Oklahoma Top 5
In a recent survey, I asked several people what their favorite things about Oklahoma were. These were the top five answers in no particular order.
Safety
Several people responded that a feeling of security was their favorite thing about living in Oklahoma. The ability to sleep at night without fears of home invasions appeal to most Oklahoma residents.
I would suspect that most of these people live in suburban areas and are rarely inconvenienced by drive-by shootings, gang violence, robberies and murders.
Obviously, Oklahoma’s biggest cities, Oklahoma City and Tulsa, are much safer than big cities in other states, like New York City and Los Angeles. I wouldn’t, however, say that all of Oklahoma is necessarily safe.
Helpful Links:
Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation
Oklahoma Department of Public Safety
Cost of Living
Oklahoma is a cheap place to live. I don’t think anyone would deny that. After spending a summer in Los Angeles, one really comes to appreciate inexpensive housing, gas and food.
The problem is that there is a reason the cost of living is so low here. It’s a sign of the state of the economy.
The cost of living in Oklahoma is low because the people are poor. California is expensive because there are wealthy people who can afford to pay higher prices.
Oklahomans tend to have lower incomes and are less willing to pay high prices for the things they want and need. The perfect example of this is the success of Wal-Mart in Oklahoma.
Wal-Mart is popular with Oklahomans in all social levels. Why would rich people who could afford to shop at higher quality stores choose to shop at Wal-Mart?
I would hypothesize that people here have been socialized to believe that just because something is expensive, that doesn’t mean it’s of higher quality. An Angelino would think this belief foolish with several types of products, from clothes to cars.
Helpful Links:
Oklahoma Department of Commerce
Friendly People
Respondents overwhelmingly chose the friendliness of the Oklahoman people as their favorite thing about Oklahoma.
I recently experienced an instance of Oklahoma hospitality when the owner of a nearby house helped me out of a snowy embankment.
Oklahomans are also known for their generosity and ability to come together during hard times to support one another. This is evident is the months and years after the Oklahoma City bombing.
For Oklahomans to really take pride in the amicability of their state, however, they need to address and solve some very real issues.
First of all, do you think an Oklahoman is more likely to help a black person who is stranded on the side of the road or a little old white lady.
How many Oklahomans do you know that would be willing to pay a little more in income or sales taxes to fund social programs for the poor or better schools in their own communities?
Few people would be willing to make these sacrifices. That doesn’t mean that Oklahomans are bad people, just vert distrustful of people not like them.
Helpful Links:
Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial
Traffic
Oklahoma’s traffic is practically non-existent since there are few people in Oklahoma, as compared to bigger states with worse traffic.
A sizable portion of Oklahoma’s population live in rural areas and experience very little congestion on the roads.
Those that live in Oklahoma City and Tulsa will experience congestion during rush hour, but even that only delays commutes for a few minutes; nothing like hours on the 405 in Los Angeles.
Helpful Links:
Oklahoma Department of Transportation
Progress and Development
Oklahoma has come a long way since its early beginnings in the early 1900s. Oklahomans are proud of several new milestones that have really placed the state on the map.
A lot of Oklahomans are excited about the completion of the state capitol dome, finally completing a project that has gone on for decades.
Others are pouring their money into Oklahoma’s “temporary” professional sports team, getting tickets to see the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets.
Oklahoma City’s new Ford Convention Center has drawn several top artists from Green Day to Coldplay and the Dell Corporation has opened a new call center, hopefully creating new jobs to compensate the ones lost during the GM Plant closing.
Oklahoma City’s greatest achivement, in my opinion, is Bricktown.
Bricktown has come a long way and has created a wonderful entertainment and arts district for adults and children alike.
From restaurants and art galleries to clubs and banquet facilities, Bricktown is sure to please anyone from all walks of life (as long as they can afford the price of parking and entertainment).
Helpful Links: