The Pros of Living in Oklahoma City: The Advantages May Surprise You!
Hello everyone so before we dive into what's , great about living in Oklahoma City let me ask you a question which would be better researching . Oklahoma City using just the internet or reaching out to a former colleague that now lives here and , just pepper them with questions about all things having to do with Oklahoma City and how they like , living here well duh I mean you'd call your friend because we all know having that kind of back and . forth conversation you know where you can ask questions that'd be way better than having to just resort to looking up stuff on the internet right and yeah yeah I know what you're thinking you , idiot I don't know anyone that lives in Oklahoma City and that's why I'm on YouTube well that's why I created this this YouTube channel so that you could meet someone virtually me that can answer all your important questions do I know what I'm talking about when it comes to Oklahoma City will , you be the judge I've only lived here for over 60 years yeah you heard that right and I'd be happy , to help all you have to do is call text or email me using the information in the description box . down below and let's chat about it I you know I make these videos not only to introduce myself but , also to demonstrate I know what I'm talking about when it comes to Oklahoma City so without further . Ado let's dive into all the pros of living here the good stuff and since I didn't want to take , up too much of your time I'll cover all the cons in another video so let's start with the good news first what's it like about living in Oklahoma City Pro number one the people we're a friendly bunch here as all folks are across Oklahoma we wave at pastors by we don't know we open doors for , each other and we say hello please and thank you we have the admirable habit of pulling together as a community when crisis hits the area case in point the 1995 Oklahoma City Murrah building bombing that killed 168 folks including unfortunately 19 children is terrible , I actually heard the bomb go off I was about five miles away and I could see a little puff of , smoke coming from the building from downtown also there was the May 3rd 1999 tornado that . level parts of the suburbs of more in Del City and when these kind of things happen here you . see the true sense of community that we have here and it's it really think these are the things that bring out the best of our people and there's a lot of us living here Oklahoma City metro area is home to nearly 1.4 million folks we're fairly diverse with 53 53 White 20 percent Hispanic 14 African-American four percent Asian and three percent Native American speaking , of Native Americans owing largely because the origins of our state Oklahoma has an extremely . large Native American population second only to California and what was surprising to me in doing . my research was nearly 42 percent of Oklahoma City residents are veterans do in part no doubt to the , military presence we have here at Tinker Air Force Base and joining Midwest City Oklahoma so before . we head to number two let me introduce myself my name is Lynn Taggart and I'm a realtor with Kobo microselect in Edmond Oklahoma I've been this has been my home as I said for 62 of my 66 years I grew up here went to school here I'm married here I bought my first house here at 14 interest rate thank you very much and I raised my kids here and before becoming a realtor I worked here all my life as an engineer most recently for Devon energy largest independent Oil Company in Oklahoma City which they offer in the tallest building in the state and as a marketing executive with Sonic the well-known fast food franchise so a lifetime of living here what's it mean it means I have a lifetime of knowledge I look and I look forward to sharing it with you if you're considering a move to my hometown so now that you know a little bit about me let's jump to number two which is a key reason that most folks are , coming here Pro number two the cost of living you know what living here it's a very affordable
place with the overall cost of living is 12 percent lower than the national average that's . especially true when it comes to housing so if you're coming here from either the east or . west coast you score big time buy a house here for the same money as you spent in LA and , you you'll think you're living in a castle average home prices in Oklahoma City average , home is about 229 thousand dollars compared to nearly 400 000 Nationwide data just released shows . that Oklahoma City now ranks ninth nationally in terms of affordability compared to the 100 largest other cities in the United States and if you're a renter the good news continues . there as well average monthly rent for all bedroom types in Oklahoma city is 1 325 a month compared nationally to the average of one thousand nine hundred and forty two dollars a month big , difference gasoline electricity food costs here are all well below National averages our insurance costs for homeowners insurance though is more than double the national average to do in large . parts of the hail and high wind damage potential car insurance here runs about the national . average Pro number three the traffic so getting around Oklahoma City really . is easy and you can get anywhere say from Edmond to the north to downtown Oklahoma . City during rush hour and about 30 to 35 minutes how do I know that well I made that commute for decades commutes are rarely are longer than 30 minutes and so assuming no assuming there's no wrecks or anything part of the reason traffic is usually light is because Oklahoma City is just so spread out while we rank 20th in terms of population we rank . eighth in terms of the sheer size of the land area the city encompasses and you can see that in this chart showing Oklahoma City size versus other well-known U.S towns what this basically means is you'll need a car to get around hate to tell you and if you're air