Dyess (Abilene) info

[barney]

Here is a question for all of you Dyess types. My wife and I are moving there soon and will be buying a house. The one we are purchasing has 1 1/2 acres of land and it is all undeveloped. There is no grass, fence, trees, or anything, it is all Texas dirt and weeds/rocks. Being from the Pacific NW I am used to alot of rain and alot of green. I am hearing that if I sod/hydro-mulch 1 1/2 acres it may all die because of failure to water. Whether it is from no rain in the summer or "water rationing" rules. My question is how successful have guys been at maintaining a nice healthy yard? How about a vegetable garden or orchard? What grows out there? Are the water tables high? What if I dug a well or better yet, a money producing oil derrick? Are the winters pretty harsh? Any local knowledge would help, I just don't want to waste money on a nice landscape for nothing.

Thanks!

barney

[AlphaMikeFoxtrot]

Best I can tell you is to contact the local Texas Parks and Wildlife Biologist. He should be in the know for what type of landscaping will work best for the climate. I spent 3 years of my life as a biologist in San Angelo (close to there), but managed 10,000+ acres and never really worried about a yard. If you are in the city or under city water you may/will have to abide by summertime water rationing. It is extremely arid and the water tables are low. You're not quite in the desert but you're damn close, and water is ALWAYS an issue. Digging your own well will not be cheap, but would at the very least give you the opportunity to waste water without answering to "the man." Last, an oil derrick on 1.5 acres will be tight. Especially during the drilling process. Good luck with your yard!

Oh yeah, you can try xeriscaping. It's a low water means of landscaping. Probably what the biologist will recommend.

Edited April 22, 2008 by AlphaMikeFoxtrot

[HoHum]

Xeriscaping

A & M Extension

Call Taylor Co Extension

[Toasty]

What grows out there?

Churches and teenage pregnancies.

FWIW, we bought a house in November and were told that they landscaper would not insure the installation of grass unless it is laid down in May. I've heard varying things regarding different types of grass for different seasons, as well. Maybe a call to the local Lowe's or garden store could help.

[Skitzo]

Abilene sucks as far as vegetation. Don't spend more than you are willing to flush down the drain.

[imoutlawtorn]

Don't spend more than you are willing to flush down the drain.

...and that's going to be a lot.

I bought a new house in Louisiana and had to buy sod for the back yard (120' X 30'). It was like 700 bucks and I installed it myself. You're looking at 2-3 thousand to do 1.5 acre and you will probably have to water it. I can't really speak to the weather there....

You may want to consider a DIY sprinkler system. It's not expensive if you do it yourself and if you do it before you sod, you can get a ditch witch (ditch digger) and don't have to worry about tearing up your lawn. I DIYed my system.

You can skip the sod by just putting out seed, but you have to water the hell out of see where sod is just maintenance.

Just some thoughts...

[HossHarris]

Gents --

I'm stuck at Dyess for the weekend with a broken jet ... I couldn't quite make it to NOLA.

The plan right now is to drive to Austin. Any recommendations? Places to stay? Places to drink?

HOSS

[Guest Sebastian]

Gents --

I'm stuck at Dyess for the weekend with a broken jet ... I couldn't quite make it to NOLA.

The plan right now is to drive to Austin. Any recommendations? Places to stay? Places to drink?

HOSS

Sixth Street man, Sixth Street. That's all you have to know.

[EnriquePallazo]

The Omni is right by sixth street and normally has good deals for military as I remember.

[B*D*A]

Sixth Street man, Sixth Street. That's all you have to know.

2. Sixth St. is the dogs bollocks. There will be a herd of UT girlies running around. It's kinda like Boulder, CO though, there is some hippy infestation. You might have to makeup a COVER STORY if "I'm a death dealing agent of the apocolypse" doesn't work.

[usaf36031]

I grew up in Austin. Definitely recommend 6th street and DEFINITELY recommend the cover story. Haji killer won't get you too far with most of the ladies in A-town. I'd stick with tree doctor. Or maybe Obama's distant cousin. That'd work for sure.

