Living in Killeen, Texas?

[Keoni]

Would anyone here care to comment about what they thnk of the area?
An over 50, shooter, hunter, looking to leave the midwest for warmer weather, wants to know. Not looking for work, but would take some part time if it suited me.
Have an opportunity to purchase a nice house within Killeen city limits, at a very reasonable price.
Thanks.

 

[flip180]

Have you bee to Marble Falls, Tx?

It's not too far from Killeen and absolutley beautifull.

Flip.

 

[Keoni]

Flip

No, haven't been to Marble Falls. Did a quick search and it interests me. Any shooting clubs, ranges nearby? How far to a VA clinic?
The reason I'm asking about Killeen is because of the house that is being offered to me. My daughter used to live in this house. But if I wouldn't be happy living there it doesn't matter how good a deal it is.
I plan to be in the Killeen area this month and will probably go to Marble Falls. Thanks for the info.

 

[Kalrog]

Kileen isn't bad - but it really is just the civilian side of Ft. Hood. I have a cousin there and live in Leander (about 45 minutes away) and get to visit him often. There is lots of good stuff about the area, but green and pretty it isn't. Not too far away is though.

 

[Spreadfire Arms]

im driving up there right now. it's basically like any military town, but its the largest US Army installation in the U.S. though. basically the closest big city is Waco or Austin.

 

[20cows]

Hey, if it's Texas, it's got to be good.

 

[DigMe]

I used to live in Temple about 20 to 25 minutes drive away and I worked in Killeen. IMO Killeen is a real s**thole. I wouldn't live there. There are nicer places nearby like Belton or Salado. Salado is a real nice place.

brad cook

 

[Smoke]

Gotta agree with Digme....though my experience is merely driving through. NEver have lived there, worked there or spent a lot of time there. Never saw a reason to.

VA hospital is in Waco, Fort Hood is HUGE! Cool place to visit (when you can)
Good ranges in Waco area. Don't know about Killeen. Temple is close and has most everything you could want.

Stay out of the Luby's.

Smoke

 

[Texian Pistolero]

If you like pawnshops and trailer trash, Killeen is a veritable Garden of Eden.

(Otherwise, you have better options.)

I've done time in Killeen and Duncan, Oklahoma. They were about equal.

 

[Matthew748]

I have a vintage USGI M14 magazine that was made by the Kileen Machine and Tool Company. Its a really good magazine, so it stands to reason that the town it was made in is nice too.

 

[Texian Pistolero]

Keoni,

So what is your daughter's opinion?

There are surely nice parts of any slimeball town.

I am guessing that the better parts of the Hill Country are WAY overpriced.

Thereby hangs the tale.

 

[DHolland]

I grew up there. It sucks.

 

[Azrael256]

Killeen proper could stand some improvement. Belton and Temple aren't much better, IMO. Split the difference. Try the Harker Heights area.

 

[Kalindras]

Killeen...oh, the memories.

Grew up in Temple (eighteen years of boredom before I made it over the wall). Spent a lot of time over Killeen-ways, hanging with my friends and their Dads. I was the only kid in my graduating class who could fieldstrip a 1911 in under one minute.

The downside to Killeen is that yeah, it's a military town. Not much to inspire, as far as stores and such--a WHOLE lot of people who are either just passing through (mostly Army, of course, and their families), or who survive as modern-day camp followers, leeching a living off of the Army. Killeen always struck me as a city that existed only as a shadow. Were it not for Ft. Hood, it would probably dry up and blow away.

That said, a lot of Central Texas would probably blow away if it didn't have some major artery feeding it. Temple is the "Hospital Center of the South," or so they claim. Waco has a few museums and such, but it seems like it's most widely known as the Home of Baylor. And so on. One of the biggest problems with a lot of these little towns is that they started out really nice. Then people found out that they were nice, wholesome little communities, and suddenly everyone wanted to live there. Next thing, some imbecile in government decides that, "...What this town REALLY needs is a [insert big-city fixture here...Starbucks, Sam's Club, etc.]!!" Suddenly, the wholesome little community was losing its wholesomeness, its sense of community, and its charm. So ANOTHER idiot in government decides that they need to throw a chunk of tax money into 'revivification' of the city. Which they do. Which just makes it worse, and sad in a pathetic kind of way. And so it goes...

