The Tulsa Forum by TulsaNow

As of yesterday I am now in Tulsa...woohoo cause that 18 hour drive was a killer.  Not the longest I've drove but it was pretty freakin boring. 

What I like so far in one day..what a great judgement LOL:

5. The street system, can't get lost.
4. The speed limit, holy crap I'm in love with the fast speed.
3.  Restaurant/food places I've driven by umm do you guys ever not eat out? LOL there's a bunch of places to eat        around here. 
2.  I've seen some pretty attractive guys around here so as a single lady I got to put that in the top 5.  My cable guy was young and hot wow...seriously wanted to ask him for his number.  Usually cable guys are not attractive and usually older.  Darn it could of dressed up and did the whole cable guy/lonely wife (but I'm not married) role play thing  :-*
1.  Number one reason (drum roll please): I can walk to Cheesecake Factory....watch out cheesecake here I come...

Downside:
5.  WTH do you guys have tolls damn it LOL, I didn't have change at the first one cause I mean its OK didn't know they had tolls so I gave the person 91 cents literally that's all I had, I'm a plastic Queen  ;D
4.  Um back to the roads a lot of potholes and non smooth surfaces to have a FREAKIN toll system...hello where's that money going to then? 
3.  I see A LOT of cars with taped up fenders and bumpers, hmm no good drivers around here?  What's up with pulling out in front of a truck 10 ft in front of them...hello!!!
2.  Ok I understand this is supposed to be a friendly area but I guess coming from NC I'm into the habit of saying how are you doing, whats up, or whatever greeting you want while walking by someone since that's the custom.  No one has done that yet, I've done it a couple of times and some people hesitated to respond so I guess that's not a common thing to do.
1.  My insurance premium went up from 384 (includes renters insurance) for 6 months to 789 (includes renters insurance) the USAA rep said something about higher accident area.  So guess I got to watch my back...and front around here LOL.

Just a couple things I've noticed in my 2 days here, lol.  So obviously this is in good fun.  I'm glad to have finally moved here and will look at the brighter side of things. 

Well quite obviously you ran into me then. Sorry, happily married.  ;D

Welcome, glad you have made it!! 

Now I can't help but comment on some of your list..


Okay, maybe a few comments on all of your list lol

Welcome to Jesusville!  :o

Well it's clear you have yet to run into me, I make a point to say hi or good day or something. So with that, Howdy and welcome to town. :)

Welcome, and I'll address everything I can before I have to go back to work...now I'm recalling you moved to the 71st/Mingo area, so we won't hold that against you  ;D

5.  It's pretty neat, huh?  Even the freeways (one east-west  (I 244) one ne-sw (Interstate 44) one nw-se (Broken Arrow Expy) two north south (US 75 and US 169) and all the majors are one mile apart once you get west of Lewis.

4.  You'll learn to dodge n weave; most Oklahomans don't have the foggiest notion of what fast in the left lane means.

3.  You're living in what's called Miracle Mile, where all the restaraunts are.  Go north of 51st Street and that all changes.

2.  I agree with custosnox, although my ex-wife caught me that way.

1.  Never been to cheesecake factory, but like cust, I like my own.

Downside stuff:

5.  Invest in a PikePass.  Costs you $40 at the outset, resets another 30 dollars in to your account when down to 10 dollars (kinda like Floridas turnpike pass system).  Plus you get a small discount with the PikePass http://www.pikepass.com

4.  Yep.  Bad roads, but the toll roads are the only things maintained by toll road money.  Our roads suck here because of our huge weather extremes and high rainfall amounts.  Houston is worse though.  By leaps and bounds.

3.  Once again, product of the area you live in.  People drive more agressively along that corridor.  Further north that's not as much of an issue.

2.  People keep to their own somewhat here, but are more friendly than up north and out west.

1.  Higher accident area for sure.  The 71st street corridor is hell.  Wait until Christmas season rolls around.  You'll learn shortcuts (like if you need to go north double back down Mingo to 169 northbound).

Enjoy it here!

Just be careful if you go over to Conan's house.

And be sure to support your local musicians and arteests.

