Need advice for PCS move to Fort Hood

Janey - posted on 09/12/2012

Forgot to post my email. If you moms have questions about Belton, just email me at ideamole@hotmail.com.

Janey - posted on 09/12/2012

Forgot to post my email. If you moms have questions about Belton, just email me at ideamole@hotmail.com.

Janey - posted on 09/12/2012

Forgot to post my email. If you moms have questions about Belton, just email me at ideamole@hotmail.com.

Janey - posted on 09/12/2012

Hi, just to give you a different perspective, I am a former chaplain wife and have chosen all along live off post to have more privacy for my family. I live in Belton which is an easy 18 minute commute the back way through pretty countryside. I did work on Fort Hood and found that that short commute was he nicest part of my day. I have a brick 3/2 on a greenway in a very quiet neighborhood with tons of new shopping and cinemas. The most important thing to know is that the schools in Belton are the highest rated in the area, and lots of people pay tuition to send their kids here from other towns. I also worked in Killeen, and I would not live there. There is a great deal of crime, crowding, and clutter. There may be some good people there, but the environment is really not the best overall.



We used to have a military family across the street till they were PCSd elsewhere, and they loved it. I just think they add a lot to the neighborhood and are good people. For reference, you can get a house in my neighborhood from 124K to 250K. Most have fireplaces, all are real brick, not veneer, and mine has a huge fenced back yard, built in sprinkler system (important here), huge tiled back covered patio, almost no traffic, big old trees that shade the house and yard, etc. Much better at keeping the house cool than newer houses with no big trees.



I specifically moved here to Belton for the schools, the quiet and the safety. Having worked with youth in Killeen, I would say that there are good people in Killeen, but there are also a lot of gangs and drugs. So, consider that and I hope you reallly enjoy your move and getting settled. If you have any other questions about the area, please let me know. I've lived here for quite a while by now. I will be happy to help you.

April - posted on 06/18/2012

We are new to Fort Hood.. We live on post because it saves us money. Are place is GREAT! I couldn't ask for a better place. Anyway, we are looking to meet new friends as we dont know anyone!! http://www.facebook.com/aprilgearhart83 is my FB link.. add me if you like!!

♥♪Megan♫♥ - posted on 03/05/2012

I lived there from 2002-2003. It's extremely hot there over the summer (of course I'm from Rochester, NY so it seemed hot for me) and not too bad in the winter. Of course there was an ice storm backin 2003 that shut everything including the base down for 3 days! LOL



I can also confirm most of what Christine said- I've been in the 19th Ward back in Rochester and had less happen. I lived on E Rancier (They don't follow grammar rules) and there was a shooting at my apartment right in front of where i get the mail.



However I did have a friend who lived in a decent neighbourhood, but you have to live further from the base past highway 190. I guess Copperas Cove is ok too It's past the base if I remember correctly.



If you ever need a short cut to Austin/I-35 take I-95 through Florenceville. But only do that in the day time. Roundrock does have the best outlets- and they're right across from each other. I probably miss that and the cost of living the most now that I live in Canada.



I didn't like it there too much myself (it's probably a combination of me being northern and my ex being a jerk and making my life hell when I did live there) I was hoping for Dallas (I'd visited my aunt there a few times) and I got Po-dunk. I do wish you the best of luck down there.

Christine - posted on 02/28/2012

I didn't read what anyone else said...but i have lived her for almost 4 yrs...do NOT get an apartment in Killeen...I have been in Compton before and felt safer there...not to terrify you.. here are the negatives about Fort Hood...

1 Target

A bit ghetto

Not much to do

Bad weather



Here are the Good things...

Back Yard BBQ (look it up its awesome)

Darnell Hospital is a really good.

There are free playgroups for your kids check out ACS service...there is one on Wednesday at the bronco center from 9-11 and a pre-school (free) from 9:30-11:00 on the 1st and the third Thursday...

3 Walmarts...

Free Pre-School through the district starts a 4 your will want to register as soon as you get here. Depending on your kids birthday...

All the housing is a pretty good size...it's not brand new but has character. We live in McNair and I like it, they monitor your electricity and we actually get money back, if you keep it around 70 in the winter and 75 in the summer we get between 30$ to 100$ back per month.

IKEA is only an hour away

Premium Outlets in Round Rock

Cost of Living is Cheap

Find the Warrior Commissary by the Airfield and go there...they have more selection and hardly anyone seems to know about it.

Lots of parks on and off post.



Even though I didn't like some things...we are leaving this august and I am a bit sad to go...like any place there are good and bad... just take it like an adventure and enjoy the unique things to the area...seriously go the Back Yard BBQ (Best in Texas including the Salt Lick and really cheap....if you like cheese sticks get them here...better then red robins) and Zum Edelwiss if you like German and good luck!

