misterp Posted October 1, 2007 Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 Life in Stephenville... it's a little different here. Actually I think there are 3 of us on the forum that live here, myself, Tyler, and badblackhemi (great guy btw); sprayed99 used to live here. The population is probably around 20K. Stephenville is at the moment growing. The college (Tarleton State Texas A&M) is the 2nd largest A&M campus right behind College Station and expanding fast because this is one of the cheapest places in Texas to get a basic 4-yr education. Attendence at the college in spring of 2006 was 6500, and 3-months later (fall of '06) attendence skyrocketed to over 9000, 50% increase in student population over the summer. So yeah there's a lot of college rug-rats running around here, trying to get lunch in town can be a serious hassle. The college (I understand) has a very good nationally-regarded nursing program, and their education (teaching) degrees in primary grades are ok too; Tarleton has the best college rodeo team in the USA and their general Ag program is very respected too. The college has a program that teaches butchering and you can go to the Ag department, they run a complete butcher shop and you can buy anything from a pound of fresh ground round up to an entire side of beef; fresh kill steaks, beef, lamb, chicken, goat, pig you name it - it's nothing close to buying a steak at the store that's for sure. But I can tell you from experience anything tech-related at Tarleton is piss-poor, I've got 3 folks here each have a 6-year master's degree in computer science and they knew so little about programming computers I swear to god I am not exaggerating a lot of you guys would be at the same level without the $50K in student loans, I've had to teach each of them how to be developers and yes I've put 3+ years into each of them and they're ok now, so Tarleton's computer science department is an absolute f'n joke. Anyways sorry to hate on the college - more good about Stephenville: it has a VERY low crime rate, one of the safest places to live in America per capita there's almost no major crime to speak of, it's not like you can leave your keys in the truck but very close. You can leave your doors unlocked and let your kids loose on the streets no prob, very safe and good people. People are very polite here; the cops are ok, the highway patrol are very cool, but the sherrif's department are dicks. You can get from one end of town to the other in less than 10-mins, that's nice. Stephenville is now the nation's cowboy capitol, and probably the best and fastest growing area of the US for people that want to live a horse-based lifestyle because land is cheap and Stephenville is centrally located in the US. Example for you Californians, my folks sold their 10-acres in Turlock CA for $400K in 1998, and they bought 140-acres here with house, barns, and 8000 sq-ft shop for $140K; today they hold about 1400-acres just south of Stephenville but the area is totally unimproved and the value will never go up ever unless someone strikes oil out there; just deer and chiggers out there. So the secret with buying property in this area is that you've got to buy cheap, because in the end you'll be forced by the market to sell cheap. There are LOTS of horse people moving here from CA and NM most very wealthy from their prior west-coast lives; the USTRC is here of course, many of the PBR guys live here, anything rodeo is centered in Stephenville. I rent here, I have a 3/2/2 1800 sq-ft brick home in the best neighborhood and pay $800/mo if that gives you an idea of market figures. And I was lucky to get this house (I have local connections!) there is a huge need for student housing & rentals; the market is so bad that there is NO place to rent at all, it's a total landlord's market. A mansion in this town will set you back $200K, if you've paid more than 250-grand for a home here you are *somebody*. There is a Walmart (best I have ever shopped in, spotless and managed very well), Starbucks, Chilis, 2 Sonic's, Blockbuster, couple motels, one major grocery store (HEB), and a couple small clothes/department stores; that's all. The area is also very conservative and religious compared to all the other places I've lived in my life, lots of church-going folk here and they have a tight grip on local politics and affairs here. The cons, well Stephenville is a typical small Texas town - there's not a goddamned thing happening here for me personally, I'm so f'n bored I'm about to shoot myself. I've made it very clear I'm moving as soon as I can break from commitments to the family business here. I'm only here Monday morning to Friday evening, I am always on someone else's couch in DFW on the weekends. Stephenville is a dry county, NO ALCOHOL SALES so if you want beer you gotta drive 30-minutes (one way) to get a six-pack; a select few restaraunts are allowed to serve but THAT'S IT! No automotive scene to speak of, sorry but 2 Lightnings and a couple redneck hack-job lowering jobsand an occasional dirty old Mustang Cobra beating around town in a sea of soot-belching diesel ranch trucks just aren't enough for me. Little night life to speak of, a great time here is a kegger at someone's house and I have nothing against that but... it's not like Austin or San Antonio or DFW nightlife and those places are each 2-hrs away. No radio stations in town (sorry the college pirate radio station don't count) if it wasn't for XM I would have fallen into a coma driving around town a long time ago. I have nothing against Stephenville at all, but it's just not the place for me, I'm just not at home or happy here. Anyways, after living 7 years here now (omg has it been that long?) I'm really well connected so just lemme know if you want some calls made. And if you ever want to visit I'm happy to get you to/from the airport and got an extra room & queen bed here. Mr. P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rivierakid55 Posted October 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 wow that completely summed it up for me. excellent read as is everything you bring to this forum steve. thank you very much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tylerrustss76401 Posted October 1, 2007 Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 That's a rap!