moving to birmingham from CA (Auburn: sales, amusement park, mortgage)

[adamdom]

My wife received a very good offer for a job in birmingham but we're having a tough time deciding if she should take it. First off we're from northern california and I have a great job here and i'm a little worried about trying to get a comparable paying job. We're in our 20's with no kids so we are looking for a good location and we dont mind a 45 min commute. We have never been to Al but we would want to buy a house. Any suggestions?

[harry chickpea]

In your 20s with no kids? Your job is to explore life. Move to B'ham, if for nothing else, then for the experience. California is a totally different place.

[steveklein]

id make the move. 45 minute commute? if you wanted to do that, you could, but there is affordable housing from a 5 minute commute all the way to a 45 minute commute out... so only make that 45 minute commute if you want to live in the sticks.

with kids (schools) not being an issue, you could consider areas like southside (minutes to downtown) and also areas with lower costs of living (id avoid places like vestavia hills and hoover because you pay through the nose for schools).

coming from california, you don't need to make nearly as much money to live the same lifestyle that you are probably accustomed to.

you should probably give us more info about income and what field you are in so we can better help you in finding a job/area to live.

[adamdom]

We really dont want to live in the city. The suburbs or smaller town would be ideal. Are there any nice areas you'd recommend? Here in CA between the both of us we make about $85000 a year. I'm in sales for a liquor distributer and would like to find a similar job or one that pays comparable. What's considered a decent salary to mantain a good lifestyle? i.e own a home, car, travel ect. Any help would be greatly appreciated thanks.

[steveklein]

Originally Posted by adamdom

We really dont want to live in the city. The suburbs or smaller town would be ideal. Are there any nice areas you'd recommend? Here in CA between the both of us we make about $85000 a year. I'm in sales for a liquor distributer and would like to find a similar job or one that pays comparable. What's considered a decent salary to mantain a good lifestyle? i.e own a home, car, travel ect. Any help would be greatly appreciated thanks.

okay. since commuting isn't an issue i would probably take a look at places in st. clair county (developing quickly, still a slower pace of life though. a plus if you ask me). some places in shelby county might fit your bill as well. helena, pelham, alabaster, and chelsea are all suburbs that are far enough out that you aren't covered up by the city, but can still certainly take advantage of its conveniences (probably about a 30 minute commute to downtown). cost of living in all these places is still reasonable, though it is on the rise as many familes are moving in to these areas and schools are being built very quickly.

i would think a married couple without kids and without excessive student loan debt or anything could live pretty comfortably on $60,000 or more. new construction 3 bedroom homes in the communties i listed can be had from the low 200s to the low 300s, so i suppose you could figure out your mortgage based off of that.

[alohapami]

I moved to Bham from California and left after a miserable 4 years of trying to make it work there. I tell people I drove 3 days and went 50 years back in time. Let me summarize my thoughts for you... a landlocked city is painful if you love the water and the trees block your views. racism (both ways) will suprise and disappoint you. inept and corrupt local and state governments would be laughable if not so tragic. air pollution that you wouldn't expect will make you sick. no break from the traffic jams, the roads are overcrowded, no rural area has a decent commute to the city. hard to make friends, alabamians like their own kind and don't take to strangers, especially ones from California. It's even hard to break into a church. Most people grew up together and everyone is related. Very little to do for a young couple. Options for a Sat night are very limited, so get used to movies and dinners out. Your kids will grow up talking funny and the education won't be that great y'all. And finally, you'll be sick to death of hearing about Alabama and Auburn football YEAR ROUND. It's unbelievably annoying and sad that there isn't anything else more important than that. Good luck with your decision! I vote you stay put!!

[adamdom]

Thanks for the great info. I just found out we probably are going to move in april can anyone offer any other good areas to live we're thinking more rural but still within 1 hour of birmingham. Thanks

[steveklein]

Originally Posted by adamdom

Thanks for the great info. I just found out we probably are going to move in april can anyone offer any other good areas to live we're thinking more rural but still within 1 hour of birmingham. Thanks

definitely heck out st. clair county. another great place is the calera area. another good area... mccalla.

[fishmonger]

Originally Posted by alohapami

I moved to Bham from California and left after a miserable 4 years of trying to make it work there. I tell people I drove 3 days and went 50 years back in time. Let me summarize my thoughts for you... a landlocked city is painful if you love the water and the trees block your views. racism (both ways) will suprise and disappoint you. inept and corrupt local and state governments would be laughable if not so tragic. air pollution that you wouldn't expect will make you sick. no break from the traffic jams, the roads are overcrowded, no rural area has a decent commute to the city. hard to make friends, alabamians like their own kind and don't take to strangers, especially ones from California. It's even hard to break into a church. Most people grew up together and everyone is related. Very little to do for a young couple. Options for a Sat night are very limited, so get used to movies and dinners out. Your kids will grow up talking funny and the education won't be that great y'all. And finally, you'll be sick to death of hearing about Alabama and Auburn football YEAR ROUND. It's unbelievably annoying and sad that there isn't anything else more important than that. Good luck with your decision! I vote you stay put!!

Some of these criticisms are completely accurate. Air quality is bad, local/state government is bad, we definitely are landlocked and the trees do block the view (unless you get up on top of the big funny-shaped ridges that line the whole area), and racism is a problem, although no more so than plenty of other similar-sized cities throughout the country... however, you're painting the area with a pretty broad, negative brush...where did you live in Birmingham, exactly? Birmingham's a pretty diverse city... there's plenty of right-wing social conservatism but there are healthy-sized liberal areas as well. Some people have the "whar you frum boah?" attitude but most don't. A lot of people put too much stock in college football but a lot of people don't care one way or the other. Some of the public schools are terrible, some of them are very well-ranked nationally. As far as "things to do" Birmingham's pretty similar to most other cities its size... small but healthy nightlife scene, numerous music venues with a wide variety of types of music played, one or two nationally-renowned festivals, C-grade amusement park... basically what you'd find in any metro area with about a million people. Traffic can be bad but not big city bad. I wouldn't have any qualms about coming here... just keep in mind that the more rural areas may be a little more "time capsuled" and isolated than the urban ones.

[IDVague]

Originally Posted by alohapami

I moved to Bham from California and left after a miserable 4 years of trying to make it work there. I tell people I drove 3 days and went 50 years back in time. Let me summarize my thoughts for you... a landlocked city is painful if you love the water and the trees block your views. racism (both ways) will suprise and disappoint you. inept and corrupt local and state governments would be laughable if not so tragic. air pollution that you wouldn't expect will make you sick. no break from the traffic jams, the roads are overcrowded, no rural area has a decent commute to the city. hard to make friends, alabamians like their own kind and don't take to strangers, especially ones from California. It's even hard to break into a church. Most people grew up together and everyone is related. Very little to do for a young couple. Options for a Sat night are very limited, so get used to movies and dinners out. Your kids will grow up talking funny and the education won't be that great y'all. And finally, you'll be sick to death of hearing about Alabama and Auburn football YEAR ROUND. It's unbelievably annoying and sad that there isn't anything else more important than that. Good luck with your decision! I vote you stay put!!

Wow, it is hard to believe that you have a hard time making friends.