Safe area in B'ham area with townhouses (Birmingham, Hoover: housing, rent)

[Keeper]

A friend of my daughter may be moving to B'ham. She will be looking to buy a townhouse. She is single and wants to be in a safe area since she will be traveling for work.

Not sure exactly where in town she will be working, but thought I could you give her some ideas on areas.

[cpg35223]

Southside in the Highland Avenue area is pretty safe. There are also any number of codominiums along Clairmont that are within walking distance to the market, restaurants, coffee shop, etc., plus its centrally located enough so that almost every part of town (Except way down 280 and Riverchase) is an easy drive against the flow of rush hour traffic. It's just a great place for a single person to live.

Places to avoid: Directly behind UAB, Valley Avenue.

[Threestep]

Keeper - can you get more info - job location, budget, requirements ...

[Keeper]

Hahaha.. now where have I read that before? She is looking for at least 2-3 bedrooms, price up to 200K. Her biggest concern is safety because she will be traveling and coming in late at night. Of course, being single I think she would like to be in an area where she could go out occassionally.

When I talked to my daughter, she didn't know the location of her job. I asked her to find out as that could make a difference.

[Guntersville Boomer]

My daughter is a Senior at Birmingham Southern College and has lived alone in the Highland Park area and things are fairly safe there, she has really enjoyed it, she lives right next to St. Vincents Hospital in that area. Loves the closeness to everything. The zip code is 35205, she could go to realtor.com and put that zipcode in and see if there are any townhouses around there.

[gustygulas]

Originally Posted by Keeper

Hahaha.. now where have I read that before? She is looking for at least 2-3 bedrooms, price up to 200K. Her biggest concern is safety because she will be traveling and coming in late at night. Of course, being single I think she would like to be in an area where she could go out occassionally.

When I talked to my daughter, she didn't know the location of her job. I asked her to find out as that could make a difference.

Hey Keeper,

Acton Park seems to be a hot community within the young professional age group. This will be on the upper end of her range and most are just over 200k. There are many places out there that she will be able to choose from. The Cotswolds townhomes are under construction and I believe will sell pretty quickly. There are also some nice townhouses in Hoover in the mid 150s brand new.

Those are just a few that popped in my head.

[heathanoah]

My best advice would be NOT to move here . I am a single 27 year old woman and I have lived in many different cities and Birmingham by far has been the worst experience of my life. I am bored to tears and Bham really lacks diversity. I also see a lot of segregation here. If she moves here, yeah, Southside/Highland is a very good option but she might want to look into Homewood as well. It depends on what she's looking for. The Highland area is great if you don't want a yard and don't mind being able to spit on your neighbor's window. And it's not THAT safe. I have had some problems and it has taken several calls to the police to get response. Southside is also great if you have a dog (lots of dog parks) love the quirky/artsy scene (5 Points) or are a student/employee of UAB. Homewood is a bit slower and much safer. She should avoid anything in Inverness/280 unless she is a retail addict and doesn't mind hellacious traffic! She won't want ANTHING on the north side. Also, as a side-note, I have found it VERY difficult to find a job here. I have an excellent resume and a lot of experience in my field but for some reason can't seem to land a good job. It's all about the 'good ol' boy network' in this city.....

[pvjd]

Since Bham is so large, it also includes many different suburbs and outlying areas, I would do research and see whether it is necessary to really live in the city. I live in Vestavia, but work in Southside. With traffic it is 15-20 minutes at the most, without it is usually about 8-10. Vestavia, Voover, Homewood (but not Valley Ave in Homewood), Mountain Brook, Rocky Ridge area, etc. are all good places with little crime and tons of convenience. Not a far drive either to downtown, and it is certainly not the boondocks.

[cpg35223]

Originally Posted by heathanoah

My best advice would be NOT to move here . I am a single 27 year old woman and I have lived in many different cities and Birmingham by far has been the worst experience of my life. I am bored to tears and Bham really lacks diversity. I also see a lot of segregation here. If she moves here, yeah, Southside/Highland is a very good option but she might want to look into Homewood as well. It depends on what she's looking for. The Highland area is great if you don't want a yard and don't mind being able to spit on your neighbor's window. And it's not THAT safe. I have had some problems and it has taken several calls to the police to get response. Southside is also great if you have a dog (lots of dog parks) love the quirky/artsy scene (5 Points) or are a student/employee of UAB. Homewood is a bit slower and much safer. She should avoid anything in Inverness/280 unless she is a retail addict and doesn't mind hellacious traffic! She won't want ANTHING on the north side. Also, as a side-note, I have found it VERY difficult to find a job here. I have an excellent resume and a lot of experience in my field but for some reason can't seem to land a good job. It's all about the 'good ol' boy network' in this city.....

You're kind of a bitter person, aren't you? Kind of a faux nihilist. With that kind of attitude, no wonder you're unhappy. I'm sure you could live in Eden and still find something to complain about.

We moved here and were totally surprised and gratified by how much there is to do here. There are great performances all the time (Trust me on this, I'm a musician. The music scene here rivals much, much larger markets). There are also theaters, galleries, parties, festivals. Heck, from April through July, there's some outdoors gathering every weekend. My wife and I were exhausted, and threw up our hands saying, "No mas! No mas!" Fall is pretty much the same. Sure, a lot of the social scene revolves around college football, but that's just part of the culture.

