Where do the young, single people with good jobs (I work for Boeing) hang out in OKC when they actually have time on their hands? I'm just not feeling my old college haunts anymore.....

I would say anywhere in the Plaza district, Paseo, or Deep Deuce.

OKC doesn't have as much of a "young professional" culture as other cities do due to the fact most people here pair off and settle down as soon as they graduate college.

I knew you would post some sort of completely baseless, negative dig on OKC as soon as I saw this thread.

When I lived in OKC in my 20's and with 1/100th places to go, I found a bunch of places to meet other young professionals.


Some obvious current choices are O Bar, Republic, McNellies, Skinny Slims, Packard's roof top, W XYZ Bar (Aloft), WSKY, Empire... And a bunch more.

I knew you would post some sort of completely baseless, negative dig on OKC as soon as I saw this thread.

When I lived in OKC in my 20's and with 1/100th places to go, I found a bunch of places to meet other young professionals.


Some obvious current choices are O Bar, Republic, McNellies, Skinny Slims, Packard's roof top, W XYZ Bar (Aloft), WSKY, Empire... And a bunch more.

Changed it.

I would add the new Ambassador Hotel bar as well as Bossa Nova.

Yeah - that's completely ridiculous. O Bar is definitely the hot spot for the young professional crowd right now. From my experience, Midtown and Deep Deuce tend to attract more of that crowd than Paseo/Plaza.

Also things like Auto Alley's Shop Hop, H & 8th, the better block events, Premier on Film Row, Midtown Open House and even the Deep Deuce block party.

Lots and lots of single people live (or at least go out) in the central city.

I knew you would post some sort of completely baseless, negative dig on OKC as soon as I saw this thread.

When I lived in OKC in my 20's and with 1/100th places to go, I found a bunch of places to meet other young professionals.


Some obvious current choices are O Bar, Republic, McNellies, Skinny Slims, Packard's roof top, W XYZ Bar (Aloft), WSKY, Empire... And a bunch more.

Lol I'm glad BChris changed that...plenty of places for young professionals to hangout and there will be many more opening over the next few months.


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Follow Jonathon Fowler on Twitter and you'll quickly get a good sense about what the Millenials in this town are up to.

I would say anywhere in the Plaza district, Paseo, or Deep Deuce.

Also we definitely have a large and growing young professional culture here, I guess you're just not a part of it. Those that do "pair off" don't just wither away and die in the suburbs either...they are still a very active part of the young professional culture.


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My kid's friends who live here are mostly getting married at about 28 to 30. And a bunch of them are professionals. They definitely go to/ do things listed above but also hang out in places I wouldn't expect like Edna's and Speakeasy. Jonathan Fowler was a classmate/friend of my daughters and while he's married, he and his wife keep quite busy. They all sound like they're having lots of fun on Twitter.

When I was in OKC I went out all the time...probably too much. And yes I as a single guy was frequently with friends and coworkers who were married.

My favorites: Flint, McNellies, Bossonova, Red Prime, Purple Bar for the core. While a bit icky, Ednas, Sip-n-Go, and VZDs are good Western Ave bars with a good YP contingent.

PhiAlpha is right. There is a great YP culture in OKC and I definitely took it for granted while living there. The nice thing is the "scene" is still very laid back and unpretentious. Contrast that to where I live that is full of douches and 30K millionaires.

Uh oh BChris. Hopefully you don't want to move back to Charlotte any time soon because they have fewer singles (%-wise) than OKC. I had to do it, I'm sorry. :wink:

Most to Least Single in Large Cities - Going Solo in the USA - Sperling's BestPlaces (http://www.bestplaces.net/docs/studies/solocities_list1.aspx)

PhiAlpha is right. There is a great YP culture in OKC and I definitely took it for granted while living there. The nice thing is the "scene" is still very laid back and unpretentious. Contrast that to where I live that is full of douches and 30K millionaires.

Just so easy to meet people in OKC because almost everyone is friendly and down-to-earth.

Sure, a city like Dallas has tons more places but I lived there for a while and found it much hard to meet people.

In OKC, if you go out enough virtually everyone at the same place is only one degree of separation removed. Eventually, you get introduced around a great deal which is so different than in big cities. I can guarantee you it almost never happens here in L.A.

I'm sure Fassler Hall/Dust Bowl will be a popular spot here in a few months.

I'm sure Fassler Hall/Dust Bowl will be a popular spot here in a few months.

And Bleu Garten. And Broadway 10 / Sidecar. And of course we already have McNellies, O Bar and Packards.

That 10th Street strip is about to explode and there is room for more.

My kid's friends who live here are mostly getting married at about 28 to 30. And a bunch of them are professionals. They definitely go to/ do things listed above but also hang out in places I wouldn't expect like Edna's and Speakeasy. Jonathan Fowler was a classmate/friend of my daughters and while he's married, he and his wife keep quite busy. They all sound like they're having lots of fun on Twitter.

Sorry to disagree but if you are posting everything you do on twitter you might be doing a lot but you aren't having fun. Like the over posters on fb, over tweeters try way too hard.

I think some of you are mixing up yuppies and hipsters.... Yuppies have 8-5's hipsters sit around and smoke e-cigs and drink pabst.

I don't think too many people confuse young professionals with hipsters, unless they don't get out. But I think the word yuppie is not really used to describe this generation of young urban professional, although as an acronym it is appropriate. I don't recall saying these people are over-tweeting. One can generally infer.

