Honestly, in Tulsa, driving on the highways is the way to go. We have an excellent system that lets you get just about anywhere you need to go via highways. Being in South Tulsa, I personally use 169 and 64 a lot to get to mid and downtown. They're solid, one older, one newer, basic arteries of the city. Tulsa's mainly on a grid system, except as you get to downtown, where it's a funky tilted one-way grid system, so definitely have some sort of navigation or map if you're headed there. Bridges are important as we're banded by rivers and they're mostly on the most major streets, so Memorial Ave, 71st St, those will get you where you want to go if you want to go far.

Definitely be aware of what you're using the car for. Are you going to be mostly on the city streets or highway driving/commuting around the state? I bought my vehicle with highway driving in mind, as well as gas mileage. Mileage isn't super important here, as we're near the hub of oil and gas activity in the state, and prices are generally lower than the rest of the US, but every buck saved is worth it, in my opinion! Car dealerships seem to congregate downtown on 11th St, and in South Tulsa around Memorial Ave, from 91st up to 111th St. The used car community is also very active here, so if you want a deal, you're likely to be able to find it. Craigslist is good, as is the local paper. Just get it checked out by a mechanic first! Word of mouth on car dealers and mechanics, are, of course, the best way to go. I've always liked my Honda dealer and my Jiffy Lube people, but everyone's experience varies.

I think my favorite memory of driving here is the lights on the highways at night. I've always loved the colors and the blurred lines of cars as they go the opposite direction. I've always had a great appreciation for Route 66, which goes the city through right near downtown Tulsa. I lived just off of it during my time at the University of Tulsa, and seeing the commemorative signs made me sigh and want to take a road trip into the past.

81St St. Weirdly, 81st street is my favorite because I use it to get around the high traffic areas of Memorial Ave, 91st, and 71st streets. It's not as developed as the others yet, and is mostly lined with homes, so it lacks the frenetic pace, busyness, and overabundance of lights that a booming business area has. Yale Ave is also pretty beautiful, getting all hilly and winding as you go south. It's peaceful and lovely to look at, if challenging to drive. There's plenty of great stores on it as you go north, as well. My favorite is the Harvest Bread Company at 51st in The Farm Shopping Center (terrible name, excellent experience).

Avoid the bypasses, interstates, highways and major throughways, and drive the surface streets. With exceptions in only a few areas, Tulsa is laid out like a grid, with numbered streets and named avenues, so it's easy to know where you are and where you're going, and although it might take a little longer to get there, it's a way to see what a beautiful city it is. Also, starting with Main, the avenues, both east and west, are alphabetical, with those east of Main being named for places east of the Mississippi, and those west of Main named for places west of the Mississippi.

Many of the big dealers are on Sheridan and Memorial, south of 31st Street, although there are also some in West Tulsa, west of the Arkansas River. Craigslist is an easy way to find them all, but you can also Google them, particularly if you're looking for a particular make and model of vehicle.

Tulsa has some beautiful neighborhoods, both old and new, but I like the older ones, which are full of charm. One of the prettiest areas is called Maple Ridge, built in early to middle 20th century, which includes a mix of middle-class bungalows on the north end and large, imposing houses built by influential people in the middle and south end. Most of the houses have old, established landscapes with large azaleas, dogwoods and other blooming shrubs and trees. I remember one day in the spring driving around the streets of Maple Ridge in awe of the profusion of gorgeous plants in bloom. I never drive around and look at Christmas lights, but in the spring, the old neighborhoods in Tulsa are a sight I try never to miss.

Forest Boulevard. It's a gently curving road, lined with trees, with immense houses. If you are there on a weekday morning when there's not a lot of traffic, and you avoid looking at stop signs and modern cars, you could almost imagine it's the 1920s and you are part of a movie like The Great Gatsby.