[CaramelPea]

Considering a job offer to move to Altus for a substantial pay raise, not affiliated with the air force. On the map it looks like a small town with a Walmart, fast food, and nothing else. But what is life there really like? Schools, weather, tornadoes/hail, power outages, safety, nosey neighbors - anything you can tell me about this little town (good or bad) would be helpful. Married in mid 30s, one young child, and kind of a homebody.

[eddie gein]

Think a really small version of Wichita Falls with large granite hills in the background. Hot and windy with a long summer. Dust can get up on occasion when the cotton fields are plowed.

I have had temporary jobs in Altus on occasion where I've spent time living in the motel there.

Food wise, there are several local places that aren't bad. For a small town I'd say Altus has more options than a lot of places due to the base. None are fancy though. LOL. The Whataburger there is one of the better ones I've been to as far as consistency. They have a fish place, a couple of Italian places that are good. Three or four good Mexican places. Several good home style cafes.

There are some decent neighborhoods there for middle/upper middle class housing on the north side of town. Lots of air force people in those homes. Altus does not have any nice "older" neighborhoods except for a couple of blocks just west of the High School. And most of the older housing stock is really pretty crummy. There is one decent neighborhood on the southeast side of town made up of '60s style housing, and another one nicknamed "Birdland" on the NW side of town.

For a kid, I think the public schools there are decent but not great. Not familiar with the private schools. There is a country school called Navajo outside of town I hear good things about, and Blair is a "suburb" of Altus if you want a small school and to still basically "live" in Altus. (Blair has an excellent steakhouse and Italian place). Growing Junior College on north end of town with High School style campus.

Little kids would enjoy Quartz Mountain and Lugert Lake. They have a little kid's amusement park and and the state has a big artist/theater place on the lake where they have some stuff. Not far from the Wichita Mountains Refuge. There is also a decent sized little reservoir right smack in the middle of town called Falcon Lake that make Altus unique.

Tornados and hail and stuff are not significantly different than anywhere else in the area. Just windier, dustier and a bit hotter than Ft. Worth.

I like Altus ok. Kind of isolated. Kind of ugly except for the Mountains. Not much going on. But kind of a comfortable place with a reasonably steady economy due to the AFB.

[Bass&Catfish2008]

EddieG hit all the finer points. Altus is a semi-dusty near-deserty kinda town. If you like the rugged landscape then Altus is your place. It's the closest thing we have to Hollywood's depiction of what Oklahoma is like with the occasional tumbleweed and baked Red Dirt. (Most of the rest of the state is woody/foresty Crosstimbers and a good portion High Plains in the northwest and far north of the state.

The park in the middle of town is nice. We've been there many times. The downtown area is a bit quaint.

Just a hop, skip, and a jump to the Quartz Mountain (used loosely) area.

If you like the city this ain't gonna fit the bill, but you can drive to OK City or Dallas fairly easy.


Welcome to The Great STATE of Oklahoma!

[Threestep2]

It is small town USA. Nothing wrong with that. For shopping there is always Amazon or a day trip to OKC. Hot, dusty, dry. Justin TX comes to mind. Not a bad place but quiet.