I had wondered if it was 71st street.  Guess now I know lol must have missed the thread where you mentioned where you are at.

Yup I'm across the Mall.  By the way when I went driving last night it was kind of like driving in Grand Theft Auto San Andreas (based on Cali cities and towns).  I went across the river I guess I was still on 71st and at night it was like nothing compared to before you cross the river.  LOL it felt like when you drive from LA in the game to the Red Lands.  Ok just had to point that out. 

Hadn't thought of it that way, but yeah, it's a pretty dramatic change there.  However, The developers are trying to change that.  They have already put in a new shopping center in at highway 75

Hah, nothing to be afraid of at my place, except for the 5 lb. guard dog or unless you detest great BBQ. 

First let me say Welcome!!! Second, call around, do some price checking, when I moved back here from Texas, I had to switch from Gieco to State Farm, there was close to $600 difference between the two. I am sure I also don't have to tell you to see what other discounts you may apply for.

I will say I am surprised as a female your insurance is so high, seems at least 200ish to high.

Good luck!!!

Yea I will it's just that USAA is a military bank and they usually have cheaper rates and they treat me so well.  I do my banking with them and all my atm charges get returned to me plus there 24/7.  I may call around just never had a bank or insurance company treat me as nice as they have.

I had a $0 deductible when I was in NC and I changed that to $250 here.  I don't want to bump it up to $500 or anything like that as I have used them for windshield replacement a couple of times.  It seems that pebbles love to hit my Ram-Rod HA!

Understandable and good treatment might be worth the extra few hundred every six months.

BTW: Just now read your signature, thank you, made my day (does that say more for my day or your signature? Not sure.)

You might want to be wary of driving 169 too much then; dump trucks without covers love to drive on that stretch for some reason....

If you do get a re-quote, try Oklahoma Farm Bureau.  I gave them a shot based on a friend's claim experience (which was great) and it's saved me quite a bit on vehicle and homeowner's.  As I understand their risk pool is grouped in Oklahoma so your rates don't get jacked everytime there's a hurricane on the gulf coast or an earthquake in California.  You do have to pay a yearly membership of $35, so factor that into your rate.

And welcome to Tulsa.

Welcome to Tulsa!!! (or Jesusville as was appropriately commented earlier) :) Hope you enjoy it. I've lived here for about 3.5 years now and (for the most part) I love it.

I actually really enjoy reading impressions of Tulsa from outsiders.  They complain about things I never think of.  They appreciate things I take for granted.  Keep it up!


I too love the fast speed.  However, it probably has something to do with the below referenced collisions and crazy driving.  If traffic is coming on a surface street at 45mph, you have to haul when you pull out.

Though, as pointed out in another thread, Tulsans are actually very  average drivers.
 (http://www.tulsanow.org/forum/index.php?topic=13847.0)  Drivers in Charlotte are among the worst in the nation and Greensboro and Raleigh are statistically each more than 4 times worse than Tulsans.  


We do.  But when we eat at home we attempt to make is just as unhealthy.  We aren't a fat state by chance.


[insert snarky comment here]  Really, I got nothing.



Downside:

5. Get a pikepass.  When I got one it was free but you had to put $50 in the account.  It was all used to pay tolls.  And if you pay attention the tolls around the city aren't that bad.  

4. Toll roads are well maintained.  Free roads . . . not so much.  Extreme temperatures.  Sandy soil (swells when wet, contracts when dry).  Lots of water.  And freeze-refreeze in the winter.  Coupled with aggressive driving and sprinkle in some neglect.

3. Covered above.  


You are in a commercial area.  In or near most malls people don't say hi to everyone.  There are too many people around to do that.  Go for a walk in a neighborhood.

I'd say it is common to acknowledge someone if you are the only people around.  If you are standing on a street corner together.  Or if you are in an elevator.   Sometimes people are a little surprised when you say hi, but it's not like NYC or Chicago where they are offended that you had the nerve to speak to them.  But if you are in a crowd, in your car, or somewhere that you will constantly be bumping into people it probably won't happen.


