New to Tuscaloosa (Taylor: realty, apartment complex, condos)

[cb2008]

i will be moving to tuscaloosa shortly and looking for an apartment. teaching at UA, single woman.
I have searched the forum and have some ideas of where to look.
i would like some advice on areas one should be careful about if new to the city?
thank you

[Keeper]

Not sure how many folks here live in Tuscaloosa but hopefully someone will check in.
I can tell you I had a friend who lived in Tuscaloosa in a small apt complex near the Target and the mall. Sorry I don't know the name of the area. But it was a nice quiet area.
You might check with UA, they probably have a list of apts they recommend.

[Threestep]

Where are you moving from:>)
Use common sense and you will be fine. Keeper is right - the university keeps a listing of places. Do you have any special interestes/requirements? It is hard to answer a very broad question.

[Bravo35223]

Sealy Realty Company owns 7000 apartments in Tuscaloosa...and as you can imagine, the majority are rented by students.

I would contact them and explain your situation: you want an all adult community and that you are on the faculty...

I would also suggest you contact Provost Judy Bonner's secretary and explain that you are a new faculty member and need assistance with housing selection. I am confident that her office will point you promptly in the right direction. After all, she is your ultimate boss there and is responsible for you. I would be quite surprised if they did not have resources specifically targeted toward assisting incoming faculty in getting settled.

Executive Vice President and Provost - Dr. Judy L. Bonner

[HipLib]

There are many good areas to live in an apartment in Tuscaloosa. By all means avoid Alberta City. There are a lot of apartments in the area but it has become the most crime ridden area in the city.

[CMMom]

It's been 10 years since I left, but when I was in grad school in Tuscaloosa, I lived in the Royal Hills Apartment Complex off of Rice Mine Rd. It's (just barely) across the river; only about 10 min. (including parking time) from campus. Don't know what it's like now, but it was a quiet complex with a mixture of grad students and working adults. It's just far enough from campus to be away from the "party central" mentality.

[Bostononia]

Originally Posted by CMMom

It's been 10 years since I left, but when I was in grad school in Tuscaloosa, I lived in the Royal Hills Apartment Complex off of Rice Mine Rd. It's (just barely) across the river; only about 10 min. (including parking time) from campus. Don't know what it's like now, but it was a quiet complex with a mixture of grad students and working adults. It's just far enough from campus to be away from the "party central" mentality.

Thank you for the information. This is on my list and indeed looks nice.

[Alatex]

i would like some advice on areas one should be careful about if new to the city?

Alberta's pretty crummy, and so is west of downtown. Some of the areas immediately south of 15th aren't my cup of tea, either, and there are lots of student apartments mixed in there (especially along Hargrove).

My cousin owns and rents condos near the river (River Road Terrace + at Riverbend Commons), and he has been pleased with the quality of renters over the years. I know he had a law student as a renter for awhile at Riverbend, and I've met couples who lived in the complex, so it's not "student party central."

You might want to look at Midtown Village. I know a professor who moved to town last year who has been living there, and is very pleased with it.
It's on the expensive end of the rental spectrum, but it's very convenient to everything.

There are also some very nice, popular rental complexes south of the interstate along AL69 in the Taylorville/Hillcrest area. I visited a new professor last year at the Inverness Apartment Home complex, and I was very impressed with that development - seemed very quiet and safe, with lots of young professional couples.

I would also suggest you contact Provost Judy Bonner's secretary and explain that you are a new faculty member and need assistance with housing selection.

Good luck with that ! The faculty members I know consider the provost to be an arrogant waste of space, but you're probably right that the current administration will try to help "their" hires in any way possible (while maintaining an ice-cold shoulder for faculty and staff that were there before Your Royal Highness Witt arrived).

[Lodger]

This threads a little old, but I'll jump in anyway. If I were looking for somewhere to live I'd try to stay close to the river. This means probably north of the river, since the university takes up most of the land south of the river. South of the river, where the universtiy is, don't go any furthur east than Helen Keller Drive or you'll be in Alberta, which is good for cheap rent but isn't the safest place. Don't go much further west than downtown Tuscaloosa, although some students are starting to populate west Tuscaloosa because it's cheap and easy to get to. I'd really try to stay north of the river.
I don't mean to give the impression that Tuscaloosa is a dangerous place, because it's not, but like all towns there are some places that aren't the best. My niece lives in Alberta and it's not real pretty but she has an alarm and a big dog and she's been fine and it's cheap.
Also, there are apartments scattered down highway 69 that look nice but it's not the easiest place to get to from the university. This town isn't that big but traffic on 69 can get pretty busy at times.