Hampton Cove vs. SE (Huntsville, Madison: cul-de-sac, real estate, HOA fees)

[gilbeygirl]

Hi everyone,

I currently live in Huntsville, but have recently sold and am trying to decide between SE Jones Valley area and Hampton Cove. My husband works in Research Park and I wasn't sure how the commute over Governor's is during the morning. We also have a little boy and are very interested in schools. Does anyone know if a high school is planned for the Hampton Cove area in the future? I would rather have Grissom over Huntsville, and know the HC elem/middle are great, but so are Jones Valley area to my knowledge. Also, is one subdivision in HC better than another? I was looking at subdivisions closer to the Hampton House/pool because I thought that might be better with a little one. Any suggestions are helpful! Thanks so much!

[Charles]

Originally Posted by gilbeygirl

Hi everyone,

I currently live in Huntsville, but have recently sold and am trying to decide between SE Jones Valley area and Hampton Cove. My husband works in Research Park and I wasn't sure how the commute over Governor's is during the morning. We also have a little boy and are very interested in schools. Does anyone know if a high school is planned for the Hampton Cove area in the future? I would rather have Grissom over Huntsville, and know the HC elem/middle are great, but so are Jones Valley area to my knowledge. Also, is one subdivision in HC better than another? I was looking at subdivisions closer to the Hampton House/pool because I thought that might be better with a little one. Any suggestions are helpful! Thanks so much!

There is no traffic on Governors from Hampton Cove to the Medical District/Memorial Parkway in the mornings or reverse in the afternoons. There might be a little backup for a minute or two but it isn't jammed up.

I photo-documented this in this post:

https://www.city-data.com/forum/8922754-post42.html

Now, most people would commute Sutton/Cecil Ashburn/Four Mile Post/Martin to the Redstone Arsenal from Hampton Cove. As far as I know, there isn't a lot of traffic on it either. I once was in some backup heading to Hampton Cove around 5PM on the Cecil Ashburn but I think there was a screwed up traffic signal at Old Big Cove Road. I haven't seen a backup there since. I normally don't travel that way to/from work but I drive it a lot around 5PM often to take kids to activities in the Jones Valley or at Hunt Park. Never looks bad.

There have been weak rumors of a Hampton Cove High School but there are a lot of things at play: desegregation order, overall underutilized school disctrict (that's right, Huntsville City School District is not at capacity), and plain old money. Now, other rumors I've heard is Huntsville could theoretically acquire some black communities (Berkeley) south of Hampton Cove which might achieve some sort of ethnic balance needed to justify another high school. This is just discussion I heard from neighbors (one of whom is a local real estate attorney) sitting around a BBQ. Regardless, the big complaint from people in Big Cove (includes Hampton Cove) is the distance to Huntsville High School. Otherwise, everybody thinks HHS is an excellent school: good acads, good sports, good environment.

When you write "better than another", what do you mean by better? When we were looking for homes, we wanted flat streets, low traffic, and lots of kids. Two subdivisions (there are others) in Hampton Cove with those attributes are Twelvestones and Cobblestone. Lots of cul de sacs, lots of kids.

Here's the fourth of July Party we had fun at this past summer.

YouTube - July4 2009 block party hampton cove huntsville alabama

The pool in summer is packed with kids. Plus there's an excellent swim team there.


YouTube - Hampton Cove Swim Meet Huntsville Alabama 06032009


Hampton Cove Swim Team

YouTube - Hurricanes 2009 (Part 1)

[DavidH74]

I live in the HC area too. I'd say my primary complaint about the area in general is that the restaurant and retail scene is considerably more tacky/unattractive/unappealing/ill-fated than Jones Valley. HC, being right off the highway, draws highway stuff. However, it's mostly confined to the intersection,and will hopefully improve as the area grows. The areas surroundng JV are far more "zoned".
Both areas are absolutely beautiful. Both are convenent, and it depends on how far out you live in either case as to how long it takes to get from Pt A to Pt B. But, unless there is an accident, it's an absolute zip over Sutton/Cecil/Four-Mile Post -- five to seven minutes. Going over Governors can get backed up in the mornings and you have to be cautious of speed racers going home in the evenings.
As you know, I'd say the main difference between HC and JV is that you'd be looking at newer homes and in JV, you'd be looking at "older" homes in more established neighborhoods. But, I'm not really sure how big of a difference that is to you. In either case, buying an existing home may require "updating" as even a large stock of HC is well over ten years old.
It's hard to go wrong in either area. Again, my only complaint as a resident of the HC area is that (other than errands and grocery shopping), I go to JV for all shopping and eating. But, again, it really depends on how far out you live to get to the "core" of JV's commercial district. I "benefit" from not living in HC proper, but being on the other side of the intersection (at Old Big Cove Rd). So, for me, it's a zip to JV.

