FT HOOD

Your Name (if you would like it to appear):

Kasey

Base Name:

Fort Hood

Base Location:

The base town is Killeen in Central Texas, located between Waco and Austin. Other surrounding towns where many families find housing are Copperas Cove, Harker Heights, Belton and Temple.

How long have you been here? (give years please, ex. 2003-present)

Feburary 2006 to present

What is housing like? On-post? (waiting list, conditions, etc.) Off-post? Any areas to stay away from? Average price to rent or buy?

On-post:

The wait for on-post housing varies by rank and size of family. The average wait for e-1 to e-3 is about 18 months for a two bedroom but I have heard of people getting it as early as 5 months on the list. The wait for Junior NCOs is shorter but is still an average of 3-4 months. Opinions of on-post housing conditions vary greatly, but I enjoy living on post. Most of the

housing is older but there is/are a lot of new home being built as well. We live in the older part of base in Chaffee but the homes are still clean and solid. I recommend that if you are at all considering getting on-post housing, get on the list ASAP.

Three pets are allowed on post and must be registered at Vet services and have photographs on file with your Village office.

Off-post: Depending on how much you want to pay and how far you want to drive, there are many many areas to live off post. Copperas Cove has some very nice neighborhoods where the rent averages approx. $775 or more. Killeen above

HW 190 doesn't have very many nice neighborhoods but there are several nice apartment complexes relatively close to post. South of 190 of off Stan Schluter Loop is where most of the more desirable home are located, but the rent is usually greater than 800/month. Harker Heights is known as the place where the officers live but housing out there has expanded a lot since

we moved here and there are a lot of nice homes there.

Really when it comes to off post, I must say that you will get what you pay for. Cheap NICE homes in safe neighborhoods are very very hard to come by in this area.

Rate the PX & Commissary.

Fort Hood has two commissaries and two PXs. They are located at Clear Creek Gate and Warrior Way Gate across post from one another. Clear Creek PX carries a more general selection of items; toys, clothes, toiletries, home and garden, while Warrior Way PX houses electronics, furniture, and exercise and sports equipment. Both are very nice and very

big. Clear Creek Commissary is older. It is okay though and seem to be better stocked and have a better selection. It is closed on Mondays. Warrior Way Commissary is newer, however, and does have a better produce section. It is

closed on Wednesdays.

Activities on base?

The base has the Bronco Youth Center that hosts many children's sports teams. There is also a bowling alley, movie theater, and skating rink. There is always something going on for the families such as ice cream socials, back to school parties and fall and holiday festivals.

The MWR website is also helpful. http://www.hoodmwr.com

Active Spouses Club?

I don't know anything about a spouse's club.

Things to do in area?

There is some shopping in the area. The mall is very basic but still has some nicer stores such as Old Navy and Dillards. There are three Walmarts close and lots of other specialty shopping such as Lowe's and PetsMart. If you would need something, you should be able to find it close. There are several cities relatively close where you can find stuff to do.

Austin has several great malls! There are also outlet malls in Round Rock and San Marcos. In Waco, there is the Cameron Park Zoo. It is not very big, but is very clean and has a nice selection of animals. http://www.cameronparkzoo.com.

San Antonio is also reasonably close and there you can visit Riverwalk, the Alamo and also Sea World (where servicemembers and up to four members of their family can get in free!). There is also Blora at Belton Lake and a lake at Stillhouse Hollow Park. You can rent boats and jet skis and they have public swimming areas.

School System?

The main school systems off-post are Copperas Cove, Killeen, and Harker Heights. Children can attend school on-post as well, but high schoolers attend off post.

Any colleges in area?

Central Texas College http://www.ctcd.edu

Tarleton State University http://www.tarelton.edu

University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (located in Belton) http://www.umhb.edu

Jobs? (on post and off)

There has recently been a downsize of the jobs on-post so those are hard to come by, but if you can get one, the commissary pays $11/hour. The job market isn't that great off-post either unless you are a teacher or in the medical field. There are lots of opportunities in retail, though.

Favorite aspect of this base/surrounding city?

I like the base. It is quite large and if I didn't want to leave, I

wouldn't have too because basically everything can be bought at either the PXs or the commissaries. lol

I also enjoy Stillhouse Hollow Park. I enjoyed going there to swim in the lake!

Least favorite aspect?

Traffic is terrible down here. It seems like noone knows how to drive and there are a lot of accidents, especially if it rains, even a tiny bit. I also hate the weather, it is way too hot for me, but I am also from up north, lol.

Local websites? (base, chamber, newspaper, schools, etc.)

http://www.forthood.army.mil (Fort Hood Website)

http://www.hoodmwr.com (Fort Hood MWR)

http://www.ci.killeen.tx.us (City of Killeen)

http://www.killeenisd.org (Killeen School District)

http://www.kdhnews.com (Killeen Daily Herald)

http://www.ci.copperas-cove.tx.us (City of Copperas Cove)

http://www.ccisd.com (Copperas Cove School District)

http://www.harkerheights.com (City of Harker Heights)

http://www.cameronparkzoon.com (Cameron Park Zoo)

http://www.seaworld.com (Sea World)

http://www.texasoutside.com/centraltexas/stillhouselake.htm

(Stillhouse Hollow Lake)

http://www.swf-wc.usace.army.mil/belton (Belton Lake)

http://www.killeenmall.com (Killeen Mall)

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