One of the great things about living in Edmond is the parks system that’s in place, and the support the city continues to give. While many will always argue where the tax money should be spent, parks & recreation are always a great investment for a community. Keep up the great work, Edmond!

The local appeal of Oklahoma City just keeps getting more and more attention these days. Recently, CNNMoney.com ranked Oklahoma City as the #1 Best Place to Launch a Small Business.

An interesting tie-in story is about the Biomedical startups in OKC.

“When I thought of Oklahoma,” the 52-year-old entrepreneur recalls, “I thought of cowboys and Indians.” Two decades and two startups later, he sees his adopted home as a different kind of pioneer state: a place where young, ambitious companies can grow and thrive.

That cowboys and Indians impression of OKC may be the only thing holding some people back, but the smart ones have overcome it and are thriving as a result!

Way back when I moved from OKC to Edmond, there was only one motivating factor… getting my kids into one of the top public school districts in Oklahoma. That was over 10 years ago and I’ve been shown time and again that the standard here in Edmond hasn’t dropped.

Need data to back it up? Check out the latest API scores and you’ll see that four of Edmond’s schools not only met and exceeded goals, but they nailed the highest score possible.

Additionally ALL of the schools in Edmond’s district are ABOVE STATE GOALS.

DeSpain said the outstanding student achievement reflected in the reports provides reason to celebrate and is a direct result of the efforts of the dedicated staff members who work to ensure that each child receives a quality education regardless of the school that they attend within our school district.

When folks are being transferred to Oklahoma, they’re looking for safe cities, great schools, and affordable living. These are three things that make Edmond so attractive, and the FBI just ranked Edmond as the safest city in the state of Oklahoma and among the top safest cities in the US.

Edmond ranked 12th among U.S. cities with a population more than 75,000. Five other Oklahoma towns also were ranked in the FBI report. Broken Arrow and Norman rank 48th and 49th respectively. Oklahoma City ranked 267th, Lawton ranked 314th and Tulsa was 345th.

It’s no shock that OKC has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the US, so wouldn’t it just make sense that it’d also be one of the best cities to look for a new job, too?

With all our local economy has going right, it’s no wonder we’re seeing so many new faces in Oklahoma City and Edmond these days.

Here’s another feather in the cap of the Oklahoma City metro and it’s ever-growing list of economic kudos.. according to a report recently released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis at the US Department of Commerce, “Five of the six fastest-growing large MSAs were in Texas and Oklahoma.”

Forbes magazine recently released their list of ‘Where to Live Cheaply‘ and of course the Oklahoma City metro was ranked toward the top.

Living in a place where your money goes further isn’t such a bad thing, huh?

Ask ‘Edmondites’ why they love their home town so much and you’ll get all sorts of explanations; Great schools, small-town feel, friendly people, forward-thinking government, an active arts community, the list goes on and on, but did you know that Edmond is known as one of the Top 25 Most Uniquely American Cities & Towns?

It’s becoming a common theme through many stories nationwide; OKC is weathering the economic storm pretty well, but apparently the news has even spread overseas. The BBC published a story back in April about the economy in Oklahoma.

I guess good news not only travels fast, but also far.

Last week, I posted about the trend of Californians relocating to Oklahoma, so the timing couldn’t have been better for a letter to the editor, published Saturday in the Oklahoman:

Comfort vs. chaos

Regarding “Finding a California dream in Oklahoma’s heartland” (feature, June 16): Offering a fresh start to newcomers has always been an Oklahoma tradition. After years of poking fun at our state, it’s not just Californians who’ve recognized its beauty, values and opportunities. Having lived in California for 20 years before being adopted by the great state of Oklahoma, I can attest to the comfort of stability versus the chaos of California.

Stan Faulk, Pink