View Full Version : Enid - Oklahoma's Boomtown?



zookeeper
09-08-2013, 03:34 PM
This is really ironic. I was going to post last week, and forgot, that I was in Enid week before last and there was a lot going on. I was surprised because of CR moving out. The city of Enid and the chamber must have gotten busy, because I was really impressed with what I saw and heard from the folks in Enid. Then, today, this from The Oklahoman: Enid hotel shortage means there are few rooms to rent in booming town | News OK (http://newsok.com/enid-hotel-shortage-means-there-are-few-rooms-to-rent-in-booming-town/article/3880437)

This is good news. I've always liked Enid and their ability to make a neat little town, and successfully solicit companies, off the Interstate system and really all by their lonesome up there. That's not easy. Ardmore's been doing well, but once they realized how to market their city, it's hard for them not to do well when you're halfway between two large metropolitan areas and right on I-35.

Good luck to Enid - may your own renaissance continue.

Bunty
09-08-2013, 07:52 PM
Enid definitely stands out as one of the best of Oklahoma's bigger small towns, very well up there with Bartlesville and Stillwater. For Oklahoma, it's certainly not merely some little town. Come on, zookeeper, it's much more than that. I attended a friend's company's Christmas gathering last year held at the ballroom of the Enid Symphony Center, and it was a very impressive, beautiful, well decorated old facility.

For too long, Enid growth was stagnant at best, and it ended up losing its coveted status as a metro area. If all goes well, it will get it back by 2020. Good luck to Enid from here, too.

zookeeper
09-08-2013, 10:05 PM
Enid definitely stands out as one of the best of Oklahoma's bigger small towns, very well up there with Bartlesville and Stillwater. For Oklahoma, it's certainly not merely some little town. Come on, zookeeper, it's much more than that. I attended a friend's company's Christmas gathering last year held at the ballroom of the Enid Symphony Center, and it was a very impressive, beautiful, well decorated old facility.

For too long, Enid growth was stagnant at best, and it ended up losing its coveted status as a metro area. If all goes well, it will get it back by 2020. Good luck to Enid from here, too.

Bunty, Just to clarify, I didn't mean "neat little town" in a disparaging way and wasn't even referring necessarily to size. I told somebody the other day I thought Little Rock was one neat little town. Maybe I need to pick my words more carefully, I certainly meant it exactly how you see it. Only in a "Friday Night in The Big Town" use of the word.

Plutonic Panda
09-10-2013, 08:57 AM
''ENID — Enid housing is stuck.

Demand is through the roof, but almost no builders are building.

“It was sort of a perfect storm,” said developer-builder David Ritchie, one of the few left standing after the double whammy of the 2007-2009 national housing crash and March 2011 announcement of Continental Resources' pending move from downtown Enid to downtown Oklahoma City.


A 131-room Hilton Garden Inn is in the works, to be attached to the new Enid Event Center downtown. Richard Mize - The Oklahoman
Continental didn't move until 2012, but the announcement alone was enough to send builders into retreat.

“With the national economy the way it was, and Continental's announcement, the perception of a lot of people in the Enid area was that we were really heading into a downturn. The exact opposite actually happened,” Ritchie said. “A lot of the homes of the people at Continental sold and were absorbed into the market.

“But the new housing construction market, because of the perception that was out there, just dried up. It has stayed that way. ... And now what's happening is the demand has kicked up substantially, and the other side of the equation hasn't. So we've got tremendous demand and we don't have anybody right now that's filling it, as far as the building market for new homes''

Much more to read here: Demand for housing in Enid, OK, isn't sparking new construction | News OK (http://newsok.com/demand-for-housing-in-enid-ok-isnt-sparking-new-construction/article/3880439)

Bunty
09-10-2013, 11:45 PM
I would guess that builders and roofers have their hands full trying to rebuild or repair tornado damage in central Oklahoma to have time for Enid. Besides that, Enid didn't have as strong of a housing construction market established back when times were better before 2008, like the other towns mentioned in the article.

bombermwc
09-11-2013, 06:22 AM
I would like to know what the draw is there (and i dont mean that as a crappy statement). With places like Phillips closing, CR moving out, etc. I'm just honestly curious what the draw to the town is. With the employees that moved from Enid to OKC, i would imagine that housing has a big supply right now, but that isn't what the comments seem to indicate???

I've only been there a few times in my life, and most were 15 years ago, so i dont really have any current feel on the place.

BG918
09-11-2013, 11:30 AM
The energy boom in surrounding counties is a draw. Enid is a hub for north-central Oklahoma and has benefitted from that. Continental Resources didn't really move that many people out and still has a presence there.

Bunty
09-11-2013, 12:42 PM
I would imagine the tiny towns closest to the energy operations don't have any housing to offer, so the draw to the biggest towns for housing. So Stillwater is also enjoying the effects of the energy boom. Unlike Enid, it has had a fairly strong single family home and apartment building market for a long time and will be able to cope better. It's a good thing since a new aerospace manufacturer in town, ASCO, has been getting ready to start by hiring around 250 people. A large apartment complex happens to be going up within easy walking distance to the plant.

I would imagine RV parks are benefiting well.

stick47
09-11-2013, 01:44 PM
When I lived there (40 yrs ago) Hiney Bass owned a lot of the property downtown. He came in our store one time. Left us a copy of his autobiography.<lol> My friend owned the A&W there but Hiney owned the land it was on.