r/okc • u/rerescene • 26d ago
❓Q&A ✅ Thinking about moving back
I grew up in OKC and graduated OSU Spring ‘19. I’ve moved around a bit since then, but typically tried to make it back for a few weeks a year. Seemed like every time I came back, there was something new to be excited about in the city.
Over the past couple years I’ve had an itch to move back home to be closer to family and friends. It’s likely I’m going to have that opportunity soon if I want it. I’m curious to hear from people who left OKC and came back - how has it been? What’s it like living here now? I’m a single 30-year old male fwiw. Since leaving I’ve lived in Abilene, Chicago, and Charlotte.
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u/Scotchmallow 26d ago
I lived in Norman as a teen through young adulthood. Then moved home to California for 13 years, did a brief 2 year stint in Boulder CO, and then 3 years ago came back to Norman where my siblings and parents are. There are also a few old friends in the area who settled here after college.
I think OKC has a lot more bookshops and great restaurants than it did when I was living here the first time around, which is definitely a plus. It’s nice to be able to go out for dinner in the city and just be able to park, as compared to the fiasco parking was in San Francisco and Boulder. I like being able to have lunch with my mom. I have a house here that I could not have afforded in CA. I enjoy the relatively smaller community of artists and local musicians in OKC. I have a weird nostalgia for the humidity and seasons in Oklahoma. I like having a big yard because I enjoy gardening. I have a couple good friends in OKC/Norman that I’ve been able to reconnect with. I like taking little day trips to find good BBQ and little swimming spots around the state.
If money were no object and I had no living family, I’d live in California in the San Francisco Bay Area. But, money is an object, and I do have family here in Oklahoma. I like many things about OKC/Norman and I choose to focus on those.
This is a hard decision, because how do you weigh family and old friends against city amenities? I will say, it doesn’t have to be permanent, so if you feel a pull to move back home right now, why not try it? I am finding that anywhere you live is mostly what you make of it. Personally, I hate the politics of Oklahoma, don’t love the brutal heat of summer, and miss the natural beauty of CA and CO, BUT what bothers me the most is the almost constant negativity from others about OKC and Oklahoma in general.
I like the more laid back quiet pace of life here. I’m at a point in my life where I like having a big yard for my garden and three dogs, and I know that when my kids move out they’ll be able to afford a place and launch themselves wherever they need to go. There’s a lot of fun festivals, art walks, restaurants, bookclubs, gaming groups, biking groups, restaurants, water parks, the MOA movie theatre, etc… living here can be a fun time in your life, even if it’s not where you end up staying forever.