1. Oklahoma Citians Live And Die With The Sooners
Even though the team plays in Norman, twenty minutes south of Oklahoma City, the people of OKC travel in droves to support Sooners football—despite their love of all things Thunder, football is still the city’s favorite sport/pastime/unhealthy obsession.
On college football Saturdays, Oklahoma Citians either migrate in masses to Oklahoma Memorial Stadium— which has sold out every home game since 1999—or pack the city’s bars in solidarity. Throughout the rest of the week, approximately 99% of the city’s water cooler small talk revolves around lamenting a loss or celebrating a win.
2. People In Oklahoma City Always Have Each Other’s Back
The generosity of Oklahoma Citians isn’t limited to being friendly and hospitable. Since living in OKC generally involves a heavy dose of tornadoes, storms and floods, it means actually getting out and helping your neighbors when they need it the most.
You can look no further back than last year’s devastating Moore tornado, which caused about $2 billion in damage, for proof. Following the disaster, neighbors in the Oklahoma City area volunteered and helped out in huge numbers to help rebuild the lives of those who had been hit the hardest.
The people of OKC were also famously generous following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when they temporarily housed the New Orleans Hornets, and OKC University offered free tuition to college students affected by the disaster. They were rewarded generously, with a pro hoops team of their very own.
3. People From The OKC Worship At The Altar Of Kevin Durant
The Thunder are only major professional sports team in town, meaning they tend to get enormous amounts of love from the local fans. Folks from the city and outskirts alike unite behind the team that ESPN has called the #1 franchise in all of professional sports for “doing a better job than any other sports franchise of turning fans into family.”
Much of the city’s hoops love is directed at reigning NBA MVP Kevin Durant, who has reached local hero status since catapulting the team into contention since they moved to Oklahoma City in 2008. These days, bar owners, restaurateurs, advertisers and rabid fans plaster his image in pretty much every nook and cranny in the city.
4. Oklahoma Citians Are Big City People Living A Small Town Life
Make no mistake, Oklahoma City is a major metropolitan area, with a population just shy of 600,000. But many people living within the city limits experience closer to a suburban or rural life than what might be considered typical city dwelling.
The people of Oklahoma City generally drive instead of using the public transportation system, and because the boundaries of OKC stretch well into neighboring towns and suburbs, you’re more likely to find them in a house than a downtown highrise apartment. This means Oklahoma Citians don’t have to sweat being packed sardine-style into housing and are still usually part of tight knit communities.
5. Everyone In Oklahoma City Is Friendlier Than You
In that same spirit, the people of OKC are especially warm for people living within major city limits. Kindness is in their DNA. If you ever get the chance to travel to OKC, you can anticipate to meet some seriously welcoming and hospitable folks.
Maybe it’s in their agricultural roots, which made tight-knit, friendly communities a must. Maybe it’s the fact that their state is not quite the South and not quite the Midwest, so they suck up the affable qualities of both places. Either way, smiles, waves, friendly chit chat and general “golden rule”-type attitudes are super common among Oklahoma Citians.
6. Everyone In Oklahoma Spends Sundays In Church
Oklahoma City upends the trend for big cities serving as secular outposts in Southern seas of red. The city regularly gets noticesd for being one of the most conservative major metropolitan areas in America, and was recently ranked the third most religious major city in America by the Huffington Post.
More than almost major city in the USA, for people in Oklahoma City, Sundays are for church, which is fine by them since they get most of the football and tailgating out of the way on Saturday.
7. Oklahoma City People Are Crazy About Country
Oklahoma City’s musical tradition is deeply rooted in country, roots and Americana sounds. Many OKC folks have grown up schooled in the art (Art? Art.) of line dancing, and have a fondness for music that features banjos and twang.
On the weekend, Bricktown honky tonk spots like The Wormy Dog Saloon and Graham’s overflow with Oklahoma Citians dancing to country tunes, catching local and national acts, and, of course, throwing down a few frosty ones.
8. Oklahoma Citians Have A Classic Frontier Attitude
Because it mostly stays toasty in Oklahoma, activities like kayaking and hiking along the Oklahoma River, sailing and picnicking at Lake Hefner, fishing, boating and camping at Arcadia Lake, and paddle boarding and zip lining at the Boathouse District are taken on by Oklahoma Citians almost year round. Really, almost any outdoor activity imaginable can be done within city limits.
9. Folks In OKC Take Pride In Their Native American Roots
Oklahoma City has one of the largest metropolitan area Native American populations in the country. Because Native American culture is a part of Oklahoma Citians’ own culture, celebrating Native American art, history and traditions is important to many of the people living in the area.
The city is notably also home to the enormous Native American Red Earth Festival, where every year thousands of Native American and non-Native American Oklahomans come to check out live music, dancing, art and food.
10. People From OKC Are Supremely Resilient
Even after the disastrous storms, and tragedies like the Oklahoma City bombing, the spirit of Oklahoma Citians remains pretty much unshakable. They are some seriously unflappable folks.
Over the last six years, there’s also been no better place to weather the recession than Oklahoma City. Some of this stability has to do with the fact that the City is home to several recession-averse industries like agriculture, energy and government. But for Oklahoma Citians, there’s no doubt that valued qualities like resilience and self-reliance have played a huge factor in weathering the tough times.
Featured Image Source: Flickr user KimrayPics
Did we miss anything? Tell us what you think about Oklahoma City in the comments below! 
