Little brother Syndrome: a situation where one party sees itself in a one-sided competition to keep up with another and the other party does not often recognize the rivalry
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I have no dog in this fight. My neutral, third party take:
-OKC is better for a sprawling big city feel. Tulsa is better for a big yet somehow also small city feel.
-OKC is better for job and business growth. Tulsa is better if you like a slower pace… but not a totally backwards pace like rust belt cities.
-Tulsa is better for nature and outdoor activities. Nothing in or near OKC compares to Gathering Place or Turkey Mountain. Also the Arkansas River is a much prettier river. While yes, OKC has river sport… that’s about all the Oklahoma river has going in its favor.
-Tulsa has better infrastructure and city planning. City streets in Tulsa actually are built to the proper capacity, contain proper turning lanes and egress to properties. OKC city streets rarely have turning lanes and often don’t have nearly enough lanes as they truly should.
-Tulsa has a more vibrant arts and culture scene. Phil took and Gilcrease Museums. Burgeoning music industry. A proper arts district, etc.
-OKC has a better sports scene. I don’t think this one’s even close. The best Tulsa has going is minor league sports and an afterthought college team (plus Oral Roberts basketball). The OKC area has one of the hottest teams in the NBA and has a Power 5 conference university with a blue-blood football program that is always in contention for success.
-OKC is more respected on a national and international level. People across the country think of Oklahoma City as maybe the only “happening” place in Oklahoma. Even internationally, many people know of Oklahoma City because of our NBA team and the NBA’s international reach. Meanwhile to those not familiar with Oklahoma, Tulsa is viewed as a joke of a city… as hell on earth (as Stallone put it). ‘Friends’ even dedicated an entire episode’s story arc to mocking Tulsa as a place no one would ever want to live.
Ultimately, both cities have their pros and cons. I don’t have a “favorite”
As someone who grew up in a much, much bigger city than Tulsa or OKC, both still lack in a lot of things. And honestly, with OKC’s metro population being around 1.3 million and Tulsa’s being around 1 million… the two cities are very, very similar in most respects and have way more in common than different.
Great points, only misnomer is OKC metro has a couple hundred thousand more folks now & is over 1.5 million
See my problem with OKC is I want to dress up in formal wear and go out but there is no place to do that in OKC bc as it was put the last time I went out dressed up to a cocktail party and my husband and I were just about the only ones in cocktail attire “this is OKC, what did you expect?” I expect people to read the invitation that says please wear cocktail attire and they actually do. I expect people to own cocktail attire if they are going to events requiring cocktail attire. I expect people to know what cocktail attire is. I believe people in Tulsa know this and having recently moved from Tulsa I miss the art style events that people dressed up for in Tulsa. Everything is casual clothes here and while that is grand for every day sometimes you want to dress up to feel pretty.
I like putting on my fancy drinking suit when it is necessary.
I know right just sometimes you want to go the extra mile to look good and you want a place full of people that fit your vibe!