Redstone Arsenal is on my short list.... (Huntsville, Madison: houses, neighborhoods)

[mwz26]

I am a gov worker and currently looking for growth opportunies. Redstone is on my short list but I have never been anywhere near the Huntsville area. Where can I start looking for information about the area? What areas would be good to commute from with good school districts?

[Keeper]

Check out the moving to H'ville thread. Lots of good info there. If you are going to buy or rent, we need a $$ amount. What is an acceptable commute time? Do you want bigger city or smaller city? Large or small lots?

Once we have that info we can give you info regarding different areas and schools.

For instance.. I live in small town, 25 minutes from Redstone, best schools in the area. Great home prices with big lots. Downside no malls, movies or name restaurants, plus no alcohol sold in the city but that may change in the next few months.

[mwz26]

I would prefer commute time to be less than 30 min and houses below 200K. While I dont need the big stores/restaurants in my town I would like them to be less than 20 min away. I like the idea of a smaller community rather than a city feel. I'll check out the link that you suggested. Thanks.

[gsp4ever]

I would look in Monrovia, which is not a town but is part of Madison County. It would be NW of the Arsenal. Commute with traffic would be 15-20 minutes in most cases. There are homes in all price ranges in Monrovia and lots of new construction. Go to www.valleymls.com and enter your price range and narrow the search by entering Monrovia Elementary School or Legacy Elementary School (further out) or Endeavor Elementary School (even further 20-25 minutes in morning traffic a bit more in afternoon). Sparkman in the high school.

You could also check in Madison, AL. It would meet your time requirements and school requirements but it will be a bit more expensive. Your money will generally go further in the County.

Monrovia and Madison are both residential "suburbs" of Huntsville but Madison is a small city and has a small downtown area and a nice sense of community identitiy. Quite frankly, I don't consider even Huntsville to have a "city feel" but that would be a personal preference.

[Southlander]

Go to the top of this forum to the permanently posted threads to the one titled "Helpful links if you are moving to the Huntsville area."
You can also search this forum (see upper right side) for info on schools, neighborhoods, etc. Doing that may very well answer many of your questions.