From Turkey to Scott AF Base (Belleville, O'Fallon: equity, estate, military)

[Silke8261]

We are currently stationed with the Air Force in Turkey and will move to Scott AF Base Illinois in September. We have been researching around that area for a while now and would like to get some more updated information on the best place for a small family. We would like to buy a house as we will minimum stay for six years. Also our daughter will be 8th grade so we have to look for a good school for 8th graders as well as a good High School. We heard good things about O'fallon and the only negative thing seems to be that the place is growing fast and that might affect the quality of the schools in the next years. We also heard good things about Shiloh,Mascoutah and Fairview Heights. As we will have only a few days on arrival at Scott AF Base in temporary housing, we would like to collect enough information upfront so that we can already contact a Realtor beforehand and start looking at houses when we get there. I would appreciate any information out there!

[Spree]

We were at Scott AFB/O'Fallon IL from '97 to '01 and loved it there. The kids would go back in a heartbeat. O'Fallon is a nice little town but is close enough to St Louis to do fun things. Schools are excellent - the jr high is 7th/8th grade, there's a 5th/6th grade center and the four elementary's are K-4th. High school is 9th thru 12th but I've heard they recently approved the building of a new 9th grade center to relieve the capacity at the high school. I *think* the kids from Shiloh also attend O'Fallon high school. Here's the website: http://www.oths.k12.il.us/ I'm sorry, I can't help with a realtor, but you should check out militarybyowner . com - military can list by owner or a realtor.

Mascoutah - I remember it being a smaller, farming type of town in close proximity to the base. I believe the base kids attend schools in Mascoutah after elementary. Shiloh is nice, not sure of schools while Fairview Heights is a much busier area and more commercial - fast food, restaurants, shopping mall etc. Swansea also had a good reputation for schools when we lived there. If I had to choose again, we would go back to O'Fallon.

Good luck! It must be hard coming from overseas to get this figured all out.

[Drover]

My sister's husband is stationed at Scott. They have two small kids and they are very picky about the community they live in. And they picked O'Fallon. If you would like me to try to put you in contact with them, PM me and I'll pass along your info.

[midwesterner10]

I currently live in the area, and have since 2002. I am part of a military family, so that is why we came here. Over all we like it here- but you have to be careful where you go.

O'fallon is a great community- yes it is growing, but if you are looking for a larger town with amentities, O'fallon is the best. It is also the "hub" for military families, so I am sure you would meet tons of people. The locals seem pretty nice as well.

I would stay away from Mascoutah though. Although it is improving, there is known to be a fine line between the military and the locals there. In other words, not all the 'farmers' like a lot of people comming to their town. I wouldn't say to rule out Mascoutah because there are a fair number of military there, but just be cautious.

If you are looking for a smaller size town, I would defietly recomend New Baden (pop. 3,100). There are quite a bit of military there and the locals are friendly. New Baden is growing, but not as fast as O'fallon. Also the schools in New Baden are good.

I don't know a lot about Shiloh, but I hav't heard anything bad....however I think homes are becoming a little pricey.

Swansea is a pretty good area, but I don't know a lot about it.

Also, Troy is a nice community with good schools and quite a bit of military.

My top two picks would probably be New Baden (if you want small town, 15 miles from base), or O'fallon (larger town w/ more amentities 3 miles from base). Don't base you desiscion on me though because everyone has their own opinion (but I think a lot of people would agree w/ this). The best way to make your transition easier is to come and vistit each town, if you can . Hope this helps!

P.S. If you have a question about a town, just ask and i'll do my best to answer!

[midwesterner10]

I forgot to mention Edwardsville. It is a little further from the base, but it is a great community. There are military families living in Edwardsville as well. Schools are great and there are all the amentities you would find in Fairview or O'fallon.

[Silke8261]

Originally Posted by midwesterner10

I currently live in the area, and have since 2002. I am part of a military family, so that is why we came here. Over all we like it here- but you have to be careful where you go.

O'fallon is a great community- yes it is growing, but if you are looking for a larger town with amentities, O'fallon is the best. It is also the "hub" for military families, so I am sure you would meet tons of people. The locals seem pretty nice as well.

I would stay away from Mascoutah though. Although it is improving, there is known to be a fine line between the military and the locals there. In other words, not all the 'farmers' like a lot of people comming to their town. I wouldn't say to rule out Mascoutah because there are a fair number of military there, but just be cautious.

If you are looking for a smaller size town, I would defietly recomend New Baden (pop. 3,100). There are quite a bit of military there and the locals are friendly. New Baden is growing, but not as fast as O'fallon. Also the schools in New Baden are good.

I don't know a lot about Shiloh, but I hav't heard anything bad....however I think homes are becoming a little pricey.

Swansea is a pretty good area, but I don't know a lot about it.

Also, Troy is a nice community with good schools and quite a bit of military.

My top two picks would probably be New Baden (if you want small town, 15 miles from base), or O'fallon (larger town w/ more amentities 3 miles from base). Don't base you desiscion on me though because everyone has their own opinion (but I think a lot of people would agree w/ this). The best way to make your transition easier is to come and vistit each town, if you can . Hope this helps!

