What is it like to live in Stephenville? (Fort Worth, Tyler: to rent, employment)

[LettheCowgirlsRock]

Hi there! Seriously considering moving to Stephenville. With with my love of horses and the Western way of life, I wanted to hear from some locals on what it is like to live here. Jobs? Cost of living? Any fun events I should come see before I make the big move? I love rodeos and anything rodeo/horse related.

Thank you in advance!

[joqua]

Here's a good starting point:

http://www.tarleton.edu/rodeo/

Tarleton U. is a branch of Texas A&M U.

[doctorjef]

I've never seen anyone posting on the Texas forum who actually lives or has lived in Stephenville, but for a short period of time I worked for a public sector organization that had its HQ in Stephenville, so I had to drive over there from Mineral Wells, where I was based, fairly often.

First of all, having mentioned Mineral Wells, let me put in this disclaimer: there in No resemblance between Miserable Wells and Stephenville. The former has been a very sad, marginal place ever since Fort Wolters closed at the end of the Viet Nam War, and the town - once a resort - had already been in decline since its pre-WWII heyday. Also, MW is in a strange little micro-environment called the Palo Pinto Mountains (hills, really), whereas the land around Stephenville is rolling prairie.

So, I always found Stephenville a cute, attractive little town, and Tarleton State University has a nice, neat campus for a fairly small institution. It does indeed feel very cowboy country around Stephenville, and it's really pretty country if you like that type of prairie terrain; not flat, but rolling, slightly rugged and very slightly hilly grassland (what's not under cultivation). The town has a big enough population - approaching 20,000 now - to afford some amenities. It is really out by itself, yet still not so far from Fort Worth that it would be difficult to get into the city for occasional things. It does feel a lot less tied to Fort Worth than, say, Weatherford, which seems practically a bedroom community of FW.

Agriculture/ranching is the main industry and source of employment in Stephenville. Employment opportunities might be rather limited -- depends on what you are qualified to do, no doubt. However, they are big enough to have a range of businesses, services and institutions to support the needs of the community and the agricultural industry.

If you look at the demographic info in Wikipedia, it would seem that the community is fairly well-balanced on a number of parameters. Incomes are not generally very high, which would suggest that residential properties - to buy or to rent - are probably not terribly expensive. Possibly, however, the options may be limited, as is often the case in small communities.

[LettheCowgirlsRock]

Interesting.. a lot to think about! Thank you for your information :-)

[eddie gein]

Stephenville is nice. Sits in what are known as the cross timbers so it's greener than what you expect from west Texas. Agreed that Tarleton is a nice campus and provides some activities including top notch rodeo events.

http://www.tarleton.edu/rodeo/

[NW Crow]

I don't think I had ever heard of Stephenville until today and I am big into learning about towns & geography. Have checked out a lot of other bigger, more prominent Texas college towns. The size of this town is smaller than some of the others. That has pluses and minuses but it looks interesting to me.


Any major new developments / issues? New evaluations? I've read all the older threads about it.

[Mark Senior]

No, all is pretty much the same,lol

[NW Crow]

Yeah I guess in general.



Saw something though about a local club there getting a Bret Michaels show. They said that was new.

Could Stephenville get more drip, drips of something a bit beyond what it has been?







Besides size and all that entails how would you compare and contrast Stephenville with Tyler? If willing to do so. Vibe, getting community enhancements done, etc.

[Trainwreck20]

It is one of the leading dairy counties in the state, and it was determined by the Tx Supreme Court in a case a few years back that the smell is 'normal'. So pick your location with care.

In December [2017], 50 dairies in Erath County produced 97.6 million pounds of milk, making the county the fourth-leading milk producer in the state. It ranks behind Parmer (111.3 million pounds), Castro (105.8 million pounds), and Hartley (98.1 million pounds). All three leading counties are on the western edge of the Texas Panhandle.)

[earthisle]

Well they make sausages or something