Another Californian moves to Oklahoma! (Tulsa, Stillwater: airport, design, land)

[janellen]

Originally Posted by eddie gein

I can't mention them because they are considered "competitor sites". However you might want to google a few and check them against your C-D results.

I guess I can say that I observed that housing costs were about 10% higher in Porterville. But by the typical California vs Oklahoma housing standards that certainly isn't much of a difference.

I found that site that has your stats eddie. Good info over there. COL is even cheaper in McAlester which is one of the areas that I like. I'd like to downsize. I have 15 acres here and between tractors breaking down and dead trees due to drought, I'd like to get something a little smaller land wise, 2 or 3 acres maybe. That's enough room for my mules and dogs to be happy.

[eddie gein]

Originally Posted by janellen

I found that site that has your stats eddie. Good info over there. COL is even cheaper in McAlester which is one of the areas that I like. I'd like to downsize. I have 15 acres here and between tractors breaking down and dead trees due to drought, I'd like to get something a little smaller land wise, 2 or 3 acres maybe. That's enough room for my mules and dogs to be happy.

McAlester is a nice little spot. Close to the prettiest country we have in Oklahoma but not quite in it. Famous for being the home of the state prison and home of four of the best Italian restaurants in this part of the country.

If I were in Porterville and I moved here I'd sure miss the Sierra's and the dry weather but the McAlester area is close to one of our best lakes (Eufaula) and what we have for green mountains in Oklahoma (Ouachitas). I used to live down there. I miss the scenery still.

[janellen]

Originally Posted by eddie gein

McAlester is a nice little spot. Close to the prettiest country we have in Oklahoma but not quite in it. Famous for being the home of the state prison and home of four of the best Italian restaurants in this part of the country.

If I were in Porterville and I moved here I'd sure miss the Sierra's and the dry weather but the McAlester area is close to one of our best lakes (Eufaula) and what we have for green mountains in Oklahoma (Ouachitas). I used to live down there. I miss the scenery still.

Yes, I would definitely miss the high country, but the Quachitas are big enough to satisfy me. I can do hills ok, just not pancake flat. Oddly enough, I like the desert a lot too. If I had my choice of where to live, it would be Bishop, Ca. Desert and alpine combined. Alas, Los Angeles Dept of Water and Power own most of the land over there.


Here's a cool road from Bishop to Reno,NV.

[eddie gein]

Originally Posted by janellen

Yes, I would definitely miss the high country, but the Quachitas are big enough to satisfy me. I can do hills ok, just not pancake flat. Oddly enough, I like the desert a lot too. If I had my choice of where to live, it would be Bishop, Ca. Desert and alpine combined. Alas, Los Angeles Dept of Water and Power own most of the land over there.


Here's a cool road from Bishop to Reno,NV.

Always thought Bishop would be kind of interesting.

McAlester is rolling hills and oak tree country but it is only 30 minutes to the Ouachitas and the pine country mixed with hardwoods. Drastic change just east/southeast of McAlester. The elevation change between the valleys and the mountains is roughly a thousand to two thousand feet down in there and the valleys are pretty tight. Probably most similar to the mountains in north Georgia and NE Alabama.

[janellen]

Yes, the country down around Broken Bow and Idabell is beautiful, but the crime stats are off the charts. Beavers Bend is super nice, but I need to be near a town with a hospital and a decent pharmacy. I was also kind of interested in Antlers. Crime stats show it to be a really safe place to live.

[eddie gein]

Originally Posted by janellen

Yes, the country down around Broken Bow and Idabell is beautiful, but the crime stats are off the charts. Beavers Bend is super nice, but I need to be near a town with a hospital and a decent pharmacy. I was also kind of interested in Antlers. Crime stats show it to be a really safe place to live.

The area between Broken Bow and the Lake (Hochatown) is getting a bunch of North Texas money. There are numerous 250,000 to a million dollar homes out there now so I'm sure LE is on top of things out there. I don't know what the price of land is. DeQueen, AR and Idabel both have medical centers that are larger than you would expect for communities that size but they function as regional centers. But if you could get an acreage out there I'd think you'd be safe and it would be a good investment.

