[zarabeth]

Hello, everyone

My husband just received an invitation to come and see the town; possibly for a new job(we're medical people, in case that makes a difference).

I'd like to hear from any and all who live there, or know anything about this place. A few things I can think of right off the bat...

Hospital....decent or bad?
Would you take your kids there?
Thoughts on the doctors in general?
The staff istelf, do you feel the nurses/aides/ techs, etc, are compassionate in their care, and good at what they do?

Town itself, poorly run or prospering?
Somewhere in the middle, perhaps?
If it's a little run-down, is the city council making definite plans to spruce/clean it up? Not talking anything schmaltzy, I am talking flowers, trees, clean sidewalks, no broken windows, that sort of thing.

Schools aren't an issue, our children are grown, but what about the crime?

No place is Utopia, but safer is always preferable
And there's bad neighbrohoods in every town, I am asking in general, do you feel safe outside your house at night?

Can you go grocery shopping without someone trying to rob you?

Do the safer neighborhoods outnumber the not-so-safe?

Weather isn't really an issue, as we have lived from one extreme to another, and we acclimate.

I read on the net (forgive me, I didn't get the link) that the infrastructure is outmoded/or in need of repair, i.e., water, sewer, road upkeep, etc. Any thoughts?

Critters I've lived in areas with a few interesting critters, to be sure. Spiders, snakes, scorpions, what have you, are they frequent or rare visitors? Is it mostly outlying areas, or wooded areas perhaps, that they try to make friends more with you; as opposed to a suburban/populated neighborhood?

Water....is there a shortage? Plenty? Sort of in between?
I've lived in places where you get water after digging 3 feet, and others where the lawns are gravel, because the water is precious.

Is there a Walmart, Lowe's, Home Depot, Target or anything like that to run to for groceries, gardening supplies, etc?

How about a good book store, or fabric store, as I love to read and sew?

Husband never gets to fish anymore, but would like to again...any lakes around where this is possible?

We're looking at possible jobs in the small hospitals in Grove, and Claremore, as well, but those towns are mentioned more here, and I'm getting a better picture than I can of Lawton.

I know this is a lot of questions, but I don't know who else to ask.....any information is going to be of help to me, so thanks....

[home4mad]

i live in the duncan area but was born/raised in and around lawton/duncan. as of right now speaking from a perspective with a family member in law enforcement, the lawton area is ate up with crime right now as they are trying to control gang violence.

medical facilities are excellent-as i wouldn't go anywhere else for peditricians and/or adult care for myself-the staff and care for the medical facilities/nurses are some of the best i have encountered and heard others say was an amazing experience.

shopping is fair (again w/the gangs the mall is not a place to be on a friday/saturday night). i wouldn't go shopping alone after dark or with my kids however during the day is fine.

New home additions are on the rise along with growth from BRAC (Ft. Sill Military Base Project). You have a wide mix of population/ethinic backgrounds as it is a military and college town (home of Cameron University-now an extension of OU).

Like with any city you have a *run down* part of town. I am not familiar with the city council or plans to re-vamp lawton from that point of view. West Lawton is a newer part (i believe) and they are having new eaterys and things like that go up (lawton is rumored to have a Target coming).

Lawton right now is having serious water issues w/all the rain oklahoma has experienced-so flooding is really the *hot button* right now. A lot of their streets and business flooded.

Overall-i visit Lawton typically 2-3 times a month-shop/doctor visits ect...but i wouldn't want to live their or raise my small kids there.

ok-on your other questions-lawton has a super walmart i think one or two at different locations, SAMS, Lowes and Home Depot-they also have Outback, Texas Roadhouse, Starbucks and Chilis-with as i said previously rumored a Target is in the works.

Fabric-Jo Ann Crafts, did have a Hancocks however is closed down (not sure why)-books they have a Hastings for music/books but no Barnes and Noble.

Wonderful fishing lakes in and around Lawton area!

We are actually looking at the Owasso/Claremore area b/c of professional reasons also-hopefully this helps you-didn't want to be negative about Lawton but wanted you to know the facts as i have witnessed/experienced them!

[shelbylane]

Hi zarabeth,

I have lived in lawton all of my life and i am in the process of trying to get away from here.I just recently graduated college and the job market isn't so great.The town itself is poor in quality now.In the past few years it has grown and therefore became more dangerous with crime like any city would.They are having a very bad time right now with gangs and drugs.More people are trying to move into the smaller cities near Lawton, like Chickasha, Duncan, Frederick, Elgin for safety reasons.This area of Oklahoma has a lot of people on welfare and not any jobs.It's sad.Too many shootings, robberies, burglaries, murders, prostitution, drugs in Lawton now.It's awful you can't go out at night for a movie or nice supper anymore it's so dangerous.There are 2 Wal-marts, a Home Depot, a mall, Hobby Lobby, and lots of places to eat just to name a few.There is a military base, Ft.Sill and it's pretty much military preference for everything in Lawton.There are snakes, spiders, small scorpions closer to the beautiful wild life refuge.Lawton gets most of it's water from the lakes Ellsworth and Lawtonka but if there is a drought there will be a shortage of water in Lawton along with water restrictions.It's getting very crowded here.As for the hospitals, i have heard from employees that a lot of bickering/backstabbing goes on between the nursing staff at 2 of the hospitals in Lawton and also in Chickasha and Duncan.But I'm sure that goes on everywhere.Lawton at one time was a great place to live but now it's not.I hope this has helped.I just don't want anybody to make a mistake and live here.This is just my opinion and i'm sure another Lawtonian may have a different point of view.You might try researching Lawton on Topix.net forum and see how others view it.I'm looking to move to Texas to hopefully find a job and a safer town with more opportunities.Best wishes on whatever you decide.

[StillwaterTownie]

I've been to Lawton only once or twice and it struck me as a rather runned down, weather beatened town needing a good paint job. I didn't sense I was missing much by not living there.

[peggydavis]

I'm not surprised that Lawton is actively courting medical people because of the population increase expected of 10,000 people because of the BRAC relocations from Texas. So, it could be an opportunity for you to relocate to a town that was going to grow and hopefully improve.

Lawton now is a typical Army town, and it hasn't changed much in 50 years.

[zarabeth]

Thanks for the answers so far, all

The gangs that were mentioned...are these gangs of hoodlum type teens, or actual color-wearing gangs?
And are they confined to a specific area, or are they terrorizing the town??

[matto]

Actual color wearing gangs I believe, remember hearing an article about the police chief talking about how the city is plagued by it.

[home4mad]

they are actual color wearing gangs and it is all inter-related gang activity that citizens are getting caught in the cross fire on some occassions. most activity is within their residential areas where the gang families reside.

[zarabeth]

ech....not pleasant at all....is this a long standing problem, or something new?

What's the plan to control it? One of the places we lived in had gang activity, although I never saw it in the parts of town I ventured into.

I'll do a search for BRAC, unless someone can tell me what it is, and why it's going to bring folks in...permanent residents, or just temporary?

What's bringing people into the area, anything? New businesses, are they opening? Or is the army base the main employer?

[Jammie]

Zara, I don't have any answers to most of your questions because I've never even been to Lawton. But I wanted to let you know that you're bound to have people from many areas of the country there because of Ft. Sill. That's actually where our guard units from up here train just before they're deployed. It must cover quite a region. But hopefully, the gang activity would be unrelated to having military families there~at least I hope so.