Please help! Moving from Sugarland, TX to Birmingham (Alabaster: housing, work)

[Sugarland, TX]

Sorry about all of the "FONT" errors. Told you I was new at this...and not sure what caused it to appear/submit that way.

[lrtjs5]

The Trussville-Clay area is booming. Great shopping and churches. Schools are really good. Not as much going on as the 280 area though. Just according to what you want. You can get more house for your money there and a little slower life style.

[mp33]

Yes, try Trussville area -- we need more transplants (just moved here last month). New homes being built all over and many nice established neighborhoods within your price range. And...only a 15-20 minute drive into downtown Birmingham.

[TexasNative11]

Alabaster is a nice area growing by leaps and bounds. If you don't have morning and afternoon commute issues it may be ideal. You will get a lot more house for the money!!! The only two drawbacks to Alabaster are
1. There are train tracks that go thru Alabaster and you cannot get in or out of Alabaster without crossing the track at some point. They are a source of discontent for morning commuters but if you are not stuck to a rigid morning schedule...maybe they are a non-issue.
2. The school system in Alabaster does not have a good reputation.THis might not seem to be a problem for you since I think you said you don't have children but it makes it harder to sell your home later.


Good Luck!

[Mayor_McCheese]

I'll agree with Trussville too. My outlaws.. I mean in laws live there.

I live in Katy, TX and you are in for a culture shock my friend.

[Sinkbean]

I lived in Birmingham all my life, and I can't say to move to Alabaster. For your price range, I would say Hoover or the 280 corridor. I'm sure you're used to traffic being from close to Houston. And I think even Trussville is better than Alabaster/Pelham...but then again, I hate hate HATE i-65.

[Bravo35223]

My Brother-in-Law has lived in SugarLand for 10 years and I am very familiar with it.

For the price range you are evaluating and since you are used to the Southwest Freeway traffic, I would highly recommend somewhere along the 280 corridor such as Inverness or Highland Lakes....I'd get a realtor who specializes in Shelby County and get going on your price range. Our market here is soft now so its a buyers market.

The 280 area has much of the same retail that you have in Sugarland. Yes the drive to downtown is the worst in Birmingham, but compared to the Southwest Freeway (Highway 59) - you will find it to be a piece of cake.

You will also find good schools in that area such as Oak Mountain and Spain Park that are new (like those in Ft. Bend County) and provide a good education to your future children. The one thing you will not find there is the mass of Asian population you have in SugarLand.

I have known many many people who have moved to Birmingham simply because it has quality public schools. I had a close friend who grew up in Dallas and he moved here and saved $18,000 per year on tuition bc his kids get a good quality education for free...

You will find the climate here to be better than Houston's and the area is much more scenic. The downside is no professional sports...other than that, I don't think you'll see much of a difference.

[ashnicpra]

CALERA.... area is very nice.. I have enjoyed living there but are in the processing of selling my home..... Alabaster is a nice area as well......

[lrtjs5]

Originally Posted by Mayor_McCheese

I'll agree with Trussville too. My outlaws.. I mean in laws live there.

I live in Katy, TX and you are in for a culture shock my friend.

Culture shock for the better I am sure! It never ceases to amaze me how people from other places love to put down Alabama who really have no clue. Yes, some parts of it maybe but you can find almost anything in the Birmingham area that you can find in Katy, Texas, which I have never heard of. The only thing really missing is professional sports but with the hysteria over college sports you will not miss it that much.

[Clear Lake TX]

Relocated from Clear Lake, a sub of Houston like Sugar Land last year, and loved this new place very much. When I was in Clear Lake, I commuted to Garallia for work. It was a nightmare everyday, morning traffic starts from 6 am till 10 am, 30 miles costed more than 1 hr, Gulf Freeway before 610 was a big parking lot every morning. Hated it so much and moved to Birmingham. It was a so pleasant experience during the past year, let me list the pro and con for you
Pro
*No traffic at all comparing with Houston, 280 is just a piece of cake.
*Much scenic than flat Houston, rolling hill and lake, creek everywhere
*Sold my house in Clear Lake about 300k, and bought a house about 400K in 280 Corridor, Eagle Point subdivision, they are virtually same monthly pay, considering property tax. Here I only pay 0.5% of house value for property tax, but in Clear Lake, I paid 3.5%. Huge difference.
*Really enjoy my new home which sits on the top of a hill and golf court and lake in the back, scenic and peaceful. Enjoy my morning tea on my deck and watching hummingbird and cardinal
*With office in Inverness, I even can back home for lunch
*Have nothing to do with city crime, while shopping and dinning and other city stuffs are all within 10 miles drive
*For big city, 2 hrs to Atlanta. For beach, 3.5 hrs to Pensacola, FL where sugar white sand and crystal clean water, much better than Galveston’s dark water and grey beach. 4 hrs to Smoky and ski resort
*Four seasons. Got snowing twice during the past winter, wonderful foliage, much better summer temp, especially humidity comparing with Houston

Con
*Need to pay state income tax (5%), and sale tax for grocery
*Sports are only about UA and AU’s football
*No road light, hard to drive in the evening. No sidewalk either
*Schools are not comparable with Clear Lake School which is one of best in Houston. Even Oak Mountain and Spain Park, though they are among the best in Birmingham
*Peer pressure for cars, too much people drive Mecedes, BMW, Lexus around 280.

Originally Posted by Sugarland TX

Hi,
This is my first time posting anything but I'm hoping someone will assist. My husband and I are relocating to Birmingham b/c of a job promotion from Sugar Land (a suburb of Houston, TX). Sugar Land was just rated the #3 Best places to live in 2006. So, I am looking for somewhere safe and nice and a suburb. Our current home in Sugar Land is about $200-220K now...2 stories, 2700sq. ft...3 bedrooms, 2 and a half baths, study, living, dining, and greatroom....and everything is big in texas! (purchased several yrs. ago at about $150K). So we have great living in an excellent area for cheap. Looking for a home somewhere between $200-250K...and although I hear Mountain Brook and Redmont Park are perfect.....they appear to be way out of our price range. We don't have any kids yet but they are in our plans. We are in our mid to upper 30's so want a quiet neighborhood with a great schhol district but we also want to be in an area where there's a mall, restaurants and shops. Basically, we don't want to have to go into the city for anything if we don't want to. Is there a possible location that could fit into the above painted description? Please help!