Antlers is a nice small town on the SE edge of the mountains. They have a tiny hospital that could patch you up or take care of minor things. Atoka, Hugo as well. Durant and McAlester have pretty large regional medical centers. They can probably take care of 90% of the issues a person might have.

I always recommend people who live in small towns get Airflight insurance in case they need to get Coptered to Dallas or OKC.

I was in the hospital business and although it's been a while I've been to all these hospitals. McAlester and Durant are actually pretty impressive for small city facilities.

I think your medical/pharmacy issues could be managed in SE Oklahoma albeit with some extra travel.

[janellen]

Thanks for all the great info eddie!! It's much appreciated.

[MrJester]

Wikipedia says that almost every year, OKC has snow accumulation, and on average has 6-7 inches of snow a year.

Seems like it's been very mild for the past two weeks. At this rate, doesn't seem like it will snow. Or am I wrong?

Other people tell me that it only snows significantly every four years, but that when it does snow, it'll snow two feet in a single year.

I'm surprised by how sunny it's been. Looks like there's been a good amount of rain, but it just rains for a day or two, and then it's mostly sunshine. Judging from weather charts, January is even sunnier, with an impressive 200 hours of sunshine, i.e. 64 percent of max possible sunshine given at this latitude. Back in California, we have very rainy winters, which means you get only 140 or so hours of sunshine (a measly 48 percent) of possible sunshine given the latitude. I'm loving the late autumn/winter sun. Even when it's only 30 degrees outside here in OKC, I don't feel cold, because it's a sunny 30 degrees. Over in California, I feel very cold at 45 degrees, because it's usually a very rainy, damp, windy 45 degrees.

The scenery here also beats California. You've got more trees, more rolling terrain. Back in Sacramento, all you have is flat, barren land.

[eddie gein]

Originally Posted by MrJester

Wikipedia says that almost every year, OKC has snow accumulation, and on average has 6-7 inches of snow a year.

Seems like it's been very mild for the past two weeks. At this rate, doesn't seem like it will snow. Or am I wrong?

Other people tell me that it only snows significantly every four years, but that when it does snow, it'll snow two feet in a single year.

I'm surprised by how sunny it's been.

Here is a local news link that gives you some interesting info about snowfall in OKC.......

https://kfor.com/2018/11/13/oklahomasnowfallstats/

Winter is just getting started this year. Generally from Mid November to Mid March give or take a couple of weeks in any given year. And you never know how it will be.

[StillwaterTownie]

Originally Posted by MrJester

I'm surprised by how sunny it's been. Looks like there's been a good amount of rain, but it just rains for a day or two, and then it's mostly sunshine. Judging from weather charts, January is even sunnier, with an impressive 200 hours of sunshine, i.e. 64 percent of max possible sunshine given at this latitude. Back in California, we have very rainy winters, which means you get only 140 or so hours of sunshine (a measly 48 percent) of possible sunshine given the latitude. I'm loving the late autumn/winter sun. Even when it's only 30 degrees outside here in OKC, I don't feel cold, because it's a sunny 30 degrees. Over in California, I feel very cold at 45 degrees, because it's usually a very rainy, damp, windy 45 degrees.

The scenery here also beats California. You've got more trees, more rolling terrain. Back in Sacramento, all you have is flat, barren land.

Sorry, but the gloomy Oklahoma weather today, Friday, must be like the winter weather you described in California. 30 degrees in the sun wouldn't feel too cold to me when the wind isn't blowing. The worst kind of Oklahoma winter is where the sun doesn't come out for long after the snowstorms, so the snow doesn't have a chance to melt off before the next snow storm comes. Snow will remain on the ground from early Jan. to early March. Fortunately, those awful kind of winters are very rare.

In central Oklahoma we got the Crosstimbers that serves as more trees. Interesting how the terrain changes when you drive out of the valley that Stillwater is in and exit off I-35 to go to Enid. The land becomes ruler flat and treeless.