PCSing to Ft sill...help?? (Lawton, Elgin: homes, rent, motel)

[Bobby H]

I'm not stationed aboard Fort Sill (nor am I active duty military for that matter), so I couldn't really tell you which units are currently deployed, getting ready to deploy or fixing to return to Fort Sill.

[mikenvinesha]

Thanks again for your help.

[cowan85]

thank you for that information..my husband and I are getting closer to coming down and are now trying to find a place to live....not so much fun! Anybody have any suggestions as to where is good and where we should stay away from

[peggydavis]

I don't live in that area, but I have heard that Elgin and Walters and nice places to live.

Are you still looking for an apartment, cowan? Maybe someone more familiar with the Lawton area can recommend some areas.

[WestTexEx]

Yet another family posting questions about our pcs move to Lawton/ Fort Sill. Leaving Fort Bliss and El Paso. Happy Happy Happy. We have been here nine years. Our orders are for June 08. I am looking forward to the move!! I hope they speak english in Oklahoma cause they sure dont here, I am a native Texan, but El Paso might as well be a foreign country.
I hope someone can answer my questions about areas to live, are there maybe nice older neighborhoods? Old as in "charm" not old as in run down. Schools are not an issue. No kids, just dogs. I am hoping for some info from other military families that have PCSed to the Fort Sill area in the last few months. but I will appreciate any reply.
thanks

[peggydavis]

The north central part of Lawton seems to be a nicer old neighborhood. Try an advanced search at realtor.com and check the box for 50+ years old.

[Bobby H]

I attached a JPEG map to this post showing a rough idea where the good, bad and rich neighborhoods are located within Lawton.

The red colored areas on the map are low income areas. The roughest neighborhoods in Lawton are south of Lee Blvd between 2nd Street and Sheridan Road. The neighborhood north of Cache Road between Fort Sill Blvd and Sheridan Road isn't very good either.

The green areas indicate the older, but still good neighborhoods (like Fields and Dunning and Old Town North). Some pockets of high income housing can be found there.

The blue colored areas indicate the largest, most expensive homes in Lawton. In general, areas east and west of Lawton are seeing the most activity in new home building.

I don't know enough about the apartment situation in Lawton to say which ones are good or bad. Generally speaking, the apartment complexes in better parts of town are going to be safer. But apartment living is still apartment living. Several new apartment developments have been built and more are under construction. So that should help.

[peggydavis]

Wow, great map Bobby H. I love the color coding. Thank you so much. I had been hoping someone with knowledge or Lawton would provide some good info!

[WestTexEx]

Thanks so much (great map) What about areas say within 30 miles or so???

[Bobby H]

In general, the small towns and rural areas surrounding Lawton are pretty safe (but often pretty boring too). Crime and other bad things can happen anywhere. But I think the main threat to rural residents is serious car accidents, either through their own reckless driving or from a person in another vehicle doing the same risky stunts.

A few years ago crimes like burglary were more common due in part to illegal drug users operating meth labs in rural settings. They were stealing ingredients like anhydrous ammonia from farmers and other folks to aid in the process of making meth. The Nik Green law helped wipe out most of the meth labs in Oklahoma by regulating sales of pseudoephedrine. There's still lots of people on meth in Oklahoma. But they can't cook it themselves out in the country anymore. They have to buy it from pushers bring it up from Mexico. Towns like Walters, Geronimo and Elgin had big problems with meth years ago, but those problems have calmed down.

Duncan has been growing in part because of the oil business. Halliburton is a big employer there.

Medicine Park and areas around Lake Lawtonka have been seeing some significant development (especially the Oak Meadows neighborhood). Mobile phone coverage and Internet service there is still pretty crappy, which is kind of surprising considering how much tourist traffic moves through there.

Elgin has been improving. BAE Systems will build the assembly plant for their Non-Line Of Sight Cannon (NLOS) in Elgin. The plant will employ at least a couple hundred people. NLOS replaced the larger Crusader program killed by Donald Rumsfeld a few years ago. The Army's self propelled Paladin Howitzers are of a design more than 50 years old. They need something more modern and the NLOS-C will fill at least some of that need.

Fletcher and Sterling are a little farther north from Elgin. They're decent, quiet communities for the most part.