[DRvortec]

Oh, and no flood zones. :-)

[Threestep]

Originally Posted by DRvortec

lol. One in every forum. No one else had any issues with giving ideas.

You took the time to type this (14 words), take the same time to shoot some cities or towns

Given the size and diversity of AL I rather have an idea about someone's needs and wants and potential budget before putting my five cents into the pot.

[DRvortec]

I'll take .02 shoot me some ideas. :-) Low crime. Sperlings isn't showing much yet. I haven't went through all the cities yet though. Willing to drive 10-15min to a lake if that gets me a better crime area.

[Alatex]

Great information. Thanks. Groceries are exempt here as well. Still looking for low crime. If lake are near, I would skip the lake front property for low crime and drive 10-15min to the lake then. Recommendations?

I know this sounds cliche', but most of the crime is in just the very worst neighborhoods, and a lot of cases where the victims and criminals know each other, etc.

For instance, I've lived in Tuscaloosa for all of my 36 years, a little over two miles from the Lake Tuscaloosa dam and boat ramp, and I've never felt threatened by crime.

Some of the really rural lakes in north AL like Smith Lake or Pickwick Lake probably have practically no crime at all, other than maybe some old fisherman stealing a bucket of worms from another

[Keeper]

I have to agree with Alatex, most of the crime around my little town is usually in one part of town. Many folks still leave their doors unlocked. In the paper, there are crime reports of 'stolen checkbook' or pills. No one is going to enter your house for pills, unless they know they are there.

I have friends in Tuscaloosa and they have never had any problems with crime either. I don't know of any place that has no crime, some places are just worse than others.


I live in Arab, AL which is 10 miles from Lake Guntersville. I checked Sperlings and the crime stats just don't make a lot of sense, nor does the population stats. The City of Arab is 7,500 but the pop. in Sperlings lists around 14,000. That has to be outside the city limits, but includes the police jurisdiction of 3 miles. Those 3 miles also include other towns.

[Keeper]

Check out these photos of Guntersville, lake

http://www.city-data.com/forum/hunts...le-photos.html

[DRvortec]

GREAT pictures! Thanks. Is there a local store there? Grocery or video store, etc? If not, how far to local grocery store? What is the elevation? If you have a link fo rthis information, you would be golden

Thanks.

[Keeper]

There are several grocery stores plus WalMart, Lowes, Belks and other stores.
Guntersville the city is only 640 ft above sea level, although there are homes on top of the mountains. There are 2 small hospitals, Marshall county North and Marshall county South which is in Boaz about 15 minutes MOL south of Guntersville. From Guntersville you are about 35 mins from Huntsville or an hour from B'ham.

You can check out homes on Valleymls.com for Guntersville. We have a member who moved there from LI and they love it.

[DRvortec]

What about local airport? How far?

Thanks for your great information!

[Keeper]

Local or one where you there are airlines?
There is an airport for small planes in G'ville.

Huntsville and B'ham both have airports. Southwest flies into B'ham. Atlanta is 2 1/2 hours away, Nashville is 2 hours, estimated time away..

Boating on the lake even on the weekend is not busy IMHO. National Bass fishing tournaments are held there. Sailing, fishing, pontoon boats and houseboats depending on your fancy. Our mountains are not like the ones out in your neck of the woods.

Schools in G'ville, I think they are OK but not as high as Arab, which was in the top 5 for the state. Teacher/student ratio is low.

There are no Malls in G'ville, but H'ville is 25-35 minutes away where there are a couple of nice malls. I think there is still a movie theater in Boaz but if not you would have to go to H'ville for that too. If you consider the distance 30 miles (guesstimate)then 25 mins is not that bad. I lived in FL and it could take that long to go 10 miles.