[GaBoy-n-Iraq]

Hey how are you all doing? I’m currently in Iraq serving in the army, when I return I’m trying to find a nice old fashion town with country values, a good place to raise my son with out a lot of crime and political crap. I have a similar more detailed question on the Georgia Thread titled "The Good'Ole South" feel free to read it! I was wondering about North Alabama it looks Beautiful from the pics I have seen! What are some pro's and some con's about living in Alabama?

[Bravo35223]

Pro's of living in Alabama:

1) The lowest rate of taxation in the United States.

2) North Alabama looks like North Georgia. Hilly and wooded with lots of lakes.

Cons:

1) You have to be more careful in Alabama about picking public schools than in Georgia. While some are fine, many are not...as a generality, voters in Alabama are less willing to self-impose taxes on themselves to fund public education. This is one of the reasons that the taxes are low.

That is not to say that you cannot find good public schools. You can. Birmingham's suburbs have some of the finest public schools in the nation. I have known several families who have moved to Birmingham primarily to stop paying for private school educations for their children. These include people from New Orleans, Savannah, Dallas, Cincinnati and others. I had a friend who just moved to Jackson, MS from Birmingham and he told me he had "sticker shock" from having to put his children in private schools there because there were no quality public schools. The annual cost of two children: $19,000 after tax, more like $28,000 pre-tax. One friend moved here from Savannah with three kids and saved $20,000 per year by putting his kids into the Vestavia City Schools.

So if a college-prep quality education is important for your child, then you can find it here....

[GaBoy-n-Iraq]

[SIZE=3]Thanks bravo, I was wondering if any one was going to answer this question, I figured tons of bama's would be posting how great Alabama is, and how much they love their state? It looks Beautiful in the pics but I was trying to find some personal opinions though. Thanks again Bravo [/SIZE]

[Southlander]

As a rule, public schools in north Alabama are generally good to superior. Below Birmingham, people tend to go to private schools. There are always exceptions, of course, both good and bad.
North Alabama is varied, from flat in the Tennessee Valley to hilly-to-mountainous in northeast Alabama. You can choose urban (Birmingham and Huntsville), mid-sized to small cities (Florence area, Cullman, Jasper, Gadsden, Anniston, Scottsboro, Decatur), towns (Hartselle, Boaz, Red Bay, Arab) or rural. Even if you are rural, you're not that far from shopping.
You're also only 3 or 4 hours away from a major city, such as Nashville or Atlanta. The only bad thing about North Alabama is the distance from the beach!

[Keeper]

The best thing about AL are the people. Most are very friendly and speak or smile at you in passing. I love the 4 seasons here. I moved back to AL after living in FL for 30 years. Housing is reasonable as are utilities at least in N. AL. Driving down the mountain the views are beautiful.
Are there bad things, of course there are but it is all in what makes you happy. N. AL is in the bible belt, many towns are dry, it gets hot in the summer and cold in the winter.
It is 5 hours to the beach so it isn't a day trip but how often do you go to the beach even in FL, people who live there don't go in the winter.
So it is all about you.. you can be happy anywhere if you look for all the good things. If you decide it isn't what you are looking for you can always move and find that place that makes you happy.
I have found mine..

[PeggyM]

Originally Posted by Keeper

The best thing about AL are the people. Most are very friendly and speak or smile at you in passing. I love the 4 seasons here. I moved back to AL after living in FL for 30 years. Housing is reasonable as are utilities at least in N. AL. Driving down the mountain the views are beautiful.
Are there bad things, of course there are but it is all in what makes you happy. N. AL is in the bible belt, many towns are dry, it gets hot in the summer and cold in the winter.
It is 5 hours to the beach so it isn't a day trip but how often do you go to the beach even in FL, people who live there don't go in the winter.
So it is all about you.. you can be happy anywhere if you look for all the good things. If you decide it isn't what you are looking for you can always move and find that place that makes you happy.
I have found mine..

Was born there - Ft. Payne, on the brow. Moved away as a baby, but spent all of my summers there from age 5; loved my family and the area; can't imagine life w/o my southern family.

