Considering moving to OK from AZ. Can someone give me their personal view of the political climate, 2nd amendment rights, and overall quality of life in OK?


 Please and thank you,

Dan

Depends on where you go in Oklahoma and what you expect out of life here.  

We recently got constitutional carry so no permits required.  The politics are predominately red.  The economy is average although at the moment the major industry here, the energy sector, is in the gutter because of covid stuff.  Once the virus issues ease up the energy sector will recover as always.

Depending on where in OK you move whats available will vary greatly.  Central Oklahoma is pretty flat and not a lot of trees.  The far East side of the state from North to south is very green with heavy forestry.  Extremely beautiful.  I don't have any personal experience with other parts of the state.

Wherever you go I highly recommend purchasing property with a storm shelter.  Without knowing what you like or what you want that's all I can think of.

Brandi,

Thank you for that, Its a great start. I am really open to areas. I really ran my mouse over the state and ended up looking at a place called Altus. Houses seem nice, some with storm cellars, lakes(apparently man made) are near by for fishing. Apparently hunting isnt bad either. I have just been browsing different areas to see what things are like. Lots to choose from all over. I may now browse the eastern half as I certainly love heavy forests!

thank you,

Dan

Born and raised in NE Oklahoma and lived in the state a big part of my life.
I don't have much experience with SW area other than Ft Sill sometimes.  
I live central area now and like it cause I can be anywhere in the State I about 3 hours and can be in Dallas in the same amount of time which can make a nice get away if your looking for a big selection of dining or entrainment.
If you like gambling you can just about throw a rock from anywhere in the state and hit a casino. Which means we get a pretty good selection of concerts.
The world's largest gun show is held in Tulsa twice a year and I always have a great time there.
As has already been said we don't need a permit to carry concealed or open, no universal back ground checks. Class 3 is good to go and there is a good full auto shoot in Wyandotte once a year.

If you have and specific questions shoot me an IM

You're welcome.  If I were to choose a spot in Oklahoma it would be the eastern side edge of the state one hundred million percent.

 Lots of greenery and trees to keep you cool in the summer.   I moved to "green country" OK from Phoenix many years ago and it's a night and day difference having a home nestled amongst the trees vs sitting out baking in the sun without them.  The east side has plenty of lakes/rivers for fishing and whatnot as well as great hunting.  The further southeast the more you'll get into feral hog country.

I'm in central OK now and there's some trees but not a lot and it gets hotter than the devil's buttcrack around here.  Arizona was hot but once you throw in high humidity here the heat becomes oppressive and of course then you get the twisters.

I don't have any experience in the Altus part of the state.  I assume it's probably a lot like Texas but I don't know.  I think there's an air force base there.  If you do decide to swap states make sure you join the HTF, we need more people in here.

Things are slowly changing but there's one thing in the E part of the state things won't change without a fight! We're Clanish if we accept you you will have a great life. Jobs are few and far therefore a lot of people work off. But as far as a place to raise a family I think we're second to none!!! As Brandi stated we have decent hunting but we don't have the quality game the row crop areas have. Feral hogs have wiped out the quail and turkey populations. But it seems like the feral pig numbers are finally starting to go down a bit. If your into bird hunting I would suggest McCalister area. They seem to still have decent numbers if Water fowl is your thing the Eastern part of the state is great. Just be prepared for some of the worst humidity next to the gulf!

Oklahoma is split into 4 parts by I35 that runs north and south and I40 that runs east and west.

The folks in the area I reside south of I40 and east of I35, tend to be clanish, and if someone gets offended by something you do or say they tend to stay offended for life. Other than that most folks are pretty chill and have a you do your thing I do mine mentality.

Be warned tho the far southeast corner of the state is not a place a outsider wants to settle in, just saying.

The state has a strong free shit army presence, and they are not ashamed of it, most will brag about it.

Meth and related crimes are on the rise. We deal with so much theft now on a daily basis its why even try to stop them esp when the law is written now that theft of under $1000 is just a ticket and leave and businesses don't event try to press charges.

You will low property taxes but the state makes up for it in taxing everything else you buy, including online and of course your income.

There are some decent hunting and fishing public lands, good luck with private landowners letting you even fish let alone hunt, everyone wants a ton of money for leases now, nothing like it was 40 years ago.

Gun laws are good, constitutional carry is now the law of the land, be warned some police do not like it all and will still try to jam you up. Most are pretty chill with it tho.

A short drive can you get into a big city or into the country side, so there is a wide mix of scenery,

Humid in the spring and summer, I mean wtf was god thinking here LOL. Winters can be cold with more ice than snow, which sucks. Spring time brings hail, wind and tornadoes, as mentioned have a shelter and a plan. The larger cities will get the storm chasing and alerts more than the rural areas will like where I am at. Sucks but be weather aware and you will be fine.

