Oklahoma City, In the Press

[Teo9969]

Living in Oklahoma City, OK | U.S. News & World Report

coming in at #4…Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Those rankings are about as suspect as they can be.

[mkjeeves]

#4 Fayetteville, Arkansas

I can see them on the list. The region has changed and is changing and is a college town in the middle of a bunch of economic activity.

[Teo9969]

Not sure where exactly to put this, but I thought was the best place. Admin, feel free to move it:

Worth the trip: Turkish businessmen seek opportunities in Oklahoma City

By: Molly M. Fleming The Journal Record March 8, 2016

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City is a 19-hour flight from Turkey. But more than 40 Turkish businessmen thought it was worth the trip to see investment opportunities here.

“I wanted to see the different commercial real estate opportunities,” said Emih Temiz, who came on the trip organized by the American Turkic Business Council. “It’s definitely something further we should look at.”

Temiz has a retail center in Houston and is building two new single-family homes in Austin.

“Houston has big exposure to oil market,” Temiz said. “I wanted (an economy that’s) a little more stable.”

Temiz and the other businessmen have a combined $200 million to invest, and had to have at least $500,000 in investment money to come on the trip. The men started their journey in Houston, then spent two days in Oklahoma City, and are also stopping in Dallas and New York.

“We didn’t want to have uninterested parties,” said Ersin Demirci, vice president of aerospace and energy for the American Turkic Business Council.

While in Oklahoma City, they learned about investment opportunities in commercial real estate, All About Chai coffee and tea restaurant, and manufacturing businesses. They also attended a reception at the Governor’s Mansion, where Oklahoma City Thunder basketball player Enes Kanter visited. Kanter’s father is from Turkey, and Enes Kanter played youth basketball in the country.

Clearwater Enterprises President Tony Say is also a Turkey native. He is hosting a private reception Wednesday.

This is the Turkic Business Council’s first year to host such an event, but the plan is to make it an annual occurrence, said Kadir Akkus, executive director of the Raindrop Foundation, which operates the Raindrop Turkish House. Tuesday’s lunch was held at the Turkish House on Classen.

Texas Turkish Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Orhan Osman said the businessmen want to invest in the U.S. because of political issues in Turkey. He said any company that doesn’t support the Turkish government’s wrongdoing is considered an outcast and the government will find reasons to shut down the business.

“We want them to find a safe haven in Oklahoma, Texas or New Mexico,” he said.

He said similar trips have proven successful in Texas, with $150 million being invested in a manufacturing company in 2013. In 2014, a Turkish investor put $7 million into a manufacturing company in New Mexico.

He said the Turkish businessmen are not seeking EB-5 visas, though they are interested in E-2 options.

All EB-5 investors must fund new development, which means it’s completed after 1990. In exchange for the investment, the investor and family members are granted conditional permanent residence for two years.

The E-2 option allows a person from a country with which the United States maintains a treaty of commerce and navigation to be admitted to the United States when investing a substantial amount of capital.

Burhan Altinbilek with the Texas-based Original Group LLC has invested in 10 apartment complexes in Houston and 10 more complexes in College Station, Texas. The Turkey native has been in the U.S. for seven years.

His company renovates Class C apartments into higher-quality products to get higher lease rates. In Oklahoma City, Altinbilek said he sees prospects to continue his business model.

“Maybe in the future we’ll have 10 (complexes) in Oklahoma City,” he said. “There’s a lot of opportunities here.”

The bolded parts, I think, are very important.

It would be great to get some Turkish business in OKC and try and get a Turkish Airlines flight set up from here to Houston. Turkish is an amazing airline.

[AP]

Dallas, Houston, and NY. That's elite company, right there.

[PhiAlpha]

Shout out for rivers port Rapids from the Chicago tribune: 5 new attractions promise to deliver big thrills, great views - Chicago Tribune

[turnpup]

The British Airways i360 looks like a modern and bigger version of our (former) space needle ride at the state fair.

[bchris02]

?Worst Walking City? in U.S. Gets Back on its Feet ? Green Transportation ? MOTHER EARTH NEWS

Informative article about OKC and its effort to improve walkability.

[jerrywall]

Tulsa Ranked Most Dangerous City in United States | KTUL

Guess I'm happy to let Tulsa be #1 on this list...

