Relocating to OKC

[Veteran04]

Can someone give me good advice regarding diverse areas and/or districts to consider? Especially a community that welcomes African Americans without the obvious segregation/separation. I'm relocating from Lexington, KY. Thanks for your help.

[Karried]

Welcome to OKC! Were you able to read the article from your hometown visitors to our city recently? I'll see if I can find it.

I'm not sure what you mean about obvious separation.. I'm in the Northern part of the Metro and there are many African Americans living here.
I haven't really noticed people making an issue about nationality or separation.

I hope you find OK very welcoming whatever area you end up living in.

[HFK]

Hi Veteran,

Roughly speaking, the northeast side of Oklahoma City is probably what's known as the black side of town, and parts of it can be pretty rough. I know that that used to be the case years ago, and I believe that it's still at least partialy true. At one time Del City (a suburb east of central Oklahoma City) had a growing black population but, once again, I'm not sure if that's still the case. Del City was a bit rough too, or at least getting that way. Anyway, I don't suppose that's what you actually wanted to know.

Speaking as a white guy (with imperfect, second-hand knowledge) I don't think that any part of town would be any more (or less) hostile towards black folks than any other part. I'm going to guess that, as you get away from town, things change, but I suppose the same is true in Kentucky and most other places. That's just a guess, though: I've lived in a little satellite town for a year plus and haven't seen a bit of that sort of thing, but it's a pretty whitebread community, so I suppose that I wouldn't.

What about Norman? Great little college town, quite a melting pot, all the amenities. It's a bit of a drive from OKC, though, and the traffic is tough (although they're in the process of rebuilding the freeway (I35) between OKC and Norman).

Good luck, and I hope that you like it here.

One more thing, fyi: (others on the group with more direct knowledge, please correct me if I'm wrong): as I understand it, the black population of the city was more concentrated prior to the oil bust in the '80s. After the bust, prices plummeted everywhere in town, which opened up parts of the city that blacks had, in earlier times, difficulty affording. In other words, the bust was instrumental in the spread of blacks throughout the city. Regulars, is that an old wives tale?

[Luke]

If it's diversity you want, I recommend the Asian District. I live in the Asian District which is a real melting pot. The Asian district is centered around NW 23rd and Classen. Don't let the name fool you, the area is very diverse. It just happens to have a higher than average concentration of Asians (particularly Vietnamese). On my block alone there are college students, a senior citizen couple, a gay couple (although they relocated not too long ago), a black family, an Asian family, a lady that appears to be Native American and a few white families as well. The neighbhorhoods in the area are full of historic homes, but with wide price ranges. Look at Mesta Park, Gatewood, Heritage Hills, Edgemere Park and Crown Heights. I'm sure there are some other neighborhoods in the area surrounding the Asian District that I'm not thinking of right now.

In any case, welcome to the "Big Town."

Luke

[metro]

Veteran, welcome to OKC! I'd be happy to offer my two cents as well. If you can offer what type of amenities, price range and lifestyle, I'd be happy to give you some ideas. I think Uptown, near the Asian district would be a great area for you. The Paseo, Jefferson Park, and Edgemere Park are right in the general area and are upcoming, multi-faceted historical areas. Paseo is an arts district, and the other two are historical and border the same general area as well as the Asian District. This area is a great melting pot. You might not prefer this type of lifestyle so if you can give us some details.....

[Decious]

What's up Veteran! Glad to hear about your decision to relocate. I hope you're coming by choice and weren't forced via a layoff or what have you.

From one African American to another, don't even sweat that kind of stuff. Come to OKC and find the area that suits you best. Consider every quality of life issue that matters to you, but leave race out. If someone chooses not to like you because of your skin color, SO WHAT!!!

That being said, I lived in Moore for 4 years and recently bought a house in Norman. I've have friends in Edmond(I play raquetball @ Windrush and gig @ the UCO Jazz Lab), I spend time downtown(my girlfriend works in Oklahoma Tower) and I hang out in Bricktown regularly(I like 2 party). I haven't encountered a single person who I feel blatantly treated me different because I'm black.

The black community in OKC is very vibrant and is doing great things to improve the lives of black youth in the city and to improve the city as a whole. Almost all of this happens behind the scenes and doesn't get much publicity, but great things are happening all of the time.

Don't get me wrong, it's not paradise. You still have the stereotyping and misunderstanding of the values of the black culture, but that's the result of a lack of education, not racism. No biggie.

As you'll see from perusing this message board, Oklahomans are friendly, smart, passionate people. I think that OKCTalk is a great sampling of the prevailing mindsets of this area and I encourage you to participate often.

Remember....Live where YOU want to live. DO NOT settle for less because of some loser. God Bless.