We're moving there in August. E-5 with one child. We lived there once before and lived at Cardinal Village off base but now that we have our son we're debating living on base. Pros and cons?
Is there base housing actually on the base? I vaguely remember it being next to, but not on the base and the main gate was ridiculous with traffic. 

We live off base, right off of piney green and I love it here. The area is great!! We moved here from Pendleton and we previously lived on base on pendleton. I know it's different here lol but I prefer off base, atleast in the area we live in :) 

I always say that living on or off base is a personal choice. What one person loves, another may not.

Main gate traffic is absolutely awful. At least what I see when we go on base during that time. I've seen worse, but it's still pretty bad.

AMCC has Berkley Manor and Watkins on Camp Lejeune.

Lincoln has Heroes (manor or something).

I am sure you can go to their websites and check out pictures.


There is Midway Park which is right out the main gate. Then Tarawa Terrace down 24. Probably the housing you are remembering not being on base.

HTH 

If you are E5 or below and cannot get housing in Lincoln's Hero's Manor then I would go off base. Just this morning I went to the TT 7 day store and drove by yards in TT1 that, in my opinion, are just not just horrible looking, but are also dangerous. Many look like moonscape with exposed rocks and washouts, which could easily result in seriously injure to a small child or toddler. And they have been that way for years, so I wouldn't expect AMCC fix them anytime soon.

With housing it is the luck of the draw, and it is very possible you would get one of these houses. There is plenty of housing out in town and you don't have to worry about your kids being injured and cut up by rocks in the yard.

I beleive it is borderline criminal that AMCC has not yet taken, what I beleive to be, reasonable measures to make these yards safe for children to play in. Of course, maybe if the little ones belonged to the AMCC Director Of Maintenence then maybe it would be different. 

Bangs head on desk. Aww the poor wittle chitlins might get a booboo because the landscaping isn't Disneyland quality.

Ignore Atk1. He/she/it has a serious hate fest with AMCC. 

For clarification purposes to the ones that do not know any better. It is not the responsibility of AMCC Maintenance to care for the landscaping. Other than to pick up trash. Landscaping is performed by a civilian contract company.
Moreover, the grounds used to look amazing. However, over the past 7 years they have taken a beating due to weather related instances, erosion, and wear / tear from irresponsible people, and their kiddos.
(Disclaimer: I have no connections to AMCC in any way shape or form.)

Now back to OP question...

Living on base is a personal choice. We lived on many bases over the course of 25+ years. We now live off base. Conversely, we chose a HOA community. Nevertheless, if you think about it. Living on base is the same as a HOA. With the main difference being that the AD member is responsible for everything his / her dependents do on base, and some of the same pet restrictions active on many installations are similar in town.

Nonetheless, both scenarios have similarities. We love the freedom we have living off base.

Not only for the space, schools, activities, privacy, and choice.

In other words we like it better. 

Garden Witch and IMSleepngby,
Yes, yard maintenance is the responsibility of AMCC. Just because they contracted it out does not relieve them of that responsiblity.

I am sure if amyone would check it out under the FOIA they would find what I have said to be factual. 

Yes, yard maintenance is the responsibility of AMCC

I guess AMCC is responsible for the weather that caused the problems too.


If the yards are not up to your standards, then you do have the choice to find other living arrangements. 

Garden Witch and IMSleepngby,
Yes, yard maintenance is the responsibility of AMCC. Just because they contracted it out does not relieve them of that responsiblity.

I am sure if anyone would check it out under the FOIA they would find what I have said to be factual.


My dear if you were as capable as shown. You would comprehend that the "FOIA" you receive, after a formal request. Will have most of the information blackened. Therefore, not allowing for complete viewing.

In regards to the FOIA you refer to so insightly. It does state that the contract falls under AMCC maintenace. However, they are not responsible for the actual landscaping maintenace, and activities. Since the landscaping services were contracted out to a civilian contractor. Threfore, removing them from the landscaping responsibility. (That is what contracted out means.)

If you are so disconcerted with the viewing of the grounds. Then you may be relieved that you do have the ability to relinquish the right to live on base, and move elsewhere. You are not being held against your will. 

Sleep,
So are you are saying if you hire me to do a job and I sub it out that I am no longer responsible because I turned the job over to a sub?

The law says otherwise. 

Thanks for your opinions. We've never lived on base anywhere and it's been fine. We like feeling like we're away from the military when we're at home. The allure of a shorter commute and a yard for the kid does sound nice though. I guess we'll have to wait and see. 

