Brooks City Base (Howe, Mart: daycare, schools, utilities) - City-Data Forum

brizeida · 03-11-2008, 03:18 PM

HI. I'm confused.

My husband has orders to Lackland afb. We applied for housing but they tell us it take at least 18 months. But today they offer us housing at Brooks City base. Can somebody tell me if this inside of lackland? How is the housing there? Thanks.

SnappyBob · 03-11-2008, 03:46 PM

Brooks City Base is inside what used to be Brooks Airforce Base. It is a mix of military and privatized activities. It is not inside Lackland but about 12-15 miles away. Living on base at Brooks and working on base at Lackland should be pretty good. You'll have a commute but you will be in the fast lane. I think you'll like it better than having to live in the Lackland area.

gwrober · 03-11-2008, 03:50 PM

A couple of links:

Brooks City-Base - Home

Brooks City-Base

And a Google map, approx:

MAP from Lackland to Brooks

gwrober · 03-11-2008, 03:52 PM

Also, I worked at Brooks for a few years, and during the transition from AFB to City-Base, and the housing there appears to have been kept nicely. The golf course is gone, and there's no exchange or commissary anymore, but they've done well with bringing local businesses to the area! Wal-Mart, Target, HEB (grocery), etc, within 5 minutes. And you'll still need a sticker/pass to get on, just like a real AFB. I think you'll like it. I don't know anything about the area schools tho.

majormadmax · 03-11-2008, 04:29 PM

The only thing is that the US Air Force no longer requires or even issues base decals anymore, so if they are doing that at Brooks then it isn't "like a real AFB!" Whereas it makes sense and probably saves a lot of money (getting new decals every couple of years); it is a pain as other military bases such as Ft Sam now require you to stop and get a visitor's pass even with a military ID. It needs to be standardized throughout the DoD, and get rid of the decals altogether!

Now back to our regularly scheduled thread!

Cheers! M2

Chaka · 03-11-2008, 07:51 PM

BCB has a 'parking sticker', so anyone living on the base or working on the base has one - it's not like the usual military decals, looks more like any company might have. However if you have a military decal that suffices. Security is generally pretty lax.

The housing is so-so. The external part is really nice, nice lawns, lots of trees. But inside they tend not to be in the best of shape. I was told they hadn't been maintained in awhile (I didn't live there, our first daycare was an in-home on base, so I saw the inside of their place as well as a few others). Overall they're nice though, really quiet area, great for kids.

brizeida · 03-12-2008, 07:15 AM

Why they are asking for $500 deposit? Is this normal?

Chaka · 03-12-2008, 07:36 AM

Oh schools - the elementary is Kate Schenk Elementary. I can't comment on the quality. I'm surprised that the kids go there though as there's a closer school on Fairlawn and Military that's part of SE ISD (can't recall the name).

michelangelosa · 03-12-2008, 10:15 AM

East Central ISD is the name you can't think of.

Here's a link to Brooks City Base.

Brooks City-Base

barkleyq · 03-12-2008, 10:55 AM

Hi! I work on Brooks City Base and know a couple of people that have recently moved out of base housing here. They were told that they would have to start paying utilities and choose to live off base because of that. It's also a ghost town after about 6:00 pm.