Howdy OMAS - Im headed your way

[Emerald]

Hi all, I have just found out that I will be moving to the Tulsa area in the upcoming months.
My name is Amanda and I am a very active member of DFWMAS currently. I look forward to meeting
some of you and attending some meetings when we get settled in there.
I currently run a 135 mixed reef, and I dread moving it!!

My husband has accepted a job with Delphi Catalyst in Port Catoosa. If any of you can offer advice on that area
I would greatly appreciate it. I could really use some feedback on school districts, and
well any useful info you may have. We are looking around Claremore, Jenks, Broken Arrow areas. Any thoughts on where to live or
where Not to live would be helpful.

I am going to let my daughter finish kindergarten here, and play out this soccer season. We will be
looking at neighborhoods and homes on the weekends very soon though.
Anywho, just wanted to go ahead and drop in and say Howdy!

[melev]

Amanda, say it isn't so! No wonder you've been so busy!

[TheMcs]

Here's an early welcome to the neighborhood!

My major school preference is Union. My wife and I both graduated from there and when we bought a house looked solely in the Union district, that's where our daughter goes now. Jenks and BA schools are both good too. I don't know anything about Claremore. What I like about our neighborhood is that we are in BA, Union schools, and close to the 71st St insanity. We're also close to 2 highways which is a consideration if your husband is working in Catoosa. All in all NE Okla is a very nice area.
If you don't already have a real estate agent, I can give you the # of the lady we used to buy our house. She's the atypical agent and has become a family friend over the past 2 years. Also, if you want unloading help please let me know and I'll be there. Any ideas when you'll be coming this way?
Look forward to meeting another reef geek!

[Thumper1]

I love the BA and Jenks area personally but you just need to come up and look around. I just moved to the Tulsa area from Tx myself back in September, I can give you a heads up their, a lot slower paced than TX, people are about the same, traffic is No where near as bad as the DFW area. I'd compare the traffic here at 5pm to DFW traffic at 12midnight.,not bad at all. Email me and I'd be happy to give you a Texans oppinion.
Oh ya I'll gladly help you unload when you get here if need be, I know how crappy it is not knowing anyone and doing it all by yourself, WELCOME OKIE, lol

[Emerald]

Thanks guys! Is Union just the name of the school district and not a town? I keep hearing a lot about BA and Jenks, so I will be sure to have a good look around there. The name and number of RE agent would be great! I have tons of questions... including - 71st St. insanity?? Just a busy area maybe?
I am about an hour north of Dallas now, about 25 min S of Durant if you are familiar with that. It is pretty slow paced and I do enjoy that.
His resignation here will go in early next week I think, so I am guessing he will be up there by the end of the month/very early March. School is out in May, so suddenly things are creeping up on me quicker than I expected. Im guessing my first trip up there will be shortly after that.
Im hoping to spend most of the weekends between then and June house hunting. We had thought about renting for awhile, but what kind of lanlord lets you move in with a cat, a dog, a bird, 150 gallons of water and two kids to boot!
When the time comes I will gladly accept your offers for unloading help, goodness knows I will need it. Now who is volunteering for tank moving day!? Haha!

Thanks again for the early welcome!

[TheMcs]

I went to school at Southeastern, so I know the Durant area well! Are you in Sherman or Denison?
Yes, Union is a school district (STATE CHAMPS!!!). It's mostly in eastern Tulsa, but some overlaps into BA. It's in the same division as Jenks and BA, has some college level programs, and in my biased opinion is a phenomenal school. My daughter is in kindergarten this year at one of its elementary schools.
Right now there are a lot of homes on the market, my neighborhood is flooded with them. One just went on the market down the street from me, right across the street from the elementary school. I'll PM you the # of our RE agent.
See you on moving day!

[TheMcs]

Oh yeah, 71st St is one of the main streets in Tulsa. There's a 2 mile stretch of it beginning with the mall that is packed with restaurants and shopping. On weekends it can take close to an hour to make the 2 miles. 71st & Memorial is the most dangerous intersection in the state and makes the nation's top 10 list. Main problem is that yellow and newly red lights mean little to the idiots around here.

[Emerald]

Hahaha! I am in Sherman, boy it is a small world!
My husband is much more familiar with the area than I am. He has been working up there for his current company about 50% of the last two years. I did travel up that way for a few weeks a couple of years ago, but Im certainly not familiar with anything.
He laughed when I asked if Union was a town, and he has been staying at the Hampton on 71st/Memorial every time he is in town. Hehe, funny that I am putting all this together now!

It looks like I will be in the area much sooner than I thought. He should start his job there the 28th and we need to find an apartment before then. So, I will be up, maybe at the end of next week, looking for a decent little place that he can stay in and me and the kids can spend weekends at for awhile.
Sheesh, moving is kindof shell shocking. Hopefully all of this will go as smooth and painless as possible!

[melev]

I bet. And you've gotta move a reef tank too!

[Emerald]

I know! I have some interesting thoughts about that though.... if all the house stuff goes as planned there will be an inwall waiting for all my inhabitants! If that works out, Ill be emailing you like crazy, HAHA!
Oddly Ive done more thinking about that than anything else... If I have to move it, I might as well make it worthwhile right?!

