I need information about Stillwater Oklahoma.  Ie:cost of living,
crime, social life, housing, best area to buy a house.  My family is
moving from Dallas Tx to Stillwater, we have 4 teenagers, ages 12, 15,
16, & 16. One plays competative soccer, the other competative
basketball, one in band and one skateboarder. I need info on how to
make the transion easier for them, activties and such.

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Clarification of Question by jdmaka-ga on 16 Apr 2005 16:06 PDT

I need info regarding competative/select basketball and soccer teams
in the area for 16yo girls

http://www.homefair.com/homefair/servlet/ActionServlet?pid=194&skipcontact=true&cid=homestoregates&gate=homestore&fromCountry=USA&toCountry=USA&toCountry2=USA&fromState=OK&toState=OK&toState2=None&previousPage=193&single=0&fromCity=4070300&toCity=4070300

http://realestate.yahoo.com/re/neighborhood/search.html?sa=&csz=stillwater+ok&submit=Submit

http://www.townhunter.com/TownHunter/city-report.aspx?function=city_report_show_report_aspx

I lived in Stillwater from 1992 until 1996.  I don't have information
about sports for teenagers, but why not call the athletic department
at Stillwater High School and ask them?  (There's only one high school
in Stillwater and I think all the teenagers go to school there,
because as of 10 years ago, there were no private high schools within
reasonable driving distance.)

Also, why not contact your future department at OSU, or future place
of employment, or whatever is bringing you to Stillwater, and ask them
to put you in touch with a family with teenagers so you can get
answers about your questions?  People in Stillwater really are very
friendly and helpful.

Cost of Living: As of 10 years ago, was VERY LOW compared to what we
were used to in the Northeast

Crime: As of 10 years ago, there was practically none.  That's one
reason why people thought of Stillwater as a great place to raise kids

Social Life: What we found, as people in our 20's, was that there was
plenty to do, but one had to go out and find it.  There were a lot of
great people and a lot of things to participate in, although few
things to watch (like theater, etc.).  I suppose it's like any
smallish university town.

Housing: As of 10 years ago, very inexpensive, compared to what we were used to.

Best Area to Buy a House: You'll be buying in Stillwater itself,
rather than in the surrounding towns, because there are no surrounding
towns (ha ha).  Stillwater isn't that big, so you can just look
everywhere in town.  We weren't in a position to buy a house when we
lived there, but it seemed to me all the neighborhoods were pretty
nice.  You can probably afford to be within walking distance of the
campus, if you want.  My one piece of advice is to ask whether the
roads around your house flood in heavy rains and what you have to do
to get to your place of work/school if the road is flooded.  (A lot of
the semi-major roads flood a few times a year due to heavy rains.  As
of 10 years ago, the roads near the vo-tech and the Country Club
neighborhood flooded consistenly when there was heavy rain.)

Stillwater is a small town.  At first your kids might have the
reaction I had when I moved to Stillwater: "What?!  The nearest mall
is 70 miles away?!"  "There's no decent Chinese food here!"  I don't
know how you would prepare them for moving to a small town, but it may
take some getting used to.

I live in Stillwater now and I have 2 teenagers that attend school here.  
Stillwater High School is VERY competitive in all their extra
curricular activities.

I have one that is a cheerleader and one that is in the marching band.
I cannot speak to the issues of competitive soccer or basketball very
much, but if they are anything like our football and cheerleading and
marching band then read on for insight: ... The band does a LOT of
competitions, a bit too much in my opinion.  They have practice early
every morning in the Fall for 2 hours, 1 hour of credit for school.
They also practice every Wednesday evening and they have sectionals
that the time is chosen by the sectional leader.  They have practice
every Tuesday evening in the Summer and every day, ALL day for 2 week
before school starts in the Fall.  They do 7 or 8 competitions
throughout the season.  They have football games on Friday evenings
and if they are away games... ... ... they often do not get home 'til
well after midnight (sometimes 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning) and then
they get up on Saturday mornings and have to be back at the school by
7:00 am (sometimes 6:00 am) to leave again for a competition that
again often does not get them back home 'til well afte midnight or
later again.  This can be very hard on the kids and the parents and I
personally dont think it does much for the edification of the kids,
but is more of a "go me" for the band directors and the school.

This is a community that takes football and cheerlaeading VERY
seriously also.  Basketball is not quite the religion that football,
but it is highly revered, as is soccer.

