What area of Huntsville is best ot live (Madison, Cullman: real estate, apartment complexes)

[sammac]

What area of Huntsville is best to live in, NW, NE, SW, SE. Where is there less crime in Huntsville.

[marysally]

Best area in Huntsville - SE. In particular, look for either Grissom High or Huntsville High as the schools of choice.

[deesonic]

These types of questions are very subjective. What are you looking for? Are you married? Do you have children? Where will you work? Do you like older historic housing or new suburban type housing? Apartment or house?

Without some parameters, you'll get lots of equally subjective answers with little justification.

[sammac]

deesonic, I am a divorced. age 64 retiring IT Operaions Manager and will work from home. Children grown, looking for newer housing. Would also like to buy income property 4 6 or 8 unit building. Probably wil get an a;partment until i can find the home I want or building I want to buy.

[marysally]

My response may be considered subjective but it is not without justification. Anyone who knows anything about real estate knows that even if you don't have children, you need to be aware of school districts because they impact resale value. There are two widely accepted "good" schools in Huntsville -- the two that I listed in my previous email. And by the way I live in Madison, but only answered the questions regarding Huntsville because that was what the poster requested information about. I stand by my answer that the SE section is considered to be the best part of Huntsville, which was what the poster asked.

[deesonic]

First to marysally...My intent was not to offend. But you have your reasons for saying SE. But often, younger people or retired people don't care about schools if they don't have kids. And schools don't always translate to high property values. For example, much of the 5 Points district is in Lee High's district and their property values are skyrocketing because young professionals love those historic bungalow homes, the proximity to downtown, and artsiness of the area. So there's more to a good neighborhood than good schools. And single people don't necessarily want giant 4000 sq ft homes on County Line Road far from everything.

That being said...sammac, you might consider west Huntsville to Madison even. Personally, I would recommend the Sherwood Park neighborhood off of Old Madison Pike near Reasearch Park. My in-laws live there and it's a wonderful neighborhood with lots of trees and property values are really on the rise because of the proximity to Research Park, the new Bridge Street complex, BRAC, etc. It's zoned for Columbia High, the brand new high school if that matters at all. Rental properties can be found all over Huntsville, but small apartment buildings and such, you might check into SW Huntsville. Seems to lots of those off Triana south of Drake. And before someone says SW Huntsville is bad, I live there near Bob Wallace and Triana and it works for me. Then again, I don't have school age children and would probably prefer to live in a different school district if I did. But I went to the Butler, the bad school, and I turned out okay

But anyway, Madison, SE Hsv, Hampton Cove, Meridianville/Hazel Green, etc are all just fine for newer suburban living. But Huntsville has very few "bad" areas honestly. It's hard to go wrong anywhere in Madison County if you don't have kids.

[sammac]

I really appreciate you alls response for me. I am ging to come to Huntsville the last of the month and start some looking at some places I have found on the internet. I really appreciate you alls help. If I can help you let me know.

[marysally]

Having lived in Houston and Atlanta, I can appreciate the beauty of living in a place the size of Huntsville. There is really no place in Huntsville or Madison for that fact, that would be difficult to get to another part of town. People who work on the arsenal for instance live in all different parts of town (as well as up in TN and down toward Cullman) because the traffic is not in any way comparable to places like Houston or Atlanta. The arsenal is also so centrally located that you can get to it from all directions. I agree with the previous poster that SW Huntsville seems to be the best area when looking for rental units.

[written.word]

Hey, y'all,
I'm interested in this topic, too. We'd like to build a 4-bedroom, 2+ bathrm., house not too far from Research Park. Any recommendations?

Thanks,
Beth

[nalabama]

SamMac, to answer your question about crime (based upon what I read in the paper), I would say the SE would be the lowest crime area. Petty thefts can happen anywhere in Huntsville, but the frequency seems to be much less in SE Huntsville. Small apartment complexes are a tough way to go in Huntsville from what I hear. Highly selective screening of potential renters is a must. No areas are exempt, as witnessed by fairly recent prostitution and drug arrests in SE Huntsville. You might be better off investing your time in growing your work from home as opposed to the rental market.