Considering Huntsville Area (Decatur, Madison, Athens: house, schools, taxes)

[jtrhone]

Hello,

First of all, I've gathered a lot of great info from this forum already - thanks to those of you who contribute.

A little background ( I tend to ramble - apologies. ):

My wife and I, (I'm 34, she's 31), along with our soon to be born son (due in August!), are strongly considering relocating to the HSV area. Although she's been bugging me about moving south for years, I've stubbornly stuck it out up here in central NY (Syracuse) hoping things would get better ... we built a house up here 6 years ago. Economically, this area is extremely depressed and I've grown utterly disgusted with NY in general in terms of taxes, politics, etc. I don't have much family to hang around for, and I think the 10 feet of snow in 3 days earlier this year pushed my wonderful wife over the edge (I like snow, but that was ridiculous).

I've been to Huntsville a few times on business and caught myself thinking, each time, that I might be able to live there (given enough A/C).

Anyway! I believe I have an opportunity to relocate and stay with my current employer which has a location in HSV. I'm in the IT industry, wife is in the medical administration field (HIPAA compliance, etc.).

My wife may have an opportunity in Decatur, but we're not sure on that one yet. So, somewhere in between... or, at least, relatively accessible to both Decatur and Huntsville.

We also have toys - ATV, Motorcycle, etc. ...

Ok, so, onto the point.

We're looking for something a bit outside of HSV with ~1-5 acres of land in the 150-275K range? We'd prefer something built within the last 10 years. I'd prefer a 30 minute or less commute to the research park area. Is this possible?

Based on the web (grain of salt applies), I think something around Toney, Harvest, maybe over towards Athens ... that eastern Limestone county? Madison looks nice, but I'm not sure it's "out" enough... looks a lot more like cookie-cutter communities that might not appreciate me whizzing down the road on an ATV (I don't blame them).

From what I've read, most of the schools are pretty good in the area, with a few exceptions. I don't think we have much to worry about in this regard.

My wife would of course remind me to ask about malls, restaurants, etc. I suppose they'd have to be reasonably close also.

Given all of this, anyone have some suggestions? Thanks!

-James

[nalabama]

I'd say you're pretty much on target. Don't know about whizzing down the road on an ATV anywhere out there, 'cause the Sherrif's deputies don't think too much of it either, but 1-5 acres should be doable if you bring enough money out of your house in NY State. May need to go to Limestone County though for more choice and/or cheaper land.