traveler getting in and out of . Oklahoma City's Will Rogers World Airport it's a breeze if you're used to long lines and security at security and you know baggage handling and all the things at other large airports you're not going to find those here you can arrive at the airport you can park your car check your bags . go through security and be standing at your gate in about 30 minutes it's great Pro number four the revitalized downtown and surrounding areas now this is where Oklahoma City is really coming into its own and a lot of changes taking place City Center deep dues Bricktown automobile alley wheeler and Plaza districts all these areas are really taking off frankly the the speed and size , of urban renewal taking place of our old buildings warehouses and storefronts near the city center . in downtown Oklahoma City is really remarkable they're tired old areas they're seeing real Rebirth of activity and commerce and a lot of young people are flocking to these kind , of hit new urban areas and it's also easier to get around downtown now due to a new . streetcar system that serves this area downtown also Now features our brand new Convention Center which is surrounded by new convention-ready hotels in scissortail Park which is named after our state bird across the street from these the convention center all . this is in the shadow of the unique skydance Bridge which spans i-40. now not to be missed . I mentioned it earlier but not to be missed is the wheeler District on the other side of the . Oklahoma River it features the Oklahoma City block letter sign that you can see from the river . it also features the ferris wheel there which this Ferris wheel actually Ferris wheel actually used . to reside at the Santa Monica pier in California Pro number five if you like to . gamble pardon the pun you're in luck Oklahoma has 33 Native American tribes and they . operate 143 casinos across the state that's the most of any state in the U.S and there's 10 of . these in the immediate Oklahoma City area these include class three casinos with Vegas style .
gambling like the Riverwind Casino in Norman uh class two casinos with no Banker electronic gaming , travel plazas with slot machines and smoke shops as I mentioned the largest in the area is , Riverwind Casino and it fit it features a really big name entertainment coming here on a regular , basis Pro number six we have a wide variety of sports available so if you're an NBA fan like I am Rejoice Oklahoma City is home to the Oklahoma City Thunder we have a terrific young team that's . on the rise again we're loaded with first round draft picks for years to come and the future is really bright for Thunder basketball attending a Thunder game it's a must for newcomers to Oklahoma City it's a lot of fun and there's a lot going on during the timeouts too and at halftime that keeps everyone involved including the kiddos now if you're talking about Oklahoma you're talking about college football and college football rules the roost here in the fall . the University of Oklahoma Sooners we call OU their football games are in nearby Norman and , Oklahoma State University the OSU Cowboys their games are a mere 40 to 45 minute drive up I-35 in Stillwater these places are where you want to see and be seen on Saturdays from September to December and both teams are always highly ranked and when they play each other well we call that bedlam I don't know why but we call it Bedlam and it sometimes leads to family members , within the same household not speaking to each other for weeks I could have tested that I . went to you and my son is a student at OSU that situation we refer to here is a house divided . so just know that attend one of these schools home games in the fall and you'll see what I mean , about all the pageantry and Baseball fans here can get their fill at the award-winning Chickasaw . Bricktown ballpark we just call it the brick watching the Oklahoma City Dodgers compete , against other AAA minor league teams and as you could probably guess Oklahoma City is the minor league affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers tickets here to Dodgers games are always , available and they're very affordable it's an inexpensive fun night out for all the . family now if you're a golfer you'll be right at home here on one of Oklahoma City's 16 golf . courses eight of which are municipal courses and there's a number of high profile more . exclusive private courses like oak tree where previous PGA and Senior PGA championships have been played it's also gaylardia Oklahoma City Golf and Country Club Rose Creek and Twin Hills Etc are also in the area Now for Something Completely Different in unique head downtown , to the Oklahoma River to The Boathouse District where the nation's only Urban white water , rafting in kayak kayaking Center is located now this is something I've never done that . I'd love to give it a go in the summertime especially when you know temperatures , start hitting triple digits around here so that's it the good stuff some of the . pros I came up with about living here but let's face it you have to take the good with the bad so be sure and check out my cons video for all the Nitty Gritty on the not so nice things , you'll encounter if you live in Oklahoma City if you have lived here before or visited here let me know you know what you liked or didn't like in the comments below , I'm curious to see what you have to say in the meantime if this content is useful I'd really really appreciate it if you click the like And subscribe button and let the YouTube algorithm . know I'm on the right track with my channel also let me know in the comments below what other topics you'd like for me to cover in future videos I'm all ears and finally if you'd like to ask me . questions or talk to me about moving in Oklahoma City I can be reached via phone text or email and those links are shown in the description box below so till then thanks for watching and we'll see on the next one adios.
