Erik Von Weber/Getty, John Elk/Getty, Courtesy of Morgan Dalton, Tyler Le/BI
Morgan Dalton, 47, said he was a lifelong West Coaster but knew he would likely move out of Los Angeles. He said he didn't "have a timeline in mind until after" he was accepted into the Tulsa Remote program in Oklahoma in 2021.
He then said goodbye to the West Coast and moved to Tulsa in March 2022. One perk of the program, which is targeted at full-time, remote workers, is getting $10,000.
Dalton got this money over the course of a year and said the initial payout was helpful for his moving costs. "I drove myself out here, but I hired a moving service to move all my furniture, which arrived about a week or so after I had arrived in Tulsa myself," he told Business Insider. "That really came in handy and just was able to save some of that money, get some new furniture, and take some road trips. But that was obviously a great incentive."
Dalton said the cost of living and pace of life are pros of living in Tulsa. However, he said he missed the culture, people, and restaurants of Los Angeles and the West Coast.
"Tulsa is a pretty small city in the middle of the country, and for a city this size, there's a nice little restaurant and food scene here," Dalton said. "But coming from Los Angeles, missing the sushi, the Korean barbecue, the Mexican. I was really spoiled."
Dalton said he missed the "liberal big-city culture" as well as "living in a community with like-minded people."
"Even though everyone here is super friendly, many of the native Tulsans grew up hunting and camping and drive huge raised pick-up trucks, which is a big part of Oklahoma culture," Dalton said.
Still, he has found people are welcoming and kind in Tulsa. "I've been accepted with open arms here, even though culturally it's pretty different from the way I grew up from a lot of locals here," Dalton said.
"This is the Bible Belt. It's a conservative state," he said, adding he "grew up in a liberal entertainment industry family" and is an atheist. "I thought, 'I'm going to be a square peg in a round hole here,' but I've never been judged."
Several people who have participated in the Tulsa Remote program, which launched in late 2018, have previously talked to BI about their moving experience. One person who moved from Texas said the city "is a lot smaller than Houston but still has everything a big city has to offer" and called out the city's "ridiculously low" cost of living.
Dalton said the money, meetups, and other offerings through the program were helpful as a new resident of Tulsa. The program webpage said people can get discounted tickets to and "big name" concerts at BOK Center and local sports in Tulsa.
"It's not just here, move here, we'll give you money and kind of figure it out," Dalton said.
Before moving to Tulsa, Dalton made a burnout-inspired career switch from the behavioral health industry to being a remote content manager for a chef. The new remote job would help him qualify for a move from California to Oklahoma through the Tulsa Remote program.
The new job paid less, but he could catch his breath after feeling so burned out from the long hours and the emotional toll of his previous work, such as working with "clients who are struggling with" addiction or other things.
"I also knew I wanted to eventually, at some point, leave LA," he said, adding that with his new salary, "it was going to be kind of hard for me to maintain my quality of life" and living standards in Los Angeles.
While Dalton sometimes misses the bustling life of Los Angeles, he's not feeling burned out anymore. He's enjoying a different pace of life and the cost of living in the much smaller city of Tulsa.
"I had to kind of get used to slowing down here," Dalton told Business Insider. "In the behavioral health industry and living in Los Angeles, it was just wake up and just go, go, go. And I was kind of living my life as a chicken with his head cut off. It was just pretty chaotic."
Tulsa's slower pace of life gives Dalton more time to enjoy life and have fun with others.
"It's easy living here," he said. "I can jump in my car and drive to Trader Joe's on a Sunday or Saturday when you think everyone would be there. And it's a little bit busy, but it's just not nearly as busy as the big cities are."
Dalton does sometimes miss LA's energy, however. "I think the bigger cities, things just get done a little faster. There's a little more accountability. There's a punctuality that I think I miss in LA."
Additionally, he said you would find people outside enjoying the weather all the time in Southern California. "Out here, it's not so much the case because you get some pretty bleak days, although it's not a Northeast winter," he said. "But I remember moving out here in March, and it was just right at the end of winter, and all of a sudden spring hits, and everything gets green and beautiful, and things start blooming, and then everyone starts coming out."
He noted that Tulsa does offer some great places to hang out, like Guthrie Green, a park that has activities and events. "There are a ton of free concerts at night throughout the summer," he said. "There's free fitness classes right on the lawn."
Dalton, a baseball fan, also gets to enjoy going to Tulsa Drillers minor league baseball games. "The games are very inexpensive," he said. "I go often after work and on the weekends, and I'll go with my girlfriend on a Friday night."
Dalton found the noise and air pollution from vehicles as downsides of Tulsa. "Oklahoma does not have smog check laws," he said, adding that he finds nights on the weekend downtown loud.
He also noted "lack of reproduction rights" and Oklahoma being among "the poorest states in the US which greatly affects public education, health care in the state, and infrastructure" as downsides.
Dalton's advice for anyone considering moving to Tusla is to be open-minded. He finds there's a fit for all, including those who are digital nomads or want to create a business.
Dalton said he's unsure how long he will still live in Tulsa, but he and his girlfriend are considering buying a home and could use it as a rental house if they decide to move away eventually.
"Depending on the job market and what happens here with her job, there is a pretty good chance that at some point we'll probably relocate to maybe a bigger city — maybe to New York, DC, San Francisco, quite possibly LA," he said. "I can work anywhere, obviously, in the country. So it's kind of up to her what happens."
Where have you moved to? Reach out to this reporter to share at mhoff@businessinsider.com.