[Champ Kind]

Standard disclaimer: Exhaustively utilized search function and (surprisingly) didn't find a whole lot of info.

I'm a Herk guy at Yokota right now, and I'll be coming back stateside in 2011. I heard that Dyess (specifically 40AS) is supposed to be converting to C-130Js in 2011. Personally, I'd much rather go to the 41AS at Little Rock, just because I know/like the area, as does the wife (no kids yet), but I want to move into Js more. I'm just trying to prepare myself (and her) with info for either place.

So, that being said, what info can you guys give about the Abilene area? I'm specifically wondering about housing, and where "most" people live around the community. Like I said, I'm married, and we'll probably start working on having a youngin' once we get settled in wherever we wind up back in CONUS.

While comments such as "Dyess sucks" or "Great place to raise a family" are welcome, they don't do me a whole lot of good, since that's the standard response 99.9% of the time. Looking for specifics.

Thanks a lot!

[SuperWSO]

You will hear the two responses you mentioned quite frequently. I am one of the people who actually liked Abilene. Overall, the town is relatively small (approx 100k people) but it has a decent amount of restaurants, shopping, and things to do. There are three colleges in town (all Christian schools) and the people are hands down the friendliest I have ever met. If you can't find what you need, Dallas/Ft. Worth is about 2-3 hrs east on I-20

1. When house shopping, most folks look on the south end of town. Check out a map. The railroad tracks run east west through town and divide north first street and south first street. 99% of the town north of 1st street isn't worth looking at. The base was tearing down and rebuilding base housing while I was there, but this is one area where it is worth buying. Housing prices are some of the lowest in the country - I bought a house for less than $200k in Abilene that is roughly equivalent to a $330k house in Colorado Springs. The housing bubble never really arrived in Abilene, so prices never went up and should not drop.

2. Drive south past the mall down Buffalo Gap road. There are several housing areas down there worth looking for. Turn left off of Buffalo gap at Wagon Wheel and you will go through a neighborhood with nice houses starting around 80K and getting progressively larger the further back you go. Some of the houses in the back of the neighborhood have to be pushing $1M. The neighborhood is probably about 40% military so there aren't any problems with the neighbors. A little further down Buffalo Gap road to the South are a couple new developments with bigger houses in the $300k range. My only concern here would be finding someone to sell to in 3-4 years. If you get a house on South Buffalo Gap, you can get to work in about 20 minutes by taking Farm Road 707 (2 lane road, 70 mph legal limit) to the back gate. There is only one stop light.) If you get a place closer to the mall, (Corner of Winters Freeway aka Hwy 83 and Buffalo Gap Rd) you will want to take Rebecca Ln to the front gate.

Back north on Buffalo Gap, go east on Antilley (Locals pronounce it Ant-ly) road there are some nice neighborhoods around a golf course (Fairway Oaks). I knew several guys who lived there and took advantage of the extras that the country club had to offer. The area south of Antilley is also in the Wiley School District. The Abilene School district is pretty good, but Wiley is widely considered to be better, so that equates to better chance of selling your house.

I hope that is a good start. The housing office sent us a big welcome packet full of maps and local info when I moved there back in 2002. See if you can get them to hook you up before you arrive the first time. If any of this was helpful and you have any questions, PM me and I can provide my home or work email address.

[cragspider]

