Educate me on Tulsa

[IJWS]

Paceliners, my bartender at little joy in echo park is telling me all these crazy things about Tulsa. Namely, great cycling scene, great places to eat and drink, and "like Austin 15 years ago". I'm intrigued. Please tell me she's lying. I'm spending everything I have to live in L.A. And its starting to wear thin. Can any Tuls-ites weigh in? I would love to live in a part of America that is actually America, but I have a hard time giving up the mountains. I could care less for the ocean. Please share any information you have.

As always, thanks in advance paceline!

[Brendan Quirk]

Historically excellent road scene. Charming downtown. Great restaurants. Lots of oil money bubbling up to drive cool cultural things. If you want to learn more PM me and I can connect you with locals.

If your jam is MTB check out Bentonville, AR (2 hrs east). Love Echo Park (really love The Shortstop.) But things in these parts are awfully fascinating.

Enjoy the exploration!

[likebikes]

here's a thread from a month ago on tulsa:

https://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=230668

[joosttx]

There are great places to eat and drink.

[junkfood]

I live in Tulsa and really enjoy it. Not a huge fan of the state of Oklahoma but Tulsa itself has much to offer. The cycling scene here is nice. There is good road riding and plenty to offer for all levels of cycling. Their is a nice spider web of MTB trails right in the middle of Tulsa and new ones are really starting to pop up as Northwest Arkansas (about a 2hr drive) has taken the lead and it is spreading. There is a brand new park that is over 100 acres that just opened this year right near downtown and it is amazing. It is a small city but I enjoy our downtown, and can't think of many places I could live as a working artist with a family. My wife and I own a home while neither of us work what most consider full time. Gives us plenty of time to spend with each other, our kids and pets, and riding our bikes. Feel free to message me if you have any more question.

Jake

[daker13]

Nothing to contribute, but, tremendous thread title.

[Chris]

I live in Oklahoma City. Both places have a pretty robust cycling scene. Brendan is right about mountain biking, although Tulsa has far better mountain biking than OKC and is close to Arkansas. Tulsa Tough is obviously a big attraction and they have a great set of dedicated riding/jogging trails that are extensive. Because of cost of living and the people, it's a great place to live, but you wouldn't want to vacation here.

[Tickdoc]

Tulsa Lifer here, pm if you want to chat.

It's ecclectic like Austin, but much smaller.

Plusses:

No traffic.
Cheap living.
Very nearly year round riding.
Great road riding.
Incredible trail system and parks.
Very nice folks.
Great cycling scene with 4/5 large organized cycling clubs so you can pick your flavor.
Easy to escape.
Test bed for franchise restaurants so usually plenty of eats to try.

Minuses:

No bike lanes.
Worst school system in the Nation.
Redneck mentality.

Here's my favorite latest example of cheap housing.

Just listed and cool as hell:

$595k
https://photos.zillowstatic.com/p_f/ISa1f9tb0kwesq1000000000.jpg

[wallymann]

heart of MAGA country. i'm guessing if you enjoy a mixed cultural experience, you wont find it there.

summers in the region can be brutally hot/humid. winters can be pretty rough too.

wonder what the dining is like -- is everything battered/fried? and the "culture" scene -- like music and such?

i'm sure the riding is pretty sweet, though. along with a nice cost-of-living.



Minuses:
No bike lanes.
Worst school system in the Nation.
Redneck mentality.

[junkfood]

heart of MAGA country. i'm guessing if you enjoy a mixed cultural experience, you wont find it there.

summers in the region can be brutally hot/humid. winters can be pretty rough too.

wonder what the dining is like -- is everything battered/fried? and the "culture" scene -- like music and such?

i'm sure the riding is pretty sweet, though. along with a nice cost-of-living.

Tulsa itself is not the heart of MAGA country. We have a really great music and arts and that scene is doing well. As an artist/muralist I have painted over 20 large scale public arts in the last few years alone. That is my personal experience but many of my friends and acquaintances are getting to enjoy their craft in our city. We have a historic music venue in Cain's ballroom and the BOK center is thriving and many artists major tours have a stop there. The Tulsa Performing Arts Center has a nice lineup of plays, ballets and operas. Also plenty of small venues, bars, and galleries to see live music and local art. Of course this is not NYC or LA but there is quite a bit of "culture" to be had in Tulsa. Not as much entertainment to choose from but it is there. Plenty of restaurants to with food that is not battered and fried, lots of healthy options also. I am not trying to be a salesman for Tulsa and honestly my wife and I have looked at moving ourselves. We honestly keep arriving at the conclusion that if we were going to move it would be out of the country not just the state. Oklahoma has more than its fair share of faults, but I believe Tulsa is a nice little oasis inside a state that needs much help.

And yes, the summers can be a bit brutal. Yesterday was mid 50s and I enjoyed a beautiful 50 mile ride and will do the same today and probably the next. Winters can have some rough patches but it is usually short with plenty of days available to get on a bike.

Jake

[old_fat_and_slow]

heart of MAGA country. i'm guessing if you enjoy a mixed cultural experience, you wont find it there.


