Moving to Huntsville - Looking for Advice on where to live (Madison: rental, mobile home)

[bernasty]

Hello,

I've read several threads and done quite a bit of research on zillow, but we are still stuck. My wife and I will be moving to Huntsville at the beginning of February. She is 28 and I'm 32. We don't have kids but plan on starting our family within the next couple years.

I'll be working at Redstone and she is an elementary school teacher. We are trying to stay within about a 30 minute drive to the arsenal.

We have always rented, but are getting to the point of wanting to buy, our only hesitation is not knowing the area very well and may end up renting for a few months until we can find a home we want to buy.

Some top considerations for us are as follows:
1. Safety of neighborhood
2. Proximity to Redstone, grocery stores, and shopping. We don't want to live too far away from everyone that we would need to drive 20 minutes to a grocery store, but still want some space between us and our neighbors. Right now the rental home we are in is about 10 feet from our neighbors (a little too close for my tastes).
3. We would love to find about a half acre or more.
4. Good schools will be important as we raise a family.
5. We would love to avoid tons of traffic.
6. We would like to find a growing area.
7. Affordability
8. Proximity to walking or hiking trails.

With all that in mind, what are some growing areas that might have families or couples similar to us living near by?

We have looked at Madison, which seems great in all aspects until you look at the traffic. We have also looked a little bit in the big cove area or Jones valley, but other than that we don't know much about specific areas.

Thanks in Advance!

[Chris_NorthHSV]

Meridianville, Hazel Green, and areas along Winchester Road are areas you might want to look. That's north of Huntsville. For what you say you're looking for, it sounds like there will be some element of dealing with traffic to get to where you want to get to. Unfortunately for those like yourself, the Rocket City area is growing at a rapid pace and will likely continue to do so, meaning traffic no longer will be what it once was for this area. It's part of living in a desirable area.

[Preston3124]

Originally Posted by bernasty

Hello,

I've read several threads and done quite a bit of research on zillow, but we are still stuck. My wife and I will be moving to Huntsville at the beginning of February. She is 28 and I'm 32. We don't have kids but plan on starting our family within the next couple years.

I'll be working at Redstone and she is an elementary school teacher. We are trying to stay within about a 30 minute drive to the arsenal.

We have always rented, but are getting to the point of wanting to buy, our only hesitation is not knowing the area very well and may end up renting for a few months until we can find a home we want to buy.

Some top considerations for us are as follows:
1. Safety of neighborhood
2. Proximity to Redstone, grocery stores, and shopping. We don't want to live too far away from everyone that we would need to drive 20 minutes to a grocery store, but still want some space between us and our neighbors. Right now the rental home we are in is about 10 feet from our neighbors (a little too close for my tastes).
3. We would love to find about a half acre or more.
4. Good schools will be important as we raise a family.
5. We would love to avoid tons of traffic.
6. We would like to find a growing area.
7. Affordability
8. Proximity to walking or hiking trails.

With all that in mind, what are some growing areas that might have families or couples similar to us living near by?

We have looked at Madison, which seems great in all aspects until you look at the traffic. We have also looked a little bit in the big cove area or Jones valley, but other than that we don't know much about specific areas.

Thanks in Advance!

I would not rule out Madison due to traffic concerns. The traffic here is really not that bad especially if you're smart about routes that you take. You didn't mention a price range, but I would recommend looking at the eastern side of Madison. Specifically the area east of Hughes Road and west of Slaughter Road. Older homes in more established neighborhoods and therefore slightly bigger lots and more mature trees. Also easier access to Bridgestreet, Research Park and Huntsville in general. You would also have easy access to the Arsenal.

[Rick In Madison]

I'm prejudice since I live here but I would suggest Madison City over Huntsville or Madison County. Madison County has little control of neighborhoods or the routes to them. You could buy a great house in a wonderful neighborhood filled with people who take care of their homes and property. However, the route along the way could be filled with Dollar General stores, one used car lot after the other, and a few well worn mobile homes.

Huntsville is great. It has all of the shops, restaurants, and things to do. Huntsville's school system has been an off & on train wreck based on conversations from former teachers and administrators. However, they do have many new or renovated schools.

Madison isn't without its faults, school system included. Many like you have moved to Madison and the schools are getting full. You can find another thread in this forum talking about the pros/cons of increasing to the Madison City property taxes so as to build at least another elementary and middle school with high possibility of adding to the existing high schools or build a new one.

One thing is for sure, regardless of where you move to around here; you'll meet good people.

[cgrab]

Have you looked west of Redstone and south of Martin Road. There is a lot of development in that area and there is a new Publix.

[bernasty]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions! This has given us more to consider. We do like the idea of older neighborhoods, but some of the newer neighborhoods look nice too. Our budget is probably around $240k or less. We will be working with a realtor soon and wanted to avoid areas where large commercial construction projects will be taking place (i.e. Costco or a new automotive plant).

We saw some homes we liked in Harvest too, but that looked to be about an hour drive during rush hour. We do that now living only 10 miles from work, and would like to avoid that much congestion.

[RocketDawg]

One point of consideration would be where your office/job will be located on the Arsenal. If you're going to be down in the southern testing areas, you'd want to consider South Huntsville. If it's in the Army areas, then either south Huntsville or Madison. If NASA, Madison would be closer (in general).

Traffic won't be a huge issue compared to what you're used to in the Washington area.

What might be a bigger concern will be which school your wife teaches in. My wife was a teacher, so I'd highly advise looking at Madison first, Madison County second, and Huntsville City third. Some Huntsville schools are typical "inner city" and can be kinda rough, and those are most likely where a new teacher would be assigned.

Renting for a while and getting a "lay of the land", so to speak, might be your best option. You don't really want your wife having to drive 25 miles across town to get to school.

[y8tiger]

I've been reading that there are indications that the Housing Market is about to crash again, so you may want to take that into consideration.

[Hsv256]

Originally Posted by y8tiger

I've been reading that there are indications that the Housing Market is about to crash again, so you may want to take that into consideration.

Where can we read more about this?

[oregonhouse]

I moved here 2 months ago. Did tons of research beforehand and visited for a week one year prior. Would advise renting before buying so you can get a feel for the area. It is pretty big when you look at the area on a county wide basis. Having a home built in 35757 zip which is N. Madison. Slow progress considering cannot pour concrete in cold weather.
I found if you go to the outlying areas for housing, getting high speed internet is a problem. Also these areas don't have public sewer so you are stuck with septic system. Every address I looked at had to be checked for the availability of these two items. Those two items were high on my list of must haves.
Lot of the roads here are narrow two lane and traffic can be bad depending on time of day. Don't ever try to turn left without having a signal light. I have learned to stay off of 72 (University Dr) if you don't have to be on it. I avoid N. and S. Parkway too. (231 and 431).
Doesn't appear to have many aggressive rude drivers. Overall I am happy here. Housing and general cost of living is attractive. People like to litter here. Still getting used to that. Do your research. It pays off. Just my 2 cents worth.