Moving to Birmingham? Best schools & neighborhoods?

[DaddyJ]

Personally, I gladly moved totally out of Jefferson County and am trying to sell all of my realestate and any interests I have there. I do not like the government or the taxes and simply prefer a more rural lifestyle. My daughter lives near Morris which is mostly older and more rural but the subdivision she and her husband moved to is very nice. She's now only 15 or so minutes from her job in Fultondale. If it were my lifestyle I'd enjoy the area as it is a good mixture of all kinds of communities and little crime or congestion. Mortimer Jordan is also a very good school.

[cpg35223]

Gardendale is nice. But if you want to send you kids to a top-notch school, you need to consider South of Town.

[pennquaker09]

I'd have to say Trussville.

[Princess2009]

Hoover and Homewood schools are the best....You could look them up online..

[cpg35223]

Originally Posted by Princess2009

Hoover and Homewood schools are the best....You could look them up online..

Mountain Brook and Vestavia are better than either.

[Bammy-Bound]

Welcome -- you will feel very welcome right off the bat. We moved to the Eagle Point subdivision off of 280 in July and I absolutely love the neighborhood, the neighbors, and the proximity to everything. We have twin sons (high school juniors) who moved with us from a Charlotte, NC suburban area just across the SC state line, and we didn't have a single social or family connection in all of Alabama, and the fine folks here in the forum helped us big-time.

As for our situation, I researched for months (Pelham, Alabaster, Chelsea, Hoover, Homewood, Vestavia Hills, Oak Mountain, and Spain Park) and quickly zeroed in on Oak Mountain and Spain Park school zones. Spain Park is part of the Hoover school district (slightly higher taxes), but in the end, I preferred the atmosphere of Shelby County's Oak Mountain schools... also, low county-only taxes for the area in which we live right now. Sure, Vestavia Hills and Mountain Brook are nice, have good schools (on paper, that is), but I was forewarned about the difficulty in moving into social circles -- apparently more closed networks exist in these areas. Take it from a woman who moved to St. Louis 10 years ago -- you want to avoid closed societies because you will always be an outsider. Real estate deals abound, but your dollars seem to go further in the 119-280 regions than they would in VH or MB... and then there are taxes & Jefferson County's budget crisis to take into consideration.

My boys are adjusting pretty well to this area, all things considered (it's never easy to move kids once they've started school).

pros to living near 280: convenience to sooo much shopping & entertainment
cons to living near 280: shopping & entertainment traffic

From newcomer to newcomer: welcome!

[Tyler Road]

They have the best schools (US News Report), some of the best athletics, and real estate holds it value there.

Google "Vestavia Hills Homes for sale". Several with acreage right now cheap.

[cpg35223]

Originally Posted by Tyler Road

They have the best schools (US News Report), some of the best athletics, and real estate holds it value there.

Google "Vestavia Hills Homes for sale". Several with acreage right now cheap.

Mountain Brook schools smoke Vestavia, according to USNWR.

Mountain Brook High School: Best High Schools - USNews.com

Vestavia Hills High School: Best High Schools - USNews.com

But, more to the point, ASFA and the International Baccalaureate school beat both.