Dose of Reality in re BRAC (Mobile, Huntsville: buyers, construction, school)

[friday13]

Originally Posted by CharlotteRJ

I have to admit, that the descriptions of Hampton Cove plus the pictures Charles posted are pretty attractive. I’m used to those neighborhoods being an hour out of the main city, so that might make a difference.


Red clay? Here in SoMD we have HARD packed brown clay. We can’t get a shovel into it – we had to rent a backhoe to do landscaping. And our developer was criminal when it came to the yard – dig up the basement, spread out all of the clay, drive on it over and over and over with heavy equipment, and lay down a half inch of topsoil. ARGH! Lawn? What lawn?


I would actually move back to MadTown in a heartbeat, if there were defense jobs there. Ha!

Mosquitoes – lived in Minnesota. State bird. Nuff said.

Lack of stores – I grew up in central WI
Hurricanes – we get some of the rain here, too. Not nearly as much.
Tornadoes – my town was flattened a few years back. But that was before I lived here. In IL and WI we had multiple warnings per summer. Not like there, natch’.
Poor road planning – traffic? Compared to DC? Hahahaha!

Heat and Humidity – This worries me. I compared Huntsville with Arlington, on weather.com. The summer temps in HSV are supposedly the same, it just lasts longer. Is that true? I prefer more temperate weather, but I’m just wondering if it’s actually that much worse than it is here.


Yeah, I’ve had a lot of homes. I can’t wait to drive around and see if it’s for us. Maybe I’m premature though – husband just applied for the job last week…

Hey, no need for splainin', I was just being facetious, right, Ion?

On a serious note, the hottest months are June, July, August. Some years, the hot season could easily start sooner, in May, and last mid-September. March, April could be unseasonably warm/hot enough to drive you nuts (in anticipation of some really hot and humid weather over the summer).

It's a shame that the summer months that are supposed to be enjoyed with your family, kids camps, sports, outdoors are just so miserable. Like sweaty shirt-stuck-to-your-back miserable.

[Mawoods]

HB2HSV - we may take you up on your offer in spring. My husband has a truck (who doesn't and can't live without it).
we do have a funny story about manure. In Madison, WI we went to the county compost place and got a load of free stuff - mostly manure at that point. Well, we battled those huge horse flies for weeks that came out of the manure. All those cows up there! When the farmer would empty those vats of the stuff, you literally could not go out of your house the smell was so powerful. I remember even smelling cow manure right in town.

[friday13]

Originally Posted by CharlotteRJ

From just the research that I've done on-line, I'm leaning towards the Five Points area. Of course, we have to drive around a lot. If we can find something that we can afford dropping down to one income in Old Town or Twickenham, that would be great, but I'm not too optimistic! I can always dream about a fixer-upper... I have no illusions that I'm going to get everything that I want. We'll have to see what happens when/if we get there.

When it comes to Five Points, you need to pay attention to the location.
There is the HISTORIC Five Points (the brown street name signs) - The historic 5 Points preservation program
About.com: http://www.fivepointshistoricdistrict.org/index.html
and the surrounding area that didn't make into the historic status.
Five Points Neighbors : Subdivision Info

I've walked through both areas and seen mixed houses (original -'20's and newer-'50's, but built, or restored to the original craftmanship). There are also tear-downs - I've seen quite a few in the 5 yrs I've been here -so, we're talking 2006 "historic").
Just last week I drove thru and seen TONS of for-sale specifically beyond the Historic district borders (the NW corner of the expanded 5 points map) - and pretty pathetic properties too, but it looks like this is part of the revitalization effort (we are now at the selling the decrepit for restauration phase).

[CharlotteRJ]

Originally Posted by friday13

It's a shame that the summer months that are supposed to be enjoyed with your family, kids camps, sports, outdoors are just so miserable. Like sweaty shirt-stuck-to-your-back miserable.

Ugh. NOW you're scaring me...

Seriously though, can anybody tell me if it feels much worse than the DC area? The data shows that it's not hotter, just longer, but I wasn't looking at average humidity.

WRT Five Points... I have been basing my search on the City of Huntsville maps designation that somebody posted on the links sticky, and also trying to keep an eye out on how close it is to the Five Points Shopping center. I've heard from a few people that Five Points isn't very kid friendly or populated - if it gets switched to the Blossomwood school district, does anybody think that'll change significantly? Is Blossomwood full of kids?

Mawoods - my husband grew up near Platteville in a tiny town. When we get back to WI and smell that distinctive smell, he sighs "ahhh, home."

[prden]

Before we moved to Huntsville, I dreaded the heat and humidity. I have found it to not be nearly as bad as I have experienced in places like St. Louis and Washington, DC. I actually love the summers here. It is my favorite season.

[ionlife]

This place has been unseasonably cool. Last summer was super hot and humid... everywhere. Maybe we'll be the next polar region based on last winter's record low temps.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by ionlife

This place has been unseasonably cool. Last summer was super hot and humid... everywhere. Maybe we'll be the next polar region based on last winter's record low temps.

Summer didn't seem that long or hot. Maybe two or three sets of hot weather. Winter last year was colder than I expected (and I just moved from 7300 feet in CO).


This week is the best weather in the history of North Alabama.

[HB2HSV]

Originally Posted by CharlotteRJ

Ugh. NOW you're scaring me...

Seriously though, can anybody tell me if it feels much worse than the DC area? The data shows that it's not hotter, just longer, but I wasn't looking at average humidity.

Humidity is not so bad. But the mosquitos is another story. Mosquitos love me, either I hurry get in door or wear long sleeve shirts & pants, otherwise they're having buffett on my arms and legs as soon as the sun goes down. I counted one time having over 20 bites on my leg.

[Mawoods]

Charlotte, I have been in the DC area during the summer and it is very humid up there. Not much different from here.

ALSO, I think the mosquitoes were worse in WIsconsin. Here they spray regularly during the summer. I think this year was a little worse for them because we had such a wet spring.

And yes, after 6 years up there, when we visit friends, we say the same thing as your husband when we see those cows!!!! Wisconsin cows are the most beautiful and the barns!!!

I gotta say also as a kid down here we never had air conditioning. We survived and played outside all day. During the hottest part, we would sit in the shade on a porch or trees. Nowadways, kids think it is hot when it is 70 and sit in front of the TV.

[CharlotteRJ]

Originally Posted by Mawoods

I gotta say also as a kid down here we never had air conditioning. We survived and played outside all day. During the hottest part, we would sit in the shade on a porch or trees. Nowadways, kids think it is hot when it is 70 and sit in front of the TV.

That reminds me of some things that I noticed on some of the older houses. A lot will have broad porches with fans, or patios covered by a pergola, and seem to take advantage of architecture for natural cooling. I've noticed some features on some of the newer homes that I haven't seen in other parts of the country - covered back porches instead of open decks, standard 10" ceilings in some models.

Has anybody else noticed differences in outdoor living features in older homes vs. newer? In Huntsville homes vs. the rest of the country?