I will put in my .02 on living here in Abilene. Over all its a great town, like SuperWSO said it has a good amount of restaurants and shopping. However the only major electronics store is Best Buy now. But oh well. Alot of people buy out onthe southwest side of town, but there are some good places up on the northeast side past ACU, the largest of the 3 colleges. Plus the northeast side past I-20 isn't as developed/built up like the southwest side around the mall area. So the traffic isn't as bad out here. There is the newer super wally world here, has some of the best gas prices in town, a Lowes, a Cracker Barrel, and other small shops that are popping up. Plus their is a new commercial development that is going up soon out here. There is one neighborhood that is out past I-20, which is a nice place, a lot of military lives out here, one because is a little farther away from base so you don't hear the Bones at all hours of the day taking off, traffic isn't bad, really quiet place. Im a 15 min drive to base, so I like it cause it gives me some decompression time on the drive home. Oh its also 15 min drive to anywhere in town. Most of the people selling houses in this town are mil, plus like others have said the housing market didn't really see the bubble grow so houses are decently priced for the size and the age of the house. You make the best of every location that your at, the people who talk bad about Dyess/Abilene haven't been here yet or were single and didn't get out much. I know a lot of people who like it here, sure its not some other locations but I wasn't really thrilled with Little Rock when I was there for school. I hope that this helps.

[HoHum]

"Great place to raise a family" are welcome, they don't do me a whole lot of good, since that's the standard response 99.9% of the time.

You're going to hear that ad nauseum from the locals when they hear you and your wife just moved in. Three questions you always get: 1. Are you married? 2. Do you have kids? 3. Have you found a church-home yet?

Abilene is truly the buckle of the bible belt. Three christian schools and maybe more churches per area than Montgomery.

If you're ready for the opposite of Nippon, you're looking at it. People can find quiet places out in the country with a few acres and a short commute for very decent money.

Go to Biketown and get access to the Buck Creek trails. That's about the one outdoor thing we've found to do here. Some guys keep wakeboard boats for Lake Ft. Phantom, but you have to be on the ball to catch a windless day. There is one indoor gun range/shop and two outdoor ones, one of which has a sporting clays course. Haven't been to any of the shooting places, as I can do all that on my own land.

[Duck]

Famous Daves...

[SuperWSO]

Famous Daves...

There is better. For local flavor, try out Joe Allen's, Harolds, Betty Rose's, Squares or Harlows. Everyone has their personal favorite - they all tasted pretty good to me. Famous Daves was just being built as I was PCSing, but I'm pretty sure they are a franchise you can find most places.

There are a bunch of steak places, but check out Lyttle Land and Cattle Co, or Perini Ranch south of town.

That goes for all the out and back guys from Del Rio and Sheppard too.

[cragspider]

There is better. For local flavor, try out Joe Allen's, Harolds, Betty Rose's, Squares or Harlows. Everyone has their personal favorite - they all tasted pretty good to me. Famous Daves was just being built as I was PCSing, but I'm pretty sure they are a franchise you can find most places.

There are a bunch of steak places, but check out Lyttle Land and Cattle Co, or Perini Ranch south of town.

That goes for all the out and back guys from Del Rio and Sheppard too.

I will second the BBQ places minus Joe Allen's. I have been there a couple of times now and the food wasn't the greatest. I would hit up Sharron's though. Once Joe and Sharron split the quality went down at Joe's and Sharron has started her own BBQ joint along with Lyttle Land and Cattle. Famous Dave's for chain BBQ is ok, but I would hit up the local places before I would hit up a chain BBQ place in Tx.

[Champ Kind]

Thanks for all of the information so far - definitely helpful. Any other Dyess-dwellers care to chime in?

Also, any RUMINT about the J-model conversion down there would be appreciated.

Thanks again!

[SuperWSO]

Thanks for all of the information so far - definitely helpful. Any other Dyess-dwellers care to chime in?

Also, any RUMINT about the J-model conversion down there would be appreciated.

Thanks again!

Nope, I'm not familiar with the B-1J, but I will let you know if I hear anything. :-)

[outbreak]

The rumint isn't much better here. Word on the street is the J model will be at the 40th within the next couple years, but the 39th will still be flying C-130's for a while.

+2 on Sharrons.

Abilene Indoor Shooting Range is a small but nice facility. I still gotta check out Abilene Gun Club. They have $35/year military membership. The Southwest side of town feels like any other suburb. The mall, a Lowes AND a Home Depot, just about any fast food you could want, a couple sit-down chains, all the comforts of suburbia.