Advice for family considering move to BROWNWOOD, TX (Austin, Fort Worth: apartment complexes, rental)

[Thecowboysgirl]

Hi everyone. My husband has recieved a job offer for an RN position at the hospital in Brownwood. We are considering the move from SW FLorida to Brownwood but have several major concerns.

Our two girls are 10 and 14, and they are both very bright. They are both in accelerated programs at their schools here. We want to be sure they have access to a great education, they would be entering middle school and high school. Can anyone tell me their experience with the local school system?

We would also be wondering about youth resources, activities, etc..

My husband is curious if anyone has experience working at the hospital, especially as a floor nurse. He would like to know what their work experience has been (is the hospital well run, is it a good place to work?)

My husband and I are laid back people, not interested in nightlife. We enjoy hiking, camping, and other outdoor family oriented activities. We are interested in a wholesome place to raise these kids. Thanks.

Feel free to email me directly at Littlered.kyte@gmail.com. My name is Juliana

[Hank Gribble]

Brownwood is a very nice small town. It would be a nice small town to raise a family but the parents would go INSANE from boredom. I have family there and visit a lot. They have grown retail wise in the past decade or so and now have many stores like Home Depot and Chili's and seem to have a funny sense that they are some sort of new suburb of Fort Worth which is where most everyone goes for city needs and shopping. Abilene is closer but not as good.

[Thecowboysgirl]

We aren't too worried about boredom...

If we go out it's usually a motorcycle ride or around here we'll take sandwiches to the ocean and watch the sun set.

[triwing]

Brownwood is pretty far from the ocean. Personally I think your daughters would be in a better environment where they are are now.

[Salgal1113]

Your window of opportunity may have passed, but here's a little more info.

BWISD is a fairly well-respecded district. You would need to find out from a local (realtor?) which elementary schools are the "best", and as far as I know, there is a single middle/jr. high and single high school. The Texas Education Agency website will also give you information on test score achievement.

Brownwood is a very basic town. There are plenty of opportunities for motorcycle riding, boating (lake), camping (lake), outdoor sports (football, soccer, baseball, etc.) It is, as has been stated, rather limited in commercial choices:shopping is limited to JCPenney, Wal-Mart, Beall's, and a few "off-brand" stores. There is no Old Navy, no Macy's, etc.

The hospital is a smaller hospital; they underwent a renovation of their physical plant within the past 5 years or so. Lots of doctors there due to a high number of older folks in the population. My personal experiences with the hospital have been positive, and it seems, for a small hospital, to be well run and adequately staffed.

There is a university in the town (Howard Payne) which is fairly active in the community and offers some outlets for the community (sporting events, arts).

Personally, I would consider Brownwood a great place to live AS LONG as you understand that there are limited options for clothing, furniture, and dining. A trip to Austin or Ft. Worth every couple of months would take care of those needs.

Good luck!

[swtangelrose4]