Basically, bottom line, if you want small-town feel in Central Texas, find a city the size you THINK would be nice, and then move to one half that size. It should just about fit you.

Hope this helps, without totally scaring you out of Central Texas. It's still a nice place, you just have to look a little harder or live a little further out to find the best bits.

 

[Tman]

Keoni:
Nearest VA hospital to killeen is in Temple, the next nearest one is in Waco. I live in Temple. I sometime go to Weber's range for skeet shooting (I-35 between exit 309 and 311) but usually go shooting in Austin, TX. Do most of my shopping and stuff in Temple, Austin, and Dallas. Best gunshows I've been to have been in Dallas, then Austin (really bad parking now that they've moved to the new place). Hope this is helpful.

 

[flip180]

Keoni

To be honest, I've never stopped there. I drove through there a cople of weeks ago on the way to a wedding in San Antonio and went through there late afternoon/early evening on a thursday and it was really nice. It has this big river that runs though town in a deep valley that has a boat ramp and I suspect camping grounds. On the way back, we passed through mid afternoon and, it still had real appeal. Usually places don't look as good during the day as they do in the evening (Like some women I've taken home ) but, this one did.

Flip.

 

[crt360]

I run over to Killeen every once in awhile. I have friends and clients that own businesses and work there. A few live there.

Most of the previous comments are true. Killeen is not the prettiest place in the world. There is nothing quaint, historical or charming about it. It supports the world's largest military base. If you like listening to artillery all day and night it's your kind of place. I suspect just about any location near Fort Hood will provide you with a nice battlefield background noise (even in Temple, Belton, and Gatesville).

The upside is that it has a booming economy. The Killeen/Harker Heights/Copperas Cove area probably already has 1000 housing starts for this year. Neighboring Lampasas county was supposedly the fastest growing area in the country last year. There are tons of franchise restaurants, car dealerships, and motorcycle shops. Guns Galore (nothing special about their prices, but they have a pretty good selection - especially handguns - and they're nice folks) is only gun shop I'm familiar with over there. New schools pop up all the time. It has a new Killeen/GAA airport. It's only about 15 minutes from Temple which has a large VA as well as Scott & White and King's Daughters Hospitals. Lake Belton and Stillhouse Hollow are nice nearby lakes for boating and fishing.

It seems to have quite a bit more violent crime that than other communities of equal size.

Having said all that, I could live there. It wouldn't be my first . . . or second . . . or third choice, but I don't think it's the worst place in Texas to live. Marble Falls is nice. Salado is nice. If you like Hill Country (hills, trees, winding roads, scenic rivers and lakes), there is whole lot of nice from just south and west of Killeen all the way down to San Antonio and west to Junction. http://www.txinfo.com/products/hillcntrymap.html

Way east Texas is flat with a lot of tall pine and cypress trees, some areas are foresty and others are swampy. Pretty much every thing in between east Texas and the Hill Country is flat or gently rolling farmland. There are some nice areas out here where you can buy land that is not too expensive.

West Texas . . . you probably don't want to move to west Texas . . . or deep south Texas, or the Panhandle.

I guess without knowing more about what kind of area you're interested in, what kind of city comforts you want or don't want, what you plan to hunt, or how much you're looking to spend, that's about where I should stop.

 

[Wingshooter]

Stay out of the Luby's.

Smoke; now that we're all packing, it's probably one of the safest places in Texas.

 

[DigMe]

Killeen proper could stand some improvement. Belton and Temple aren't much better, IMO. Split the difference. Try the Harker Heights area.

Heights is as much of a dump as Killeen IMO.

brad cook

 

[TangSafetyM77]

Look at Lampasas. Getting expensive, though. Sometimes you can hear the artillery practice at Fort Hood from Lampasas...and that's about as close as I wanna get to Killeen.

 

[DigMe]

Oh BTW, I RARELY heard any artillery stuff when I lived in Temple but I lived on the northeast side. My wife lived over on the west side and she occasionally heard some. It's not like they're constantly shooting artillery 24/7. THey go through periods of practice where they'll be shooting it but in my time there it wasn't like a constant barrage of artillery where your china is shaking and pictures are falling off the walls or something.

brad cook