Population Growth for OKC

[Pete]

^

That's the way to do it!

I've had the stupidly expensive house, expensive cars... And I am way, way happier living modestly.

I buy nice things, take very good care of them and then don't have the stress of working for someone else and being a slave to debt.

[shartel_ave]

^

That's the way to do it!

I've had the stupidly expensive house, expensive cars... And I am way, way happier living modestly.

I buy nice things, take very good care of them and then don't have the stress of working for someone else and being a slave to debt.

same here, it's how I paid my house off and have zero debt and can retire at 55 or sooner if I want to and as of now I want to.

I go so many years not seeing my mother in san antonio and my brother in tucson and they don't get up here much either but sometimes we meet up at Lake Possum Kingdom for a get together.

When I retire I can go see them as much as I want.

[OKCRealtor]

+1 on starting small and house hacking it/living under your means.

I did the exact same thing in my early 20's and it was one of the smartest things I could do at the time and paid off nicely.

Too many now are choosing to pay absurd rent instead of doing the same. Very foolish and costly long term financial decision in most cases.

[Pete]

^

Or, people buy 5,000 SF homes for their 2-4 person family.

A good friend of mine pays more for his combined electric and water bill than I do on my mortgage.

[GoGators]

Yep, this 100%. Bought our 1950 (remodeled with new infrastructure 20 years ago) house 6 years ago, have had to remove *tons* of plants, trees, etc., and fill in with a couple of tons of dirt, and that's just the lawn. All kinds of HVAC stuff, fixtures, electrical, just lots of stuff we've done and we're *almost* at a point where things are stable (had our HVAC/plumbing guy come in and fix everything he saw that was wrong or would fail in the next few years and it took a month and was expensive, but worth it for the peace of mind). We've probably spent ~ $20,000 on getting things back to where they should be.

Not saying you weren't, but Id be careful about what people come in and tell you needs to be fixed that are “about” to fail. Had an hvac guy at my house in April saying I needed a complete new unit because there would be no way the old unit would survive the upcoming peak summer heat and it would be toast. Basically called me an idiot for not agreeing to a new system. Well The thermostat is sitting at 68 degrees right now on a hot July day. And that conversation was April of 6 years ago.

[shartel_ave]

^

Or, people buy 5,000 SF homes for their 2-4 person family.

A good friend of mine pays more for his combined electric and water bill than I do on my mortgage.

? The upper 5% buying 5k sqft homes? They can afford to blow money on stupid high utility bills, come on

[TheTravellers]

Not saying you weren't, but Id be careful about what people come in and tell you needs to be fixed that are “about” to fail. Had an hvac guy at my house in April saying I needed a complete new unit because there would be no way the old unit would survive the upcoming peak summer heat and it would be toast. Basically called me an idiot for not agreeing to a new system. Well The thermostat is sitting at 68 degrees right now on a hot July day. And that conversation was April of 6 years ago.

Well, our electric service still had the 1950 meter, so that one was an accurate call. All the HVAC/plumbing was needed - he's a plumber we've used almost ever since we've been here and he's completely honest and only does what needs to be done, he's done *tons* of work for us updating broken hose bibs, corroded 15-year-old water heater, replacing old valves with ball ones, etc. Yeah, always good to be careful, but we had a home inspection done, so we were aware of most of the things that needed fixing, other stuff cropped up after we moved in, and I have a pretty good knowledge of a house and how it all works (my estimate of the work being done that I do in my head is almost always very close to what they come up with), so that has helped us out a lot. We're basically bringing the house up to speed and fixing some of the deferred maintenance from the previous owners, so we won't have to worry too much about this kind of stuff breaking later on down the line (although there will be stuff that breaks, but hopefully less of it ).

