Your Name (if you would like it to appear): Mrs. C.

Base Name: Camp Darby (USAG Livorno)

Base Location: Pisa, Italy

How long have you been here? (give years please, ex. 2003-present)
2004-present

What is housing like? On-post? (waiting list, conditions, etc.) Off-post?
Any areas to stay away from? Average price to rent or buy?
There is no on-post housing so all families, officers and service members
E-7 and higher must live off post. There are some government housing units in clusters in Pisa and Livorno, but the majority of the community lives in private rental. Because there is a ceiling on rent and every landlord knows the figures, expect to pay the ceiling.

I personally recommend staying away from Tirrenia if you don’t like living
and dealing with sea side resorts during the summer months due to the disco techs, outdoor movie theater and beach traffic. However, it is only crazy for 3 months out of the year!

Rate the PX & Commissary.
We have a brand new commissary that opened up June 2009 and is very good. Our PX is small, but the manager is helpful if you’d like to order something from another PX in Europe and have them ship it down here.

Activities on base?
Your standard MWR activities: sports, pool, American Beach in Tirrenia, ODR, ITR, ACS, YS, BOSS, etc.

Active Spouses Club?
No

Things to do in area?
Camp Darby is 10 minutes from the Leaning Tower of Pisa and an hour away from Florence, Cinque Terra, Vinci, Sienna, Lucca and more. We are in the heart of Tuscany and the perfect location to explore Italy.

School System? Elementary and Middle School is on the base, but high schoolers get to go to the Florence International School.

Any colleges in area?
On post there is University of Maryland and Central Texas Community
College. Down the road is Pisa University. In Florence, there are a whole
bunch of universities that cater to American exchange students.

Jobs? (on post and off)
On post, you’ll find your standard jobs.

Favorite aspect of this base/surrounding city?
You are in Tuscany- a place others spend thousands of dollar to visit once
in their life and you get to be here everyday!

Least favorite aspect?
Things are generally closed on Sundays and Mondays.

Local websites? (base, chamber, newspaper, schools, etc.)

http://www.usag.livorno.army.mil

Any other tips?
It is a great place to visit.

Received 6/2009