Tony G, Tulsa (10/24/2009 6:18:25 AM)

Obviously--Mr. Agee, doesn't LIVE here. Doesn't see the bad streets, the high crime rate, doesn't understand the financial MESS made by queen Taylor.

Dr_Doom, Latveria (10/24/2009 8:36:14 PM)

We'll you gotta start somewhere I suppose and latch on to whatever you can.

Mar, Tulsa (10/24/2009 11:19:59 AM)

Congratulations to Tulsa and OKC!

Well, sweet tea, I'm glad you are in Dallas. We need positive people here in Tulsa to counter act all the griping and complaining all the time about Tulsa on these boards, we don't need another complainer.

Cherylann states: "Property taxes are really high in Dallas. ..." There you go, see different cities and states get their revenues from different sources. Dallas, etc. have high property taxes, Oklahoma/Tulsa doesn't, as they have sales tax which TX doesn't. If Oklahoma didn't have sales tax then the property tax would be higher.

A lot of you people complain about the high taxes here in Tulsa, OK, and I agree some of the taxes are too high. But there are higher taxes elsewhere. Kansas for instance has higher taxes on vehicles. I bought a Honda Civic in 2008, my tag and taxes here in Oklahoma were around $450. Had I tagged and paid taxes in Kansas (I use to live there), I would have had to pay $1,100.

Few Clothes, America (10/23/2009 8:34:57 PM)

Oklahoma and Texas cities dominated the top ten. We're both doing something right.

Few Clothes, America (10/24/2009 10:39:17 AM)

Centrist, property tax here is more costly than in Oklahoma creating some revenue for the state. I know that Austin continued new construction during the recession, and I imagine DFW, San Antonio, and Houston did also.

Few Clothes, America (10/24/2009 11:33:42 AM)

Cherylann. The tax rate in Dallas is $19.15 per thousand, which is higher than Austin at $18.00. Tulsa's rate is $10.53 to OKC's $10.53. The research I did concluded that it depends largly on what counties the city is located in. Examples would be Columbus, TX at $10.22 and Cordell, OK at $6.25. Texas property tax is higher, but you get basically a 7% raise in salary due to no state tax. The last groceries I purchased was 4 bags for $24.89 and there was no tax on any of them.

I will be interested in hearing about your first cold winter in Tulsa. Keep in touch.

irwindale, Tulsa (10/23/2009 1:17:54 PM)

Watch the Tulsa Chamber will take credit for the ranking as well as baked bread!

Jc214, Tulsa (10/24/2009 2:04:08 AM)

#5 Dallas my homewtown! I miss that place.

you'rekidding, tulsa (10/24/2009 12:16:20 AM)

It's hard to agree when Benham, an oil company no less, laid off both my girlfriend and myself plus 39 others. It is hard for a drafter when Texas oil company's fail and Bartlesville's flooded with people

you'rekidding, tulsa (10/24/2009 12:18:35 AM)

I think I might have some buried issues

you'rekidding, tulsa (10/24/2009 2:16:42 AM)

I hate to be cynical but intellegence always nags at me, though it does nothing for my spelling. What good is list anyways? To encourage more people to move here and find that there aren't any jobs? To bolster the encomies of failing cities with competition? Think about it, and hopefully someone proves me wrong, how many people would flock to Tulsa, just for say, because of a magazine article? Tulsa isn't that big and it wouldn't take many to upset the balance, if there is one. Strange how a few people at a magizine company can change so many peoples lives. Sorry for my banter

you'rekidding, tulsa (10/24/2009 2:19:24 AM)

Reminds me of a Bill Hicks qoute. 'I hate to sound like an @ssh0le, but I am, so thats how it comes out.'

you'rekidding, tulsa (10/24/2009 2:30:58 PM)

I've lived in Denver and Dallas, and one problem I can see for the actual city of Tulsa is that it is very condensed compared to those two. You have alot of people coming into the city from outside cities, which isn't very far, and the majority of their taxes stay close to home, hence and so forth the city of Tulsa misses out on alot of that. I will say traffic in Denver is alot worse than Dallas, but Denver isn't on the list so not point in that I guess.