[shartel_ave]

Not sure were this belongs but this is a great article

https://405business.com/the-district...Esk8T35AgQYucg


Interesting, Phase 2 of the streetcar

ASIAN DISTRICT

Here’s another underdeveloped area where spillover has fueled success for small businesses. Jenny Nguyen, co-owner of Lee’s Sandwiches and VP of the Asian District Cultural Association, is working on a vermicelli bowl concept at NW 25th and Classen scheduled to open in late summer. Gong Cha, a national bubble tea concept, will be moving into 2800 N. Classen. A locally owned laundromat named Spin City should be open when this issue comes out. Nathan Cao is developing a multi-family complex called New Saigon on NW 26th and Western, a 36-unit complex to feature “smart studios” that Cao calls “the most affordable for new construction in the urban core,” with prices around $800 per month. The transit-oriented development is designed to capitalize on phase two of the OKC Streetcar.

[Pete]

^

There is absolutely zero movement toward expanding the streetcar.

There will be BRT stops near 23rd & Classen.


The rest of that is all stuff we reported many months ago.

405 in all its forms is just a glossy pay-for-coverage publication trying to mascarade as journalism.

[TheTravellers]

Also - Scratch, Frida, and Goro are not among OKC's "very best" restaurants. Frida and Scratch are very good, though, but Goro isn't even that, in our opinions (Tamashii has them beat easily).

[shartel_ave]

^

There is absolutely zero movement toward expanding the streetcar.

There will be BRT stops near 23rd & Classen.


The rest of that is all stuff we reported many months ago.

405 in all its forms is just a glossy pay-for-coverage publication trying to mascarade as journalism.

I had a feeling it had been covered on OKCTalk but thought maybe not since the article was only 6 months old.

[Pete]

Also - Scratch, Frida, and Goro are not among OKC's "very best" restaurants. Frida and Scratch are very good, though, but Goro isn't even that, in our opinions (Tamashii has them beat easily).

It's because the owners of Goro and Scratch give tons and free food and drink to Greg Horton, the author.

Why on earth anyone bothers with that rag is beyond me. They are never going to have any new information (and frequently have no idea what they are talking about) and the rest is all driven by advertising and giveaways.

As much as OKC has grown, our 'journalism' is still at the level of a small town.

[shartel_ave]

Also - Scratch, Frida, and Goro are not among OKC's "very best" restaurants. Frida and Scratch are very good, though, but Goro isn't even that, in our opinions (Tamashii has them beat easily).

when it comes to "very best" concerning restaurants it is always subjective

I agree as far as Tamashii goes, I prefer them over Goro but I love tonkotsu ramen more than any other types of ramen.

Jinya's tonkotsu is really good but expensive.

[shartel_ave]

It's because the owners of Goro and Scratch give tons and free food and drink to Greg Horton, the author.

Why on earth anyone bothers with that rag is beyond me. They are never going to have any new information (and frequently have no idea what they are talking about) and the rest is all driven by advertising and giveaways.

As much as OKC has grown, our 'journalism' is still at the level of a small town.

I don't pay attention to 405 I was researching the ironworks district and that article popped up

[TheTravellers]

when it comes to "very best" concerning restaurants it is always subjective

I agree as far as Tamashii goes, I prefer them over Goro but I love tonkotsu ramen more than any other types of ramen.

Jinya's tonkotsu is really good but expensive.

Good to hear, sounds like we're on the same page WRT ramen, Jinya's on our go-to-soon list...

[LocoAko]

Whether or not certain restaurants fall into the top tier (we, for example, love Frida and Goro), where did they get any notion of a Phase 2 of the streetcar? Did they just make that up out of thin air and/or wishful thinking? As Pete said the BRT is going in and will likely kill any possibility of future transit up the Classen corridor for the time being (plus, anecdotally, I know a lot of people that have 'turned' on the streetcar after seeing how low ridership has been and bash/mock it frequently). I know there are no actual standards when it comes to publishing this sort of thing but I mean...

