Commute Time Madison to South Memorial Pkwy (Huntsville, Excel: environment, maintenance)

[dramamama]

[quote=deesonic;4847909
Madison just happens to be winning the PR game with transplants these days. That being said, fortunately there are many many great places to live and raise kids in the Huntsville metro. It really depends on what someone is looking for in a community. quote]

Well I can say that the BJHS and Madison schools in general did impress us with their treatment and welcome way more than Grissom did--all they did was trot out their number of merit scholars, the counselor was "eating lunch" when we arrived for a pre-scheduled appt. and a kid took us around the school who clearly had NO idea what we were about.

Compared to the reception we got at the Madison schools, it was a no brainer for MY CHILD.

Informed parents coming here will take note--not all are looking JUST at academics. They are looking at the BIG PICTURE. And that is something that any area in Hville/Madison will address in the future--especially when enlightented parents involve their teens in the decision making process in the move they are making.

JMO

[deesonic]

Originally Posted by VMH2507

I think what got some people's ire (mine included) was that you seemed to be saying that SE Huntsville is better than Madison.

Well, actually I WOULD say that. But that's my opinion. I realize you live in Madison so obviously you disagree. God knows I defend my own unpopular SW Huntsville til I'm blue in the face on these boards. I don't live in either locale being discussed here and never have. I'm just giving my own honest unbiased opinion. There's no need in anyone getting their "ire up" over my observational opinions.

Originally Posted by cglover

Certainly commute is an issue here--but the houses were 40 yrs old in the poster's original post... and that was not going to work. What areas would down in the SE area?

The original poster (curtstein) made no mention of the age of homes. They simply said they chose Madison for shopping and schools. Shopping and schools and entertainment in SE Huntsville are all on par with Madison. Oh...and Newsweek rated Grissom HS in SE Hsv in the top 5% of all high schools in the nation in 2007. Someone else mentioned "40 year old homes." And where are these 40 year old houses in SE Huntsville? There may be SOME 30 year old houses and MAYBE the odd 40 year old house. If so, they're old farmhouses. SE Huntsville was mostly rural and unincorporated 40 years ago and the Jones farm in Jones Valley was much larger than it is today. There are plenty of excellent houses less than 20 years old in SE Huntsville.

Originally Posted by cglover

Frankly, Bailey's Cove is nice and I love it there but is it in the price range for the OP?

Here in Madison, maybe, a house in price range might work even with the commute being an issue. And commute is not that big to us in general having been in a place where 45-1.5 hours was normal for 22 miles of driving. If the OP is used to that, maybe Madison would be a good logical choice.

Curtstein did not mention a price range, but if they believe Madison is in their range then I have to believe a nice home in SE Hsv could be found in that range. And I could go on a long rant about the foolishness of long commutes with gas at $3.60/gallon and losing 5 hours of one's life commuting every week. But I'll resist. Anyway, even if homes in SE Huntsville were relatively more expensive (which I don't believe they are), saving about 4 hours of my life per week by significantly shortening my commutes would be worth a little extra expense to live in SE Huntsville over Madison ESPECIALLY IF I WERE WORKING AT SANMINA IN SE HUNTSVILLE. But I have not noticed the relative price range of SE Huntsville being more expensive, quite the contrary I have found while casually perusing the home-for-sale mags. Maybe I'm wrong. Admittedly I haven't been house hunting in either place lately. Any realtors care to expand on that? But I know when my two friends recently bought houses in Madison, my jaw dropped when I heard how much they paid. And I think that is due in part to the high rate of transplants moving to Madison who are used to much more expensive homes elsewhere.