[melev]

That would be awesome!

[Thumper1]

Dont let anyone scare you on the traffic, You will find it's not any worse that Sherman traffic. Now 71st does get busy at times but not anywhere like the dfw traffic...
This is a real slow paced city for some strage reason but I love it up here. If you have any questions I'll gladly help you out.

[lanamarks]

Welcome to the area. I'm a former Jenks student and I love that area. Not a crowded as Union area. Some parts of west Tulsa (where I live) are in teh Jenks school district but out of the way of all the traffic. Hope all goes well with your move. I can't imagine trying to move my tank. Good luck!

[Travis L. Stevens]

Okay, forgive me for not fully reading the post for it is way too early in the morning. But here are my opinions about Tulsa and surrounding areas with experience in years past with my mother holding after school programs for public schools. This is also coming from someone who has graduated 2.5 years ago. These are all just opinions though, so I may be sorely mistaken.

Bixby- Not too bad. It's kinda small town like, but Bixby is pretty much a part of Tulsa now. You can take Memorial all the way into Tulsa leaving you easy access to LFSs, such as Ultimate Reefs, Tulsa Aquatics, Corals and Reefs, and Aquarium Dynamics/Cowboy Sharkey's

Tulsa-For most of the metropolitan area, unless you are going to move into a really really nice neighbrhood, just don't. I personally HATE the Tulsa Public Schools. Not to say that all are, but most teachers have lost their passion and almost all the students don't care to learn anymore. Though I currently live in a Tulsa Public School area, I WILL move before my son reaches kindegarten. Is poorly depleting. The only reason Tulsa "grows" is because other towns are growing into Tulsa. Then Tulsa claims the town as their own. Tulsa is like a parasite

Union- VERY good school district. It is very high class. This may encounter problems for some students. I can see a lot of students easily be picked on in this school system, but if you want education and opportunities then stick with this school. There is only a slight chance that someone will become a minority in that school system and be picked on, but I know someone who wasn't "rich" enough to be there and was picked on constantly. I think he was just one of the unlucky few. You have them in all schools though. LFS access is the same as above, but even closer. Union area is growing and will always grow if they keep up their high standards

Jenks-Another great choice. I was privledged to have attended Jenks Public Schools for a year and a half. It was great. There is the chance of bullying as mentioned above here as well. It is also a very high class kinda school, but the opportunities are advanced here. Also will be far enough out of Tulsa for a little privacy and out of that city life (which you might be tired of being from Dallas/Ft Worth....that place is SOOO busy to my standards) You will also have easy access to the Oklahoma Aquarium. You can get a yearly pass for, I think, $65. Jenks is growing by leaps and bounds!

Broken Arrow-I personally have only known a few people that have went to BA, but it seems to be ranked up in there quite high. You also have access to some other fish stores as well. BA seems to be growing, but more sparsely. Thats what I see when I drive through, but I dont go through often. Let these BA people tell you whats going on

Owasso- Kinda the same as Broken Arrow, but i believe ranks a little higher than BA on the education level. I don't know about access to our beloved addiction, the reef aquarium though. I don't know about the city's growth rate, but I believe it is moderately growing

Sapulpa - GO CHIEFTAINS!! This might be a little bit bias, but this is where I graduated and lived for about 11 years. I have to admit, that they don't rank the highest in education, but most of the teachers there do the best they can with what they have and if you get a good one, they will bend over backwards to help you. GO MRS. FLORER!! The ( I can't think of the words here) upper ranking faculty, ie principal, etc, are the ones you might need to watch out for. They often clash with parents, but the teachers often go behind the principals back to get what a student deserves (whether thats punishment, or reward). The overall atmosphere of Sapulpa is quite small town. You can get from point A to point B very quick, and it's a rather decent drive to Tulsa, but the seclusion is well worth it. Sapulpa is also slowly growing

Sand Springs- This is very similar to Sapulpa, and another good choice. i don't know about the education standards but i had many friends that went to Sand Springs and loved it. Sapulpa and Sand Springs seem to be almost the same. I have had people transfer to SS and hate it, Ive had people that transfer to SS and love it. And the same goes for SS students go to Sapulpa. It is about 50/50. Sand Springs seems to be growing outwards, but Tulsa is growing slightly towards SS to suck it up. SS you have easy lake access for get aways, and is rather close to Tulsa.

Well, I know you weren't interested in hearing about a few of those school districts, but I thought that I would list them all so you could have a full coverage of every area. I hope this has helped you tremendously.

Travis and Family

PS Sapulpa is closest to Oklahoma City....you might be able to shorten your drive so you can attend both OMAS and COMAS meetings ;P

[Travis L. Stevens]

I read Thumper1's post about traffic. Yes it's true, its busy, but not too bad. I think that everyone in Tulsa needs to be retested for their liscense, but I have seen worse. Just drive defensively and you will be fine. The best way to avoid traffic is just to avoid Memorial from 71st-51st, Sheridan from 31st to 51st, the Mingo Traffic Circle (Mingo and Admiral), Riverside from 91st to ???...just avoid Riverside during busy times...its not as bad as Memorial but its still bad. There are a few others but I think those are the busiest in Tulsa because of highway on/off ramps that are "conviniently" placed where EVERYONE wants to go. If you must be at 71st and Memorial and need to get on highway 169, then head to 81st or 51st (71st is always busy, and 61st has construction and Union Middle School close to the highway, so when school is out, its jammed.)