[shartel_ave]

Whether or not certain restaurants fall into the top tier (we, for example, love Frida and Goro), where did they get any notion of a Phase 2 of the streetcar? Did they just make that up out of thin air and/or wishful thinking? As Pete said the BRT is going in and will likely kill any possibility of future transit up the Classen corridor for the time being (plus, anecdotally, I know a lot of people that have 'turned' on the streetcar after seeing how low ridership has been and bash/mock it frequently). I know there are no actual standards when it comes to publishing this sort of thing but I mean...

I think the weekday ridership is fine for the streetcar it is on par with Seattle's weekday streetcar averaging around 3k riders per day

edit: I can't find any 2021 ridership info for OKC streetcar and I got daily ridership off of wikipedia for both cities and it doesn't seem to add even for weekday ridership for OKC

Light rail would be nice in OKC. Like a lot of cities mixed public trans would be great here having the bus, streetcar, and a light rail. I left Seattle in 2007 before Link light rail even had one station open in Seattle but I've visited many times since it has opened and now goes all the way the university district.

[Pete]

Whether or not certain restaurants fall into the top tier (we, for example, love Frida and Goro), where did they get any notion of a Phase 2 of the streetcar? Did they just make that up out of thin air and/or wishful thinking? As Pete said the BRT is going in and will likely kill any possibility of future transit up the Classen corridor for the time being (plus, anecdotally, I know a lot of people that have 'turned' on the streetcar after seeing how low ridership has been and bash/mock it frequently). I know there are no actual standards when it comes to publishing this sort of thing but I mean...

The author simply has no idea what he is talking about.

He's a wannabe food critic that merely hangs out in bars and restaurants getting as many freebies as he can (which is never disclosed), then writes about his 'friends' in glowing terms over and over again.

Now, they are using him in this 'business' publication because he's cheap and available. As far as I can tell, his only experience in business is holding up a bank at gunpoint (no, I'm not joking). That's the current state of these types of publications.

[OKCRealtor]

The author simply has no idea what he is talking about.

He's a wannabe food critic that merely hangs out in bars and restaurants getting as many freebies as he can (which is never disclosed), then writes about his 'friends' in glowing terms over and over again.

Now, they are using him in this 'business' publication because he's cheap and available. As far as I can tell, his only experience in business is holding up a bank at gunpoint (no, I'm not joking). That's the current state of these types of publications.

Greg Horton held up a bank?

[Pete]

Greg Horton held up a bank?

Yes.

And spent time in jail.

He told me that within 5 minutes of meeting him and he mentions it all the time on his social media.

[OKCRealtor]

Yes.

And spent time in jail.

He told me that within 5 minutes of meeting him and he mentions it all the time on his social media.

Wow. I've always thought the guy was a little off/never understood the following from some of the restaurant industry people.

[Pete]

Wow. I've always thought the guy was a little off/never understood the following from some of the restaurant industry people.

Because they think he has some sort of sway and he hangs out with many of them.

He has a couple of thousand followers. There are dozens of foodies and influencers in OKC with more, many with substantially more.

[OKCRealtor]

Because they think he has some sort of sway and he hangs out with many of them.

He has a couple of thousand followers. There are dozens of foodies and influencers in OKC with more, many with substantially more.

Yea I know he's buddy/buddy with some of them. Always thought he was a weirdly narcissistic dude but didn't know about the bank robbery back in the day. Just googled it lol.

[PhiAlpha]

Because they think he has some sort of sway and he hangs out with many of them.

He has a couple of thousand followers. There are dozens of foodies and influencers in OKC with more, many with substantially more.

Guide to becoming a food critic in OKC:

Step 1: Armed Robbery
Step 2: Experience prison food
Step 3: Tell EVERYONE about steps 1 & 2.
Step 4: Hype your friends’ restaurants for free food
Step 5: Profit?

[Pete]

It's all part of the worst aspects of OKC that need to change.

If you want free stuff, then be honest about what you are (a grifting 'influencer') and stop trying to pretend to be a journalist. It amazes me that people here aren't appalled. Just goes to show how low our standards have always been.