Norman or Moore...?

[rag451]

In a nutshell, I want to move to Oklahoma. Tired of Texas! I like the OKC area, Norman in particular, but I have heard from friends that Moore is the better place to live.

Any opinions, advice?

Robert

[kevinpate]

Having lived in Norman for over 20 years, and having had friends in Moore near as long, I'm of the impression your friends may possibly imbibe a wee bit more than a wee bit.
8^)

Excluding the Warren and some commute mileage, I can't picture any other areas where Moore offers an edge over Norman. I'm sitting here pondering outdoor activities, schools, parks, evening offerings, food, shopping, pubs, dining, fast food, the gamut, and I'm just not seeing it.

Norman also tends to fair better weather wise, or at least it has during the last couple of decades while I have been around.

My friends who call Moore home like it, by and large. Some of them have left, but in fairness, some of my Norman friends are no longer here either.

[mugofbeer]

I vote Norman

[Chase]

Norman

[semisimple]

Austin

[old okie]

In a nutshell, I want to move to Oklahoma. Tired of Texas! I like the OKC area, Norman in particular, but I have heard from friends that Moore is the better place to live.

Any opinions, advice?

Robert

A few questions, which you don't have answer here, but to yourself:

Are you single? Norman

Do you have school-age children? Moore

Do you like congested traffic, i.e., "hustle/bustle"? Norman

Do you like sports, concerts, & going to lots of activities? Norman

Do you want a more laid-back lifestyle? Moore

What about job location? If in OKC, Moore is shorter commute & more options to avoid traffic tie-ups.

Do you bicycle or jog? Norman

Like bookstores? Only Norman!

These are just some of the considerations; I'm quite familiar w/both areas; have thirty years experience w/both areas.

Perhaps these will give you some things to consider....and welcome to Oklahoma, whichever you pick!

[Andrew4OU]

It all depends on what you're looking for. I recently moved to Moore from Norman after living there for four years. Long story short, I'm moving back to Norman in the summer or fall.

Norman.

[venture]

To Old Okie's Moore points...

Laid-back lifestyle? Norman will still win out. Look at East Norman where a lot of new development has occurred the last few years. I use to live in Central Norman by campus and then went to the east side and it is really quiet and relaxing out here. Not Lake T-Bird east side...but not further east than 36th.

Traffic? Eh. Moore is closer. However, if you are on the east side, just shoot up Sooner Rd to 240 and you avoid any issues on 35. There are ways to avoid it if you know your way around town. : )

[chrisok]

Having lived in both places, I don't think there's much of a difference either way. While Norman has more retail options, Moore is just a couple of minutes away. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that you can get to the north side of Norman from Moore quicker than you can from the south/east side of Norman.

Both have fine communities with good municipal services, parks, and schools.

I'd suggest that you look in both places, find the home/neighborhood that you feel most comfortable and let that guide your decision. The city itself may be a non issue.

[Dustin]

If you've made up your mind about Norman, dont live near campus.. You wont get any sleep.

[adaniel]

I guess it kind of depends on your life status, where you're working, etc. With that being said, I would have to say Norman wins out in most cases. Norman offers museums, festivals, sports, great schools, amazing restaurants, basically amenities you would be hard pressed to find in any other city with about 100K people. Having a huge research university that draws from around the world helps. Moore has the Warren Theatre and Buffalo Wild Wings. While its true that Norman is a longer commute from OKC, don't think that you don't have congestion in Moore. There are a lot of roads that are way over their intended capacity, like the black hole at S 19th. And if you live in either places you will have to deal with I-35 anyway.

One thing Moore does offer is slightly cheaper real estate. I had a friend from school who recently bought a house in Moore and it was about 15-20K less that a similar sized home in Norman. Then again, he is bored out of his mind in Moore and is constantly leaving the city to do anything, so take it for what its worth.

I would be interested to see what city you choose. From a former Texan to a soon to be one, welcome to OKC!!

It all depends on what you're looking for. I recently moved to Moore from Norman after living there for four years. Long story short, I'm moving back to Norman in the summer or fall.

Ha! Thats good to know. I was thiiiis close to moving to Moore when I graduated from OU, lured by the uber cheap rents, but I decided against it at the last minute. I live in NW OKC now but I've thought about heading back to Norman when my lease is up here.

[semisimple]

Having a huge research university that draws from around the world

OU is a "huge research university?!"

HAHAHAHAHAA

Try a mediocre research university (ARWU 2009) with mostly bottom-tier graduate programs (Best Graduate Schools - US News and World Report), a 93% (!) freshman acceptance rate in 2009, and a steady supply of UT/TAMU rejects...

[Jesseda]

Moore is the new place to be, norman has the university that moore does not have so yes there will be more bars, young people running around. Moore has a lot of entertainment in moore and just north in okc. Moore has everything norman has to offer, but no book stores yet ( but moore is growing really fast with retail and population)

[PennyQuilts]

I never thought I'd live to see the day when Moore was the place to be!! I think that is amazing - and delightful. I have actually been really impressed with Moore since I got back home. Part of that is partly my snobbish north side attitude. I'd never lived on the south side and couldn't imagine why anyone would have any need to go south of the river. Live and learn!

