Hey ladies,
We just got our orders that we are headed to Fort Lewis in July this is our first station and I am so new to all of this. My husband wants to live on base. He is an E-2 and We have a 2 year old and are trying to have another baby. I was wondering what housing you would recommend? and any tips would be helpful! We would like a yard but I am wondering what housing is newer and nicer! Thank you so much in advance! 

go to jblmc.com it is housings website and has floor plans and pics of all the houses you qualify for so you can look and decide which ones you even like first...then let us know what ya think of em and we can tell ya a bit more about them. 

I agree with Cowgirl. Also it is what you make of it no matter where you live. But the good thing about asking on here is a that there are a wide variety of people and opinions. 

i would suggest to avoid parkway.
people tend to come from off post and use their dumpsters. 

i would suggest to avoid parkway.
people tend to come from off post and use their dumpsters.

lmao I see what you did there, do we smell "bacon"? 

lol i couldn't resist
no but really
parkway has a bad reputation- they have the fastest turnaround for a reason. 

Haha thank y'all! I am so confused by this all I am definitely a newbie! I will tell you what I qualify for and what seems nice and then maybe you can help me from there!? Thank you. 

Your new home...
Based on your submission you qualify for 2 to 3 bedroom floor plans in the following neighborhoods:
Carter Lake
Clarkdale
Greenwood
Heartwood
Hillside
Madigan
McChord
Parkway
Town Center

So obviously Parkway I will not want haha! 

Town Center is the probably the newest but no yard, theyre like apartments. New Hillside is nice, Old hillside not so much. Madigan is nice too, Clarkdale and Greenwood are okay from what I've seen, but I don't know anyone from there. I did live in New Hillside for 2.5 years and loved it. 

I am thinking McChord or Greenwood or Clarkdale? Any opinions? 

Thank you I just saw your comment!! Someone told me the Town center picture they used on the site is actually the higher ups pictures so I was cautious! I would like a yard for our daughter though 

The thing is, I've known people to live in the "icky" housing areas, and they're perfectly happy. They may look gross on the outside, but they're not bad inside. Neighbors can be crazy in any neighborhood.

I have friends in clarkdale and greenwood. They like theirs but both are in the duplexes instead of multiplexes. Town center is really nice, but like Sandra said, no yard :) hillside is older, but has a fenced yard. 

Hey ladies I just heard about Meriwether Landing being available in July for JR. Enlisted? Anyone know anything about it? Thanks :) 

Oh and Madigan housing is pretty much identical to new hillside. It's pretty nice! 

You might want to think about how fast you want to get a house too. I have a friend that has been on the waiting list for 3-4 months and had to keep switching neighborhoods to ensure she had a house by the time her husband got back from deployment. I don't know if they told you that or not but you can only be put on the waiting list for one neighborhood. Online the "housing availablitity" is usually wrong. It told her there were houses available in 0-30 days and she was on that wait list for 3 months. McChord seems to have the shortest list for the most part. Good Luck! 

mcchord is nice but the commute is longer cause it's on the air force side. 

Does anyone know how long that commute would be? Thanks! 

I'd go New Hillside. Anything with a garage will be nice because your husband can put all his gear in gorilla boxes, put in there, and it won't be taking up space in your home. We lived in Davis when we lived there and I loved it. When we first came to Lewis we lived in Clarkdale and I hated it because unless you get an end home you will sandwiched between two families and it can be loud. On one side we heard sex and fighting all the time and on the other we heard music and barking dogs. The yard might have been a privacy fence was it was small. With one child you can have a 3 bedroom home and just stay there when your 2nd is born. Best of luck. Oh and if you have FB try looking HERE, finding Lewis, and the neighborhoods you prefer for actual photos and not the pretty ones of the JBLM site 

depends on time of day and if you are going with or against the flow of traffic. sometimes 10 mins sometimes 30 mins sometimes an hour...really depends. people dont clock things here in how many miles but in how many mins. it used to take my hubby 10 mins to get to work in the am b4 traffic hit (we lived like 5 miles away) then getting home would take him well over an hr...so it really fluxuates...thats why i just live on main post so i dont have to deal with it. 

she cant do new hillside...its e4 and up shes eligable for hillside shes an e2 wife i think she said. 

oh and if i were you i would try for madigan or one of the ones on mcchord just cuz they are nicer and not so cramped together as the others are. 

the homes on mcchord would be about a 10ish minute commute to main post, and 15ish to north fort depending on routs.
i wish we lived in town center actually. it's walking distance to a lot of good things so you would save money by only having one car if you wanted to.

the madigan neighborhood is nice and quiet and pretty safe, but our commute to north fort is longer than when my husband lived in the town of steilacoom. (he works on north fort) 

I really rather enjoy living in Clarkdale. I live in a multi plex though and got lucky with an end unit, but she is right it can be loud. However it's a nice setup and there is a big family feel for all of us in the multiplex. They have smaller backyards, however, you don't have to pay for a fence. I think that the program was wrong by telling you that you qualify for town center, I believe that's only for single officers and way higher ranking soldiers then an E-2.

I would definitely suggest that you live on main post as this is your first base, although the houses on McCord have a more laid back vibe to the neighborhood. They also have the better doctors and in my opinion the better stores (it's called a BX if you are on the Air Force side for future reference). 

I knew a lower enlisted family in town center. Young with a baby. I think there are separate places for them. 

yeah they have made some of towncenter for lower enlisteds and some for single officers. 

the floor plans for enlisted in town center don't include a garage, and they are i think 2 bedroom, but it's still all about location location location.

what sucks though is its in the middle of construction. doesn't affect you too much but people take detours through the neighborhood more.


if i were in your shoes i'd get on a wait list for a longer time neighborhood, then drive around post (especially once he knows where he'll be working) and see the neighborhoods for yourself. you can always switch neighborhoods penalty-free. 

Also in town center, you are only eligible for a 2 bedroom unless someone in your home has special needs, and the doctor says they need to be on the first floor. We tried to get a 3 bedroom there when my husband was an e-4 and that's what we were told. We were going to move on McChord, but the house is teeny tiny so we decided to keep living off post. McChord is a beautiful base though, so if you don't mind the square footage and drive its an option.
I believe they have updated most of the older neighborhoods and they should be pretty decent now. 

Ha, thanks Coco. I somehow managed to completely miss that. 

We are in Clarkdale in the mulitplexes. We have a privacy fenced in back yard which was very nice when our kids were younger. We have parks all over the place over here also. I love the location because it is close to my husbands work and we are close to the football field and MWR tent so we can walk to all the events. Its not a bad neighborhood. Yes all of us are pretty close together but as long as you get good neighbors that are respectful and you don't mind being respectful of them also its not bad. And honestly you don't have to interact with them unless you want to. Lots of kids around here. The house is not bigger or smaller than any of the other houses I have been in around here. Its split level with really long stairs. We are on an end unit so we have a big front yard and a third bedroom. 

lol frankie its ok...not nearly as bad a when i jump in the middle of a topic without reading the first page or two and join the conversation only to find i have no clue what im talking about lol.

to the op...hope we have all helped ya a bit!