Will be reporting to Gordon around Dec 2009 can anyone there or who has been there tell me anything about the 35th MP Det. I am planning on living off post.
''Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you, Jesus Christ and the American G.I. One died for your soul, the other for your freedom.''
Sorry, MPs are the bad guys. :-) I don't know anything about the unit here.
Off-post living, if you have kids, consider that Richmond county (Hephzibah and Ft Gordon itself) has much cheaper housing than Columbia county- and one of the worst (poorest?!) school districts in the state, which is already low compared to the rest of the country.
Columbia county is noticeably more expensive to live in, for a reason.
If you don't have kids it won't matter as much, just be careful of which neighborhood you're in. You have nice ones right next to more dangerous ones, no matter which county you're in.
There are lots and lots of houses for rent usually, mostly 2-3 bedroom, since there are lots of career (signal) Soldiers who buy here then rent out, knowing they'll be back someday. 4-bedroom is a little bit harder to find.
There's quite a bit of country, too, if you want to live 20minutes (or much more) away from post.
Yea alot of people live in grovetown, cheap houses and stuff but they dont even have a Wal-Mart yet!. If you stay in Augusta youll have better access to the bars, movies, mall etc..
"Sometimes the roots of democracy have to be watered with the blood of patriots"
Posts: 118 | Location: Ft Gordon, GA | Registered: 04 December 2003
Ok, Thanks yea I am looking to pay between 1200 and 1450 per month for rent. I don't want to jump into buying as of yet since I don't know the area that well. But once I get a feel for things I will be putting that monthly BAH to work.
Yes I have kids a 5 year old and a 1 month old.
I like a lot of the homes in North Augusta, SC but that last part SC is what gets me I have a CCW permit out of KY and don't want to take another class to carry my handgun as SC would require me if I was to live there.
''Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you, Jesus Christ and the American G.I. One died for your soul, the other for your freedom.''
Do you SERIOUSLY want to spend an hour or two of your life EVERY DAY driving?? -SC is a bit away.
Augusta is even a little drive- when you are looking at houses consider how much you drive to work and how much you drive to the store...
ALSO, BAH is way low here- my E6 is $1069/month. 3 Bedroom houses here rent much less than $1200/month, if you look around. I'm in Grovetown in a 3bedroom for $850 but it's small, old (1970s), but we are 3miles from post, I have a fenced yard and large workshed out back.
The mall and walmart are about 15minutes down the interstate..
25P AIT Instructor The Best Thing about Fort Gordon is that your Next Duty Station is NOT Fort Gordon.
Posts: 196 | Location: Ft Gordon | Registered: 22 October 2007
That is true with the drive times, but my wife is very picky about where we stay and hey I am a 6 also. We are looking to buy in the long term but rent at first don't get me wrong yes 1450 is out of the range of a SSG BAH range but when the wife helps out with the rent ie half then its all good.
And when it comes to buying I am trying to stay below 250K.
Thanks for all your help I still have about 11 months before I report so who knows but yea I hate driving.
''Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you, Jesus Christ and the American G.I. One died for your soul, the other for your freedom.''
@ MPNCO: I have been stationed at FT Gordon for several years. I would avoid Richmond county if possible if searching for a reasonable home. There are a number of houses in the Grovetown area that are under 160,000 brand new. My wife sells houses so all day long I get the information on homes being foreclosed or VA repo. I would go with Columbia County. The crime rate is still somewhat lower then Richmond and some areas in Augusta are as bad as you can get. Schools in Richmond stink and I would not accept on-post GMH housing unless you wanted to deal with that turmoil.
By the way, they are building a Wall Mart in Grovetown on the corner of the Grovetown exit and I-20. Columbia, SC is 1 hour away and Atlanta is 2 hours away. The amount of clubs or cool locations are limited in Augusta, GA. But there is some increased amount of companys that are coming to Augusta. The Bass Pro-Shop is being built off of I-20.
Anyway, hope that helps.
Posts: 223 | Location: 513th MI BDE, Fort Gordon, GA | Registered: 06 July 2006
I had seen the construction and wondered what it is.
Houses can be had for WELL below $250k around here.
They're building new ones like crazy in Grovetown and really once the Walmart is finished, the only reason to NOT live in Grovetown is that the closest gate (Gate #2) is only open 0430-2030(weekdays) and limited on weekends. But gate #1 is only 3 miles away, and if demand keeps going up, maybe they'll open it 24/7..
25P AIT Instructor The Best Thing about Fort Gordon is that your Next Duty Station is NOT Fort Gordon.
Posts: 196 | Location: Ft Gordon | Registered: 22 October 2007
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