Housing in Birmingham, AL (Mountain Brook: income, offer, schools)

[Back Again]

Originally Posted by cpg35223

What you say is good. But since they both will work at the intersection of 459/280, you must agree that living closer is much better than schlepping it 15 miles up 459 every day.

I would agree with you, but unless I missed something, where did they state where they will be working?

[cpg35223]

Originally Posted by Back Again

I would agree with you, but unless I missed something, where did they state where they will be working?

In her first post, she said they would be working close to the 280/459 junction.

[Back Again]

Originally Posted by cpg35223

In her first post, she said they would be working close to the 280/459 junction.

Yep, I missed it!

[Bravo35223]

Originally Posted by cpg35223

Bravo...where in MB do you live? Does your son go to BWF?

On North Woodridge on top of the mountain...zoned for MBE....

[Bravo35223]

Originally Posted by alexanderwangsun

cpg 35223 & Bravo 35223,

Really appreciate your replies. The information is very useful for our housing hunting. I went to couple of Realty websites, and it seems that houses in Mountain Brook and Vestavia are very expensive. They are out of our budget. We do want to a sigle family house instead of a town home. So I am thinking either Hoover or Oak Mountain. My questions are:

(1) How do think the area close to the intersection of I-459 and 150 (Shades Crest Rd, Lake Cyrus, Trace Crossings, etc.)? It seems that homes there are relatively new and a lot of new homes built and being built.
(2) The area of intersection of 17 (Valleydale) and I-65 (Indian Valley, Indian Sprins, etc)?
(3) Houses in Oak Mountain are relatively cheap, how do you think this area?

I guess these areas are our focus so far. Would you give some suggestions based on safety/school system(elementary is our concern at this point)? Thanks for your help.

Sunny

Sunny: The Oak Mountain area is an excellent choice...Oak Mountain High School is excellent...you would be in the very well respected Shelby County School System. Additionally, your drive into work would not be too terribly bad since you would not need to go all the way downtown. You'd fight the first 2-3 miles of 280 and then get off at 459, so it wouldn't be too bad. I like Oak Mountain, and all of the nice shopping and restaurants in the area. Oak Mountain High is very good.

Another good choice would be the I-459/150 area. Now, your commute from there would be a nice steady 70 mph breeze on I-459 - piece of cake. It is indeed a very nice area with good quality home construction. Your kids would eventually go to Hoover High School which is a huge school but good. Hoover High also has a very fine IB program should your children aspire to a higher level of college prep.

Your research is strong....now it is time to get on the plane and come down and spend two full days with a good realtor to get the feel of it....I think you would be very happy in both locations and could get a nice new(er) home in either area...

bravo

[cpg35223]

Originally Posted by Bravo35223

On North Woodridge on top of the mountain...zoned for MBE....

Really. Dunbarton Drive here near Warrington. We're neighbors. Son play baseball in the sixth grade?

[alexanderwangsun]

Bravo 35223 & cpg35223,

Again thanks for your suggestions. The info you provided will be valuable. I will dig a little bit more Cahaba Height areas since it's very close to where we work. I guess our focus will still be either Hoover or Oak Mountain. Next few days, will contact a realtor and couple of days later will be in sweet home Alabama.

Thanks,

Sunny

[Rocket Dog]

Sunny,

Don't discount Shelby County--the best school system in the B'ham area, if not in the entire state.

Good luck!

[cpg35223]

Originally Posted by jdinkc

Sunny,

Don't discount Shelby County--the best school system in the B'ham area, if not in the entire state.

Good luck!

It's a good school system. However, it doesn't hold a candle to Mountain Brook, Vestavia, Hoover, or Homewood.

[Clear Lake TX]

That's probably your perception. Actually Shelby County's Oak Mountain School is same level as Mountain Brook and Vestavia, better than Hoover and Homewood, please check state department of education report, let me list average ACT test and grade from the website:
school ACT Grade
Mountain Brook 26 A
Vestavia Hills 24.3 A
Oak Mountain 24.0 A
Hoover 23.2 B+
Homewood 22.3 B

Originally Posted by cpg35223

It's a good school system. However, it doesn't hold a candle to Mountain Brook, Vestavia, Hoover, or Homewood.