HELP! Army family (most likely) moving to the Fort Lewis area (Tacoma: 2010, rent)

[Rochellepotter]

We are considering taking a job at Fort Lewis. I have 3 small children, so I want to live in a VERY safe neighborhood, even if that means living on post. Does anyone have experience living on post? My hubby is an E5. Are the houses on post clean and up to date? Do they have dishwashers, garages, etc.? How are the neighbors. What about playgrounds and activities on base. Schools? I'm home schooling now, but is there an Elementary school ON base, just in case?
I was also considering living off post if we can get a nice place for NOT a lot of money (whatever the BAH is). We would like to live within 10 minutes from the base. Are there any VERY safe areas that fit the bill? I know that Lakewood and Tacoma have some not so safe areas and I don't want to live in an area that is safe on one block, not safe on the next. Not that every city is totally safe, but I want to feel comfortable when unloading my 3 small children. What about Steilacoom?
I was considering Dupont and maybe Lacey. How far is Lacey from post(lots of traffic?).
I'm also looking for a Christian Home schooling community. Anyone heard of other home schooling families on the base or in the area?
THanks!

[nfdsouza2001]

Originally Posted by Rochellepotter

We are considering taking a job at Fort Lewis. I have 3 small children, so I want to live in a VERY safe neighborhood, even if that means living on post. Does anyone have experience living on post? My hubby is an E5. Are the houses on post clean and up to date? Do they have dishwashers, garages, etc.? How are the neighbors. What about playgrounds and activities on base. Schools? I'm home schooling now, but is there an Elementary school ON base, just in case?
I was also considering living off post if we can get a nice place for NOT a lot of money (whatever the BAH is). We would like to live within 10 minutes from the base. Are there any VERY safe areas that fit the bill? I know that Lakewood and Tacoma have some not so safe areas and I don't want to live in an area that is safe on one block, not safe on the next. Not that every city is totally safe, but I want to feel comfortable when unloading my 3 small children. What about Steilacoom?
I was considering Dupont and maybe Lacey. How far is Lacey from post(lots of traffic?).
I'm also looking for a Christian Home schooling community. Anyone heard of other home schooling families on the base or in the area?
THanks!

Steilacoom is a good area. I would consider any Catholic schools St John Bosco is close. I would look at some other private schools like Life Christian in Tacoma by union ave.

[implnner]

Rochelle,

My hubby is also an E5 and we just moved here end of July. I can only give you my opinion, and it is just that. We chose DuPont for several reasons: it seems to be a SAFE neighborhood, is 5-10 minutes from base, and proximity to a good elementary school (Chloe Clark).

Base housing is readily available, due to the large deployment. We received a postcard today, explaining that a large influx of soldiers is expected in 2010 and only 25% of families will be able to obtain housing at that time. I feel the housing looks pretty rundown, except for the newly constructed duplexes/triplexes which still have a 12-15 mo. wait. There is a neighborhood of single-story duplexes near American Lake (and the beach) Beachwood. Unfortunately, the square footage is 1100 and they have carports. The schools on post fall under the Clover Park School District, in Lakewood. I did not see great marks when I researched on greatschools.net (score was a 3 or 4 out of 10 based on WASL test scores). The website for base housing is: www.fortlewiscommunities.com I have noticed that there are plenty of activities offered on post. For instance, there is an indoor activity center for parents and young tots and one of the fitness centers offers free childcare and a first-come, first-served basis.

Lacey is maybe 15-20 minutes from post. Lots of military families--again, I've heard of good and bad neighborhoods. An acquaintance of mine loves the N. Thurston school district.

Our BAH is 1412 and COLA was just started, so we receive 1464.53. We pay $1475 in rent (plus utilities) for a 3 br. The elementary school is right around the corner, so I can walk the kids to and from school every day. There are lots of trails around the neighborhood for nature hikes!

Good Luck in your decision! So far, I absolutely LOVE it here!

Jackie

[Sandy Nelson]

Rochelle,

If you want to live close to post, I'd also recommend Dupont. It's super convenient and offers nice homes and a very pleasant community. The Ft. Lewis schools are part of Clover Park school district, which is not nearly as good as the Steilacoom school district (Dupont). Lacey is another alternative with the North Thurston school district. Homes in Lacey rent for less than in Dupont, but your commute is going to be around 15 minutes. Welcome to the area. I hope you'll love it here.