As far as the diversity issue goes, I'm not sure what you're talking about. I've met Greeks, Lebanese, French, Chinese, Blacks, Jews, and people from all walks of life, most of whom we now count as our friends. Sure, there are no Chinatowns or Polish neighborhoods, but outside of 4-5 cities in this country, you won't find that anywhere. Overall, I have to say that this is the most embracing town I've ever encountered.

As far as the police response goes, we lived in Southside and Forest Park and found the areas well patrolled. In fact, we had to call once about a suspicious person walking down the street evidently scoping houses, and the police were there within three minutes.

In short, if you're bored, it's your fault, not the city's. Sometimes you just have to get outside of your personal comfort zone, something you evidently are not prepared to do.

[Bravo35223]

Originally Posted by heathanoah

My best advice would be NOT to move here . I am a single 27 year old woman and I have lived in many different cities and Birmingham by far has been the worst experience of my life. I am bored to tears and Bham really lacks diversity. I also see a lot of segregation here. If she moves here, yeah, Southside/Highland is a very good option but she might want to look into Homewood as well. It depends on what she's looking for. The Highland area is great if you don't want a yard and don't mind being able to spit on your neighbor's window. And it's not THAT safe. I have had some problems and it has taken several calls to the police to get response. Southside is also great if you have a dog (lots of dog parks) love the quirky/artsy scene (5 Points) or are a student/employee of UAB. Homewood is a bit slower and much safer. She should avoid anything in Inverness/280 unless she is a retail addict and doesn't mind hellacious traffic! She won't want ANTHING on the north side. Also, as a side-note, I have found it VERY difficult to find a job here. I have an excellent resume and a lot of experience in my field but for some reason can't seem to land a good job. It's all about the 'good ol' boy network' in this city.....

I would have to take very strong issue with your remarks...

1) My hairstylist is Iranian - when he is traveling to Tehran, a Jordanian cuts my hair.
2) My dentist is Guatemalan
3) My psychiatrist is Puerto Rican
4) My dermatologist is Philipino

Here is a quote from an article from the Dallas Morning News about Birmingham's nightlife....

On a recent weekend, the events listings for Birmingham filled pages and pages in the local papers. Part of the problem, if you can call too many options a problem, is that many venues multitask.
The Safari Cup, for example, doesn't just serve coffee and sandwiches; it also sells African objects, displays art and hosts jazz-jam nights. The sushi restaurant Sakura in Five Points South adds some edge to its raw fish with live punk bands. WorkPlay, which opened in 2001, also has multiple personalities: Besides housing media businesses, it packs in the people at its low-key bar and cavernous club.
Despite the abundant diversions, it took sharp navigation to find them. Birmingham streets follow a grid system, but there are few tall buildings to orient you. Whenever I became turned around, I headed for the railroad tracks that divide the city. But there was an upside to getting lost: finding attractions I otherwise might have bypassed. Though clean and well-preserved, downtown is a bit forlorn, with little sidewalk traffic and many empty storefronts. However, cranes and "Coming Soon" placards dot the landscape, and signs of life are everywhere: a newly opened bar, a renovated theater, an old-school barbershop with more bantering than trimming.
When it was time to head out for the night, I was torn. Should I sway to R&B performer b-Haskins at a front-row table at WorkPlay, or slum with under-the-radar bands performing outside at Sloss Furnaces, a 19th-century iron-making facility (and National Historic Landmark) that doubles as a concert hall? Lightning was slicing across the sky, delaying the Sloss show, so I started off at WorkPlay. There, I caught the first half of b-Haskins, a latter-day Marvin Gaye whose silken melodies had a hypnotic grip on the women in the house.
The trance was broken, though, with the last clap of thunder. Word traveled via text message (from a guy I'd met earlier at WorkPlay) that the show at Sloss Furnaces was on: The musicians were setting up beneath an ominous boiler that provided a wisp of protection from the bad weather.
Seven bands were performing, surrounded by peachy-cheeked kids drinking soda and sitting respectfully – nay, reverentially – in folding chairs before the slipshod stage. I climbed to a nook in a piece of machinery and steadied myself between giant metal knobs.
Most of the music was of the soft-alt-rock variety, and I couldn't help comparing the bands to other established performers: Kiss Me at the Gate was a cross between the Sundays and Juliana Hatfield; Preston Lovinggood of Wild Street Orange was John Mayer with a backbone. But, overall, the groups were original, not derivative, and so earnest and pure. I wanted to go out and buy (not download) all of their CDs. And, hey, at least they weren't singing covers.

One other thing relating to Birmingham's nightlife. It is one of the very very few cities in the U.S. that has no Closing Law. Bars can be open 6 days a week, 24 hours a day. Of the 168 hours in a week, there are only nine hours that bars cannot be open: between 3 am and Noon on Sunday. Many bars simply close when the last customer leaves and this is often past 4 am.

Here's a link to The Nick, which closes at 6 a.m. Creem Magazine: "One of the best clubs in the South" Rolling Stone: "The CBGB of the South"

The Nick Rocks - Birmingham's Dirty Little Secret - Birmingham, Alabama

Now to your employment problems...I can assure you there is no "good old boy" network keeping you from finding a job. Top executives here have the OPPOSITE problem....

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, of U.S. Metro areas of 1 million or more, the Birmingham-Hoover SMSA has the lowest unemployment rate in the country - 2.7%. The biggest issue relating to employment in this metro is a severe labor shortage.