[Emerald]

Thanks Lana and Travis! That was a ton of info Travis, thanks for typing it all out for me! I will be up in the area next week looking for a temporary apartment for Doug. Im looking forward to just driving around up there a little bit so I can figure some of this stuff out. Spring break is in a couple of weeks and Im going to try and at least look at some of the schools there that week - Im hoping spring break is at a different time up there!
Other than that everything is coming along well so far. We should start looking at homes in early March!

[Travis L. Stevens]

I'm just glad that you had enough patience to read through all my ramblings.

Usually it seems like most of the school districts have spring break at different times. Or at least that's what it seemed like in Sapulpa. But I do remember one year where they all almost let out at once. I'll try to get some information for you.

[GSerg2]

I live in Owasso and love it here. We are experiencing some growing pains right now (you know roads, construction...) but overall a nice place to be. Owasso is fairly close to Catoosa. Not sure what morning/evening traffic is like to and from there.

We just got through building a house so if you need info on Owasso neighborhoods or builders, I might be able to help a little.

I don't envy you having to move a 135g tank. But I tore down a 110 when I moved. I put it into a 55g and a 37g temporarily and moved both of those again when the house was done. Now I am waiting for the cabinet to be finished for a new 215g. Whew, it's been a long few months. I hope this move into the 215g will be the last for a looooong while.

Welcome to the area.

Greg

[Carl_in_Florida]

Originally posted by Emerald

Other than that everything is coming along well so far. We should start looking at homes in early March!

How has the house hunting gone? Just curious how your relocation has been. I am think about doing the same.

Carl

[Emerald]

Hi Carl, the house hunting has gone really well. There is a lot of property available right now, which makes things quite a bit easier. I will be going back up to look at houses again in May, hopefully for the last time!
Its a nice area, Im sure you will enjoy it if you come up this way.

[AlienSpawn]

I have lived in the Tulsa area for 35 years. I will give you a few quick tips and if you are still looking for more info keep posting and I will try to add. First and foremost: DO NOT, I REPEAT DO NOT, LET YOUR CHILDREN IN TULSA PUBLIC SCHOOLS!!!!!!! Ok, with that said you have got Jenks, where my wife and I graduated, truly great public school. Lots of snobby rich kids there but a pretty good mix and a good education. My kids are in elementary school at Broken Arrow and so far we think it is great! I know lots of people with kids that go to Union and it seems to be a really good school too. Claremore would be alot closer for you husband to drive to work but the school is a questionable. I work with a guy who graduated from there a couple of years ago and heard some bad stories. 71st street traffic is tollerable if you know the key times to avoid. The first key time is December!! Then late afternoon, Friday evening, all day Saturday, and Sunday afternoon.
Welcome to Tulsa, I love it hear and let me know what else you want to know.

[melev]

Emerald, don't leave!

[naterd1976]

Hello Emerald,

I just moved to Broken Arrow about 6 months ago from Seattle. Really nice area. We were kinda in the same situation as your family is in right now. We looked for about a month at houses all around the tulsa area. The price you want to pay for a house is going to somewhat dictate where you live. Luckily, housing prices aren't too expensive in this area. I sold my 1300 sqr ft house in Seattle for more than I paid for a 2500 spr ft house in BA.

If you want a large yard you may have to look in the outer areas of the Tulsa. There is no commute here, traffic compared to bigger cities is null. So driving 20 miles to work usually means 20 minutes communte, unlike in Seattle where 20 minutes could mean 90 minute commute.

Broken Arrow has a great school system from what we can tell. Our 5 year old daughter is currently playing soccer in the Broken Arrow soccer club ( I think all the cities in this area have there own sports clubs). Quite a few LFS in the area, so you wont be deprived there.

I guess you will probably due what we did, just find the house you want, double check the school system and move in!!!

Good luck on your move!

Nathan

[Travis L. Stevens]

I have to admit, but thats the good part about this area in Oklahoma. Thats all you need to do is look at a house you like, see if you like the schools and location and just go for it. I had a brother in law move into a two story 5 bedroom (he calls it a 4 bed but theres an office next to one that I call an extra bedroom) in an awesome neighborhood for only $136,000. That should help you estimate prices a little better.

[Emerald]

Silly Marc, Ill be back to visit.. I promise!

Thanks everyone for all of the great info! I am coming back up on the 11th to look again. If we dont find something that weekend we may just rent for a short bit, so that we can still move in June.
The school year has been just crazy here and I havent had nearly as much time as I would like to find a house.
So far we are looking at moving to Owasso, it is very similar to the town we live in now. Ill be visiting their schools on the 11th as well, so hopefully they will check out nicely.