P.S. If you have a question about a town, just ask and i'll do my best to answer!

I think from what you write O'Fallon sounds good. I wished we have the possibility to look at the neighborhood before coming there,but as we come back from overseas it will be difficult. We do plan for my husband to take off for a few days and stay as long as we can in temporary living, but we do not want to rent something and then move again on our own cost. I do consider the location also for future employment for myself as I guess most jobs should be in St Louis so I have to think of that as well. Did you have a good experience with any Realtor? Did you buy actually a house there? There seems to be quiet a few houses available at reasonable rates so I am really excited about this. I have to look at New Baden as I have not done so before. Thanks to all for the tipps!

[midwesterner10]

No problem, moving from overseas must be really difficult. I am used to moving around a lot, so I know it is not easy. To explain how we bought a place here I have to summarize the whole story for it to make sense. So, I apologize for writing so much. When we first moved here, it was the summer before my freshman year in high school (I am 19 now). My parents wanted to keep my siblings and I in catholic schools. Between the two catholic H.S. (Altoff in Belleville and Mater Dei in Breese) we thought Mater Dei was the best choice. Breese is located in the middle of Clinton County, which is the county east of St. Clair county. As a result, we wanted to live in Clinton County. Here is where the problem began: My mom has three horses, so obviously we want to buy something on land instead of paying for board at a stable. This is the one drawback about the area: land is either hard to find, or too expensive. Any house we could find on land either needed a lot of work and was too expensive, or was not in the area we wanted. Once you get 80 miles east of STL land gets pretty cheap, but it is too far of a commute and the schools become questionable in some areas. Anyways, as time was running out, we really needed to find a place to live temporarily until we could find something on land. Since there was not a good place to rent for 6 people with two dogs and three cats, we bought a smaller house in New Baden. My mom ended up boarding the horses at a stable 5 miles away. We liked it a lot in New Baden despite of not being on land. The people were friendly, and the schools seemed good and I have heard good things about them, but we had no personal experience with them since we went to catholic schools. By the way, New Baden is only 31 mile from downtown St. Louis because it is right next to I-64. It is surrounded by fields, yet it has new construction in nice newer neighborhoods with concrete streets. If you go to look there, all the new construction is north of town, so it is hard to see as you first come into town. We lived in New Baden for a little over a year while we continued to keep our eyes open for anything on land. Eventually we gave up on finding something descent on land in Clinton county and began looking in the surrounding area. Not after long, my parents stumbled upon a recently constructed house on two acres in Troy, IL. It was decently priced and horses were allowed, so my parents bought the place. It was a beautiful house, but it was 27 miles from Mater Dei. At first I was going to switch to Triad H.S.; however, I begged my parents to stay at MD because I really liked it there. So, right before my sophomore year began, we decided to try doing the commute instead of going to a new school. We really liked our set-up in Troy, but after two years when my brother was now at MD also, my parents decided it is just not worth to live on only 2 acres and do this commute. So we sold our house in Troy to another military family that just moved from FL, and we moved back to Clinton County. We were going to go back to New Baden, but we chose Aviston instead because it was only 4 miles from Mater Dei H.S. Over all we love it in Aviston (pop 1,500). Aviston Grade School (k-8) is EXCELLENT, one of the top rated in the state. While Aviston is growing due to the excellent school and being only 38 miles from STL and 20 to Scott AFB, Aviston lacks amenities. We have 1 gas station, 1 restaurant, 3 bars, and 1 hair solon. If you are willing to drive 15-20 miles to go to the major grocery and retail chains, then Aviston is great. We currently live in town and know board the horses at the same place as we did when we lived in New Baden. For know, my parents are staying in the area, but it is hard to say for how long. Know that I am in college, moving will not affect me greatly. Again, we do really like the area, it is just the land ‘issue’ that is the problem. I don’t think you are looking for land, so I am sure you will have no problem. As far as a good realtor, unfortunately I do not know of any in O’Fallon. However, I highly recommend Chris Dixon at Equity 55 Real-estate in New Baden. He is great and not pushy at all. He does not regularly do a lot of business in O’Fallon, but he knows enough about the area I am sure. You can find his Moderator cut: realtor website
We have bought and sold with Chris and have had a good experience with him. Again, sorry for writing so much, but I hope this helps.

[Silke8261]

Thank you for all the info I will definitely look into it.

[CellarBelle]

Be sure to look at the Edwardsville/Glen Carbon area and Troy area. Great things happening and the schools are outstanding. Troy is not far from the base, and Ed/GC will put you about 30 minutes away. Not bad of a commute for being in a great town. If you want more info, Moderator cut: keep personal contact info in profile, please

[RangerPru]

I've lived in the area for a number of years. New Baden would be my first pick. It is a great small town. I'm not sure exactly what you and your family want in a community, but if it is quiet, small town living, then you will love New Baden. O'fallon is known for its quality schools. Shiloh is growing so fast. I believe it will be another O'fallon. Edwardsville/Glen Carbon would also be excellent places to live. (SIU-E)