So I'm trying my best to address the curtstein's original concern and not debate SE Huntsville verses Madison. Actually there are many other areas I would choose before either one, but that would be off topic. So let common sense prevail here. I'm sorry, but I can't recommend someone waste 5 hours of their life every week commuting from Madison when the communities and schools in the back yard of their employer are equally as nice, if not better (in my opinion). If it's about schools and shopping as curtstein mentioned, well there's very little difference in Madison and SE Hsv. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[deesonic]

[quote=cglover;4850603]

Originally Posted by deesonic;4847909
Madison just happens to be winning the PR game with transplants these days. That being said, fortunately there are many many great places to live and raise kids in the Huntsville metro. It really depends on what someone is looking for in a community. quote

Well I can say that the BJHS and Madison schools in general did impress us with their treatment and welcome way more than Grissom did--all they did was trot out their number of merit scholars, the counselor was "eating lunch" when we arrived for a pre-scheduled appt. and a kid took us around the school who clearly had NO idea what we were about.

Compared to the reception we got at the Madison schools, it was a no brainer for MY CHILD.

Informed parents coming here will take note--not all are looking JUST at academics. They are looking at the BIG PICTURE. And that is something that any area in Hville/Madison will address in the future--especially when enlightented parents involve their teens in the decision making process in the move they are making.

JMO

You are to be commended for your involvement in your child's life and that will go much further in your child's development than any school or system can offer. And I don't fault parents for seeking out those "good" schools for their children. I've said on these boards before, I graduated from SR Butler High School and attended Stone Middle before that, two schools on the NCLB s**t list. How many of you would want your kids in those schools? Hey, it WOULD build character. Your child would learn to appreciate the hardship of kids who grow up working class, poor, or worse yet...orphaned. Thankfully, my situation was not nearly as dire as most that I went to school with. Luckily my (single) father who was an 8th grade dropout and worked swing shifts in a factory was extremely involved in my education and despite my poorly rated schools (and trust me Butler was rated poorly 20 years ago as well) I have gone on to achieve many things that I won't bore you with here. I just get exhausted about all the school chest pounding on these boards. Some schools are highly rated...well great. Good schools can make a parent's job much easier in many ways and as a parent of a child who is not yet school age, I can appreciate that advantage. But all the great teachers, administrators, merit scholars, and baccalaureate programs in the world do not a great person make. That's a parents job. Apparently you are doing that job well. And I bet you would do so no matter where your child went to school and they would excel because you make the effort to be involved in your child's education. And so to anyone moving here and sweating over choosing to live in XY or Z school district, most definitely choose the best school for you and your child in a community that suits you. But "good" schools will not magically produce scholars and well-rounded leaders without parental involvement. Nor will your child's attendance at a "bad" school preclude them from being equally successful. That being said, Grissom, Bob Jones, and Huntsville High are all great schools in the area. And county schools like Sparkman, Hazel Green, and Buckhorn are also solid.

[BKOTH97]

Originally Posted by deesonic

Oh...and Newsweek rated Grissom HS in SE Hsv in the top 5% of all high schools in the nation in 2007.

Bob Jones received the same honor (in 2007 and 2008), along with these:

#1 Art program in America by Scholastic
#1 Sports program in Alabama by Sports Illustrated
Top 2% of American High Schools by US News and World Report

[dramamama]

Originally Posted by BKOTH97

Bob Jones received the same honor (in 2007 and 2008), along with these:

#1 Art program in America by Scholastic
#1 Sports program in Alabama by Sports Illustrated
Top 2% of American High Schools by US News and World Report

And BJHS got over 20 million in scholarships vs 34 million for 7 schools in all of Hville.

That's a lot of moola.

[dramamama]

Originally Posted by deesonic

There's no need in anyone getting their "ire up" over my observational opinions.



And I could go on a long rant about the foolishness of long commutes with gas at $3.60/gallon and losing 5 hours of one's life commuting every week.
ESPECIALLY IF I WERE WORKING AT SANMINA IN SE HUNTSVILLE.

But I know when my two friends recently bought houses in Madison, my jaw dropped when I heard how much they paid. And I think that is due in part to the high rate of transplants moving to Madison who are used to much more expensive homes elsewhere.

So I'm trying my best to address the curtstein's original concern and not debate SE Huntsville verses Madison.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I agree that commuting at this cost is prohibitive, but sometimes that is what people end up doing due to other factors such as house cost and so on.

