Considering move to NW Expressway area

[ETL]

I've been looking around the city and like the NW Expressway area between the mall and I-44. I think it's a neat area with a lot to offer. I'll probably be looking to move after I graduate next summer. As a young person, I think the area is attractive and kind of gives me a bigger city feel without the downtown cost of rent. I'm looking to cap my rent around $600-$650. Any suggestions about apartments? Good/Bad experiences? How is the crime in the area? Thanks for your help!

[adaniel]

Young person and ex-NWOKC'er here. That's certainly not a bad area, but how much you enjoy it will be highly dependent on what you like to do & where you like to do it. Do you go to bars? Do you frequent downtown a lot? There's a lot off NWX but none of its is geared towards young people, besides maybe the Looney Bin. I would hardly call it "big city feel". That area is very suburban. People move out that way to get their kids in PC schools, not to hang with young single people. Of course if you like snowboarding or rock climbing then obviously you won't care that much.

If your looking for big city fun without the cost, there's a ton of places within 2 miles of downtown. Try Jefferson Park if you want an apartment. You could find a nice one for $600/month. If you want a house, you could find one for that price in Miller, Sheppard Heights, etc. They are all pretty safe areas.

I actually moved to a place off NWX and Council once I graduated from OU. At the time I wasn't to familiar with dowtown living and was concerned about saving money as well. Within 3 months, I grew to hate it. My apartment (like many others around there) was cheaply built. I could here my neigbors sneeze, using the bathroom, talking on the phone, having sex (!!) I was also absolutely bored to tears. The worst was during the ice/snow storm in early 2010. I could not leave my place for 3 days, and I don't believe I've ever felt so isolated in my life. That spring I was dead set on moving to Midtown, and have been there happily ever since.

Obviously my case is a bit extreme but the results have been pretty similar for other people I know who lived out that way.

[MikeOKC]

I don't have time and have to be quick...I just wanted to point out that ETL specifically said between I-44 and Penn Square. That's a lot different than NWX and Council.

[ETL]

Thanks for the recommendations! I'll check out some of those areas.

Maybe in a few days I will add another thread. Hate to create too many, but I want to see where people 20-30 are live, esp young professionals.

[Roadhawg]

I don't have time and have to be quick...I just wanted to point out that ETL specifically said between I-44 and Penn Square. That's a lot different than NWX and Council.

That doesn't leave a lot of area to look in

[HewenttoJared]

Coventry Cove is fantastic if you can luck into one. They don't come open very often though.

[sacolton]

Enjoy the N.W. Expressway traffic!! (I don't miss it.)

[swilki]

Enjoy the N.W. Expressway traffic!! (I don't miss it.)

What traffic? I drive that route everyday to and from work and with the stoplights being timed, I hardly every hit a red light. It's wonderful.

People in OKC don't understand what true traffic jams are.

[Bill Robertson]

What traffic? I drive that route everyday to and from work and with the stoplights being timed, I hardly every hit a red light. It's wonderful.

People in OKC don't understand what true traffic jams are.

I agree with you that OKC has comparatively very little real traffic I also have to agree with sacolton that NW Expressway between 4:30 and 6:00 PM is in contention for the worst traffic OKC has to offer.

[Roadhawg]

I agree with you that OKC has comparatively very little real traffic I also have to agree with sacolton that NW Expressway between 4:30 and 6:00 PM is in contention for the worst traffic OKC has to offer.

It's anything but an expressway

[windowphobe]

The only really bad aspect of traffic around that zone - unless it's between Black Friday and Christmas Eve inclusive - is that you are practically guaranteed to see at least one bozo run a red light each and every day. (Lived here eight years, learned to wait a couple of seconds after the green.)

[stlokc]

There is an apartment complex just north of Penn Square on Penn, south of Warerford. It used to be really nice...not sure what it's like today.
I don't think there are many "complexes" around there. But in my mind, the area around the old Classen Circle would be a good place for a younger person to live. Between Classen Curve, proximity to Western, Penn Square, Classen Blvd with all the restaurants and bars within a mile or so in all directions, a short jaunt to downtown...I would definitely consider that area if I were the poster in question. Just my $.02.

[bluedogok]

There are some older apartments that were redone behind the Mayfair Village shopping center (Southeast corner on NW 50th & May) called Mayfair Gardens. Some of us looked at them when they were in the middle of reopening after being closed up for a long time, like most things what they did was enough to get them back on the market but far from what they could have been. I know nothing about how good they are, management or anything like that. I just thought they were something out of the ordinary apartment. The last apartments that I lived in were The Invitational around 1997.

Before I moved to Austin in 2003 I had a rent house in the area between May and I-44, south of NW 50th, I thought it was a nice area and well located for me. My rent (at that time) was quite a bit less than your range for a 3/1/1, I know things have gone up in the almost 9 years since but you might check into a few a houses in that area as they might be in your price range.