Just so easy to meet people in OKC because almost everyone is friendly and down-to-earth.

Sure, a city like Dallas has tons more places but I lived there for a while and found it much hard to meet people.

In OKC, if you go out enough virtually everyone at the same place is only one degree of separation removed. Eventually, you get introduced around a great deal which is so different than in big cities. I can guarantee you it almost never happens here in L.A.

LOL you read my mind Pete. With the caveat that I haven't been here too long, I have to say I'm disappointed in how hard it is to meet people down here. People have been nice to me though and I have a small existing network so I'm not socially destitute. But the "settling down" culture is just as strong, maybe a little stronger, in DFW just as it is in OKC (Pwitty's link was pretty eye opening). On top of that you have a nightlife that is very polycentric and constraints that traffic puts on people. Social life not always better in bigger cities.

Also I agree VERY much with the degree of separation thing. If you know at least one person at a bar or party, you will know half the crowd before the night is over. Last time I was in OKC I went to H & 8th only knowing one person there and ended up spending the rest of the night with 8 other people.

Last time I was in OKC I went to H & 8th only knowing one person there and ended up spending the rest of the night with 8 other people.

Had a very similar experience. Went to H&8th with 3 people I knew, ran into about 10 from high school that I hadn't seen in at least 6 or 7 years and then met about 8 random people that invited us into their home spent a good portion of the post h&8th festivities there. Then after we left we ran into a few fellow OKC talkers at O Bar and continued the night till around 4 AM. It is quite the community event.


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I went to H&8th this weekend, patio at Flint, then Packards, then O bar. Saturday we did speakeasy Edna's and juniors. So the answer to your question is just go exploring places. The group I hang with is very nomadic and doesn't really have a "spot" per say. I feel like a lot of young proffessionals are the same way.

I would add flips to the list of yuppie hangouts for the private school crowd

OKC is very friendly on the surface level and its pretty easy to get introduced to people. However, I have found most social groups here to be very close-knit and difficult to break into. I think this city is a very different experience for people who grew up here or at least went to college here vs people who have moved here post-college.

I don't think too many people confuse young professionals with hipsters, unless they don't get out. But I think the word yuppie is not really used to describe this generation of young urban professional, although as an acronym it is appropriate. I don't recall saying these people are over-tweeting. One can generally infer.

A lot of young professionals are hipsters these days. Hipsterdom has pretty much taken over twentysomething culture. Not all young professionals are hipsters though and not all hipsters are young professionals.

A lot of young professionals are hipsters these days. Hipsterdom has pretty much taken over twentysomething culture. Not all young professionals are hipsters though and not all hipsters are young professionals.

No.

OKC is very friendly on the surface level and its pretty easy to get introduced to people. However, I have found most social groups here to be very close-knit and difficult to break into. I think this city is a very different experience for people who grew up here or at least went to college here vs people who have moved here post-college.

I actually agree with this 100%. It's truer here than most anywhere else I've lived.

No.

Maybe it depends on your definition of hipster.

OKC is very friendly on the surface level and its pretty easy to get introduced to people. However, I have found most social groups here to be very close-knit and difficult to break into. I think this city is a very different experience for people who grew up here or at least went to college here vs people who have moved here post-college.

That has not been my experience at all. New people are moving here all the time, including me not that long ago.

Also, I got married seven years ago at 22, but it's hardly like I became a shut in who stays at home cowering under my afghan waiting until it's 8:00 so I can go to bed. I go out when I want to go out, usually to places like VZD's, Empire, Speakeasy or Saint's. I prefer a place with good food and/or drinks where it's quiet enough for me to talk to the people I went out to see - even if it's only my wife.

One of the best ways I met people -- especially women -- when I lived in OKC was from the gym.

I used to go to a big co-ed exercise class at the Y on N. Penn a couple of times a week and then when I went out, I'd see some of the same people. So easy to approach someone in that situation, "Hey, don't I know you from the Y?" And then I'd meet their friends, etc.

With a pretty good concentration of professional people living in and near downtown these days, you have a concentration unlike anything previous in OKC. As Sid said, just going to the same place(s) relatively consistently means you'll get to know people.

I've only been to Skinny Slim's three times and got to know people there very quickly.

I don't think I have found it hard to strike up conversation in OKC at bars or other venues. Use the old FORD technique. Family, Occupation, Recreation and Dreams. Easy to make small talk.

DD to BT area is prime happy hours and thur-sat night young professional spots.

You can find young professionals (and all sorts of people) from any of the following - Urban J, to DD Grill, to WSKY, to WXY, to Skinny Slims, to Tapwerks, to Hudsons. All of those places are very close proximity and are only 1 cab ride to the area from a suburb.

Like Sid said, become a regular at some of these places and you will recognize yourself who is the regulars etc. Personally, I think DD is becoming the spot. Even moreso once OKSEA gets up.

We moved here after 2 years in DFW, and made more friends in 6 months here than we did in 2 years in DFW, and neither one of us grew up here, and were 5+ years post college.

I'm single, and I go out regularly enough to satisfy my own wants with friends, who are usually themselves married, at places in the Paseo and Plaza. I too find that it's incredibly easy to talk to people and get to know them, often pretty quickly. I'm not a professional as I type at the moment, but I like to think my attitude is.