[Alohamelly]

Originally Posted by Rochellepotter

We are considering taking a job at Fort Lewis. I have 3 small children, so I want to live in a VERY safe neighborhood, even if that means living on post. Does anyone have experience living on post? My hubby is an E5. Are the houses on post clean and up to date? Do they have dishwashers, garages, etc.? How are the neighbors. What about playgrounds and activities on base. Schools? I'm home schooling now, but is there an Elementary school ON base, just in case?
I was also considering living off post if we can get a nice place for NOT a lot of money (whatever the BAH is). We would like to live within 10 minutes from the base. Are there any VERY safe areas that fit the bill? I know that Lakewood and Tacoma have some not so safe areas and I don't want to live in an area that is safe on one block, not safe on the next. Not that every city is totally safe, but I want to feel comfortable when unloading my 3 small children. What about Steilacoom?
I was considering Dupont and maybe Lacey. How far is Lacey from post(lots of traffic?).
I'm also looking for a Christian Home schooling community. Anyone heard of other home schooling families on the base or in the area?
THanks!

We live on post and I feel very safe here. If I had to live off post, I'd choose Dupont because it is one of the safer areas and is very close to base (you don't even need to get on the highway) and traffic around the base is bad.

A lot of the houses on post are up to date, and some are new. We live in the newer housing and it's big, clean and nice. I like it a lot. We have a dishwasher and a garage! Not a lot of that houses have garages though. But they have carports if they don't.

There are quite a few elementary schools on base and they seem fine. We homeschooled last year and there are a few active homeschooling groups in the area.

[Rochellepotter]

Alohamelly,
thanx!!
Ah, you home schooled! how old is your child (or your kids). which HS group did you like?
ok, so how'd you get a newer home. I saw that the waiting list is long! How many years have you lived there? Are you happy with the schools now that you don't home school? Have you visited a lot of the other homes? How are they? Up to date, lots of kitchen cupboards? Also, I was looking online and it looks like there's no nook/eating area, we'd have to eat in the living room?!
Are there a ton of families on post, (lots of friends to choose from).
Let me know if you know anything else.

[Rochellepotter]

implnnr,
thanx for all the info. ya, i think it's a toss up btwn base and Dupont! I'm a little weary of the houses on base. A lot of them look small. Right now we are in a 4 bdroom house, so spacious. We are on a base that is NOT full though. I hope your utilities aren't too much up there! I'm glad you like the area. where do you go for shopping? Lacey area or U. Place? I noticed Tacoma and Lakewood are really dangerous. Does that effect Dupont at all?
Are all areas of Dupont safe? I want to feel safe at night if hubby is away for training. It looks like a cute town=) Are there cute little shops and fun things to do there? any pictures??
thanks so much!

[Rochellepotter]

thanx everybody!!

[implnner]

Love It! It is very quiet where we live. We actually forgot to close our garage door one night and didn't feel hysterical about it! We are in one of the "older" houses in NW Landing...built in 1996. We have skylights in our kitchen, living room, and bathroom. This allows for natural light, so much of the time we don't need to turn on the lights. We do have central air, and even though we arrived during a hot spell it wasn't running day and night. We open our windows at night and during the day, whenever we can to get fresh air. We have lived on bases during all of my hubby's military career (this is our first time off base). I really don't think the utilities are unreasonable at all.

As far as shopping, I have not checked out the Tacoma Mall or the outlet stores in Auburn. There is a small mall in Olympia. I go to the farmer's market in Olympia for my produce and meat (because I love Stewart's Meats), I shop at Costco for some items and prefer to shop at the commissary on McChord (rather than Lewis). Since we have only been here a couple of months, I still have sooo much exploring to do!! The city of DuPont has a website, as well as NW Landing.

[People Helper Robin]

Steilacoom Historical area has a great school system and is a nice established area. Many of the homes have larger yards vs. Dupont where the yards are very small. There area also some great areas in Lacey. Ken Lake, Lake Forest areas are nice and prices are still affordable. Many Christian schools available to choose from. Commute isn't too far to Ft. Lewis. Shopping is convenient. Lots of bike trails, indoor swimming pools, parks. Let me know if you would like to know more.