Seriously, check around.  I had to switch insurance companies also.  Many insurance companies simply are not competitive in Oklahoma (or insert other state here) and don't really want to do business here.  


Welcome to Tulsa.  I'd invite you over for drinks tonight with my family, but that would seem kinda strange stalkerish.  So I won't.  We'll have to get a Tulsa Now lunch going so people can welcome you to Tulsa in person.

I came to Tulsa in 2003 to attend law school and my wife, son and I stayed.  Not too big, not too small.  Affordable housing.  Entertainment options.  And some character.   I hope you enjoy yourself and i hope you keep commenting on your experiences.

Don't worry, I do that as well. I also almost always have to say "Have a nice morning/day/afternoon/night" or sometimes I just say "Have a good one." This all stems from a summer job I had once at Arbys when I was 15.

When people say that to me...I say, "I do have a good one, thanks for noticing."

I think the thought process is.. If Jesus didn't get to walk on even paved streets void of potholes, why should we!

I hate it when people do that, because it required no extra thought for me to say the former line. Now I feel compelled to try and think of a snappy comeback, and because I am under pressure I usually just lock up and just mumble something stupid.    :D

Welcome to Tulsa!  :)

Your rates may have gone up (a lot), but USAA is the _only_ insurance company I've heard consistently good reports about.  Be wary...

I've recently cross shopped and I stuck with USAA.  I have a feeling you will too.

I love the traffic controlled lights. While living in NOLA, I almost pulled my hair out daily!!

Ok so I'm driving around and...where's 7-11??? I want a slurpee and a Big Eat hot dog.

I'm Canadian, canadian's drink the MOST slurpee's in the world...I can't survive without a slurpee!!!  Tomorrow is Free Slurpee day since it's going to be 7/11...I want my free slurpee!!!

I miss my banana mixed with cherry slurpee  :'(

Go back to city-data and read my post I just put there, but I'll c and p it here...

-------------

QuikTrip, which can be found in metro areas like Atlanta, St. Louis, Phoenix, KC, Des Moines etc etc, also has many stores here (since this is the QuikTrip headquarters). An agreement was struck some years ago with the Southland Corporations who owns 7-11. It's essentially an exclusivity agreement. QuikTrip agreed not to enter the Oklahoma City market (where there are many 7-11s) as long as 7-11s stayed away from Tulsa. I don't know if they have those same agreements in the other markets, but I know about the OKC. The closest we had was Circle K for years, but then they pulled out of here.

I've been to both. Trust me, QuikTrip is better.

Oh, and no Hardees; those all changed over to Carls Jr.

And Tulsa did, years ago, have one Jack in the Box at 21st and Memorial.

This is what it looks like now:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=7939+e+21st+st,+tulsa,+ok&sll=36.133508,-95.887213&sspn=0.01194,0.027874&ie=UTF8&ll=36.13382,-95.887105&spn=0.01194,0.027874&t=h&z=16&iwloc=A&layer=c&cbll=36.133503,-95.88709&panoid=XDkDlxCc43KM7vPlrH7s6A&cbp=12,357.31,,0,5

Big hamburger eateries here are of course all the national ones, but those with local flavor and flair are:

Hanks Hamburgers, Admiral between Memorial and Mingo
Ron's : several locations around the metro
Braums is actually pretty good with hamburgers. Braums here is what DQ is everywhere else, but I think it's better. I lived in Houston for three years and that was really the only thing I missed (Braums).
--------------------

actually, the exclusivity agreement is mentioned on 7-11's Wikipedia page and mentions no 7-11s in markets where QuikTrip exists.  Which would explain why QT's dont exist in Phoenix city, just in the suburbs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7-Eleven#United_States

Yea there's a QT across from me...I just like the exclusive flavors at 7-11 especially around movie times and there are exclusive flavors just for those movies.  Carl's Jr and Hardee's are the same thing and owned by the same person.  It's just like Checkers and Rally's there the same just called different names in different regions.  But I'm glad to see you guys have Popeye's instead of Bojangles...YUCK lol

actually, the exclusivity agreement is mentioned on 7-11's Wikipedia page and mentions no 7-11s in markets where QuikTrip exists.  Which would explain why QT's dont exist in Phoenix city, just in the suburbs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7-Eleven#United_States
[/quote]

Sorry Hoss, there are dozens of QT's in Phoenix and the surrounding suburbs. 7-11's are slowly going away. I can name 4 or 5 within two miles of my house.

