Can West Birmingham Get Some Love? (Pelham, Midfield: for sale, condo, violent crime)

[puleo]

After having lived in Bush Hills, Jemison (Chilton County, I think), Indian Springs (Pelham area), and now Roosevelt City (right outside of Midfield), I'm looking to move back to the Bush Hills/Bush Boulevard/Ensley area.

I'd like to know pros and cons of the area. I'm interested in everyone's point of view. After having read several past comments posted, I'm sure I'll get good feedback. Thanks!

[gustygulas]

West Birmingham can get some love today. What is your price range on a house. That will help. Ensley was recently apart of new mayor Larry Langford's city cleanup where he has brought cleanup crews to give it some new life. My mom grew up in Belview Heights and I think the houses over there are very nice. Some of these have been renovated and I believe within the next ten years they will all be renovated.

[pvjd]

I think Ensley gets a bad rap. You know, it used to be one of the wealthiest areas of Birmingham. Personally, I have never lived there but have had friends who live there so I have visited from time to time. I think it's nice, has some great restaurants.

[AndyG]

Great place to live if you want to get shot in the face for no reason. Ensley is a zoo, put a fence around it and forget it exists. Do you not watch TV? Most of the murders, rapes, drive bys, robberies take place in that part of Birmingham. Make sure you take a sub-machine gun over there with you.

[gustygulas]

[quote=AndyG;2171121]Great place to live if you want to get shot in the face for no reason.

Wow. That is the funniest thing I have heard this week. I don't condone shooting people in the face btw.

[puleo]

Price range is a good question. I'll put it like this: I'm in my early twenties and have my first job making 20-25k a year and am paying back college loans (yuk). In other words, I'm poor. A friend and I drove around the Bush Boulevard/Hills neighborhood Monday evening and we saw a few houses for sale. A couple of the houses had those exciting little information sheets in the yard. One of the homes was selling 69K, another for 125K. I haven't been in either home. That will soon change. Right now, I'm mostly interested in becoming more familiar with the area and getting involved in the community.

[puleo]

Great restaurants??? Please tell me where. I mean there are some cool chicken spots and of course, the fast food is everywhere, but please inform me about these great restaurants so I can place my order today!

[puleo]

AndyG,

Folks are shot in the face for no reason? A zoo? Really!!!?? What part of NE Alabama do you live in? When was the last time you were in Ensley?

[Socal2Bham]

Originally Posted by puleo

A friend and I drove around the Bush Boulevard/Hills neighborhood Monday evening and we saw a few houses for sale. A couple of the houses had those exciting little information sheets in the yard. One of the homes was selling 69K, another for 125K.

There is a reason they are so cheap. We looked at that area not too long after I moved here. There are some beautiful old historic homes on Bush Blvd. near the college but venture too far from that 5-6 block radius and it's sketchy IMO.

We were looking to get in cheap in that area and wait for it to turn around and watch our home value grow. In the end we decided it wasn't worth the risk. We're not that brave.

Barely a day goes by that I don't hear about some violent crime happening in that area. It's a shame.

[pvjd]

Things do happen in Ensley, but it is not as much as some would think. It is easy to have a negative opinion about a place if you have never spent time there. It's actually got a lot of families and generations of people who either live there because they want to, or because they are not able to afford anything else. Economic despair does tend to coincide with places that have higher rates of crime, but statistically other parts of Birmingham tend to have a little more crime depending on location. Not to get preachy or political, but often poor black neighborhoods are assumed to be high in crime before any real information is given on them. It's a bit stereotypical, especially to middle class whites who have a fear of what is seen as "thuggish" or "gangster" blacks. Maybe they have watched Boys in the Hood and LA riot replays a little too much. I am white, and my dad was a brick layer, and a lot of his good friends and coworkers were black or Working class white. I spent a lot of time in Ensley when I was young because his coworkers had family barbecues a lot, and I was friends with their children so we would sleep over at each other's houses from time to time. I never felt unsafe, but maybe it was a different time back then. Or perhaps the media didn't report crime as much. Who knows.