[MsDarkstar]

I've lived in Moore my whole life (31yrs) with the exception of about 2yrs on the Northside. When it came time to buy my own home, there was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to be in Moore. Real estate dollars stretched much farther in Moore than in Norman, and it's close enough to Norman that you can't really tell much difference. I live on the SW side of Moore, it takes me about 10 minutes to get to the big Target - and that's going the back way instead of I-35. For me, being in Moore puts me in a central enough location that I can do pretty much anything anywhere (Northside OKC or Norman) without feeling as though I'm going out of my way. Plus, I don't have to deal with game-day traffic or crowds unless it's completely by my own choice. Like Chrisok said, check out both places and see where you feel comfortable.

[rag451]

Man, I can't thank y'all enough! The pros for Moore seem to be location and cheaper rent, and for laid-back folks like me, the little extra room away from the party! ;=) The pros for Norman seem to be retail, city services (parks, trails, etc.), and being just that much farther away from OKC!

Now, anyone looking to hire a recent college graduate with six years higher education admissions experience? Ha!

Robert

[Andrew4OU]

Ha! Thats good to know. I was thiiiis close to moving to Moore when I graduated from OU, lured by the uber cheap rents, but I decided against it at the last minute. I live in NW OKC now but I've thought about heading back to Norman when my lease is up here.

That was my case. I graduated from OU this past May. I didn't have a job at graduation, so I ended up moving to Moore, thinking I would land a job in OKC. Wrong. I ended up getting a job in Norman a month after graduation. I also just started graduate school at OU, so moving back to Norman would be best for me.

Moore is nice, but the traffic isn't that much better. The worst intersection in the world has to be in Moore @ SW 19th/Telephone/I-35. With Wal-Mart, Shops of Moore, and many other additions coming to that area, it's only getting worse. And if you live in Moore, you can't avoid that area if you need to shop.

[Andrew4OU]

OU is a "huge research university?!"

HAHAHAHAHAA

Try a mediocre research university (ARWU 2009) with mostly bottom-tier graduate programs (Best Graduate Schools - US News and World Report), a 93% (!) freshman acceptance rate in 2009, and a steady supply of UT/TAMU rejects...

You need to brush up on your reading comprehension skills. He didn't say "best" or "good." He said... HUGE. And judging from your previous posts, it looks like you spend most of your time berating anything OU. Thanks for NOT adding anything to this discussion. Austin... Really? The poster did not mention it.

[rag451]

Austin, Texas? Why, God, why? Didn't I see on the news today where some nut plowed an airplane into a building? Think I'll take my chances in tornado alley! ;=)

Robert

[earlywinegareth]

I grew up in Norman and now live in the SW OKC/Westmoore/Southmoore region. The boundaries are roughly I-44 on the West, 89th on the North, Santa Fe on the East, and the boundary w/ Norman on the South. We love it - great neighborhoods, schools, parks, streets, and easy access to the interstates.

[rag451]

To expand on the topic, no matter the city (Moore or Norman), which side of the interstate is better, west or east?

Robert

[kevinpate]

For Norman, I'd lean toward the east side, because 99% of my favorite places in Norman are on that side. West side has been growing, but save to see a few friends, I rarely find myself crossing 35 when I am in Norman.

Don't pop about Moore enough to say with any conviction, but most of my Moore activity has actually been more to the west side of 35.

[dirtrider73068]

For me I like norman one I grew up here two lots of family. Other perks are there plenty of things to do close by, any store I need is with in a short distance. Another plus, is the city of norman likes to put on different events, the closest one and to kick off the spring season is the medieval fair, then in no order is may fair, 4th july mid summer nights fair, we have a winter tree lighting, this may not be all of them the library has different things they do and most is in close distance. You can check on cityofnorman.com for there events and things about the city. One big thing I don't like about norman, but being a city worker and knowing this doesn't help is there waste of money and the way the run things. But overall I like norman better, I did have to live in the city for a couple of years and hated everyday of it, too much traffic, people seemed uptight and pissy all the time, but that could have just been me. One thing to remember is every town or city has its pros and cons, no place is perfect, its all on where you want to be.

[ShiroiHikari]

I like Norman better than Moore. Moore has some very nice neighborhoods, but Norman seems to have more local eateries and whatnot. In Moore, everything seems to be a chain. Anyone know any good local establishments in Moore?

Also 19th Street is a complete nightmare. There are like four stoplights all jammed together within practically one block! The Walmart there is also horrid. And God forbid you need to use the service road over there-- it's darn near impossible to get a turn what with all the people coming off I-35 constantly.

Moore is definitely not bad, but it could be a really nice city given enough time. I'd like to see it develop more of its own unique flavor-- right now I think it's still kind of forming its identity.