I remember when they started up out there they had none in the city, so I guess they've expanded.  I should have dug a little deeper.

Change that to "us guys" or equivalent.  Welcome to Tulsa.

You will also find that "high speed limits" are not universally appreciated as evidenced by side-by-side drivers going 10 or mph less than the speed limit.  Look out for red light runners too. Other than that, survival on Tulsa streets (as a driver) is not too bad.

Red light runners aren't near as bad here as they are in Houston.  They had built in delays to the greens of up to 5 seconds because of a rash of accidents blamed on them.  Wrong course to take, I think but when you're dealing with a metro area with a population coming up on 5 million, it may be a little difficult to just issue citations for running the light.

Still enough red light runners in Tulsa to give a word of caution.

I don't doubt that.  But she's coming from the Raleigh metro area, where I'm sure there were plenty of them.  I'm guessing she's used to it.

Okay guys, enough red light smackdown, lest our newest citizen think we are all pithy.   :-*

Those 7-11's in OKC aren't really 7-11's. They have the same logo, but they don't have slurpees, hot dogs, various national 7-11 movie promos, etc.

Through some strange agreement, the OKC 7-11 owner got to keep the name in that market but other than the logo, those stores bear little resemblance to 7-11.

Hoss, you got it about 1/4 right on the quik-trip/7-11 deal.  If you go to the source document on Wikipedia, it says it was a gentleman's agreement with a friend in OKC.  It only kept QT's out of OKC, not any other 7-11 markets.  The fact that QT is quite big in D-FW (7-11's HQ) probably should have tipped you off.  ;-)

You're probably more correct, since after doing some more research and seeing other posts on here and other websites, the 7-11s in OKC really aren't related to the other 7-11s.  Hell, if you go to their website and look for one closest to Tulsa, the closest one is in Olathe, KS, so they don't even rate getting their own locations in 7-11s national database.  I'm guessing the 7-11s in OKC are franchisee owned with a stipulation to keep the logo either by some sort of fee agreement or other compensation (maybe a percentage of profits?).

And actually, DFW is a fairly new market for QT, so no, it's not really that surprising.

That's funny, I'd always assumed 7-11's HQ was in Beirut or New Delhi.

Naw I'm getting used to it.  I used to live in CenTex and saw A LOT of red lights runners there so I'm guessing it's a Southwest thing  8).  Most lights up north and in NC are protected by cameras so most people actually slow down or stop at the sign of yellow LOL.  You can't fight a ticket when they got a picture of you, your vehicle and a close up of your vehicles license. 

Although some clever drivers have thwarted the camera systems by wearing Groucho glasses while driving (no joke).

I that IS a joke.  I think red light cameras work by taking pictures of the license plate, not the driver.

They take pictures of both in many places. One to catch the car's plate, the other to identify the driver so you can't weasel out of the ticket. Not that I think red light cameras are anything but wrong-headed and unsafe, as I've previously posted (with evidence for that position).

Outfitting more of our lights with the reverse indications that allow police officers to successfully ticket red light runners and having officers actually ticket for such dangerous behavior rather than focusing primarily on speed enforcement would probably cut down significantly on red light running. Officers are capable of making an on the spot decision as to whether a minor red light infraction was in fact the safest course of action, as it sometimes is.

We also need to fix the lights that don't have any all red interval. That's also unsafe.

Nope it takes a picture of the driver too, depending on where you are.  That's why there's cameras located on 4 different areas of the intersection, to take pics at different angles.  I don't know how it's set up in Tulsa so maybe here they don't take a pic of the driver.  I used to date a cop and I remember him telling me that if your past the indicator line when it's yellow it will not take your picture also something to do with a certain speed.  It's only when you past the indicator line after the light turns red then it will take your picture.  So if your taking a left turn and your like me and go past the indicator line before red it will not take picture, yes I creep closer whenever making a left instead of staying behind the white line unless it's a protected left turn.  You'll see the camera flash when someone actually is running the red light, that means it's red before they crossed the indicator line. 

