Looking for low-income, pleasant town to start over (Birmingham, Montgomery: hoa, jobs)

[kaleygeminni]

I am a smart and mature-for-my-age young woman of 22 looking for somewhere to call home. I've moved around a lot and I just want to find a town to settle down. I need a place with clerical jobs and/or positions within a publishing/media company. I want a place that's close-knit, open-minded (religion and race mainly) and more importantly, a place I can afford. I am pursuing a degree in English and would just like to start over. I am tired of moving and would like to settle down somewhere that's not too isolated yet not too commercialized. Any ideas?

[Southlander]

Hi English major! That's what I majored in...and no thank you to teaching! I wound up writing at a newspaper...now newspapers are dying.
You will HAVE to be close to a larger city to find a media company of any kind. I do have a suggestion...the Muscle Shoals area in NW Alabama. That includes the cities of Florence, Sheffield, Tuscumbia & Muscle Shoals. (That's right, "Muscle," not "Mussel.")
First, they have an excellent newspaper, the Times-Daily, that is owned by the New York Times so the pay would be a bit better and there might be a future with the company.
Second, Florence is the home of the University of North Alabama. You could finish your degree there, and find employment, too, within their publications offices.
Third, although the area has a small-town feel, the university's students as well as the area's musical heritage keeps the nightlife a little livelier there.

Be aware that staying in a smaller town, however, will severely limit your paycheck, not to mention the job possibilities. You could find a job in a bigger city and live in a nearby small town. Birmingham has Southern Living magazine and all the publications that it produces (they seem to list their jobs on journalismjobs.com), plus several other publications businesses and ad agencies. You could live in a smaller town nearby - Mount Olive, Gardendale, Montevallo, for example - to get the small-town vibe. Several local colleges are available - UAB, Samford and Birmingham-Southern (both private and expensive), University of Montevallo, Miles...heck, you could even commute to Tuscaloosa to finish your degree.

Further south, Montgomery offers AUM, and probably jobs in the state government, with residences in outlying smaller towns...I'm sure Mobile would be the same, with USA & Spring Hill College in town.
Much good luck to you, dear!

[Lodger]

Just so you know, Tuscaloosa is the home of Randall Publishing (I think it's now Randall-Reilly Publishing). It's also the home of the University of Alabama, Stillman College and Shelton State Community College. The metro area population is around 80 to 90 thousand, maybe more. Lots of young folks when school is in.

[harry chickpea]

I concur with Southlander. The Shoals area seems to be becoming a magnet for artists, theatre, and literature, and would be a good place to start a career. Birmingham is likely to be a much more tough market to break into.