To move from OKC or not...

[Bunty]

I'm at the opposite end of the spectrum; I'm trying to get to OKC in hopes that it will be my permanent home. I actually sold my house a few weeks ago, which was one hurdle towards starting the process to relocate. The next hurdle is finding a job.

You're right; you only have one life to live and you should experience as much as you can. Travel around the world. Meet new people. Get to know yourself a little more. You will know when you've found the right place.

Congratulations with wanting to get settled with a job and home in the Oklahoma City area. Lots of luck to you, if you need it. I never had much trouble finding a job in Stillwater when I needed one, so it should be even easier for you to find a good job in Oklahoma City.

[poe]

Congratulations with wanting to get settled with a job and home in the Oklahoma City area. Lots of luck to you, if you need it. I never had much trouble finding a job in Stillwater when I needed one, so it should be even easier for you to find a good job in Oklahoma City.

Much appreciated!

[Teo9969]

Great to see a handful of people coming in from other places, and glad that they found OKCTalk so quickly

[Prunepicker]

I'm at the opposite end of the spectrum; I'm trying to get to OKC in hopes that it will
be my permanent home. I actually sold my house a few weeks ago, which was one
hurdle towards starting the process to relocate. The next hurdle is finding a job.

You're right; you only have one life to live and you should experience as much as
you can. Travel around the world. Meet new people. Get to know yourself a little
more. You will know when you've found the right place.

You'll like it here. The cost of living is excellent. Another plus is that you're less
than a days drive from NM, TX, CO, KS, AR, LA & MO for whatever type of
scenery you want.

[TU 'cane]

I just had to read through about 2/3 - 3/4 of your post before I had my answer/suggestion for you:

Move.

Move while you can. You're still at a prime age to do so, no baggage (yes, I'm referring to family, etc.) to worry about, and you rent.
You're good. Go while you can. Go South, Go West... Go wherever you want.

You can always come back if you wanted to or felt the inner necessity to when you're ready to settle down.

[BG918]

I would advise anyone to live somewhere else besides where they grew up for at least a few years. Multiple places that very different if you can. Then come back home if you so choose with that experience.

[bradh]

I would advise anyone to live somewhere else besides where they grew up for at least a few years. Multiple places that very different if you can. Then come back home if you so choose with that experience.

either that or strongly encourage your kids to go to a four year college out of state, that's what I'd like to do with my daughter. I didn't do that but my wife did and it was great for her.

[Chadanth]

either that or strongly encourage your kids to go to a four year college out of state, that's what I'd like to do with my daughter. I didn't do that but my wife did and it was great for her.

My wife and I both went to schools VERY close to home, and I agree with your sentiment. We look forward to our kids going further away for school.

[Just the facts]

Pack up and move down here to Jax. You can be in Orlando in less than 3 hours, NASCAR down the road at Daytona, Charleston is 4 hours north, more beaches than you can ever visit, 6 cruise ports within an easy drive, TPC every year, warm weather 9 months, snow skiing in NC is an easy drive, and if you get really board ATL and Miami are 5 hours away and NYC is a 2.5 hours/$300 flight away. Heck, you can eat lunch in Jax and have dinner in Grand Bahamas. Cost of living is on par with OKC but no state income tax. Plus some the downtown neighborhoods are fantastic. You will have to put up with a crappy NFL team though.

[White Peacock]

I'll jump on the GTFO bandwagon. You're not betraying your home city by relocating, and if you're getting to that crossroads where you realize you may someday regret not making a change now, listen to that feeling.

I got it out of my system in my mid-20s, by moving to Portland. I loved my two years there and I think had I not gone then, I'd be regretting it by now.

Now I'm in a position where I could stay in OKC forever, or move, without any strong inclination in either direction. I suppose a dead-end job has that effect on you.

[TheTravellers]

One more thing I want to add regarding moving, and this applies for ANY move, consider not only what you will gain by moving but what you will lose. Many times what we lose by moving affects our psyche later on moreso than what we gain.

For instance, right now pretty much every pathway I have to move would require me to move without a job and without enough money to last very long in my new location. This means I could possibly be going from an awesome job using my degree to something low-end that would enable me to make enough to scrape by (possibly hourly). It's a dilemma because while I have some appealing options on the table, I am not sure if its worth leaving a great job and/or putting my career in jeopardy. On the flipside I could end up living somewhere that would be a better fit for me at this point in my life than OKC. It would definitely be a gamble. The important thing is to think everything through and not make any rash decisions on emotion or boredom.

I second this, definitely! Moved to Milwaukee in 95, then found out how much that sucked, so moved to Chicagoland a year later and was there for 12-ish years. The weather and housing costs got to us, so we decided to move again to Seattle-ish, and found out that was ill-advised due to lack of journalism jobs and the recession just starting. So, yes, move, absolutely (I couldn't wait to get out of here, and am fairly sorry I had to move back (due to the recession, this was the only place out of about a dozen that had a job for me)), but consider that moving will cost you a lot of money, a lot of time, and possibly some friendships. Also, be very, very, very careful of the cost of living comparison websites - their data is generally 3-4 months old, and we relied on it for information about the Seattle area and got kind of blindsided by some things when we got there. But, again, yes, move!

[gopokes88]

To all the new people moving here.

Go visit the okc bombing memorial and museum. You won't regret it.

[Prunepicker]

Pack up and move down here to Jax...

Hmmm, it's certainly closer to western NC and northern GA for trout fishing.

