West Mobile area

[arboc]

Thanks Melanie. I really do think we're going to like it down there.

[mandy]

We live in West Mobile very close to Airport and Schillenger and the other posters are right about the traffic there, but I just take a side road close by and bypass it all. I didn't want to move to Mobile but now like it better than most places I've lived before. You can get to three other states in a short trip and I like that. Beaches 45 min. away, lots of shopping, Explorum w/Imax, Mobile Symphony, Ballet, soon to be Nascar in Saraland, etc. If your kids go to school the "best" public schools are in West M. though I wouldn't recommend it. Sorry, I am a homeschool mom. Which there are alot of around here.
Don't forget the low cost of living. You can still get a newer 3/2 two car garage around here for under $160,000.
It's like most other places. There are the good and the bad areas. You just have to see the area in person. Never go by the pictures in Realtor.com, etc. Pictures can be deceiving. Hope that helps.

[dredio05]

Originally Posted by arboc

Hi, my wife recently accepted a job at USA and we now have to move to Mobile. I was wondering if anyone had any info on the West Mobile/Airport area for a place to buy a house. Maybe somewhere around Jeff Hamilton Road or Seven Hills Drive. I've been reading these forums for a while now and decided to post this question. I've read where some say that Mobile isn't safe, but I was hoping that this area is safer than being in the middle of downtown. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Actually Mobile is a nice are, especially West Mobile. There are very nice homes in that area of Jeff Hamilton Rd. I belong to a church on Jeff Hamilton Rd, Full Gospel Tabernacle. There are nice subdivisions right there. It is also right around the corner from Mobile Regional Airport, Target, Super Walmart , the Flea Market, and many other stuff. This area is not to far into the busy streets but right off so you have easy access to everything you need but the neighborhood is not congested and it is very safe. I'm not in Mobile now because I'm in the military, but I'll be back in a year my mother in law and lots of other family reside there. Out there is like being in the suburb right outside of the city, but in this case you actually are in the city. Many say stay away from Prichard, but with the coming in of Fed Ex and the racetrack and new developments out there Prichard is even getting to be nice. Just like many other cities there are rough areas, some close to around downtown, but revitalization is cleaning a lot of that up. I'm originally from Indianapolis, I moved there to go to school and met m wife thee, I'm skeptical of Southern cities, but I honestly have to say Mobile is nice.

[Port_of_Bama]

It feels realy good to see people post positive things about Mobile on thissite which to me is the best city in Alabama to me ! On the sky scraperpage forum all i see is the positive feed back on Mobile. I am a currnt biology student in Huntsville , huntsville is nice and it is growing but boring and lacks charcetr B-ham is ok ,it has a better retail enviroment than Mobile . Crime is every where you can not dodge it no matter where you live , mobile to me is one of the safest cities in the world .I never seen a subject thread about Crime in Mobile, Alabama now other forumers may have griped about crime but it is still near the nation`s average .

[lando622]

Having lived in the W Mobile area for the past two years, we've come to really enjoy it. Lots of activities for our kids (T-ball, basketball, soccer, swimming, Tae Kwon Do, gymnastics, etc), affordable housing and well-regarded schools.

We moved here from the northern VA/DC area, and would choose our location in W Mobile over that region in a heartbeat. As others have pointed out, the Airport/Schillinger intersection can get busy, but you can find quicker alternate routes. The recent opening of Cottage Hill/Dawes WalMart Supercenter has cut down on our need to go to the Airport WalMart, though we still often hit the Super Target. Coming from the DC area where traffic was a nightmare from 5:30AM to 8:30PM, the "rush hour" traffic of Mobile is much more manageable.

Upgrading from a smallish townhouse up north to a much newer/larger home for less money was a huge draw, and we love our subdivision. There are lots of nice houses/subdivisions to be found in W Mobile spanning many price tiers, and one should be able to find something that meets their needs with little effort. W Mobile's proximity to the airport and the back roads to I-10 are super convenient, and I have a pretty easy daily commute to my workplace in MS.

We're truly sorry that we need to relocate out of the area this summer and may just keep our place to come back to.*** Just saw that this is an older thread, but there's lots of good info in it that still applies.

[ccm2000]

I lived at Jeff Hamilton and Cottage Hill for 20 years. Our house was broke into once and I heard about a few others about the same time period. This was several years back when the area really started to develop. I think most of it was construction workers building houses across the street that new when we came and went. I have moved to Satsuma to be closer to where my wife works. I still have a lot of family living in the area and don't hear about any crime. I think it is just as safe or safer than any other part of Mobile. As far as traffic I wouldn't be to concerned since your wife will be working at USA. The only cogested part of Airport that she will travel is the intersection at Airport and Schillinger but there are several ways to avoid that area (Grelot to Cody or Grelot to University Blvd.) There are numerous new neighborhoods within the Jeff Hamilton and Cottage Hill area. I am not sure of the price range your looking for but Turtle Creek is at Repoll and Jeff Hamilton and I see that they are building two new neighborhoods across the street. Stonebrook is on Eliza Jordan Road, Holley Branch and several others on Snow Road at Jeff Hamilton. I would also consider the McFarland and Johnson Road area which is just south of Jeff Hamilton. There are too many neighborhoods to list in this area. Richmond is probably the biggest but there are many in the area with moderate to extremely large houses. The realtor should be able to give you a good idea. You can also check Mobile Area Association of Realtors features real estate listings for the entire Alabama Gulf Coast area including Mobile, the Eastern Shore, and Gulf Shores, Alabama. Real Estate property listing data is supplied by the Gulf Coast MLS in Mobile, AL.. You can search for residential properties in the West Mobile County area. You never really said where you may look for a job. I would also keep this in mind because the traffic back toward I-65 and downtown can be rough at times.

[unstoppablemobile]

Concerning the Cottage Hill area you referred to CCM2000, 18 more neighborhoods are planned between Repol to Newman Road. Heritage Homes I know is planning their own first neighborhood of over 280 homes off Jeff Hamilton, and the Mitchell Group is planning a massive 650 unit townhome development off of Oyler with rents around $650 to $1,300 a month, that will be joined with a 300 unit, retiree condo/townhouse complex, I also know they are nearly complete in their plans for a 440 lot modular home community also off March Rd . So get ready for a few thousand more people out west!

[RedEagle]

I've been living on Hillcrest just south of Cottage Hill since 2001 and I've never heard of a crime problem out here. There are mid to upper income neighborhoods, take your pick. I rather like it here. Traffic is not a problem until you get to the Airport Blvd area, and Cottage Hill during rush hour. As a rule, traffic congestion in Mobile is more of an east to west problem than north to south.

IMO, some of the crime problems that are posted here are overblown.

[MobileBornAnraised]

I grew up in west mobile I must say I miss when things were slower and less people the country feel it once had is long gone the woods and fields we played in as kids are now housing projects "subdivisions" If i could turn back time I would but since I cant me and my husband moved from the area we once loved and grew up in. between the meth heads(i know its everywhere but seemed to be getting bad there) and all the houses going up killing the "country" like living we grew up with.Personally west mobile used to be nice now i cant say that its more city then country It makes me sad to see.Before long west mobile will be another over crowded no elbow room no place for wildlife to live city and it stinks. I miss sunray the lil store at airport and schillengers. it was such a nice peacful place before big business moved in bringing outta towners looking for a track of woods to bulldoze over to build ugly buldings and cookie cutter homes. welcome to west mobile NOT! If you are moving here and must live in west mobile buy whats here dont build lets leave a lil for the wild life.