you'rekidding, tulsa (10/24/2009 5:18:55 PM)

Most illegal immagrants from Mexico live in the southern states. Strange that Pres. Bush claimed that they are what would hurt our economy, yet look who is on this stronget cities list.

you'rekidding, tulsa (10/24/2009 5:22:24 PM)

My friend is making me put this conspiracy on this board for your amusement I guess. 'Maybe the list isn't real. Maybe it is just propaganda to try and calm everyone. Maybe every area of the states got a list of their own.'

you'rekidding, tulsa (10/24/2009 5:25:00 PM)

'Either way, close the gates San Antonio!!!'

you'rekidding, tulsa (10/24/2009 7:48:36 PM)

"Tulsa is open for business and we are thriving despite the national recession."

This guy must have already retired.

you'rekidding, tulsa (10/24/2009 7:50:35 PM)

All this talk of how we are doing instead of doing it makes me repressed.

Groove Monster, San Antonio (10/24/2009 11:38:39 AM)

I'm being demoted from #1 to #7... calling my bosses to tell them I quit, they can't make me move from San Antonio to Tulsa!

San Antonio doesn't have the highest crime rate in Texas, but we do have a high amount of violent crime here. Traffic flow is atrocious at best, very poor planning of the roads.

My wife and I bought our house in 2001 for about $97K, now it's value is $124K. But the taxes here are killer especially in the NISD. For 1697 sq ft, I pay $3081 in taxes (with the Homestead exemption). The school taxes alone from that are $1458. The growth here is the same as it is in Tulsa, everyone is moving out of the city limits, but the city keeps growing and annexing new areas. They have recently begun projects to "revitalize" the downtown area, but most of the major employers here aren't even downtown, so it's not going so well.

My wife and I are looking forward to getting away from the "big city" environment. We will be looking at homes in some of the smaller towns around Tulsa.

Also, the gas here in TX is more expensive, it's part of the reason we don't have a state tax. It's so darn big here you have to drive a day to get anywhere, so they know you'll be buying plenty of gas.

aint missbehavin, no thanks (10/24/2009 5:08:46 PM)

since everyone is missing the lone star state,Im hopin that it really is a strong feelin and makes some want to ge there.Ya know they are havin a one day sale down that way.

yep, Tulsa County (10/24/2009 9:43:15 AM)

What does a "strong city" mean? Obviously they didn't look at streets, or the number of regulations/hoops it takes to deal with for a small business to open. We also were rated as a "bicycle friendly" city too... Uhhh...

SS_Hippy, Tulsa (10/26/2009 8:17:04 AM)

would you rather commute to work in Tulsa, or in Austin? or Dallas? or Houston?

Centrist, the burbs (10/24/2009 1:29:58 AM)

We also have that nasty tax and title tax on vehicles too Cherylann. I bought a vehicle in TX a few years back and they said if I lived there I wouldn't have to pay that. I guess each state gets it somehow. How did TX get their revenue?

I'm glad OK made the list.

Corvetteguy, Tulsa (10/23/2009 1:02:07 PM)

Tulsa has a lot going for it, but hasn't had good leadership at the top in many decades. During the boom years of the 1980s, we had a "ribbon cutter" for a Mayor that never provided one day of true leadership.
The proof of the poor leadership, is that virtually all the surrounding communities prospered and grew, while Tulsa suffered an exodous of taxpayers to those surrounding towns that had their act together.
Now it's time that we desparately need strong leadership. Someone who can make tough financial decisions, AND, even more importantly, can get a handle on this crime problem we have.
Who is that leader?...............