According to the Mayor's Action Line folks, the cameras at Tulsa intersections are there only for the purpose of counting cars.

Someplace on the city's website, you can see the data for every intersection in the city (that has 'cameras').

For cheap-o hamburgers, also try:

Claudes - 3834 South Peoria, in Brookside
Brownies - west side of Harvard, just south of 21st street
Weber's Root Beer - 3817 South Peoria, also in Brookside

Careful now, cops around here are known for writing tickets for running a YELLOW light (still trying to figure out how they get away with this, and wouldn't have beleived it if I hadn't seen the actual ticket), and being in the intersection when the light turns red can get you a ticket as well.  As far as being past the white line, I'm not sure 90% of the drivers here realize your supposed to stop behind it.

And it's only at certain intersections that these cameras are located.  Not all of them have them.

As mentioned above, Tulsa's has no "enforcement" cameras. The closest they ever had was Wilbur in a lawn chair with a Nikon. (I'm not kidding)

It's true. I got one for making a turn on a yellow protected arrow.

Quote from an article about Houston's red-light cameras:

"Citations sent to motorists will include three photographs. One photograph will show the vehicle, another will show the license plate number and another will show the vehicle in the intersection while the light is red.

The cameras will not take a photograph of the driver."

Quote from an article about the red light system in Everett Washington:

"Because the cameras cannot legally take images of a driver's face, violations are treated similarly to parking tickets, not moving violations that are placed on a driver's record. The ticket will be mailed to a car's registered owner after the video is reviewed by the company and an Everett police officer."

Quote from an article about Illinois red-light cameras:

"Illinois law prohibits red-light cameras from capturing images of a driver’s face, which is why all cameras in the state capture only pictures and video of a vehicle’s rear."

I think it's safe to say that most systems do NOT take photos of the driver.  In part this is to avoid challenges based on privacy concerns.  And this is why the tickets do not count against your driving record or insurance.  They are treated the same as a parking ticket.  The owner of the vehicle is responsible, not matter who is driving.

Red-light and speed cameras are illegal in Oklahoma because state law says in essence a vehicle can not be charged with a crime, only a person.
The cameras used in Tulsa intersections are the "machine eyes" of the traffic signal controller.

"Traffic enforcement" cameras are solely for revenue, and a number of cities that installed them had to remove them because of huge increases in rear-end collisions and other liability suits.
Even AAA has reversed their earlier endorsement of them.

http://www.motorists.org/photoenforce/home/studies/
http://www.lubbockonline.com/stories/021508/loc_247128772.shtml
http://www.wdsu.com/news/19202586/detail.html

In some instances, "Traffic cameras are so effective at preventing dangerous driving that cops the nation over are scrambling to get rid of them to restore revenues gathered from issuing tickets."
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2008/03/cities-removing/

If this is so, then how do they write parking tickets? Or for running a toll?

'Red light and speed cameras'

Running a toll is different.  I've seen what those photos look like.  High-clarity of the rear-end of the vehicle with a focus on the tag.  Unless you have your face pressed up to the rear glass (highly unlikely) then the photos won't show.

I'm refering to Patric saying that a vehicle can't be charnged a crime and cannot be ticketed.

Receiving a ticket is not a crime, it is considered a civil fine.  You can have a civil judgment or a fine against people or things.  Companies, real property, even cash (State of Oklahoma v. $44,123).  So why not cars?

Now, if you ignore the fine you can be held to be in contempt of a court order to pay.  You are not arrest because of your traffic tickets, you are arrested because you failed to respond to a lawfully issued court appearance (or otherwise dispose of the issue - ie. pay the fine). 

Hence - a car can be fined by a camera.  But not given something beyond a civil penalty.  I'm guessing a moving violation that would effect insurance is considered over the line (plus it would lead to more challenges of the tickets and not increase revenues safety).

Sheesh, talk about thread drift...