well all i have to say is that it's an ok town. ive lived there a couple billion times. lol. ive moved around a lot but somehow i always get drawn back to that town. i now live in stephenville about an hour east of there. i dont like brownwood too much but thats my opinion. i went to school there. i went to their intermediate my 6th grade year, their jr high and their high school my sophmore through senior year. theyre all good schools. but i graduated in 2004 so i really couldnt tell you exactly how they are now. but from what i heard...theyve gotten better since ive been there. the summer after i graduated they started to remodel both the jr. high and high school. they finished the jr high like 2 or 3 years ago and the high school about a year ago. real active school. care about football more than anything. but that's texas for you. they even have a statue of a lion, which is the school mascot, inside the taco bell. i think that's ridiculous. lol. its a good town though i guess. lots of activities around. every september they hold the big brownwood reunion. have a carnival, lots of booths, games, and concerts. big family thing. there's a little mall which i like to call a hall because that's pretty much what it is and its in Early which is the little town connected to brownwood. there's a lake with campsites and all. i dont know if they still do it but in the summer there's a watersports camp that's held for like 3 or 4 days or something like that. a christian retreat. i went 2 years in a row and had a blast. well except for when i busted my face on the water while water skiing. they have a skating rink, bowling alley. good amount of restraunts. my favorite place there is Prima Pasta. if u do end up going...go there...trust me. delicious. owed and run by real italians so makes it ten times better. theyre the ones that cook also. great place. Underwood's is also a good family place to eat. BBQ place that's been there forever. family owned. the 1st time i remember goin there was when i was in 1st grade. i was 6 then and am now 23 so theyve been there a while. great place to eat. its a cafeteria type place. used to work there too. the hospital is petty good too. the doctors are nice and the staff too. i had my son there and am going to have my daughter there also in march. love my doctor. they remodeled a section of it a couple years ago also. there is also a university. Howard Payne. a christian university. good size school but not like UT and them. there's quite a few nursing homes, villages for the elderly and quite a few apartment complexes. they just built one last year i believe. nice apartements. theres a state school there. texas youth correctional facility. my brother n law used to work there. umm..there's a country club with a golf course, shooting range, a little military base. like really little. a museum. they just finished a bunch of road work last month. they take forever when they do any kind of work. lol. the people there are nice. some can be rude. but every town has some of those people. that's pretty much all i have right now for you. hope i helped some. if you have any questions you can email me at [email]swtangelrose4@yahoo.com[/email].

[mrsmom1]

We just moved to Southlake, TX (North & East of Brownwood) about a year ago, from South Florida (east coast of FL).

Although I know nothing about Brownwood, I wanted to answer your post to specifically address the differences between education here in TX, & FL.

My girls were excellent students in FL. One was at a private school during 6th & 7th grade, where all the classes were considered to be working at about one year ahead of 'grade level'. The other daughter was at a High School that ranked in the top 150 schools of that Newsweek 'Top Schools in the US' list. The High Schooler was in almost all A.P. classes in FL, acing them all, and hardly needing to do any homework.

We moved to TX in January of '09. We put the High schooler in the local H.S. here, and placed her in similar A.P. classes to what she had been taking at her school in FL. Well, within a few months, she had to drop out of all her A.P. classes, b/c they were just too hard! And she had many observations of her own, about how the teachers here seemed like such 'better' teachers than the 'A.P.' ones she had in FL.

And the Middle Schooler who was working 'one year ahead of grade level' in FL? Slid right in here and had to even crank-up her effort-level & study habits to keep up w/ her grade level counterparts here.

Curiously, the H.S. here ranks lower (like # 250 or so) on that Newsweek list than the FL H.S. my daughter attended. Don't know how they skew those numbers, but I can tell you, that Newsweek list is irrelevant. The education my kids are getting here is far superior to anything they were getting in FL.

All to say, that I think you will be pleasantly surprised to see that your bright children will have plenty to challenge them in the schools here in TX. Not that I am able to compare S.E. Florida to S.W. Florida, or Brownwood TX to Southlake, TX. But I can tell you that a highly rated school here in TX compares quite favorably, over a highly rated school in FL, overall. I am generalizing here, I know.

Just a little perspective on the differenes between the two states, as there is very little 'national' data to help you compare schools from state to state. Best of luck!

[DinoHunter]

I'm thinking of moving to the Brownwood area and was wondering what the rental prospects were(House, apartment, trailer)? Also are there any Army national guard units in the area?

[calvetti]

I too am moving from Florida to Brownwood for work and am a bit worried. I am used to neighborhoods and short drives to everything. It seems as if I may have to drive everywhere. What are the rental property options, or is a major city wor living and driving to Brownwood for work?

[TheOverdog]

Brownwood is out in the middle of nowhere and the lake nearby is not exceptional and has nearly dried up. I don't recommend moving there from Florida, but if you are from a nearby city and know the area, then it's an alright place. The schools wouldn't be comparable to Southlake. There are two cities connected to each other, Brownwood and Early. I think the early side has better schools, but not at all comparable to Southlake, as Southlake is one of the richest school districts in TX and Brownwood/Early would probably be below median towards the poor side. The primary non-school employers would be a Kholer Factory and a 3M plant.