We were scheduled to PCS to Riley on Oct. 10, but I will be 9 months pregnant at that point, so we requested a deferment. Our new report date is Jan. 10, but we are supposed to clear here by mid-December. It's going to be one huge nightmare of packing, moving, finding a house, and taking care of a newborn and a 3 year old all rolled into one. Good times! Anyway, what towns are around Ft. Riley? I know there is a waiting list for post housing, but we kind of want to live off post. Anyone have any pros/cons for living on base or vice versa? Thanks! 

The "here" that we are clearing is Ft Leonard Wood, MO, incase anyone wonders. 

Junction City is right outside of the gate on the west side of post. Ogden is right outside of post on the right side, but it is a very very tiny area. And Manhattan is about 15 - 20 minutes away depending on where you live. 

Hi and Welcome. There are several towns that you can choose from. There's Manhattan, Junction City, Ogden, Chapman, Abilene, White City, Herrington and more. Good luck. 

Junction City , Manhattan and Ogden are the immediate cities next to the base. Manhattan has most of the shopping but also a college town so if you want peace and quiet you have to find a neighborhood away from the campus. Junction City is a crap hole (in my opinion) that is where we live and I hate it. There are only a couple good neighborhoods in JC as far as apartments and I think the rent is too high for any of them. Houses Im not sure about since we live in apts. If you want to live a little bit farther away there is Chapman and Milford...small towns and rent is cheaper. 

How far are these towns from base?

*Didn't see Roxy's post before I replied.* 

What is the post housing like? We're stuck in craptastic old housing here and have been since 2006. We're pretty tired of paying a huge chunk of BAH for something that's only worth half of that. 

Jc and Ogden are immediately outside of the 2 main fort Riley gates.

We wanted to live off post, but couldnt find an apartment or home that didn't take every penny of bah, or more. So my husband put us on the waiting list for a 3 bedroom as we have 2 children (in March) and we had a home availble to move into 2 days after arriving.

Nothing fancy one of the older homes on post, at Peterson place. While I do have complaints they are minor, and to me it's worth it as it is saving us money on water & electric bills. 

They are re-doing a lot of the housing on post, so if you get an old house, you'll probably be moved to the newer housing (Forsyth) but in my opinion the housing in Forsyth, although newer, and much cleaner and nicer to look at aren't that great. They are building them very fast to meet demand, and the houses are paying for it. Foundations are still settling, there is a mold problem in most of the houses that they are trying to cover up. But by the time you get here they'll probably have taken care of that issue. Hopefully.

Junction City definitely isn't appealing to me in most areas, but if you go down 77 there is an area called Hunter's Ridge which is also fairly new, I have friends that live there and the houses are beautiful! The townhomes too!! I live on post. In an old 8-plex. i don't hate it, but i don't love it either. Basically I'm just waiting to move. It's nice not having to worry about turning my AC down to 65 on really hot days though!

The houses in Manhattan are mostly all old! But I have some friends that live in neighborhoods that have newer houses and they are nice. Most of the neighborhoods are nice in my opinion. But i don't live there so i don't know forsure. 

Camilla, just because you have had bad experiences Junction City isn't a CRAP HOLE. I grew up in Junction City. 

We are trying to plan a visit out there to check out areas and view any houses that we find, but it'll be next to impossible to commit to anything b/c we'll still be paying BAH here in MO until we're done clearing. We were told that the waitlist is a very long one. We deal w/ a lot of problems in our old housing here. Stuff breaking, mold, windows don't open/close/fit the frame, vents falling out of the ceiling... It's frustrating. 

Hunters ridge are apartments & they have a couple of townhomes too, they're nice. I wouldn't buy a house here if you're military, maybe rent one, but there are never any nice homes to rent it seems,,,I also wouldn't stay in Manhattan, you'll be spending $$ on gas trying to go to post each day...ogden looks gross & everything else is too far! 

ogden on the southside, does look gross. but we lived there for seven months, we had a three bedroom apt for 600 a month! and it isn't the prettiest, and some people don't keep the front of there houses clean, but we never had any issues and it was cheap. the houses up the hill in ogden aren't bad at all. In my opinion. 

send you a message! 

Junction City is a crap hole (in my opinion) that is where we live and I hate it.

That was clearly (AS STATED), an OPINION =)

MPWife: I wouldn't suggest to anyone or the rats in the sewer to live at Geary Estates Apartments!! The are the biggest ripoff around here. They have the cheapest deposit, that's where they got us and MANYMANY people we know that live / have lived here. There's an endless list of horrible reasons NOT to live here. 

Look off of Hwy 77 in Junction City. Springvalley housing division is nice and so is the Hilltop division (Hunter's ridge apartments also lots of privately owned homes that people bought in 2006/07 that are now rentals) Nice quiet area and only 5-10 minutes from Estes gate. I would stay away from The Bluffs and Patriot Point. 

Thanks so much for the suggestions! 

Just so you know its only a 6 hour drive to/from each base. just did the drive last weekend (dropped hubby off for school)...we didnt have a chance to explore to much..didnt even get a chance to see Wayneville (cept form the interstate)

If you do try to get on post dont take anything from colyer, thats where most people call the "ghetto" of Fort Riley! You should qualify for a 3 bedroom..I would ask to get on the waitlist now...if you are even remotely thinking of getting post housing! We lived of post for about 7 months...we lived in Herington 30ish min drive. We ended up eating what we were saving from the BAH in gas back and forth! Good Luck!! 

Some of Colyer is not bad from what I hear. The back remodeled part. The brick ones are though. 

Personally, I think the entire area (JC & Manhattan) are overpriced. We live on post in Warner, if you get offered that run as fast as you can in the opposite direction! You can pay for a townhouse in JC with more room and won't have to get rid of all your stuff. Riley is just like anywhere else, you either love it you hate it. I hate it but I'm not into anything about Kansas. Good Luck!