Help me decide between Birmingham and Tuscaloosa!

[cpg35223]

Originally Posted by HillScoggin

I spent 9 years in the US Army 3rd and 75th. I spent time in places that would make you **** your pants at the mere prospect of being there. I am also 6'3'' tall and almost 300 pounds and I am NOT fat.

I deal with mentally ill people all day. People that are considered clinically insane. Some that are violent on a daily basis.

My father retired from the Bham police force in 1987.

I am not scared. Just smart enough to stay out of an area that is predominantly filled with slums and crack heads. An area that has a murder rate and violent crime rate worse than cities much larger than itself.

I like to call it "common sense" to not purposefully put myself and others in known areas that are more dangerous than some third world cities. If you have none then that is not my issue.

Fear-based decision making drives me up the wall. For somebody who is smart, you really don't pay much attention to the facts. Instead, you read a statistic, squeal like a little girl, and refuse to look any further. And I don't care how much you weigh or where you served.

Anybody who lives in Birmingham (And we lived 13 years in the Avondale/Forest Park section, not exactly a lily-white area), and we never had the first problem. That's because the vast majority of crime in Birmingham is in north and west Birmingham with drug dealers shooting one another or druggies robbing in their own neighborhoods to pay for their next fix. Elsewhere, it's pretty safe. What's more, according to statistics, violent crime is almost as likely to take place in rural parts of the country than the inner city. Does that mean you won't live there, too?

Hey, that doesn't mean crime doesn't happen elsewhere in Birmingham proper. But more crime takes place in the Galleria parking lot than takes place in Southside. Does that mean you don't go there either?

To the original poster: 98% of the metro area is about as safe as the womb. And, yes, there are some rough parts of town. But those places aren't anywhere near where you'll work or live for that matter.

[cpg35223]

I'm just amazed at the people who weigh in on a place they never visit. You'd think my wife was having to lay down covering fire as I dashed from the car to the house.

Where we lived, we didn't have burglar bars on the windows. We hung out in the yard. We walked down to Avondale Park and the library. We walked around the neighborhood at night. We had outside parties. The kids had a lemonade stand on select saturdays. Our kids played little league baseball with -- GASP -- black kids, who then came over to our yard to play. Never the first bit of trouble in 13 years, even though we had an obviously nice house with nice cars parked out front. Knew our neighbors, chatted at the fence with the dozens of other people strolling around in the cool of the evening. A much friendlier place than Mountain Brook.

[Keeper]

Please remember..

Our opinions on a location or issue are just that, opinions. Highly subjective. Personal preferences. Quirks, even. Leave wiggle room for dialogue, others may not see things the same as you, or been there as long as you, and any one of us can be wrong. Pouncing on someone you disagree with runs contrary to the spirit of this board and its members. We are here to help each other.

[3am green coffee]

Then let me see if I can rephrase my earlier post so as not to offend those with such fragile sensibilities:

I live in the city limits of Birmingham. In the evenings, after dark, I see mommies pushing strollers through my neighborhood. I see college girls out jogging. They do not appear to be afraid of being murdered. I see people out walking their dogs. They do not appear to be cowering in fear either. I go to restaurants and bars and see people out strolling the streets, not sprinting to their cars dodging imaginary bullets. I've been back here for four years now, and I've never been mugged. [sarcasm]How lucky I must be![/sarcasm]

I have lived and worked in some rough places. I've been to Bed-Stuy. I've had bottles thrown at me in Harlem. I've been inside meth labs in Oklahoma, and I've seen people laying dead in the street in Florida. I've watched kids play with dirty needles they found in the gutter in the Bronx while their mothers rode off in clients' cars.

I KNOW what a bad neighborhood is. Birmingham has some. But it also has nice neighborhoods. It seems to me that a blanket criticism made out of irrational fear and obvious ignorance of the actual conditions should be challenged. Such poorly informed claims offend my sensibilities, especially when the offending party tries to recast it as "common sense" and imply that those who disagree are lacking in that area.

