NE Corner of 101st & Memorial

[Hoss]

71st, Mingo to Garnett: 4
71st, Mingo to Memorial: 2
Yale, 71st to 61st: 3

11th, Mingo to Garnett - 5 (includes the lights at Mingo and Garnett).
41st, Mingo to Garnett - 6 (includes Mingo and Garnett)

[Red Arrow]

Seems they could better engineer the lights so there is less a chance of that happening.  All the idling and accellerating doesn't help with emissions.

I think that only one direction at a time can be synchronized.  Works good on one way streets.

[we vs us]

When Mrs. Wevus and I moved from Chicago in 2007, it obviously took us awhile to get acclimated, but one of the things that's been eye-opening as we travel NOW (as opposed to when we lived in Chicago) is how much more Tulsa there is in the world and how little Chicago.  Meaning, more people in the country live like people do in Tulsa than they do in Chicago. 

This includes:  car vs. public transit preferences; density preferences; what sort of domicile you want to live in and how much space is in it and how much space is outside of it; where and how you socialize, shop, and worship, and whether you should really bother walking or biking to each one. 

There are obviously political differences, too, mostly which include a different tolerance for cost of living.  There's no denying it: city dwellers are not only willing, but in some ways expect to pay a premium for their type of living . . . and they will shell it out in a myriad of ways (taxes, fees, higher price tolerance in general).

But anyway, my point in writing this is to express my mild shock at the perceived differences between Houston and Tulsa, where the difference in lifestyle is almost exclusively due to the amount of people, rather than the style itself. People in Houston (and Dallas, and Little Rock, and Kansas City, and Phoenix, etc etc choose your own adventure) almost exclusively live in places that look and feel like Tulsa.  Stoplights, 8 lane arterials, big box stores set back in the middle of gigantor parking lots, and houses ringed around endless cul de sacs. And for those of us who crave "authenticity," every one of those cities, big and small, has the equivalent of our Midtown.  Trust me:  I've priced property in each one.

So I guess my question is:  what really pulled you back to Tulsa?  Family?  Familiarity?  A city not so crammed with people?

[Conan71]

Pretty much all of the above, Wevus.  Kansas City wasn't much different than Tulsa as far as density vs. sprawl.  I spent the latter part of my teen years plotting ways to blow this town.  Once I was gone, I realized though KC had many opportunities and benefits, Tulsa would always be home.  Instead of thinking Tulsa was a great place to be from it was a great place to be.  No slam on KC, it's just a different pace here and I had family and friends here.

I had several circumstances come to a head at once.  I had a falling out with one of my roommates and happened to meet the first Mrs. Conan at that time and she was preparing to start her Sr. year at OSU.  My brother had bought a business and needed my help so there was yet one more reason.

It made sense at the time to move back to Tulsa at that point.  I just felt a pull.  I'd moved to KC in the first place due to a budding auto racing career, but I realized my finances were not going to hold out long enough to catch the attention of potential future car owners or sponsors and at that time, for open wheel dirt racing, I needed to be further to the east like Indy, Ohio, or Central Pennsylvania.  I was working construction and racing on the weekends in central Missouri.  In order to try and make a living racing, it wasn't going to happen in KC and I simply decided I wasn't willing to make the sacrifices I would have needed to such as living like a hobo to make it somewhere else.

[Hoss]

Same here.  But really more factors than just that.

The whole divorce thing started it.  Sure, I had friends, but they were all from work.  I had no family here.  So once I moved into my own apartment on my own in May, I stayed seven months.

I had family here.  A mother who was still semi-ambulatory, a familiarity with the region, and yes, less crammed for space.

I tired of the hour long commute to work and hour back.  It finally culminated when the apartment complex I was living in finally got hit by the crime bug.  When you hear more than one gunshot from a different area of the complex a night, it's time to start thinking about your current living condition.

The final trigger was a Nov '93 visit back to Tulsa for my brothers first son's first birthday (he turns 18 this November..wow).  I wound up bar hopping that weeked with some old friends, and after a few Budweisers and some pool, I made the proclamation.

Flew my brother and a friend one way, sold what little furniture I had, packed everything else up in the 86 Ford Taurus and drove back to Oklahoma.  Never regretted moving back.

But, I also don't regret that time I spent in Texas.  Unlike many I know, I'm glad to say I've resided in different areas of the country, even if it's just two.

Guess I'm more of a 'home is where the heart is' kinda guy, as opposed to 'home is where my head hits the pillow'...