Relocating to the Scott AFB Area (Belleville, O'Fallon: 2010, rental, neighborhood)

[Carol.l.mayo]

Hi,
My family will be relocating to the SAFB Area in May of 2010. We have a son who will be entering Middle School. We would like to live close to the Base in an area where the schools are good. Our priority is a low student to teacher ratio. Any information is greatly appreciated! Almost forgot...my husband would love to live on or near a golf community
Carol

[AnimalLover]

I've heard the schools in Edwardsville are very good. My daughter is going to college there (SIU-E). I know a realtor in the area if you're interested. That may be farther from the base than you're wanting to be, but it is a very pretty area.

[loogz23]

Check out New Baden or Mascoutah: Smaller towns that are up and coming, Good schools, less than 10 minutes to SAFB, and several golf courses within a 20 - 30 mile radius.

[NancyMilton]

Hi, Carol: There are plenty of great schools around SAFB. You can take a look at the Illinois School Report Card for very detailed information. Here's a link (below) to the schools in O'Fallon, Illinois to get you started, but you can input any city or district and find out how the schools are performing based on the criteria that are most important to you. Good luck with your move and let me know if I can be of further help.

http://iirc.niu.edu/SearchResult.aspx?type=CITY&searchText=$O%20FALLON $

[STLCardsBlues1989]

Might be a good idea to post this in the St. Louis forum also. Some posters there could probably help you also.

[AbqTeacher]

O'Fallon is a very nice area, and the high school is very nice. Then again, I graduated from it so maybe I'm biased. Not sure about the middle schools, but it is still a pretty pleasant area.

[Hammer25]

If you are military and are PCS'ing to Scott AFB, the one place you DO NOT want to move to is on base housing. I currently live at Scott AFB and am desperately trying to find a rental off base.

I used to live in Fairview Heights which is about 10 minutes from Scott. I decided to move on base because I thought life would be much easier, considering I'd be surrounded by military families who understand and go through what I go through. In the fall of 2007, I met my new neighbors. Everything was fine and dandy for a little while. Then, my neighbors started to butt in my life.

The woman who lives next door to me does not work and apparently thrives off of what other people do. She started to critize me on what I did and didn't do. Paid attention when I left and came home, what my children did and told me I needed to fix my life. That didn't sit well with me as I minded my own business and never bothered any of my neighbors. She has called housing on me way too many times and has even managed to turn housing against me.

I know what your thinking, "ah, thats just one neighbor", but I assure you, it happens more frequently than one would think. I have spoken to many other woman/men that live on base and have heard similar, if not worse stories about neighbors from hell. I'm sure not all military woman on base behave in such a way, but it does happen. Many times military members regret living on base and the majority agree that you should'nt live on base unless your in a financial strain.

Because my neighbor has called housing on me, I have had to pay multiple $50 fines for the smallest thing. She has called housing on me for not mowing my lawn, considering I do not have a lawn mower and have to wait for one to be available in self-help or borrow one from my neighbor. The one I did have, broke on me. I have to weede around the fence and just conformed to doing my entire lawn with the weed-eater. She also called about my car having a flat tire, my dog who does not bark, my grandmother who came to help me out when my husband was TDY, my window screens that had a few holes in it. It doesn't seem to stop. We have a no contact order between us because we got into an altercation.

Instead of housing dealing with the situation, she called my neighbor to tell her "in detail" the step she took for each complain and went as far to say that I probably put my grandmother in my trunk when I take her out. YES, the HOUSING lady told her this. How do I know? Well, I can't disclose this information for other reasons but lets just say I am good with technology.

If you must live on base, then do so, but if you have the option and availability to move off base, I believe it is the best decision you can make.

Places near Scott AFB (15 minutes or less)
Fairview Heights
Mascoutah
Belleville
Lebanon
Shiloh (5 minutes)
O'Fallon


Good luck!

[miralinda]

Originally Posted by Carol.l.mayo

Hi,
My family will be relocating to the SAFB Area in May of 2010. We have a son who will be entering Middle School. We would like to live close to the Base in an area where the schools are good. Our priority is a low student to teacher ratio. Any information is greatly appreciated! Almost forgot...my husband would love to live on or near a golf community
Carol

I left Scott AFB a year ago. It is a good place to live. The best schools are in Ofallon, IL. But I had a great experience with my kids im Scott Elementary school and Mascoutah Middle and High School. Good teachers, and people really concern about kids.

[jbub22]

I "enjoyed" 25+ yrs of base housing as a dependent and active duty. The above situation that you described will occur over and over until you take hold of your situation and move off base. Personnally, I could not ever afford to move off base because of the amount of kids I have and the TDY commitment so I had to deal with those issues.

You hit the nail on the head, for me 1 out of 2 neighbors were tough to deal with. I have fond memories of my career but cringe when I think about those neighbors. My wife stopped speaking to "neighborhood wive's club" only after 1 year of base housing because gossip, jealousy, on and on.

Now, I am retired and its a complete 180. Right now, I see no uniforms only civilians, they are unbelieve. I actually apologized to my kids for putting them through this stress. I don't know why but there's something about military neighbors. If you can afford it, make it your priority to move off base. Stay strong and good luck! Thank you for your service!