Sheppard AFB/Wichita Falls (Canyon: selling a house, neighborhood, elementary schools)

[22crew]

Well my wife, two boys (12,10), and I will be PCSing to Sheppard in September. Last time i spent any serious time at Sheppard was in '98 when i went through tech school and I know I have changed and i definitely know the base and city have changed. This will be my sixth move in 17 yrs so I know how bases work, how the areas around them are, and the general process. Just wanting to know the good areas to live when and if i decide to move off base. Right now I plan on selling my place in South Carolina and moving on base at Sheppard to try and get a feel for the area. I may just decide to stay on base since I only have about four yrs left and i'm not sure I want the hassle of selling a house again. Good restaurants in the area? Interesting things to do, I have two very active boys? Any information will be helpful and greatly appreciated, Thank You.

Aaron

[Texas Ag 93]

I lived for 5 years in Wichita Falls in the not so distant past, and so I am recently familiar with it. While we had a lovely home and good friends, and a were in a great situation financially, we chose to leave for a variety of reasons.

To answer your questions specifically:

1. We lived in the Country Club, which is a lovely area with nice homes. I would say a number of areas adjacent to the Country Club and near Midwestern State University are going to offer a lot of similar amenities, while more budget friendly. Hopefully, someone else will jump on with specific neighborhood options, as most of my friends lived in the same areas as I did, or maybe Canyon Trails. The base is pretty isolated, and aside from the easier logistics of living on base, I am not sure I would want to do it, particularly with kids.

2. Not much in the way of decent restaurants in town. Nearly everything is chains. The best restaurants in town are Salt and Pepper and Pasquals (which closed over a year ago, and I believe may have since reopened??). Pelican's in so-so for seafood, and honestly, those are the only "upscale" locations in town, unless something new has opened in the past 3 years.

3. Things to do?? You are going to have to be willing to drive outside of town. Really. Outdoor activities are essentially impossible in the spring and summer months in the daytime hours. We enjoyed hiking in the Wichita Mountains outside Lawton. Possum Kingdom Lake is also very popular as well. Other than that, most of our outings involved driving to the metroplex and/or the Hill Country. In fact, the lack of opportunities of things to do in town, was a major contributing factor in us leaving.

4. Any thought to the school situation for your kids? I had personally not heard good things about the schools aside form a few of the elementary schools. Most of my friends used private schools, in particular, Wichita Christian or Notre Dame.

I hope the above doesn't sound too negative. I loved my time there, loved most of the people, and both my kids were born there. Wichita Falls will always have a special place in my heart.

[22crew]

Thanks for the advice Ag. I have gone to every base with an open mind and have always felt some sadness as i watched it leave in my rear view mirror or out the window of the airplane i was on. This will probably be my last base before i retire, and we have no plans of staying in the area; so we will try to make the best of it.

Aaron