possiblity in the near future. Crowds at Wantland Stadium for exhibition games were impressive. Soccer seems to be a growing sport in the nation right now.

Nascar has been underrated in our state. There's more Nascar fans around here than you might think. Having an Oklahoma State Speedway in Stroud might be a possiblity. Nascar in our state hasn't even been mentioned, so I wouldn't put it on my radar screen.

[Sooner&RiceGrad]

I think Tulsa should have the NFL team, because they can ralley Wichita and Little Rock, and OKC and Tulsa fans as well. OKC can't get all of that.

[floater]

...So, our citizens have obviously showed an interest in fighting...I mean hockey! lol!

I think an NFL team might possibly have success here, but face it.....OU/OSU have been the cornerstone of football here for many years, and if given the choice between purchasing Sooners tickets or NFL tickets, I'm guessing many would choose the former. Also, we currently do not have a facility to support NFL.

lol2; OU/OSU are our NFL. That's not a bad thing, it's just that Norman gets the cash. And I'd rather have a top-ranked OU than a cellar-dweller pro team. Tradition trumps new in terms of fan base.

[Sooner&RiceGrad]

Well, tradition only trumps new here in Oklahoma. I can't begin to tell you how screwed up the rest of our fine nation is.

On another note: It is confirmed, Wikipedia has the same statement on the OKC page , we have the nation's highest standard of living!

Woohoo!

[Luke]

I think Oklahoma fits more in the South than than the Midwest.

But, there's a quote in a book I have called "Oklahoma: Off the beaten path" that's really great. I'm at work now, so I'll post it later. But it talks about how we really have a very interesting combination of each of the regions. Just that we in this forum have a hard time classifying shows that Oklahoma is really in a unique place and has a unique attitude.