As far as cost of houses--in Madison--we were a little surprised by the higher ticket as well, but we found houses, older ones too, in SE Huntsville that were also priced unrealistically. At the time the realtors were like, oh we're not in a slump--we feel the prices were jacked up precisely because the builders were speculating on our NoVA big bucks not caring how much we spent. Well we did care and got a significant dedcution on our home before purchasing it.

Perhaps you did not intend to raise ire with your comments, but they did appear to be a bit judgmental in the original post. Obviously other posters percieved that as well. And perception is often reality.

Nevertheless, apology accepted.

[dramamama]

[quote=deesonic;4851671]

Originally Posted by cglover

Thankfully, my situation was not nearly as dire as most that I went to school with. Luckily my (single) father who was an 8th grade dropout and worked swing shifts in a factory was extremely involved in my education and despite my poorly rated schools (and trust me Butler was rated poorly 20 years ago as well) I have gone on to achieve many things that I won't bore you with here.

Your father is to be commended for his commitment to you.

I wish all parents were that dedicated to their children and their education/upbringing.

My own background doesn't include that kind of parental involvement on any level--tho' if you met me in person you'd never know the circumstances I overcame to get to where I am today.

That's why I am committed to giving my daughter a loving, caring home in which she is valued.

Obviously you came from a home where that was the case.

[VMH2507]

Originally Posted by deesonic

Someone else mentioned "40 year old homes." And where are these 40 year old houses in SE Huntsville? There may be SOME 30 year old houses and MAYBE the odd 40 year old house. If so, they're old farmhouses. SE Huntsville was mostly rural and unincorporated 40 years ago and the Jones farm in Jones Valley was much larger than it is today. There are plenty of excellent houses less than 20 years old in SE Huntsville.

I was the one who mentioned "40 year old homes" and I stand by that number. You probably weren't around here 40 years ago (1968) but my husband actually spent some time here between 1958 and 1965. Not exactly sure of the exact dates but we met in 1965 and he had already moved away from here by then. He told me that when he moved here there was a housing boom going on because there was such a shortage of housing. He and his college buddy who were both working here had to share a rented trailer. There was no other housing available and NASA was just ramping up and sending lots of new college grad engineers here to work. Builders were scrambling to build houses for them and thus the buildup of SE Huntsville. My husband's buddy had a wife and 2 babies who had to stay with her family in Louisiana while they waited for suitable housing to be built. And yes I heard a lot of stories about those days! I am also pretty old and pretty savvy about real estate and can readily distinguish between a 40 year old house and a 20 year old one. As a side note a friend of mine within the last year has purchased a home in the neighborhood directly across from Grissom. A rehabber had come in and given it a face lift, but it still was a 40 year old split level with tiny closets and bathrooms you could barely turn around in.

[vakinderegg]

Desonic, I completely agree with you. I taught at a NOVA HS that had a 3 rating from greatschools.net, yet we had so many students succeeding. I was the National Honor Society Sponsor for many years and worked with the top achieving students. Many were from hard working single parents.This school had children from all economic families. It definitely was the teachers, administrators, and community that worked with this school. I was surprised when GS gave this school a 3 since it made the top 1,000 high schools in the nation when I taught there.This school had many programs including IB, AP, and so many other programs.I take my hat off to your father for be a parent who did what a parent should do...get involve!

So all in said, your child at BJHS, GS, HS , Butler or whichever can have a great education if they have inspiring teachers and help from community and parents, or each one of those schools can have a crappy teachers who puts your child behind because they are not teaching. Another note...discipline problems take away from learning and even in the best schools there might be some discipline problems....but usually IB and AP classes have zero problems!

I am definitely reading (in my opinion) a tug of war between Madison and Huntsville. As deesonic wrote that her/his father with little education himself was a big influence in educating his child. So parents of all schools...get involved!

Cglover, which school did your daughter go to in NOVA?

[VMH2507]

As someone else mentioned Bob Jones has a Nationally recognized Art program which has produced alot of scholarship money for students. The daughter of one of my neighbors is now attending the art college in Savannah (forgot the correct name) on a full scholarship and another friend has a son who has graduated from same college also on full scholarship.