Relocating to Birmingham (Mobile, Homewood, Cullman: low income, condo, crime rate)

[CountyProsecutor]

sorry but Birmingham is still behind the curve, by comparison to many other cities- beautiful settings though

[Synopsis]

I'll take a step back in time anyday! I've never been to Birmingham, but I hear it is a very pretty area. My wife and daughter just got on a plane (from our home in DFW) to Birmingham for the US Figure Skating Sectionals to be held this week. My daughter is competing.

[nalabama]

Maylene is nice enough, but the commute to and from B'ham for work can be brutal. It is a place to find a nice new home at an affordable price. And it's closer to the beach!

[AdrianJ]

Oxford AL is, depending on where you are going, a 60 minute drive. Everything you say you want is there. From Target/Home Depot to the sports groups. And housing a lot like Alpharetta in Cider Ridge.

[steveklein]

here are my recommendations:

alabaster (about 20-25 minutes from downtown, growing rapidly)
north shelby county/us 280/chelsea (about 15-30 minutes from downtown, growing very rapidly, fairly high traffic)
trussville (about 15-20 minutes from downtown, also growing quickly, traffic is predictably on the rise like in the other areas)

the thing i don't like about trussville is it is not "contiguous" with the other "nice suburbs" that have lots of things to do.

all the communities i listed above are growing and fairly far out.

if you are looking for a more established area and don't mind spending a few extra dollars, go for vestavia hills or hoover (but make sure you are in the right area of hoover; 90% of it is great, but the other 10% could leave you with sketchy neighbors...)

vetavia and hoover are also closer to downtown birmingham than the other places, but they are a little more expensive.

don't buy into the whole "huntsville blows birmingham away" garbage. the bottom line is that there is virtually nothing in huntsville that you can't find in the birmingham area. the socio-culture in both cities lags far behind atlanta... but birmingham is a MUCH better city for someone coming from atlanta; living in huntsville would feel like living on a farm coming from alpharetta or gwinnet county. birmingham is a better adjustment. slower pace of life, bit still plenty of things to do.

best of luck.

edit: if you are not looking for schools, maybe vestavia and hoover wouldn't be your best bets. they have very good schools, but have (relatively) high property taxes compared to other suburbs.

[Clarkx3]

pretty sure they wanted just a bit more slower pace than these cities offer, why be so condescending in your post? I'm also sure anyone would attest to the horrible traffic in these areas as well...just a different opinion.

[fishmonger]

Homewood has the best mix of all the suburbs. You've got areas where you would think you were in a small town, areas where you'd swear that you were in one of the nicer areas of the inner city (most of these are pretty expensive, though), Vestavia-ish ranch house developments, some of the same cul-de-sac subdivisions that you'd find in Alabaster, and affordable apartments available around even the nicest areas. Diverse population, high-ranked schools, traffic not that bad at all for being a densely populated inner-ring suburb so close to downtown, parks everywhere, sidewalks, organic business districts, architectural diversity... Homewood's almost as cool as Southside but more family friendly with good schools. Is Homewood pricier than Vestavia/Hoover/Trussville, etc.? I don't know, I don't own a house right now.

[Actuary]

Originally Posted by fishmonger

. Is Homewood pricier than Vestavia/Hoover/Trussville, etc.? I don't know, I don't own a house right now.

definitely less house for the money than Hoover.
And somewhat less than Vestavia, although we were looking in the 170-$210 range, so found very little in either Vestavia or Homewood, with at least 3 beds and 2 full baths and not sitting under I-65

[washington.johnson]

We are thinking of moving from southern Califorinia..Any good church of Christ churches?

[Figment 07]

Originally Posted by washington.johnson

We are thinking of moving from southern Califorinia..Any good church of Christ churches?

An online search reveals about 60!