Charleen - posted on 02/21/2012

I have only been there one time to visit a friend and the traffic was crazy at lunch time it took us 30 minutes to get from the check in gate to his barricks. Craziness but it looked like a nice area. Havent lived there but the people are nice and there is a few cities that are close including fort worth dallas which is about 3 hours away.

Patricia - posted on 01/01/2012

We are PCSing to Fort Hood next year too! My husband will be there in March, but we'll be there in June after school gets out. He's been stationed at a DoD post in Massachusetts. We hated it so much that he wasn't planning on reenlisting bc he would have to stay there. In preparation for his ETS, the kids and I moved back to TX(we're about 70 miles east of Dallas) so that I would already have a teaching job when he got out of the Army. They reinstated reenlistment bonuses and reenlisting for choice of duty station in October, so he has changed his mind. I have 2 kids, a 7 year old boy and and almost 3 year old daughter. We've been apart for a year and a half, with him flying home on 4 day weekends once every 6-8 weeks. I'm glad we'll be together again soon! I'm trying to figure out the best place to live too. Being a teacher, good schools are really important to me too. I'm leaning more towards Copperas Cove, mostly because I want to teach there and my 3 year old will be able to go to Pre-K. Most schools don't start Pre-K until they are 4 years old. We'll save a lot of money in childcare alone!.
Good luck! I'm excited to actually be around other military families...Massachusettes was so isolating!

Billie - posted on 08/23/2011

Thanks for all the info Melissa! The waterpark info was especially awesome. Being here at Fort Riley there really isn't anything for my little ones to do, my 2 1/2 yr old and 7 1/2 month old. I'm really looking forward to the new experiences with my family, well I guess they may not be very new to my husband because he's lived in Texas before and was even born there, but our girls and I have never been there, we've lived at Riley their entire lives. I'm so excited :)

Melissa - posted on 08/23/2011

i am here now. ft hood is huge, there are 4 cities around ft hood that are the most popular that soldiers are living in-Killeen, Copperas Cove, Harker Heights, and Temple. Its all in personal preferance and where your husband will be working. On post has some nice housing areas.



San Antonio is about 3 to 3and a half hours away. Anhiser Busch has this great thing going on, any active duty member can go to any of there parks for free plus up to 4 guests once a year(to include the sea world in san antonio). There is a zoo in waco, cameron zoo, we go there often, its about an hour away from us. Active duty gets a discount. Its a great zoo. we were stationed in japan before we came here, and we went to some of the zoos there, they were awesome! we havent been able to find a zoo that we liked since coming back, until we went to cameron zoo (if that says how much we like it).



Your daughter can attend preschool at the age of 4, all day. the two best schools in Killeen are clifton park and trimmier (trimmier has some nice housing areas around it).



as for what town is best to live in, we were told to stay away from harker heights. So its gonna depend on what you like, look online at reviews of the areas i mentioned and make a desision from there. everyone is gonna have their own opinion on where is the BEST place to live, but thats what they feel is best for them, you need what will be best for your family.

Billie - posted on 08/22/2011

Thanks Melissa, I just wanted some info from people who've actually been there.

Melissa - posted on 08/22/2011

http://www.hood.army.mil/

If nothing else, you can get info about post, and surrounding areas.

Billie - posted on 08/19/2011

We prefer living on-post mainly because it will be closer to where my husband is working so we'll save gas $$ and he'll be able to spend more time with me and our girls instead of worrying about driving through traffic. I know about post housing, we lived in an apartment on-post here at Fort Riley and it was horrible, then we got moved into our 3 bedroom on-post when I got pregnant with baby #2 and I've had maintenence out to the house at least twice a month and we've been in this house over 1yr now. We've tried living off-post here and it was definitely worse. Our main goal is to spend as much time together as a family as possible before he has to leave again and he'll be home again in a little over 1 month :) WHOOHOO! He's been deploying every other year so spending time together is our main priority.

Tammy - posted on 08/19/2011

I would definately suggest living off post. It is generally nicer and you save money. It is hot here, though. I'm from TX so I knew what to expect, but you are never really prepared for Texas heat! We live in Copperas Cove. There is an HEB, dollar stores, Walmart, and a movie theater in addition to other things. She is right when she said that they have more of the bigger stores in H.H. However, I'd rather drive 15 min. to Killeen or 20 min. to H.H. twice a month than waste the money to live out there. Also, there are things to do with the kids that change with the seasons.

Lauren - posted on 08/11/2011

My husband and I are getting ready to PCS to Riley from Hood. We live in Killen near Harker Heights and have had no problems with our housing. I would recomment living off post if you can find something good because most of the housing on Hood is pretty old and not well maintained, unless your hubby is an officer. Be prepared for the hot hot weather! We are both from the midwest and are actually happy to be going somewhere closer to home :) Right now there are tons of soldiers deployed from Hood so housing off post is pretty easy to find. I would try to stay south of 190 and east of ft. hood street if I were you.