Ticks and chiggers are a pain, esp if you spend anytime outdoors, ya chiggers, never heard of them, look them up, evil little bastards from hell.

Rent prices are higher than shit, so if you can look into purchasing a home, you will save money.

Plan on getting a pickup, its almost a condition to live here, LOL. I am partial to Toyotas.

Pretty good mix of folks here on the board, although I do mis a few of the old timers who no longer stop in, I rarely stop in here myself these days.

Hope this gives you a idea of life here in okie land, good luck.  Where are you looking at moving to and what do you do?

Loads of data.. Nice..

  I am currently looking at Owasso, OK and it keeps changing it seems as I dig more and more into the state. I am set with a truck, already own a toyota that is more set up for camping/offroading than anything else. ahhhh Chiggers. Had them multiple times when I lived in Illinois. Not at all a fun experience.

 thank you everyone for your experiences. I am plotting an exploration trip in the OK here soon to check out the different areas in the state to see what best suits me so thank you for the advice!

Good luck, personally I would stay south of 40. But that's just me. Never have cared much for the tulsa area.

X2!

X3

I’ve lived in SE Oklahoma (where a few here have recommended) and currently live in Tulsa (Jenks to be specific). Owasso is probably the fastest growing  Tulsa suburb and most liberal. I believe Owasso cracked down the hardest during this pandemic. Owasso’s growth is spurred by “white flight” from Tulsa - namely the Tulsa public school system. I personally like the area I’m in, and if you go just a little South you can have a bit of a country feel.

As far as I40 and South. I would say, also look into the Ft Smith AR area as well. McAlester is fine if you have an angle into a base job. SE Oklahoma as a whole is pretty and a great place; but it’s not for everyone.

I don’t think chiggers, ticks and mosquitos are that bad. But you better hold on to your ass for that July/August heat!

Owasso is too big for me but that area of the state is nice.  You can find some nice places outside the cities.  Owasso is also too close to Tulsa.  Unless of course you prefer living in a city, some people do.  Personally I hate cities and can't wait to get out of the one I'm in now.  I'm a firm believer in living way outside the city so I can actually enjoy life without all the traffic, crime and constant barrage of rap music rattling my windows.  I can always go into the city if necessary.

There's a lot of nice rural areas in that part of the state so look around.  There's a fantastic gun museum (JM Davis) in Claremore (which is close to Owasso).  Personally I think the Claremore area is way better than Owasso.  It's about a quarter of the size which is a good thing.  There's an awesome museum (Woolaroc) in Bartlesville that also has a big gun collection as well as a lot of other stuff.

Having travelled a bit, there’s no place I’d rather live than OK.

That said, there’s no way in hell I’d willingly live East of Highway 177, and preferably not East of I-35. “Climate” in both senses of the word. I prefer the drier, more open areas and don’t want to be around the clannish BS.

Agreed.

1shott some of us are still around. Life happens.

Well this new data certainly changes things around.  I wont make it long in a highly liberal community, looking for more fiscal conservative community that likes to hunt/fish/off road, etc. The hunt continues!

thank you everyone!

Dan where in AZ are you coming from?

Been in Owasso for about a year now. Great place though I'm looking at houses a little further north. Been fishing on Skiatook and Oologah lakes. Haven't hunted any. I rarely drive down into Tulsa.

This is funny, I am considering the same thing from the same place, I am looking for better hunting, close proximity to a lake and maybe 20 or so acres.  AZ is nice for land access but one can only hear so many stories about how much better the midwest is before it becomes a consideration that needs checked out.

What we consider liberal is probably a lot more conservative than what the rest of the country calls liberal. Owasso is defiantly the definition of a suburbia. Claremore is nice, but the trains make life hell at times.

Some small towns in the same area are Nowata, Pryor and Wagoner. Pryor and Wagoner are surrounded by lakes, rivers, state parks and LOTS of pubic land for hunting. Plus you can catch paddlefish in those rivers. The Ozark Plateau starts just east of there, very nice part of the world.

If you're okay on the country, anywhere from Newalla to Lexington defines this, but with a little smattering of Meth and Hillbilly in there. YMMV

I am in SE OK.  It’s a nice place.  From our area in a little over an hour you can be in the Dallas metroplex area.  I have a few friends that commute to work in the McKinney and Plano (Dallas) area.  I live about 25min from the state line, we’ve had a few new industries show up in the last 5 years.  

New UPS hub, a steel recycler/large steel mill, and place that makes hose/tubing for oil/gas industry.  We do have a lot of local ranchers and several large farms.  Lot of agriculture is still strong in the SE part of the state, thank the heavens above for that.  