Tulsa and Norman are not filled with MAGA acolytes. They are refreshing liberal oases in a very red state. You won't find Broadway there, but there is culture, just not the all the choices available in the Big Apple.

Biggest downer is tornado alley. Just build a storm shelter and get insurance and yer fine though.

[Jaybee]

Tulsa and Norman are not filled with MAGA acolytes. They are refreshing liberal oases in a very red state. You won't find Broadway there, but there is culture, just not the all the choices available in the Big Apple.

Biggest downer is tornado alley. Just build a storm shelter and get insurance and yer fine though.

The northern OKC suburbs have a Democratic congressional rep! :eek:


(Used to live there, did not think I would see that.)

[jmoore]

heart of MAGA country. i'm guessing if you enjoy a mixed cultural experience, you wont find it there.

summers in the region can be brutally hot/humid. winters can be pretty rough too.

wonder what the dining is like -- is everything battered/fried? and the "culture" scene -- like music and such?

i'm sure the riding is pretty sweet, though. along with a nice cost-of-living.

stereotype much

[Ralph]

I think there is a big difference between crazy liberal and being a progressive thinker. However....my MAGA friends think it's the same.

I can easily live with progressive.....that's where the quality of life issues come from. Tulsa sounds like that.

[Ozz]

Here's my favorite latest example of cheap housing.

Just listed and cool as hell:

$595k
https://photos.zillowstatic.com/p_f/ISa1f9tb0kwesq1000000000.jpg

Very nice...for comparison, a house in Bellevue::eek:

[wallymann]

stereotype much

maybe a little, but the 2016 election speaks for itself.

sounds like tulsa is more like austin than i thought.

i did a quick google search and there are a fair few middle-eastern restaurant in tulsa, so tulsa cant be too shabby!

http://i.magaimg.net/img/22ly.png

[weisan]

. like Austin 15 years ago

That's an interesting comment.

I have lived in Austin for the last 22 years.

I have heard several friends complained about what it has become. The usual gripe : more people, more traffic, more expensive.

All true.

But there wasn't a Costco back 15 years ago. :p

I just adapt and carry on with life. That's the "price of success", ain't nuthin' you can do about it.

[texbike]

It's ecclectic like Austin, but much smaller.



Hmmm. You have my attention...

Honestly, I've been to Tulsa a couple of times on fast business trips (and one car purchase) but haven't had a chance to really sample what it had to offer. It's been on my radar for 20 years, but I just haven't taken enough time to wander around and experience the area.

Texbike

[KonaSS]

I had to google MAGA. I guess that tells you where I stand on that and/or how much I like politics.

[old_fat_and_slow]

I had to google MAGA. I guess that tells you where I stand on that and/or how much I like politics.

Now you'll have to buy a baseball cap with it emblazoned all over it, like the POTUS, so you won't forget what it means. :eek:

[Ozz]

Now you'll have to buy a baseball cap with it emblazoned all over it, like the POTUS, so you won't forget what it means. :eek:

it's a "trucker hat", not a "baseball hat"....you know, the kind you buy at gas station convenience stores....;-)


"A trucker hat, mesh cap or netback cap is a type of baseball cap. It is also sometimes known as a "gimme [as in 'give me'] cap" or a "feed cap" because this style of hat originated during the 1960s as a promotional give-away from U.S. feed or farming supply companies to farmers, truck drivers, or other rural workers....During the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump popularized a red mesh trucker hat featuring the slogan Make America great again among Republican Party supporters."

[Tickdoc]

I love these threads. Lived here my whole life and I can't recall ever seeing someone out in the general public wearing a MAGA hat. Maybe I just haven't been looking for them. I have seen some very comical bumper stickers tho.

Never seen or been in a Tornado. We have a shelter in our Garage, but I've yet to go in it because I'm always looking out the window or in the backyard when the sirens go off because I want to see one of the damn things.

This state used to be Blue, but like most of the country has turned red. I don't pay much attention to it as it is impolite to ask or talk about except in certain situations. I have friends on both sides and expect for a bro-in-law exploding at one Christmas gathering most people are civil.

[OtayBW]

I love these threads. Lived here my whole life and I can't recall ever seeing someone out in the general public wearing a MAGA hat. Maybe I just haven't been looking for them. I have seen some very comical bumper stickers tho.

Never seen or been in a Tornado. We have a shelter in our Garage, but I've yet to go in it because I'm always looking out the window or in the backyard when the sirens go off because I want to see one of the damn things.

This state used to be Blue, but like most of the country has turned red. I don't pay much attention to it as it is impolite to ask or talk about except in certain situations. I have friends on both sides and expect for a bro-in-law exploding at one Christmas gathering most people are civil.
Dust storm/drought? Boll weevil outbreaks? Cricket plagues? Alien abduction? Never saw any of these? I may have to adjust my disaster model for your state... :rolleyes:

[Tickdoc]

Dust storm/drought? Boll weevil outbreaks? Cricket plagues? Alien abduction? Never saw any of these? I may have to adjust my disaster model for your state... :rolleyes:

None of those tasty things but we did have earthquakes there for a bit here recently. Turns out it was just from wastewater injection when fracking and they went away. Kinda cool feeling when I look back on it.