The first thing is to understand the difference between a contractor and a subcontractor. The definition of contractor is “one that contracts to perform work or provides supplies”.

A subcontractor is defined as being an individual or business firm contracting to perform part or all of another’s contract.

The Awarded civilian contractor is by title the contracted company. They do not use subcontractors.

For a contractor to award the contract to a subcontractor in the state of NC they have to have a General Contractor License.
The landscaping company contracted to perform said job on base is not a general contractor. It is only a landscaping company. Therefore, their sole responsibility is for the landscaping on base. By clear legal definition, and authenticity in the State of NC. The lanscaping company contracted on base are performing their contracted duties.

However, explained previously the base maintenance is only responsible for housing maintenance, not landscaping. 

I guess AMCC is responsible for the weather that caused the problems too.

Yes, they are! 

Check out all of the rentals available around Jacksonville before you look on base. Jacksonville is completely a "renters" market. You can get a good bang for your buck right now...my husband and I have two homes located in Jacksonville (we are in Cali) and they are renting for MUCH less than their respective mortgages and are a good price range for BAH. If anything I'd say do a 6 month lease some place and if you hate it than apply for housing :)

Ps, the comments on the yards on base-HAHA :) 

When we lived there we were E4 ... we lived off base and were happy as a clam ... it truly is just a matter of personal preference.
We saved money by living off base and we lived close to my work
HOWEVER I wouldnt have necessarily minded living on base but DH was at MCAS New River AND he liked the separation of work and personal life ...
We are at MCAS Miramar (San Diego) now and still live off base ... 

I've never understood when people say that they choose not to live on base because they want their home and work life to be separate. lol

It isn't like you have to have any attachment to work if you live on base. Whenever we have lived anywhere on base we have never saw anyone my husband worked with. Also it isn't like they do inspections just because you live on base. We are around more people my husband works with now that we are living out in town. And most of the time your neighbors are military or prior service anyway. 

Sleep,
You have no idea what you are talking about. AMCC is responsible for the mowing and landscaping of the housing areas. Just because they contracted it out does not relieve them of that responsiblity. If the sub, which I believe is the third they have had since assuming housing from the Government, is not reponsible, then please provide the phone number that should be called for complaints/compliments. Last time I checked it was the AMCC Maintenance number. If you will read the 50 year contract that Actus has with the DoN under the PPV, you will see that yard maintenance is clearly the responsibility of Actus/Winn/AMCC. 

I've never understood when people say that they choose not to live on base because they want their home and work life to be separate. lol

Me either. When we were offbase, we lived near a few people DH worked with. Onbase, the closest is a few streets away.

Like dmc said, it's personal preference. I don't mind living on base, but if we ever move, we don't plan on doing it again. 

Sarah and I are both 30 miles+ from where our husbands work....My neighbors are civilians who don't even have a clue what the commissary is!

Back in the day before PPV, you had to mow and maintain your own yard on base (oh the horror for all these spoiled brat youngsters!) If you skipped mowing/weeding/filling holes, Housing would issue a warning, three warnings and your happy butt was told to leave.

Maybe they should just go back to the old rules. ;-) They'd save money on the contract at least! 

If you skipped mowing/weeding/filling holes, Housing would issue a warning, three warnings and your happy butt was told to leave.

don't forget in the middle of that they'd mow for you and charge you an outrageous amount for it! lol 

I've never understood when people say that they choose not to live on base because they want their home and work life to be separate. lol

You've never lived in a barracks, have you? 

Living in base housing, which is what this entire conversation is about, is totally different than living in the barracks. 

Have you ever lived in the barracks? 

I have lived both on and off base and prefer on base for many reasons. However, I lived in Hubert and took the back gate and the traffic wasnt as bad as the main gate. They both have their pros and cons. 

We lived in base housing (not at LeJeune) for about 4 years, two different places and I finally decided I was tired of it. Although, the housing facilities are usually very nice, I was not impressed with the frat row mentality that was present in the neighborhoods that I had lived in. The commute to base doesn't bother me personally; my husband doesn't care- he's the one that drives there so, off base it was for us and we've never looked back. I find that in my experiences that off base neighborhoods are quieter, and I have found the people to be nicer in off base neighborhoods. Some are friendly, but not nosy and others keep to themselves. I'm not the type of person that needs to be best friends with my neighbors so I enjoy that. If it were MY decision to make, I would say don't ever live on base, it's a nightmare. BUT, since it's your decision, I agree with what another person said in that it's a personal decision, and you do what works for you.