[tfvc.org]

I am someone who was born and raised in Denver and saw the country of Oklahoma as my vacation spot as a kid (grandparents were here) and lived in St Pete Florida for 9 years and now back here. I want to move back to St Pete or to Costa Blanca Spain if I can. You need to see the world, experience the culture, see how things are done elsewhere, not only know how others see life, their country, and the US and why. See past the bubble of Oklahoma (granted it is easier now with the interwebs). I know so many people who have never left the state and have no desire to, their opinion and views on life are usually extremely narrow, I wonder what it would be like for them to see life beyond this state, beyond this country. Even if you come back a year later and never want to leave the state, you will have your own informed opinion as to why.

[Lord Helmet]

I moved away from OKC nearly six years ago. Unlike you I have a wife and kids. We uprooted everyone and moved to Colorado. It's been a fantastic adventure. After living in Oklahoma for my whole life it has been a real eye opening experience getting out of OK. I love being from Oklahoma and love visiting friends and family a couple times a year, but I doubt I'll ever live there again.

[Bunty]

Decades ago when visiting Colorado at Colorado Springs for the first time, the eye opening experience from the scenery alone was about enough to make me move there. But I'm just a homebody at heart, my whole family is, and didn't care for that kind of upheaval in life. I eventually got a decent paying career and from then on moving to anywhere seldom crossed my mind, even though I could have asked to be transferred out of state.

The politics at the State Capitol have shifted so far to the right, I'm not surprised young people or any non homebody would want to move out of state. I would not be critical of anyone who does. That this legislative session is about to end is a greater relief than usual and to be glad it didn't turn out to be a worse embarrassment to the nation.

[Bunty]

I am someone who was born and raised in Denver and saw the country of Oklahoma as my vacation spot as a kid (grandparents were here) and lived in St Pete Florida for 9 years and now back here. I want to move back to St Pete or to Costa Blanca Spain if I can. You need to see the world, experience the culture, see how things are done elsewhere, not only know how others see life, their country, and the US and why. See past the bubble of Oklahoma (granted it is easier now with the interwebs). I know so many people who have never left the state and have no desire to, their opinion and views on life are usually extremely narrow, I wonder what it would be like for them to see life beyond this state, beyond this country. Even if you come back a year later and never want to leave the state, you will have your own informed opinion as to why.

So in trying to decide who to vote for, throw in how many states and they have visited. Countries included. The candidate who has been to the most gets the vote.

[Motley]

I believe it is good to live in other locations and be willing to move, but I don't think OK has a monopoly on myopic views and narrow-mindedness. I find people are very similar throughout the US, and you will find OKlahomans are not that bad. The people in the US, beginning 15 miles inland from the Pacific all the way to the NE coast, share a lot of the same values and thinking.

[jn1780]

I think anyone could get old and boring if you stay the same place for 20+ years when your single. People who are married and have kids are usually preoccupied with raising their family to be board.

[gopokes88]

I am someone who was born and raised in Denver and saw the country of Oklahoma as my vacation spot as a kid (grandparents were here) and lived in St Pete Florida for 9 years and now back here. I want to move back to St Pete or to Costa Blanca Spain if I can. You need to see the world, experience the culture, see how things are done elsewhere, not only know how others see life, their country, and the US and why. See past the bubble of Oklahoma (granted it is easier now with the interwebs). I know so many people who have never left the state and have no desire to, their opinion and views on life are usually extremely narrow, I wonder what it would be like for them to see life beyond this state, beyond this country. Even if you come back a year later and never want to leave the state, you will have your own informed opinion as to why.

Being content isn't a bad thing or something to knock someone for. A lot of born and raised Oklahomans that have no desire to move, are some of the happiest people I know.

[Bellaboo]

Being content isn't a bad thing or something to knock someone for. A lot of born and raised Oklahomans that have no desire to move, are some of the happiest people I know.

I was born and raised here, been around the world about 5 times, been to about 40 out of the 50 states. I'm as content as could be living here. Have siblings that live in Texas, Arizona and Nevada, They say they stay there due to their kids and grandkids. But we are all proud Okies. Amongst these relatives (either siblings or spouses) of mine are 4 doctors and or PHD's.
There is a lot about Oklahoma that has our interest, and we are fortunate enough to take 2 or 3 overseas vacations a year. Life is great.

[tfvc.org]

Being content isn't a bad thing or something to knock someone for. A lot of born and raised Oklahomans that have no desire to move, are some of the happiest people I know.

I am not saying they are unhappy, I just think that they are missing out on a lot of things by not seeing the world, or at least other parts of the country.

[Bellaboo]

I am not saying they are unhappy, I just think that they are missing out on a lot of things by not seeing the world, or at least other parts of the country.

Been there and done that, I feel like I've experienced the world well enough to know there are great things and bad things just about everywhere.

[bchris02]

I think tfvc.org is talking more about people who have never even traveled. Even if you live in OKC your entire life you can travel and get a pretty good idea of what the world offers if you do it right. It's not as common with the younger generation, but I've met older people here who have only rarely left the OKC metro area. They may go to Tulsa once in a blue moon or on an extremely rare special occasion go to DFW. My dad was that way until he joined the Air Force. His entire life growing up, the only time he ever left town was to go to Six Flags over Texas his sophomore year of high school. I have no doubt people can be happy living like that but they are missing out on a lot the world has to offer.

[Anonymous.]

OP, where do you live right now?

I know first-hand that living in OKC and living in a specific district of OKC are entirely different things.