Moving from Los Angeles to Huntsville.... Help Please!!! (Madison, Jackson: violent crime, university)

[jewel104]

Originally Posted by Iseulde

PS..... What's a caver? @_@

A caver is a person who likes to explore caves. There are tons of caves in the area. It is also known as spelunking :-)

[Iseulde]

Originally Posted by CoreLysium

Meridianville I'd say is separate from Huntsville. Sure, it's the closest map designated area north of Huntsville, but it's not really touching it except maybe in one or two places around Countess Rd, and no one knows the map there, so that's just county to them.

Meridianville does not have a mayor. Nor does Hazel Green. They are unincorporated.

As far as Meridianville being safe, uh, it's a Publix and some restaurants. Sure, it's safe enough. I'd still lock my car. The meth cookers are further northeast.

Oooh I see... I definitely will lock my car! Coming from LA, that's definitely a drilled-down must-have skill LOL. I have a feeling my feeling of "unsafe" may be different from yours, since I live in a city that's relatively safe... Only about 2-4 murders a year, ADT always have to be on, and you can go outside until 10pm (then it's best to stay home). lol

Originally Posted by CoreLysium

Huntsville is small small small compared to what you're used to. Example of a lousy pocket: the tiny little houses north of Green Cove west of Memorial Parkway. Feh. Though, really, they aren't so bad. And I'm sure there are some good pockets of houses around the NW Sparkman type area. In fact, I kind of like the area north of that Coyote Mexican Restaurant, but I wouldn't live there except rent maybe. Also haven't been in that area in decades.

The drastic "other side of the tracks" stuff doesn't happen very much, or not as dramatically. Schools are still funded the bad old way by using property taxes immediately surrounding the school, so that the sucky schools stay sucky. And, yeah, generally you find that the lousy schools directly result in the place being a lousy area. Gentrified craft breweries being the exeption. (We closed a poor elementary school and made it into a kinda-hipster brewery.)

Hazel Green is not a city. Now days, it's a Walmart with some restaurants. The Walmart is new, however. We used to be a tiny hick town. Ah, the good old days.

So a pocket is like... a street or a couple of houses!? O_o That's definitely new to me... I was thinking more like in LA, where there's a Koreatown (that's about 10-15 blocks), Little Tokyo (another 10 blocks), and so on....

I started to look at Apartments.com, and found a couple of apartments that I favorited 565 freeway, 72 and 255 (south of 53). Is that a good area? The schools seem to have a higher score.... And a couple near 231 , south of 431.... Am I on the right track internet-research wise?

Originally Posted by CoreLysium

I forget the correct term for a caver. Speleologist? The ground here is full of caves. I mean, there are caves everywhere. I don't do caves because that's super scary to me. I'd prefer to die of old age rather than being suck in a cave.

Tornadoes? Mediocre.
Racism? Mediocre.
Humidity? Epic. Worse than Galveston Island in Texas. We are magically moist.

You'll see when you get here.

Never been to Galveston.... Is it worse than Miami or Orlando, FL? O_O 'cause I know it's suffocating to me one time I visited. EEK!

Originally Posted by CoreLysium

I'd suggest renting at somewhere like Colonial Grand (either one) until you figure out where you really want to be. And obviously, if you don't mind doing a one bedroom you could probably get in Artisan or whatever the name of the place in Jones Valley that just opened behind Kohl's and Dunkin Donuts is called.

The only other thing I'd mention is that culturally, someone will ask you where you go to church. I'd say maybe half of everybody goes to church here on a regular basis. More go less often. Sometimes it's not even really a religious belief thing, just social. But be prepared for that. "I haven't gone anywhere yet. My parents are [Lutheran, Mormon, whatever]" works. We are in the bible belt here. Up until five or so years ago you couldn't buy alcohol on Sunday (except at restaurants)

Edited to add: Our winters are primarily 40 degrees and raining, which I hate. This time of year is the perfect weather, imo.

Good thing mom and I are both Christians, but I'd imagine it'll take me a while to find a church we both will like. Thanks for the heads up!

[Iseulde]

Originally Posted by jewel104

A caver is a person who likes to explore caves. There are tons of caves in the area. It is also known as spelunking :-)

Thanks Jewel! Oh ok... Um.... Yeah... Definitely no. *hides* LOL

Are there a lot of gigantic bugs and cockroaches? O_O

Thank you!

[Reactionary]

Gigantic bugs and cockroaches?

Yes. Look up Palmetto bugs and cicadas. Cockroaches depend on your cleanliness and pest control.

Also alligators, venomous snakes, and venomous spiders.

Huntsville morning humidity ranges from ~80% to 90% (annual average 85%) with afternoon humidity ranges from ~55% to 67% (annual average 61%). Compare to Los Angeles annual average morning 79% and afternoon 65% versus Miami morning average 83% and afternoon 61%.