The moderator says "we are here to help each other." How does it help anybody when someone who doesn't live here and who is afraid to set foot here by his own admission is allowed to spread falsehoods, while a challenge from someone who actually lives in the city and knows what he's talking ?Moderator cut: comment

[Bamachic80]

I'm originally from Tuscaloosa and now currently live in Huntsville. I agree Birmingham has a high crime rate, Tuscaloosa has one as well. It is not crime free. There are areas in Tuscaloosa, as well as Bham that are safer than others. I grew up in a small town just outside of Tuscaloosa where crime wasn't an issue.

There are more job opportunities in Bham than in T town. I know several people that live in Tuscaloosa..within the county and commute. This also being said, my in-laws live in Pleasant Grove on the outskirts of Birmingham. It's almost all residential and probably safer than other areas. If you decide on one or the other, I wish u good luck and if you decide on Tuscaloosa..please contact me and I'll try to be more of help.

[jpatt10]

Parrot there are several southern cities that I would put on my list before Birmingham or Tuscaloosa. If Alabama is seriously where you want to go then take a look at Huntsville, its progressive and with Redstone Arsenal getting some love from BRAC, look for tons of folks relocating to the area over the next few years. If Alabama is not a must have, then consider Nashville, Chattanooga, Savannah or Charlotte. Whether or not people are ready to accept it, Birmingham is dying a slow painful death at the hands of the city and county governments.

[cpg35223]

Originally Posted by jpatt10

Parrot there are several southern cities that I would put on my list before Birmingham or Tuscaloosa. If Alabama is seriously where you want to go then take a look at Huntsville, its progressive and with Redstone Arsenal getting some love from BRAC, look for tons of folks relocating to the area over the next few years. If Alabama is not a must have, then consider Nashville, Chattanooga, Savannah or Charlotte. Whether or not people are ready to accept it, Birmingham is dying a slow painful death at the hands of the city and county governments.

Um, Birmingham's metro area continues to grow. In fact, Birmingham has one of this highest household income growths of any city in the country over the past 25 years. The economy is far more diversified than it was in the early 80s, and its unemployment is a good point or two below the national average at any given time--including right now. What's more, Birmingham's economy is larger than Huntsville, Montgomery, and Mobile's economy combined, and none of those cities will come close to catching up anytime in the next fifty years, if ever. And while Savannah and Chattanooga are nice towns to visit, they're certainly not on the map when it comes to healthcare. Nashville and Charlotte? Better than Birmingham in some ways, but not as good as Birmingham as others--particularly in the consideration of traffic, which is one of the OP's factors. And I'm a consultant who visits these cities frequently.

Look, I'm not trying to be a homer here, and I certainly try to be a fan of other cities around the region, but it really annoys me to read uninformed comments such as yours. And your advice is particularly bad when it comes to telling someone in the healthcare field where to find a job. Birmingham is one of the nation's leading healthcare centers performing some of the world's most advanced care, whereas Huntsville has Huntsville Hospital and Crestwood. And God help Huntsville if defense and space budgets get slashed. If that happens, the Rocket City is in big trouble.

[jpatt10]

Consider me scolded, I shall tuck my tail and scurry off.

It is still a hole, in my opinion, which is what my previous post was, just an opinion.

Look after moving back here myself 2 1/2 years ago I can't imagine why anyone not from here would want to come here. Religon and dirty politicians rule and nothing will ever change that, ever.

[Alatex]

Look after moving back here myself 2 1/2 years ago I can't imagine why anyone not from here would want to come here.

I have no problem with your opinion, but respectfully, a lot of the people I know in Tuscaloosa came here from other places and enjoy it a lot . For instance, one of my neighbors grew up in NYC, lived in the Miami area for years, and chose Tuscaloosa as a retirement destination, despite having no connection to the state.
They say it's the most enjoyable place they've lived.