DaBirdman, (10/24/2009 11:30:03 AM)

OK y'all---I am originally from Tulsa but currently living in Austin.......but......I have family in T-Town and want to come back! If anyone would like to hire a good salesman----

DaBirdman, (10/24/2009 12:33:19 PM)

Groove, here in Austin it has always been about a dime a gallon higher than Tulsa--even with y'alls "reformulated" gas or whatever they called it--to offset the dirty air ranking. But Cherylann is right---traffic in Tulsa is absolutely nothing compared to Houston, Dallas and her in Austin.

edelweiss, Tulsa (10/23/2009 12:54:08 PM)

Another reason to love and support Tulsa!

JDH, Tulsa (10/24/2009 11:34:30 AM)

I always thought, generally speaking, that you either pay sales tax on new vehicles, or excise tax as in Ok. Works out about the same.

JDH, Tulsa (10/24/2009 11:38:11 AM)

Seems funny we're weathering the recession. Nordham laid off 20% of it's work force, Penloyd close down, they are still talking about laying off police and fire personnel. I'd hate to see what happened if we weren't weathering it.

olddude, tulsa (10/24/2009 7:14:12 AM)

If tulsa is so strong from oil and gas, why have all of them moved to houston tx.biddest employer is AA an airline company that is lossing money.

Bill Paddock, (10/23/2009 12:40:39 PM)

We are blessed to be living here.

Denver918, (10/23/2009 1:06:04 PM)

Who is that leader?...........

Neither Adelson or Bartlett I'm afraid. It will take private citizens stepping up because the Tulsa public leadership won't do it. Tulsa has more unrealized potential than most cities but is continually held back by poor leadership.

007, Tulsa (10/24/2009 11:20:00 AM)

If oil would stay around $60 a barrel, then it would help us here, and keep fuel prices in a range where they don't kill the US economy.

Outside of the redneck bible thumping crowd, Tulsa is a great city!

okcrunner, (10/23/2009 1:11:40 PM)

Kudos to OKC and Tulsa. Corvetteguy, i agree 100%

Davy Crotchety, Tulsa (10/24/2009 11:24:51 AM)

I hate to disappoint you clowns who think crime is so awful in Tulsa. Actually, I don't hate it at all, I love showing off your lack of Googling skills. Any half-wit with the internet (which covers most of y'all posters) could figure out how Tulsa compares.

The census shows that our violent crime rates are comparable to all of the cities around us, some years slightly higher, some years lower. They are pretty much where you would expect them to be for a middlin' city with middlin' poverty and low taxes.

Crime may not be low enough, but you get what you pay for. Most of you clarebelle clowns who post here don't want to pay for ANYTHING you have to share, so I guess you get what you deserve.

Can't wait to hear your comebacks. If we're lucky, somebody will throw in some invented bible quotes.

Davy Crotchety, Tulsa (10/24/2009 11:27:35 AM)

Oh, forgot to mention streets. Again, you get what you pay for.

Steff M, Claremore (10/24/2009 11:01:27 PM)

It's amazing how many people know more about this stuff than the Brookings Inst.

Charley, (10/24/2009 5:51:15 PM)

Lauding Tulsa as a strong city, sorta makes me wonder who would do that. Tulsa has had bad streets for 35 years, that I know of. Tulsa built a baseball stadium, for a sandlot ball club & then raised everybody's taxes. Tulsa bought a great big glass building (don't throw rocks if you live in a glass house)& now we can't pay for it & Tulsa has lots of empty buildings we can't rent.

Great businesses in Tulsa makes Tulsa strong, not Tulsa leadership. The leadership that Tulsa has suffered, would have long since made a ghost town of the area.

Nuff, (10/24/2009 5:59:00 PM)

This story is a big old load of BS. Sounds more like a plug for Bartlett for Mayor. Tulsa has not been the oil capital for a VERY long time. Our economy is not strong. If it were, then our Mayor wouldn't be sending emails every week telling us that times are tough and we must cut the budge by $6 million.