Not all the area schools are that competitive.  Perkins is a nice
smaller community about 20 miles South of here and they have a higher
academic standard.  They also have a lot of respect for family life. 
It is more of a farming community and they understand that kids have
home obligations as well so they are not nearly as competitive.  There
are other surrounding communities that are also more agricultural
oriented and do not have the funding that Stillwater High School has. 
Morrison is about 25 miles North of us and Perry is about 25 North
West. Yale is around 20 or 30 miles East.  All of these are much
smaller communities that probably wont offer your kids much, but there
are a lot of nice houses in the country side between all of these
places, if you don't mind a little commute. Many of these are like
small development/communities if you want close neighbors. These are
often a lot less expensive than houses in town, and you can get a bit
more bang for your buck.  I have a nice place on 5 acres, 5 miles East
of town, 2500 square foot that is now on the market for $180,00.00. 
In town this place would be around $230,00.00.  There are no "bad"
areas to live in town, it is not like Dallas/Ft Worth with areas that
you stay away from.  The oldest parts of town are probably less
desireable but still quite nice,, but will probably not have the
square footage or number of bathrroms and bedrooms you will need. 
Also, older neighborhoods near campus are less desireable because that
is where the college students live, and it's less cared for and noisy
at night.  The only exception is College Gardens on the Southwest
side, and many of these are lovely historic homes.  Berry Creek and
Copper Creek are new and trendy and near Sangre Grade School, but they
are not very close to the High School or Junior High.  Homes areound
the High School are older and rarely for sale.  There are several new
developments and newer developments on the North Side of town and
within easy driving of the Schools. Parkview is a nice little area nad
they have a community pool in their development that my kids like
better than the city pool.  There seems to be a mix of housing sizes
dispersed throughout the town, so where you want to live is dependant
on the needs of your family, and that leaves lots of options.  There
are several golf courses that have nice homes around them and they are
building all the time.

Cost of living is fairly low here, but seems to be rising.  There is
very little crime here, most of the crime is on campus where students
steal from each other.  Still on campus is very nice and significantly
lower than the average for crime stats for a major university. It is
also very culturally diverse, there are over 150 countries represented
at this school.  I lived on campus for 3 years in student housing
before remarrying.

Unemployment is lower than the state average, about 3%.  

The university attracts a bit more cultural events than comparablly
sized towns.  There are a few concerts, productions, and art shows
throughout the year.  Since you are used to driving around Dallas to
get to things, you probably wont mind that it's only about 70 miles to
either Tulsa or Oklahoma City for major sproting events, concerts,
operas, ballets, etc. and of course  malls, which are soooo important
to teenagers.  Quail Springs is the closest, in Edmond, and is very
nice.  Lots of great restaraunts and other shops surrounding it. 
Woodland Hills in Tulsa is the largest in the state, but the traffic
to get there is a nightmare, though not anything like Dallas
traffic!!!! Yikes!!!!!!

Of course we have a lot of Football games, baseball, basketball and
other athletic events at OSU and tickets are not very expensive.  The
North side of OSU's football stadium is being renovated, the South
side has been completed and is nice.  Parking can be a headache so it
is a good idea to become a Posse member, if you are a supporter.  Dont
worry, if you are more of an OU fan than OSU it's ok! most people are
cool about that.  My husband is an OU fan and unashamedly wears his
Red and white to all the games!  Many do.  WE tend to say that we
support both teams when they are not playing each other.

There is a small skateboard park at a little park on the corner of
Hall of Fame and Boomer/Main.  On Wednesdays and Saturdays in the
Summer and Fall, there is a little farmers market in the park also.
Boomer Lake is also a nice park with a wide paved walking/jogging path
all the way around it (about 2.3 miles)  The roads in the park are
used by skaters and I think you can skate on the path.  They also have
a fribee golf course there.  It is a popular place to walk dogs,
socialize, and exercise.

I was raised in Stillwater and only left as an adult to find better
education at U. of Oklahoma and better employment.  If you have a good
job in Stillwater it is the best place in the world for a family.  I
recieved college scholarship offers and was not the best student.  In
fact I was horrible, but the name of SHS will help.  Also, the
activities are just enought to keep a kid active.  However, I was
constantly causing trouble because there are not enough things for
teens to do in that town and plenty of spoiled kids. There is little
crime, good weather, not much traffic, and I believe the best housing
is in the city limits.  The flooding and mud are too bad outside of
town and there is no value to it, unless you are truely farming.  So,
there you have it.