Owasso through the years
By Hannah Stephens
Constant construction, busy restaurants, Friday night football — Owasso seems like a happening town. Owasso, Oklahoma has over 40,000 citizens, and it is rapidly growing with more people, new ideas and different cultures meeting together. With all of its progress, one wonders, “Was Owasso always like this?” To answer this question, let’s hear what three different generations of Owassans think.
Hazel Stephens, born in 1944, is a member of the Silent Generation, the generation before Baby Boomers. She moved to Owasso from Tulsa with her husband and three children while in her thirties. This town, although right next to Tulsa, was vastly different from what she once knew.
Having a hard time adjusting to the different life, she explains, “If you weren’t from or related to Owasso, people didn’t want you there. It was a very small town, and we… were outsiders moving into a very tight-knit, integrated family unit. They didn’t want the place to grow, they were in control, and they didn’t want anyone messing that up.”
In contrast to the constant building of new restaurants, roads and homes, Owasso did not have much urban development back then either.
Stephens says, “It was poor and blue collar… these [people] were farmers. There were only one or two traffic lights. Owasso then didn’t have more than a Tasty Freeze, and a couple of filling stations, Tesco, Wells Grocery Store [and] an IGA (an independent family-owned grocer).”
Over the years, she saw Owasso bring in more stores and become more grounded overall.
Compared to today, Stephens explains, “You have a lot more eating places now, people are less cliquish because so many people have moved in [and] it is a lot more convenient to be here now than in Tulsa. Now they have it all up here.”
Photo of Owasso taken by Realtor.com
Another member of the community is Scott Stephens. Born in 1963, he belongs to the Baby Boomers. He moved to Owasso with his family when he was 14 years old.
He was excited to move to the town because “the size of our house doubled from what we had in Tulsa; it was country living.”
Switching from living in the big city to Owasso, he found out that the people were different from the people he had previously grown up with in Tulsa.
Stephens remarks, “It was a small town, it's real political; nepotism was real apparent. It was blue collar, still is.”
Despite this, the citizens and the city as a whole have made changes for the better.
Remarkably changed from what it once was, Stephens explains that, “Used to, it was really easy to move around the city, but apartments brought more people in. It made the traffic worse, but it brought about the big stores. It’s not a small town anymore, and it’s more racially diverse. There are more affluent people here.”
Kiera Jensen is a younger member of the Owasso community. Born in 2007, she belongs to Generation Z. She has lived in Owasso, Oklahoma her whole life.
In regards to the town’s growth, she believes that “It’s really making Owasso stand out as a town and truly making for a place to actually live.”
With all of the new residents, it brings about different skills and professions as well.
Jensen states, “I think we have a good balance between blue and white collar folks in Owasso, but you don’t ever notice them unless you directly see them in that matter of work.”
Along with different professions, different races and cultures are now calling this town “home.”
Jensen explains how the diversity is helping the town, saying, “Diversity really makes a town show. I mean, who would want to live in a town with all one race?”
Overall, Owasso, Oklahoma has come a long way from being a country town to a diverse metropolitan area. Construction in the area helped pave the way to bring in more residents who brought along their ideas, skills and values to create the Owasso we know today. However, it is fellow everyday Owassans that make the city wonderful and ready for any change life throws at it.