Thinking of moving to Huntsville - What is it like - Really (Decatur: real estate, landscaping)

[mm42]

If your husband is going to be in the Von Braun Center, then that will be a pleasant 20 minute drive at rush hour from Hampton Cove. The biggest delay is usually at the gate to the arsenal.

It seems like there are usually quite a few nice houses up for rent in Hampton Cove. It's a very nice area. I think the distance from the high school is a disadvantage as is being separated from most of the shopping, movie theaters, etc. by the mountains, but neither of those seem to bother many people.

We had decided on Hampton Cove and had a contract on a house there, but when it fell through we reconsidered and ended up in Jones Valley. It was hard to find a house here that met our requirements. In Hampton Cove, the hard part wasn't finding one, it was deciding which one among dozens.

[sbrown143]

I am relocating to Huntsville with my husband and daughter. I think I would like to buy and settle in SE Huntsville. Can someone please comment on the difference between living west of South Memorial Parkway and east of the Parkway.

I've been researching elementary schools and the ones on the eaest side - Weatherly Heights, Jones Valley, Mountain Gap and Challenger all rate very high. But, on the west side of the Parkway Chaffee elementary rates much lower.

Any thoughts on this? I would really appreciate any feedback.

Thanks,
Sheryl

[Charles]

Originally Posted by sbrown143

I've been researching elementary schools and the ones on the eaest side - Weatherly Heights, Jones Valley, Mountain Gap and Challenger all rate very high. But, on the west side of the Parkway Chaffee elementary rates much lower.

Any thoughts on this? I would really appreciate any feedback.

I'd be interested myself, though I wouldn't call it much lower.

Chaffee rates 6/10 on Great Schools, not horrible, the others are 9 or 10 out of 10.

The parents rate it high on GS:

Parent Reviews of Roger B Chaffee Elementary School - Huntsville, Alabama - AL

[MSB256]

Hey guys... I just wanted to chime in on this because I am a Huntsville native and I think I can help. I've seen both sides of the argument. While I was born and raised here in Huntsville, my dad is from the Detroit area and my mother settled here in her childhood after moves as a military brat. If you get too far outside of the metro area will you find hee-haw in some places... but the Huntsville metro area is very diverse and very much a nice CITY. Like some people have already stated, a lot of Huntsville residents moved here from other cities. Sometimes I drive through rural parts on my way out of town and think "oh no, this is what people think of Alabama" but once you're in Huntsville, you'll see why we make numerous top ten lists each year.

Were home to the 2nd largest research park in the U.S., 4th largest in the world. Nasa, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, are all here. It's been said we do have the highest concentration of engineers, but engineering isn't all we have going.

Bridge Street is really nice. The Monaco Movie theatre is the only theater I go to anymore.

Why hasn't anyone mentioned Madison yet? I agree South Huntsville is nice... even the older neighborhoods are very nice, low crime, etc... But Madison is more convenient. If you live pretty far down south parkway such as Hobbs Island the traffic down the parkway can be a pain. If you live in Madison, you hit 565 and get anywhere you want quick with little to no red lights.

The Harvest area has nice subdivisions... South Huntsville is nice... Madison is nice...

I've lived in Northwest Huntsville for 26 years... I don't recommend it... it's not horrible, but it's not great either...

[mm42]

Originally Posted by sbrown143

I am relocating to Huntsville with my husband and daughter. I think I would like to buy and settle in SE Huntsville. Can someone please comment on the difference between living west of South Memorial Parkway and east of the Parkway.

I've been researching elementary schools and the ones on the eaest side - Weatherly Heights, Jones Valley, Mountain Gap and Challenger all rate very high. But, on the west side of the Parkway Chaffee elementary rates much lower.

Any thoughts on this? I would really appreciate any feedback.

SE Huntsville is a nice area. I think you have it figured out pretty well.

Crime and low property values tend to follow the Parkway. On the east side those areas get lumped in with the nicer areas. On the west side because of Redstone Arsenal, there are only areas close to the parkway. Whitesburg Elementary is an example of a school that suffers from this effect on the east side of the Parkway.

So there is nothing inherently bad or wrong with the west side, in fact there are some nice neighborhoods over there, but the schools definitely suffer. Chaffee draws on some run-down apartments as well.

So my advice would be to avoid living too close to the parkway in general, and to go with your preference for Weatherly, Challenger, Jones Valley, or Mountain Gap.


Charles mentioned Greatschools.net, and here are some other good websites for researching schools:

Search for Alabama public schools.

SchoolDataDirect - State Education Data, School District Data, School Data

[HB2HSV]

Originally Posted by MSB256

Why hasn't anyone mentioned Madison yet? I agree South Huntsville is nice... even the older neighborhoods are very nice, low crime, etc... But Madison is more convenient. If you live pretty far down south parkway such as Hobbs Island the traffic down the parkway can be a pain. If you live in Madison, you hit 565 and get anywhere you want quick with little to no red lights. .

Quite a few of us here live in Madison for the exact reasons you've stated... plus the Madison City School District is one of best & consistent quality throughout the whole district, whereas the other two has more variation in school quality. Also the Madison City School District offers school bus service, not sure if the Huntsvill and/or Madison County school districts do?

[Charles]

Originally Posted by HB2HSV

not sure if the Huntsvill and/or Madison County school districts do?

Huntsville City has bus service.

[HB2HSV]

Originally Posted by Charles

Huntsville City has bus service.

Cool, thanks. Is that also for high schoolers as well?

[mm42]

Everybody has school buses.

I don't why anyone would really care about the ranking of a whole school district - nobody attends all the schools in Madison at once, but if the district ranking is a big deal. Madison is not in the top 10 in Alabama and ranks behind Huntsville-area districts like Arab and Guntersville according to schooldigger.com.

Nevertheless, Madison has plenty of good schools and lots of great neighborhoods. I think the people in Madison really care about the schools and strive for well-rounded programs in academics, athletics, and arts. Lots of new shopping and dining options are opening up all the time in Madison as well. The traffic is the big turn-off for me.

[sbrown143]

This website is great. So many comments from actual residents about things that a realtor is not allowed to say.

We are moving from Minneapolis. My husband will work for GE way south on the Parkway, almost to the river. SE Huntsville is most convenient for him and I love the established neighborhoods with trees and lush landscaping. I have looked at Athens, Decatur and Madison but all are at least a 20 mile drive one way for him.

While at first I reacted badly to the "Alabama" news. Everyone he works with who has lived there or traveled there has only the best things to say about Huntsville. Now I am excited and looking forward to so much more house for our money.

Can anyone comment of the real estate market? Prices here are down maybe 15%. What's it like there?

I have looked at the Great Schools website; it's very helpful. We are planning a house hunting trip and will visit a couple of schools.

Now... my husband is a engineer but I promise we'll be good neighbors and not complain about the town. We are originally from Texas so that gives us southern roots.

Thanks for all the information here.