Hunting is awesome in the Eastern half of the entire state of OK.  Lots of places to camp at local lakes and fish or boat.  We have 6 good lakes within an hours drive if you like water.  If you want to drive a little longer, 1.5 hours you can expand that to probably 10-12 lakes.

Ive lived all over the west coast, rasied on an island in pacific northwest.. but I LOVE Oklahoma. been back since 1991 and wont ever leave. I am in southern Ok. lake country! Gun laws are great! we are the first state to enact an anti-red flag law! that crap wont happen here.  

@1shott   hey man im still around!

60 years ago, Oklahoma was considered a desert environment. Very dry. But over the next 30 years or so, state government built a lot of lakes.  This accounts for the very high humidity during our summers. But we also have more coast line in Oklahoma than the entire Pacific coast of California Washington and Oregon. There are literally lakes everywhere.

The western half of the state is mostly flat, mostly treeless, although there are exceptions here and there. The eastern half of the state is more rolling hill country with lots of trees.

Most employment opportunities are in the two big metro areas, Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Many people commute into the metro areas from an hour or more away.  I even know a few people who commute two hours in each direction every day, just because they like rural life but want a good paying job.   If you are retiring here, then that is not important. However, if you’re going to look for work in a small town, you may have trouble.

Tornadoes can strike anywhere, but the greatest density seems to be a band from Chickasha to Oklahoma City.  There have been several F4 and F5 tornadoes through the city of Moore south of OKC.  That said, I have lived here all my life and have never seen one, although a couple got with a mile or two.

We have plenty of gun hating liberals, but they are greatly outnumbered.  Even many liberals here like their guns.

@AROKIE  Sup buddy. I have seen you around the board. I do not stop in here much any more, not online often these days. I am still in the same house I was in last time you stopped by.

@1shott   I dont come into hometown much anymore myself.  ive got grandkids keeping me busy now days, lol glad you are doing well!

4/2 nice home, 17 acres, mostly wooded, 2 truck garage and 2 sheds. Right at $150k. We love it here.

Ft. Smith and Talequah are about equidistant if we desire anything from a larger town.

View from my porch.

You're killing me Smalls.

Don't be sad.....i like your pad.

I'd be tickled with a house on 20 acres of wooded land but I doubt that's going to happen.

Don't be negative .

I lost my job, house/land and most of my worldly possessions, including my marriage, in 2016. Soon after, a best friend and 2 close family members.

I selected my username because Death hates me for not doing his job for him in the following 2 years +. I cried every single day. I didn't end it all.

Things can change. I'm happier now than I've ever been.  Life still isn't always easy, but it's so much better.

Stay positive. You will have what you want, Brandi. Keep on smiling.  

 

I'm sorry to hear that.  I've had a similar run in life too, losing everything.  It's better now but that bad stuff never really goes away completely.  Just have to keep trying to make things better because if you wait for it to happen on its own, it won't.   Worst advice I ever got growing up was basically be a good person, do good things and you will get it in return.  Horse shit....the world is full of shitty people who will shit on you if they can.  You only get ahead by being aggressive and not being nice.  By all means maintain being a good person but put yourself before others because they aren't putting you before them.  

I grew up believing all that crap about good people get good things and it effed me.  Too late now but I at least tell youngsters now to be good people but put yourself first and don't trust your employers "we are a family here and we take care of our own" crap.  You're a number, do your job, do it well and do whatever it takes to get ahead. Have a dream but don't expect it to come true unless you aggressively work at it.  

I'm not jaded though

I totally understand.

Nice guys finish last.

But we learn. Don't give up. Ever.

I m your friend, if you need me.

OKC Metro is busy as all get out. Expect to get in a vehicle accident, also expect them to either have no insurance and/or run off. Its a pretty interesting city, you can go a block and be in the hood and go another block and be in a gated community with 350k homes. Id say most areas are pretty decent. Tons of drugs, we had some non peaceful protesting but that was shortlived. Its a pretty red city that is slowly going blue like most major cities. Our mayor is a RINO. Me personally, unless you want all the luxuries of what a bigger city has to offer, I would stay go east.

I am in NW Phoenix. Sorry about the lag in response. Been exploring areas in Oklahoma using up my vacation time to see what is the best area. What I found is that there is a lot of pretty nice areas to choose from and its hard to choose. Digging into the minutiae now.

I almost moved to that area a few years back to work for CSAA off Bell Rd. There were some houses over by Sonoran Mountain Ranch that seemed pretty nice.

I'm originally from Shattuck. I've lived near Bremerton, Wa for a long time. I fantasize about selling everything and moving back to Oklahoma but I think I'm here for the foreseeable future.

It gets cold