Huntsville average rainfall is 57" vs LA 12" vs Miami 57".

This isn't LA. For apartments I would look at the newer apartments downtown, or on Toll Gate road, or southeast at Lily Flagg (IIRC zenjenn stayed there when she moved).

Where will you be working? You asked about commute times from downtown, but unless you're a lawyer or bartender (jk) that's not where the jobs are located.

[CoreLysium]

If I was going to move into an apartment now, I'd go for the Slate floorplan at the Artisan.

Apartment Floor Plans Huntsville, AL | Artisan Twickenham Square

Then again, I really haven't looked into Legacy at Jones Farm (besides hating the name)
Legacy At Jones Farm – Luxury Huntsville Apartment Homes | Huntsville Alabama Apartments

And I don't know what the place that's north of downtown (not Belk Hudson Lofts, but I'd live there too) that has been under construction forever, but I'd take a look at that.

In theory, I'd love if the Rime Village apartments were nice. I'm not saying they aren't nice, but someone I know at the DA's office told me they have a crime issue. People break into the cars there. It's not the people who live there that are causing the crime, it's the easy access to being able to dissapear from that location that's probably doing it.

And the apartments that I thought were pretty neat that are near the new Grissom high school are for 55+, so they can go jump. Plus, I'm not sure if the lovely view of the back of Sam's would get old.

[Reactionary]

I lived at cRime Village back in the day. Pros = close to Research Park, cons = crime / drugs (plus now there are the newer downscale apts up the street). My car was broken into twice.

[toosie]

Originally Posted by Iseulde

Thanks Jewel! Oh ok... Um.... Yeah... Definitely no. *hides* LOL

Are there a lot of gigantic bugs and cockroaches? O_O

Thank you!

Caves might have bats - often you can tell by the smell

[rnc76]

I think it is smart to rent for a year before buying anywhere new. Moving twice is a pain.However, buying a house somewhere and then realizing you made a mistake and don't like the area is much much worse. For $1000-1200/month you can rent a small house in a nice, central part of town (Blossomwood, Monte Sano, Medical District, Piedmont...). Another area that is often overlooked is the Oak Park area around the east end of Oakwood Ave. You can likely get a better deal (under $1000) and it is a safe, central area with nice wooded lots at the base of Monte Sano mountain. The school district is not considered great but you had said it is not a concern.

Meridianville is fine but IMO not convienent. I am of the opinion that living in a smaller city like Huntsville affords the opportunity to live in an area that is central and convienent to all the amenities that we do have. The 30-40 minute drive here and there seems like nothing to you right now because you are in a LA mindset. But within a short period of time of living here those 30-40 minute drives will seem very tedious, especially because it is unnecessary.

[FiveDime]

Random thoughts:

Oak Park is a great neighborhood if (a) you don't care about schools, and (b) you get a good home inspector that is genuinely working for you and not just rubber-stamping to help the deal go through.

Bugs...I'd say spiders are much more prevalent than cockroaches. Lots, and lots, and LOTS of spiders. We've even found black widows and a brown recluse inside our house. No one got bit, thankfully.

Humidity...yep. Welcome to the South. I used to live in South Florida. Yes, it gets hotter and a bit more humid there...but there's always a breeze. Still, hot summer days here can be brutal.

Tornadoes...suck. That said, I'll take them over the hurricanes we got down in Florida (or earthquakes for that matter). As stated there is usually a day or more warning when to expect a severe weather system to come through, and our local news weathermen are very good at pinpointing the tornadoes' locations down to the neighborhood level. And while a tornado can form/travel anywhere, there are certain areas that seem more naturally prevalent. Google tornado history project and you can search on tornadoes by state, county, date, etc. Pull up Madison County to get a feel for which areas seem to get them the most. You will see a few concentrations, a lot of small random areas, and one path that has produced several EF-4's and -5's. Try not to live in that area LOL.

I have lived here for over 9 years, and no one has ever asked me where I go to church.

Huntsville is a relatively large town by population and size...but it feels more like a much smaller town. I look at it as a small town that is very spread out LOL. People here are largely very polite and friendly. There seems to be less racial tension than we had in South Florida, and I never saw so many mixed-race couples as I have since we moved here. Just don't expect excitement and nightlife.

Crime...I don't know if the statistics bear this out, but my feeling is that violent crime is low, and when and where it does happen it is typically confined to "bad areas." Property crime is the biggest thing here...cars broken into, burglaries. Always lock your car, and don't leave stuff locked inside sitting in plain sight and it probably won't happen, though.

[HB2HSV]

OP,

It has been a month, have you visited Huntsville yet? If so, what do you think?

Where about do you live in LA? I ask so I can give you a better perspective. I too was a transplant from LA/OC area, having lived in the SFV, west side, TO and OC for 25 years.