[TheTravellers]

Tulsa Ranked Most Dangerous City in United States | KTUL

Guess I'm happy to let Tulsa be #1 on this list...

Story's from 9/2014, might not still be true (OKC was #2 on it, suspect we're #1 and #2 because of OK's high amount of car crashes and lower amount of people w/health insurance)

[jerrywall]

Well yeah, and these rankings are as much for amusement as anything (since criteria is so subjective).

[gopokes88]

Defining "dangerous" is subjective at best

[gman11695]

The YouTube channel "Dude Perfect" did a world record off the Cotter Ranch Tower for Worlds Highest Basketball Shot
https://youtu.be/gm2_6DX_0Bw
I remember driving by a few weeks ago and wondering why they were throwing basketballs off the building �� Some pretty cool shots though!

[GaryOKC6]

The YouTube channel "Dude Perfect" did a world record off the Cotter Ranch Tower for Worlds Highest Basketball Shot
https://youtu.be/gm2_6DX_0Bw
I remember driving by a few weeks ago and wondering why they were throwing basketballs off the building �� Some pretty cool shots though!

Yes!. It was very cool to watch. It took them several tries but they finally made it.

[OKCisOK4me]

They showed it on ABC News this morning ;-)

[Snowman]

Yes!. It was very cool to watch. It took them several tries but they finally made it.

How high did it bounce on misses?

[king183]

Oklahoma City ranked as one of the best cities for jobs. Check it out.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articl...ities-for-jobs

[OkiePoke]

Oklahoma City ranked as one of the best cities for jobs. Check it out.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articl...ities-for-jobs

That's great. Although OKC is on the bottom of the list for salary, OKC is near the bottom for cost of living.

This is a good list to be on.

[AP]

We're mixed in with elite company there, imo. Or at least as far as tech cities go, which is rather surprising. All of the cities above us on that list have thriving tech hubs.

[jerrywall]

We're mixed in with elite company there, imo. Or at least as far as tech cities go, which is rather surprising. All of the cities above us on that list have thriving tech hubs.

As far as the tech sector, I'm not that surprised. We've had a rather thriving tech industry in Oklahoma for the past couple of decades. Working in it, I'm rather comfortable in the mindset that I'll never be unemployed for long. The longest I've been unemployed is about 24 hours. There's just so many job opportunities in Oklahoma. I make less than I'd make in Austin or Dallas, but I feel like there's much less competition for the open positions.

[GoldFire]

How high did it bounce on misses?

They were bouncing back up around 2-3 floors of the parking garage.

[TheTravellers]

As far as the tech sector, I'm not that surprised. We've had a rather thriving tech industry in Oklahoma for the past couple of decades. Working in it, I'm rather comfortable in the mindset that I'll never be unemployed for long. The longest I've been unemployed is about 24 hours. There's just so many job opportunities in Oklahoma. I make less than I'd make in Austin or Dallas, but I feel like there's much less competition for the open positions.

Interesting, my opinion isn't quite as rosy - I've always had huge competition for jobs (UNIX sys admin/engineer) and so have the other UNIX sys admins/engineers I've known. Been painful for any of us to try to find a job over the past few years. What do you do that is so in demand (I might have to change fields )?

[jerrywall]

Interesting, my opinion isn't quite as rosy - I've always had huge competition for jobs (UNIX sys admin/engineer) and so have the other UNIX sys admins/engineers I've known. Been painful for any of us to try to find a job over the past few years. What do you do that is so in demand (I might have to change fields )?

Software engineer. So UI and back end development. PHP, Coldfusion, C++, Java, MySQL, etc. I do agree that web development jobs seem to be easier to come by than sys admin type positions.

[traxx]

Really good article about Durant, The Thunder, and OKC.

http://www.si.com/nba/2016/05/24/kev...s-nba-playoffs

[gopokes88]

Really good article about Durant, The Thunder, and OKC.

http://www.si.com/nba/2016/05/24/kev...s-nba-playoffs

"He now lives in Deep Deuce, just north of Bricktown, and posts up with a beer by the fire pit at Deep Deuce Grill. “You know how in your neighborhood there’s a spot where everybody goes,” Durant says. “That’s our spot. I walk there, and when I open the door, everybody is like, ‘Hey, KD. What up, KD?’ Then they go back to their beer."

That's the most OKC thing I've ever read. A huge positive for the city's image, hope we never lose that.

[AP]

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/tornadoes/