Quote:
Originally Posted by flossyjean
Hi,
Thanks for the info. My husband was ofered a job. He drove around Madison, too congested. Could you give your opinion on good established neighborhood in Decatur. Austin school district. Areas to stay away from. Pros and cons fo Decatur. Anything you think will be helpful. Price range on a home up to 200K. Any other areas close to Decatur with a good school system also. OUr child only has 2 years left in school. ARe there many new kids at Austin high? Thiughts on IB program? Sorry for all the questions. Your help is much appreciated. Thanks in advance
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OK, now I've got a little time to answer you!
Austin is a good pick for a "new kid" in school. Decatur High is extremely cliquish and very tough for a new student to make friends. The area of Decatur that Austin serves is growing the most, so they are more accustomed to new faces.
Because that area is growing the most, you'll have the biggest range of housing. The newer subdivisions are "outside," or south and east of Beltline Road. They range from about 30 years old to brand-new. "Inside" the Beltline, homes are anywhere from 25 to 50 years old, some much older. The areas immediately around Austin are nice and quite reasonably priced. They are old enough that the oldest residents are elderly, so you have a mix of young and old families. It's also more racially diverse.
I would caution you to look
carefully...we have a growing illegal immigrant problem, and one of the problems is high occupancy rental property. Someone buys a house cheap and rents it to Latinos, usually single men here to work. There could be 20 people living in the house - multiple beds, occupied at all hours of the day because some of the plants here run 3 shifts. If you see a LOT of cars parked outside all the time, more than 3 or 4 (when our kids were home from college we had 5 cars!) beware. Does a van pull up regularly or park there? Many of our illegals buy a van and sell rides to work, to Wal-Mart etc.
Understand, I am CERTAINLY NOT saying all our Latinos are a problem - many have great families, work hard and are here legally. Many have bought homes and have only their own families living there. But be alert as you look. If you like a house, drive through the neighborhood on the weekend and on a weekday, and look at the other houses in the area.
The IB program: we have good friends whose daughter is a senior and is in the first IB program. They love it - it is a lot of extra work, but the group has developed strong bonds. They've gotten a lot of attention. The chamber of commerce gave each student a free laptop - theirs to keep. They've been taken for a tour of Washington, D.C. They have each received multiple offers of scholarships from colleges around the country, including Ivy League schools. Now, I have to say that top Decatur students have always received multiple scholarship offers, but the IB program has really drawn attention. Decatur schools just added a middle school IB program - sorely needed because there is no magnet program there, although we do have magnet grades 1-5. The last IB signup only brought out 5 students, but they are promoting it better and expect to have more next year.
On the other hand, many people would rather the schools concentrate on improving instruction for ALL the students, not just a select few. There again, we have a good many Latino children who start school knowing no English. We find that many do not complete high school. It's the primary reason our ACT scores are low.
Close-by cities...Hartselle, about 10 miles south of Decatur, is a small town with excellent schools, not nearly as diverse as Decatur. It also has a wide range of housing (all covered by the
www.valleymls.com). I've heard people say they love Hartselle and had no trouble making friends; I've also heard that Hartsellians are very insular, stick to their extended families, and don't like newcomers.
Priceville, just east and next door to Decatur, is a booming suburban community. It has good schools. Priceville High School is new AND old! Priceville High and its successful basketball team existed until the 1960s, when Morgan County Schools consolidated all high schools on the eastern side of the county into Brewer High School. But about 6 or 7 years ago, Priceville Elementary School moved to a brand-new building, and Priceville High School came back to life, in its old building (with some new additions and more planned)! You're still looking at a small town, and you're going to have to go to Decatur for most shopping.
Wherever you choose, I encourage you to find a church home. Many of the churches run excellent programs for teens, and it's a great way to make friends. If church is not your thing, that's OK. Just don't freak when somebody invites you to church or asks if you've chosen one! It's considered a point of hospitality. You don't have to explain your beliefs or lack of them...just say that you are still looking around and haven't decided yet.
I'd better sum up! I grew up in Decatur and love it, but get very frustrated at the lack of growth. In retail and restaurants, Decatur loses out to Huntsville because of demographics. The chains look at the area and naturally they're going to go to the bigger population. They look at Decatur as a suburb. Decatur has
never been a suburb. We have LOTS of industry here and draw our workers from as far as Florence, Cullman and, yes, Huntsville. A smaller percentage of Decatur residents work in Huntsville now than in the 1960s, when the space industry was booming. We have never taken advantage of our river location - most of that frontage was used to recruit industry back in the 1940s and '50s, when jobs here were scarce.
BUT...it is a great place to live. You can get a good education, and continue it inexpensively at the local junior college(s). There are jobs. There is good recreation, and you're VERY close to major metro areas. To get a bit of a feel for the area:
www.decaturdaily.com and
www.hartselleenquirer.com .
I'll be glad to answer any other questions, and feel free to PM me! Good luck and happy hunting!
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11-30-2007, 10:30 AM
Moving to Decatur/Huntsville area
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