[MrJP]

If you're moving for Schools, I don't think Gadsden is the place. I live in Anniston, which is about 30 miles from Gadsden. Our city schools aren't much better, but some of the County Schools are decent. I'd suggest you budget a few bucks for private schools. There are several in the area that are pretty good. As for the weather, I'd say most of the reports aren't far from accurate. I've lived here 50 years, and the only time I remember a significant amount of snow we got about 11 inches in 12-15 hours. It was gone in a couple of days though.

Let us know if there are other specific questions.

[bamahorn]

A native of San Antonio, TX, I moved from Columbia, MO, to Gadsden, AL, in 1978; and I really enjoy residing in this area. About five years ago, after I retired in May of 2005, we built and moved into a garden home in Hokes Bluff, about 10 miles east of Gadsden. Hokes Bluff is a small but old town of about 4,000 people. One of the most attractive features of this area to me is the weather. In the 29 years that I've resided here, we've had snow about seven times. The most troubling was a 20-inch snowfall about ten years ago. But it hasn't snowed much of anything here since then. The summers can get pretty hot, although we've had a few without breaking 100 degrees. And it can be humid here because the average annual rainfall is about 57 inches. The cost of living is very low. The homes in this garden-home community (10 houses already built, about 30 lots still available) sell for about $150,000. Ours cost a bit more than that, but it's the largest here (about 2070 sq ft). We have valley curbing, all utilities underground, many desirable restrictions, etc. It's like living in the country (lots of woods, rather sparsely populated), although we are half a mile from two gasoline stations, a nice hardware store; a mile from town hall, the town library, the fire department, the police department, many sports fields, a community center, etc. A mile and a half away are a shopping center, a Mexican restaurant, a Subway, a florist, a mom-and-pop pizzaria (delicious), a Sonic, a KFC/Taco Bell, a Huddle House, a bakery, a drugstore, a bank, etc., etc. The schools seem very good, with lots of success in sports, particularly baseball. In fact, the Hokes Bluff HS Eagles baseball team is on a five-year streak as state 3A champions. The new 7-mile highway (US 278) from Hokes Bluff to Gadsden has no stop signs, no traffic lights, speed limits from 65 to 45 mph. It takes me no more than about 15 minutes to get to Gadsden, where there are hospitals, a mall, a community college, branches of Jacksonville State U. and the U. of Alabama, etc. Gadsden has a river -- the Coosa, which also flows about three miles from Hokes Bluff -- running through it. There are large lakes for boating and fishing all around Gadsden. So living in Hokes Bluff is like living in Gadsden with none of the traffic congestion of that city. We are also about 70 miles from B'ham, 115 miles from Atlanta. If you want more information, feel free to ask me.

[Reme]

Gadsden is a nice place that is growing by leaps and bounds. It used to be known as a blue collar working town, but that has changed drastically. THey have one of the best youth symphonies in the United States. Check out the website of Etowah County and you will find may places of interest. We went to day to see Tigersfortomorrow.org. It is very near to Gadsden and the HUGOMONGous fleas market at Mountaintop Flea Market near Collinsville. The river is gorgeous that runs through the town and there is shopping from high end at Fambroughs in downtown, great drapes, and Twigs and Roses, high end everything, all the way down to the fleamarkets near there. Attalla is grat for antiques. Schools are far superior to Calhoun County and Anniston area, I think Rainbow City is a very nice area to live, especially the Covered Bridge area. My sister used to live there and houses are mostly in the 300's and up. Very family oriented area.

[Keeper]

The schools in Arab are some of the best in the state. Small class sizes and unlike FL they don't teach just the FACT, 120 our of 210 hs grads this year received scholarships to college. Home prices vary depending on what you are looking for in a home from
100K on up. Large yards and very friendly people. We are only 25 mins. MOL from Huntsville where there are malls and anything else you might want. Guntersville Lake is 15 minutes away.
Homeowner's insurance and property taxes are low compared to FL. There is a state income tax but even with that I still come out ahead. Electric is reasonable because of TVA.

[FullTruckerEffect]

Keeper:

What about the reputation that Arab has of being an incredibly racist town, along with Cullman? LOook at the statistics. Gadsden is 62% white, 30ish % black. Arab...97.9% white.

Original Poster: I would consider some of the outlying towns around Gadsden, like Hokes Bluff, Attalla, or Rainbow City / Southside. If you're looking for a great school in the area you should probably consider a private school in the area. I've heard good things about Coosa Christian in R. City.

[Cheeto]

Gadsden and Etowah county are the sh**tiest places I've ever lived. While some of the surrounding areas are absolutely beautiful, the people are downright mean spirited and IGNORANT!!! I lived there 10 years ago, and hopefully things improved, the general public as a whole are nice, but once people find out you're a little different than them, the "hospitality' goes down the drain. And after traveling and living in many places, I also found the people here to be downright racist!! You could feel the tension from both sides, while some of the younger whites fraternized with blacks, it was not nearly at the rate you see in other cities, and I'm from Detroit, the most segregated metro in the country. And Drugs!!! I saw more drug related activity around here than I did in the worst parts of Detroit!! Every young person I met was into meth or crack, even heroin. Half the women pop pillls like candy, everyone else was either a drunk or a "saved" christian that wouldn't associate with anyone that wasn't. This place is screwed up, if you HAD to live around there, I'd opt for Rainbow City or closer in to Birmingham, like Springville or trussville, you'd still be close to the natural beauty in etowah county without actually having to live near the degenerates that dominate the local population. P.S. =for the record, I lived in the hills of eastern tennessee, and loved it, so it's not a cultural thing!