[gilbeygirl]

Thank you very much for your responses and insight. We are really wanting to make the right choice and love Jones Valley, but I get stuck when it comes to the houses because we would rarther have a newer house that does not need the updating. We also really want to make sure we are in an area with lots of kids. I appreciate that videos, that really helps to see just how family friendly Hampton Cove is! Thank you again for your insight!

[Mawoods]

Do come on over the road that is being widened right now (Little Cove) and check out McMullen Cove. The whole process is a pain right now but it will be great when finished. Before the work, I could zip to JV in 15 minutes flat. Should be same or better with the new road. We also feed into HC schools and are in the Huntsville city limits. We also can pick up 72W easily and head straight into 565. I can get into the city of Madison in 30 minutes to have lunch with friends.
The web site is www.mcmullencove.com I don't think they have updated houses on it in a while but we have different price points. The pool/tennis already built.

[cornutt]

The only thing I'd add, and it relates to both Jones Valley and Hampton Cove, is that the stretch of Airport Road between the Parkway and Whitesburg Drive is a disaster area during the rush hours. This can be a problem if you live in the north end of JV or if you're taking Cecil Ashburn to HC. If you work on the Arsenal, you're golden; you take Martin Road to Whitesburg to Carl T. Jones and there you are. If you work in Research Park, it gets a little trickier. An alternate is Drake Avenue to Whitesburg, and then south to Carl T. Jones. There are two others that I'm a bit loath to publicize because they go through neighborhoods, but I do use them some (not as much since the Weatherly/Whitesburg overpasses on the Parkway got done): Drake to Garth Road to Carl T. Jones, and Lilly Flagg Road/Willowbrook Drive to Bailey Cove Road.

[tammie2]

We are in HC and love it!!

We live in Deford Mill, it is walking distance to the school-and school playground-which is not enclosed so all the kids congregate on the weekends.

Good Luck with your search!!

[gilbeygirl]

Thank you for your responses! Do you know how much the HOA fees are per year or does it depend which neighborhood you live in? Are some neighborhoods more kid friendly than others in any of your opinion? Thanks again... we'll be out house hunting this weekend!

[tammie2]

The HOA is $355/yr without hampton house(HH is optional and kinda seperate)

[daac09]

When we moved here last summer, we also debated SE HSV vs Hampton Cove. We came really close to buying a home in HC - We loved Deford Mill. HC seems like a great place for families. We ended up in Jones Valley, though, and I'm really glad we did. I love, LOVE the elementary school. I love that our home is in an older neighborhood with lots of mature trees. I also like that I can come home from work at lunch sometimes; I wouldn't be able to if we were in HC. Some comparisons that we found:
1- There area good number young families here in JV, but they are mixed in with more empty nesters and retirees than in HC.
2- Our home has a flat yard and is on a cul-de-sac (great for kids and pets), but that's easier to find in HC.
3- The homes are older in JV, but a lot of them have been updated, and there are some newer homes (but they're pretty expensive). While the homes are new(er) in HC, some of the ones that we looked at in Deford Mill are due for some updates.
4- The Hampton House seems like a great facility. There are also community pools that you can join in JV (we haven't yet). They seem like decent facilities, although not as new as Hampton House.
5- It was much harder to find a house that we liked in JV. In HC, there were many that would have met our needs. In JV, we had to do a lot of shopping, but we eventually found one that we love.

I don't think that you can do wrong with either area; it's just a matter of finding what works best for you. Good luck - feel free to PM me if I can answer any questions about being a newcomer to Jones Valley.