[mamaofgirls]

I did a search but found little information on the Monrovia area. Someone did mention that Old Monrovia is considered NW HSV and is therefore not a good area.
Any opinions??
TIA!

[SSgtTEX]

My opinion of Monrovia and the area on Old Monrovia Rd is good for the most part. I wouldn't live in the area from where Johns and Old Monrovia meet to the east personally. I am quite sure in the neighborhood right around where Rideout is has some decent/nice homes but most from the looks arent the best. The ones not in that nieghborhood tend to vary on good and bad homes in looks, but the main problem is the fact it is directly off a high traffic road by a few feet.

I spent a few years and my parents are still there in the neighborhood at the NW corner of Old Monrovia and Indian Creek rd. It is a very nice and quiet neighborrhood with houses from 150-200k average price. My only complaint about it is the fact all the Providence stuff being built right there is making it about a nightmare to drive around there.

Also just about even with the North and West boundaries of the neighborhood marks the city limit for Huntsville. Now we are looking into the Capshaw (Old Monrovia), Jeff, Bishop, Blake Bottom, Douglass, Nick Davis Nance, etc roads. The area is split between having a Madison address and a Harvest address but it is all Monrovia. All the areas have nice homes both expensive and inexpensive. A good shcool district with Sparkman being the High School. and the nice part of being out of the city but not far either.

IMO the area gets a bad name because it isn't the "prefered" SE Huntsville. County is the best area.

[marysally]

When I moved to Huntsville 9 years ago, I looked at some houses in the neighborhood the previous poster referred to. They were lovely homes with large trees. The realtor was fairly negative because of the school (Butler High) at that time. Since then new schools have been built and the home values have increased substantially because of the new schools. My only concern with the Monrovia area is that I would be concerned about overcrowding at Sparkman. I must also add that I have lived in a number of other cities (Atlanta, Houston) and I have never experienced in other cities the outright snobbery of the "SE Huntsville" residents. I wound up buying in Madison and you would think it is a dirty word if you listened to the SE Huntsvillians. I grew up in the Buckhead section of Atlanta and never saw any one turning up their noses at people who lived in Dunwoody or Alpharetta.

[nalabama]

Whoa--them air sound like fightin' words! I don't know if it's snobbery as much as it's satisfaction, maybe with a tinge of smugness. There is a certain satisfaction in knowing that even if you live in a neighborhood of $100,000 to $150,000 homes in SE Huntsville (which were $75,000 to $125,000 homes just a few years ago), your children will still be able to attend some of the best schools in Alabama, that you will usually have ample treatment facilities for your water and sewerage systems' needs (to include the watering of your lawn), and that you have excellent medical and emergency services nearby. We certainly can't afford to turn up our noses at our Madison neighbors based upon the home values in the respective communities, because I suspect that the housing stock in Madison is both newer and decidedly more valuable than that in SE Huntsville and also more likely to appreciate significantly in the coming years. [I still can't make myself include Hampton Cove and its environs in my definition of SE Huntsville, at least as long as they persist in using the phrase "of Hampton Cove" in the obituaries.]

And the schools in Madison are probably just as good as those in SE Huntsville, if somewhat more limited in their offerings--a situation which i expect will be remedied pretty quickly as Madison's population growth tapers off. When that will be is anyone's guess, but it certainly is less likely to happen there as in SE Huntsville, where housing growth is stagnant IMO. In short, we've already gone through our growing pains and we're awfully glad of it, whereas we expect Madison's residents will have to endure them for some time to come. Both are great places to live and raise a family.

[mamaofgirls]

Thank you! Do you know anything about the neighborhooods between Bishop Rd. and Indian Creek, particulary the Thomas Manor subdivision?

[marysally]

Thomas Manor is a very nice subdivison of brick homes that are approximately 10 years old. One of the people I used to work with lived there with her family (husband and 2 little boys). I went to a party at her house once -- very nice house -- market value probably around $250K now.

[mamaofgirls]

Thank you!
How does it compare to the further north areas of Monrovia, like Wall Farms area? Is Thomas Manor grouped with N Huntsville? It looks close, that's why I worry about it. Also, is Old Monrovia Rd. very busy or unsafe?

[marysally]

My view is that Thomas Manor is considered Monrovia but it is one of the more close in areas. It is zoned for county schools (Sparkman etc). Wall Farms is a little more expensive -- houses are larger I think but about the same age. Another coworker lived in Wall Farms and I have been in his house as well. I don't know if Old Monrovia traffic is bad since the development of Providence -- someone else will have to answer this.

[lisaland]

We live in Monrovia just off Nick Davis in a subdivision called THE RIDGE. We love it here. We have considered moving to Madison (city) and to SE HSV but for the money, you cannot beat Monrovia. We have a new elementary school opening this year and my children will attend there. We are aware of the overcrowding at the high school level but we hope that will be addressed before our children get to that stage.

lisaland

[VMH2507]

One thing you should remember when living outside city limits is that there is no zoning which can be good OR BAD.