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterp Posted October 1, 2007 Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 That's a rap!!! Well don't get me wrong, Stephenville is a very nice place to live, lots of people call it home and are happy here, it's just not for me. Be careful with your research of the area, pay particular attention to average income, there aren't very many stellar jobs here, not like what you are used to on the left coast. Mr. P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vdrumright Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 Doesn't Ty Murray have a place in Stephenville? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brobradh77 Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 its all relevant. cost of living versus wages and such. so of all the hudreds of texas guys on this site i got one response in 3 days? Sorry I think I had most of us Texas guys quarantined at Danny (sprayed99)'s house all weekend..lol Doesn't Ty Murray have a place in Stephenville? Yeah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterp Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 Doesn't Ty Murray have a place in Stephenville? Yeah all the PBR guys live here, in fact the Carillo's place is a stone's throw from my desk here at USTRC; those rough stock guys are pretty much single-handedly supporting the coke dealers and running through all the Tarleton coeds at the moment. In fact most all professional team ropers, calf ropers, barrel racers in the country pretty much live within a half-hour of here too. Jewell (the folk singer) lives here also, my next door neighbor cuts both of our hair. The Toadies (recorded the song Possum Kingdom in 1994) is a hometown band; Cross Canadian Ragweed is also another hot local band. My attorney is the former Texas senator who chaired the Texas Senatorial ethics comittee for 11 years (he's a man you don't f_ck with, love the guy!). The inventor/publisher of the modern procedure for standardized abortion in 1972 lives here in Stephenville... Mr. P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hankg42 Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 Yeah all the PBR guys live here, in fact the Carillo's place is a stone's throw from my desk here at USTRC; those rough stock guys are pretty much single-handedly supporting the coke dealers and running through all the Tarleton coeds at the moment. In fact most all professional team ropers, calf ropers, barrel racers in the country pretty much live within a half-hour of here too. Jewell (the folk singer) lives here also, my next door neighbor cuts both of our hair. The Toadies (recorded the song Possum Kingdom in 1994) is a hometown band; Cross Canadian Ragweed is also another hot local band. My attorney is the former Texas senator who chaired the Texas Senatorial ethics comittee for 11 years (he's a man you don't f_ck with, love the guy!). The inventor/publisher of the modern procedure for standardized abortion in 1972 lives here in Stephenville... Mr. P. For a "small town" you certainly have an interesting cross-section of population! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterp Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 For a "small town" you certainly have an interesting cross-section of population! Yeah the sad part is that there's nobody in town that can balance a goddamned tire. Or do an alignment. Or fix your vehicle without scratching it. I'm drowning in hicks. Mr. P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoolBlueSS Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 Yeah the sad part is that there's nobody in town that can balance a goddamned tire. Or do an alignment. Or fix your vehicle without scratching it. I'm drowning in hicks. Mr. P. You need to move up here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterp Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 (edited) You need to move up here. Trust me, I got McKinney on my mind. Assuming I can get a workable job situation going. Edited October 2, 2007 by Mr. P. (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fallen.One05 Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 I work in McKinney... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoolBlueSS Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 Trust me, I got McKinney on my mind. Assuming I can get a workable job situation going. That would be cool. McKinney is a nice place that is really growing. I bet you could find a good job there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tylerrustss76401 Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 Yeah the sad part is that there's nobody in town that can balance a goddamned tire. Or do an alignment. Or fix your vehicle without scratching it. I'm drowning in hicks. Mr. P. HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! THATS NO SHIT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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