What info would you like? My husband and I both grew up in Stillwater, attended OSU for our undergrads and currently work on campus. I probably have more info than you need!
The campus is beautiful. The people are friendly. The community as a whole in Stillwater is very safe and practically crime free. The town itself survives mostly on the college. When school is out, half the population of Stillwater pretty much leaves town.
There is a busing transit system that travels pretty much all over town. There has been some talk of charging something like $.50 a ride, but I think it remains free for students with IDs as of right now. The busses will take you almost anywhere from campus to the surrounding areas of Stillwater (Wal-marts, shopping centers, etc.) For the most part almost all places for rent are within walking distance of campus - depending upon how far you want to walk, and bus stops around campus make things even more convenient. It's kind of ridiculous how lazy a person can be here and manage to avoid having to walk a block for anything. There are some substantial wait times for busses however. They do opperate on a schedule, but you will have to plan to leave well in advance to get on the bus at it's arrival time and then get to campus after the bus has traveled all over the place.
Rent price ranges:
1bed room apartments anywhere from $200 (really old/small/efficiency) to $450 (some all bills paid and cable included type things).
2bed room apartments anywhere from $350 to $700.
3bed room apartments or houses from $550 - 800
Of course there's more than just apartments. If you want to rent a house it will at least cost around $550, regardless of number of bedrooms.
If I had to pick an area of town to avoid, it's be anywhere south of 6th street and east of Washington, mainly because of drugs. I would also recommend you stay out of the "Forty North" apartments. I have known plenty of people that have lived there with no problems. They are cheap as all get out and just rows and rows of apartments. However there is a lot of crime there.
Other than that all of Stillwater is worth renting in, just depends upon your circumstance as far as vehicle, rent budget, proximety to campus, and noise. The areas directly south east of campus are where the greek housing is, and it tends to be quite noisy and chaotic over there. The roads that run parallel east and west of Washington on the North side of 6th can be noisey as well, because Washington street is where are the bars are located. Stillwater has a healthy bar scene and most the bars are all within walking distance of most the rental houses that surround campus.
The on campus housing is expensive but decent. There are some wet campus apartments. There are some campus apartments suites. There is married student living, but it's outrageously expensive and not really worth the stay. You might as well rent off campus.
Some rental companies that are local:
Cstar - http://www.c-star.com/
(my landlord) Amsco - http://local.yahoo.c...ment-stillwater
Stillwater Property Management - http://www.stillwaterpm.com/
CCD Rentals - http://www.ccdrentals.com/
The above list is only a few, of course, as there is a very competitive renting market in Stillwater. That, however, does not guarantee your landlord will be worth a damn.
There are not a lot of jobs in Stillwater. Let's just be really clear about that. If you want a substantial job, you'll have to look on campus, and as of right this moment there is a hiring freeze on campus. However that doesn't affect student positions. Student positions are abundant, but generally go to international workers first because they are not allowed to work off campus. You can expect a student position to pay minimum wage (Federal minimum wage) or maybe a bit higher than that. Grad student positions pay around $10/hr and are of course limited to the hours they can work. I don't know what it's like else where, only here, sorry if I'm being repetitive about something?
We plan to move away for grad school soon. My husband wants a more "urban" lifestyle, but if I had my way we'd be stuck in Stillwater our whole lives. It's just a really awesome community.
Oh well, one warning or tid bit, it's OKLAHOMA. Expect political conservativism, country/western style cowboys, and a whole lot of pick up trucks and churches