Greg19670, (10/23/2009 10:44:24 PM)

No east or west coast cities? Go figure....=)

sweet tea, (10/24/2009 10:42:55 AM)

cherylann what brought up back to Tulsa? is it your original home town? Family ties? Anyway, I am originally from OK now living in Dallas and I must say, good luck in finding meaningful employment in Tulsa when jobs in Dallas are getting harder to find. Unemployment in Texas is now at 8.2 percent. However,I must agree with you that Oklahoma does not have a lower cost of living than Texas. Also Dallas is highly cultured with it's new AT&T performing arts center and Winspear Opera house stunning to say the least. Dallas certainly has Tulsa beat on culture and things to do. Tulsa is quite boring and is not a very vibrant community in my opinion.

Richie's Dad, Tulsa (10/24/2009 8:01:54 AM)

While I agree with many of the comments posted here I don't believe it serves any purpose to be critical. If you work & live here it is in your best interest to see favorable reports in national publications. ALL cities have crime, bad streets and sketchy politicians. Let's enjoy the favorable press. THINK POSITIVE!

truevoodoo, (10/24/2009 9:26:27 AM)

I am a firm believer in Tulsa and its people. However, am also one that questions what I read, see, and hear. It is ironic that the same list that ranks Tulsa as #7, also ranks McAllen, TX #13 as having a strong economy. However, the U.S. Census Bureau also released a list the same day ranking the 10 most impoverished metro areas and ranked McAllen, TX as having the worst poverty in the U.S. So, what exactly is the definition of a strong economy?

guerrilla311, Beggs (10/24/2009 6:17:36 AM)

We residents of Tulsa are pleased about our T town ranking of #7 of Strong Cities to live in. However, how do we rank safety wise? NOT!!! On a scale of 1-50 maybe 49th!

Phil Tower, (10/24/2009 9:36:02 PM)

No agenda here.
I know what I like and I like Tulsa.
Besides, I got deep roots from my wildcatter ancestors who drilled for black gold and pioneered aviation.
I suppose that makes me a racist nazi to some.
Hard Cheese.

Tough but Fair, COWETA (10/27/2009 4:36:02 PM)

Goodness gracious, you folks who are comparing Dallas to Tulsa . . or even Texas to Oklahoma . .you are comparing apples to oranges.

It's all about the numbers, people. There are simply many more people - and a whole whale of a lot more investment capital available in Texas, and in Dallas - and that automatically means more and better jobs, more business tax revenue and less taxation on individual citizens, just a lot more of everything.

Oklahoma's biggest handicap now - and it has always been so - is that the real investment capital in this state is controlled by a very small handful of people - and it gets invested according to the wishes of those individuals. And that ruling class also has a direct effect on our individual taxes - lower business taxes passed by our legislature for them results in individuals having to bear the higher costs of everything.

There are simply not enough middle-class, educated people in the entire state to have any meaningful effect on these "capital holders" decision processes. Most of this capital was originally earned from Oklahoma's heydey of easy oil and gas money, and those once-great fortunes are remarkably diminished in today's inflationary and much more competitive times.

Until our state becomes better educated overall and more progressive and innovative in its collective thinking, and until our citizenry demands a broader diversity of versatile, higher paying industries, things will rock along pretty much like they always have here. . really a pretty nice small-city place to live, definitely too expensive overall for the quality of life and services received in comparison to much bigger cities, but a decent place to live overall, if you aren't looking for anything more than just earning a living and avoiding a lot of the stress associated with the bigger cities.

Traditionally whenever a nationwide recession of the magnitude we are experiencing now occurs, it hits hardest on the east and west coasts first (where the population is much denser and the quantities of investment capital available are also much, much greater) and the downside gradually works its way to the center of the country - exactly as is happening right now. And if we are lucky, the recession will be fairly short-lived and not too deep overall, therefore we will miss a lot of the worst of it here.

Guess I'm wondering what we are all going to do when the "good old boys" have finally spent all their grand-daddies' or their daddies' oil and gas fortunes, we still have only 25% of the population with a college degree here, and no one else is willing to import any of their investment capital here.

That day is coming sooner than we realize, I fear, if we don't start thinking about the future sooner rather than later.