My folks lived in Rainsville and Fyffe. I've researched all of Sand Mountain (this is a term you need to get familiar with if you're going to go outside of Huntsville). Sand Mountain is a beautiful, peaceful place that has loads of potential for people looking for lots of land and low prices. I hesitate telling you about it, but I think its already been discovered. Last summer I visited the area and there were McMansions all over what used to be undiscovered country land.

My cousins own massive amounts of land in the area, and they are shocked by the interest of people buying up large parcels. They want to wait it out to make more money, of course.

My point: Rainsville, Ft. Payne, Arab, Albertville, Boaz, all nice NE AL towns are the places that lots of Americans are wanting to escape to. Ten years ago, nobody would have wanted to live there. What is this telling us? - We have a worried country, populace. They are escaping their big cities and metros at a furious pace. They are afraid - they may say its for other reasons, but they are afraid.

The SE US offers lots of people an opportunity to live a more free life than they have been used to living. It may be the last frontier. We all know that the rest of the US is bought and sold. Nobody ever wanted the South. The South was "backward", not a place anyone wanted to live. Now its prime territory.

Frankly, I wish it was not so in demand and I wish it were more like the movie "To Kill a Mockingbird". If I could, I'd magically go back in time to that place. I mean, whose more handsome than Gregory Peck - huh?

[GaBoy-n-Iraq]

All the help has been great, I return from 15 months in Iraq in about one month. Me and my wife are planning a trip up to north Alabama to get a feel for the area, any suggestions on where to visit would be great!! Can any one tell me about southern Alabama, or maybe even around like Auburn area, thanks

[FlourChild]

I grew up in Birmingham (Roebuck/Huffman), Cullman (high school years) and Huntsville. GREAT places, getting progressively better as you go north (first time I've EVER used THAT phrase)! I hated Cullman as a teenager, but have grown to appreciate its virtues since I moved to SW Georgia and found out how badly SW GA (Albany) sucks. Cullman is a pretty conservative, old-school town, but has grown considerably since I was in high school. There are quite a few more upscale places to eat/shop than there used to be. Lots of churches (it's a dry county, BTW) and Smith Lake is nearby. Lots of land, especially east off 278. You'll pay about 50-60% the amount in taxes that you would in Georgia, and will get a LOT more for your money. Cullman once had a reputation for Klan-style racism; the NY Times (!!) recently profiled a newly-elected black lawmaker from there, so things have changed and are continuing to change.

We're trying to move back to either Huntsville or Anniston (or thereabouts). That's how much we (mostly I) love N Alabama.

[southernnaturelover]

PeggyM, "To kill a mockingbird" took place in Monroeville,AL (hometown of Harper Lee and Truman Copote). I can tell you from experience Monroeville is not that great. Monroe County does still have lots of quiet rural areas however, and nobody seems to be moving there.

GaBoy, there are many nice towns in south AL. The towns around Dothan like Enterprise and Opp seem to popular lately. I have an aunt that used to live in Troy and she loved it there. I live in Escambia county which has Atmore and Brewton. I live in Atmore, but I do think Brewton is the nicer town. Pensacola beaches and gulf shores are only an hour drive from here.

[SammieS]

Originally Posted by GaBoy-n-Iraq

All the help has been great, I return from 15 months in Iraq in about one month. Me and my wife are planning a trip up to north Alabama to get a feel for the area, any suggestions on where to visit would be great!! Can any one tell me about southern Alabama, or maybe even around like Auburn area, thanks

Hi,

First, let me thank you for your service.

We (husband, myself and 2 dogs) recently relocated and retired to northern Alabama (Guntersville) from New York, Long Island, to be exact. We love it here! It is beautiful country and has wonderful friendly people. I read your post on the Georgia site, and I believe you will find what you are looking for in Alabama.

As for suggestions to visit, Guntersville, Grant, Scottsboro, Arab, Huntsville, all nice areas. Huntsville is more of a "big" city but really nice to visit.

I know others will offer other suggestions.

Good luck in your search for your perfect place.