Toni - posted on 06/29/2011

Hey christy
We just left hood. It's actully not as bad as some ppl believe. My dad is retired army. My parents actually love it so much that they bought their house in killeen. Thehousong market there is great. Pretty cheap. I was raised on that post from 5 to 18. :-) so it's literally home for me. I know just about everything and more about post and the surrounding areas. So if you have anymore questions feel free to ask.
Activities: plenty of activities in the central tx area. Lots of mom and tot groups on post. Plenty of travel leisure. Austin is 45-60 min away. Austin is good for entertainment. Great for music, art, and most important PARTYING. :-D
San Antonio and Dallas are 2 1/2 hrs away but well worth the drive. Both cities have websites to look up activities.
The great thing about hood is it's literally right I the center of tx. So you can find something to do all the time for yourself and the kids.
Belton lake is about 15-20 minute drive. Hood has a gate by the newest PX that leads straight to the lake.
There are three six flags theme parks in SA, Arlington and Houston. I'm not sure but the one in Houston might be closed.
Schlitterbaun is in new braunfel
Zoos in Waco, Austin, Dallas
Lots to do but you do have to drive. :-/
There is a FB page called fort hood wives with events
They posts a lot of activities in killeen, hood and surrounding areas that are free or cost almost nothing.
Places to live: Killeen is seriously not that bad. There are some very nice neighborhoods that are brand new or just a few years old. Stay away from rancier and veterans memorial when looking for a home, super ghetto, but really cheap. Look in the areas behind walmart, or off clear creek, and all down Stan schlueter. That's where the newer neighborhoods are, but they are more expensive.
Copperas cove is about a fifteen minute drive. Very small, quiet, dry county, pretty much boring all around. Rent there is quite cheap though.
Harker heights is nice for the most part. There are some pretty bad areas there as well, down by The HEB grocery store is pretty run down. A newer neighborhood in harker heights cost quite a bit of $$$. It's also about a fifteen min drive w/out traffic. A lot longer with traffic. Heights has a brand new shopping center though. It has a lot of shopping options. It's very nice.
Anymore questions just ask. Lol I tried to cover as much as possible. :-D

Billie - posted on 06/29/2011

thanks Kimberlie!

Kimberlie - posted on 06/28/2011

We live off post In Killeen in a nice little neighborhood. Not all parts of Killeen are bad. Just stay south of 190 highway. CC is nice but way too far from shopping. They have a Wal-mart there and an HEB. But in Harker Heights they have Target and a bunch of other stores. I like living in Killeen b/c its close to everything including post. Copperas Cove is a bit of a drive. All of the Texas schools allow preschoolers to go to school for free full time. Housing on post is a luck of the draw. Depends on what is available and what rank your husband is. Some housing is wonderful and some isnt. I have some friends who have great houses and some who are the same rank have horrible houses. Ft Hood is no joke huge. But if your good a directions you should be fine. There are tons of Activites around and tons of playgroups. There is one on post for 3 and under at the bronco youth center. We are really close to Austin and there is tons of stuff to do there as well. There are a couple of lakes out here but the one I am most fond of is Belton Lake, there is a camp ground called Blora and it is fantastic. I am full of info LOL... I am also an FRG leader so if you have any questions let me know. Oh and there is a great place called Texas Tumblers that has open gym 2 days a week for little ones. Hope this helps and remember I am here if you have any questions!

Christy - posted on 06/21/2011

My husband and I are PCSing to Hood in a couple of months. So, while I don't have any experience there yet I can tell you what people have told me so far. Most often I have heard stay away from Killeen if you are going to live off post. Harker Heights and Copperas Cove are both supposed to be nice areas. I have a friend there who lives in Copperas Cove and she told me that the school district there allows 3 and 4 yr olds to go to full day pre school for free! It is apparently a perk for active duty kids. I haven't heard much about the housing on post. my hubby and I are looking off post because we would only qualilfy for a 2 bedroom there and we are currently in a 3 bedroom at ft. lewis. We are actually looking to buy because the housing market is so good for buyers right now and we can get a lot of bang for our buck!

I have also heard that the area has a lot of fun outdoor stuff to do. There is a big lake somewhere near the base and multiple pools on post. I have heard that San Antonio is a great place to visit and it is about 2.5 hrs south of Ft. Hood. They have a Seaworld there and you can get free tickets to go! I know the base is really big. They have 2 commissaries and I think they are building like 9 more CDCs. I will comment again if I think of anything else. I am interested to see what info people actually living there have!