small town in northern AL (Huntsville, Decatur: low crime, houses, safe area)

[cbsorge]

We are looking for a really quiet small town in Northern AL. We have 3 elementary age kids and would like some suggestions. We are looking for somewhere where we can buy a house with good property. We live in a very small town in Michigan and are looking for that also in Alabama. I would love for it to be a safe town. We are used to driving 15 min to the nearest grocery store and 45 to the nearest mall so that is kind of what we are looking for. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[harry chickpea]

Maybe Salem. There is a regional school there, a convenience store and a couple of little restaurants and an auto shop, and a couple churches. Athens is about 15 miles down the road, with shopping and small city businesses. Madison and Huntsville are farther yet, by another half hour, but have the malls and big stupormarkets.

[Keeper]

Arab is a small town with excellent schools. Stores are 10 minutes from most areas. There is a WalMart and 2 other grocery stores, a hardware store, tractor store plus many other small stores. It is a nice safe area.
Huntsville is 30 minutes to the mall and other stores. Guntersville Lake is 15 minutes away with more stores and restaurants.

One of our posters from MI lives in Eva, now that is a SMALL town..

Check out valleymls.com for houses in NE AL. You can select areas/cites. You can also check out towns on city-data here
Alabama Bigger Cities (over 6000 residents)

[Southlander]

May I suggest Hartselle? Small town, very good schools, not far from Decatur and Huntsville. Priceville is another small town with good schools, and land available. If you find property in the county, you can request to come into city schools by paying a small tuition fee.

[NicoleC]

Yes, Hartselle may be a very good choice for you. If you are in town, you will have a grocery store, doctor, etc. all nearby. Decatur is a short drive and has a basic mall and more selection of stores; Huntsville is about 45 minutes from downtown Hartselle (but about 15 minutes more from the surrounding countryside)

If you want acreage, you will probably be out in the county a bit. Either stick with the Hartselle city schools or the Danville schools. I understand it is getting harder and harder to enroll students who are outside the district in Hartselle schools, but the city is attempting to resolve that issue.

[LoriE0228]

I recommend Trinity. I grew up there. It's a very small town - a convenience store, several churches, a small cafe, and a hardware store. There's also a pharmacy. All of those businesses are family owned. There are a lot of homes being built and selling there right now. It's about 15 minutes to Decatur (the nearest grocery stores and mall), and the schools are very good. It's such a small community that everyone seems to know everyone else, and pretty much everyone can be found at the Friday night football games! I can't say enough about that town. It's smaller than Hartselle and Athens, both of which were recommended in earlier posts. In fact, Trinity just got their first red light a few years ago!!

[JChuck]

Check out Guntersville. Great schools, low crime, super lake and parks, and lots of options for living.

[Wiscouple]

The wife and I are interested in moving to the Gunterville area. Any information regarding lake access property, taxes, etc. would help.

Thanks,

Wiscouple

[Keeper]

Property taxes are VERY low. Lake access is different since the lake itself is owned by TVA. If you buy a property on the lake, TVA has to approve a boat house. Several established nabes have lake access with 2 properties sharing a boat house. There really isn't a 'beach' on the lake.

Check out Valleymls.com for housing prices. Not cheap if you want to be directly on the lake, however other housing some with lake views are very reasonable.

You might also want to check out Pine Lake in Arab. Nice size lake with most lots being 5 acres. They have community pool and clubhouse. I have seen houses listed there for 200K however, there are more expensive ones there too.

[Wiscouple]

Keeper, thanks for the comments. Will check it out.

Wiscouple