[JHS4937]

I'm looking for a small town in Alabama. A small rural town where everybody knows everybody with a low crime rate. And that has small water sources, such as creeks, or rivers, or lakes nearby where people go swimming. I have a son so of course I want good schools, preferably K-12. And a nice downtown where there's a bunch of little, locally owned shops and a bakery and stuff like that. And where people sit out on their front porches and actually talk and come over to visit. I don't a really want a rich town, but not too poor, affordable. I want it to be a religious town too. With a nice little church that pretty much everybody goes too.

If anybody knows of a town like that I would appreciate the info!

[TXRyan23]

You're looking for Mayberry, It's in North Carolina...

[Keeper]

Well what you describe is a lot of small towns in AL. I live in one in NE AL. Arab has the top #2 or 3 schools system in all of AL. You are 10 minutes to Lake Guntersville a 69,000 acre lake. You are 25 minutes to H'ville and 1 hour to B'ham. While there are some 'rich' ppl here there are also ppl like me who live off of retirement. There aren't any 'bad' areas. There is a little crime mainly ppl stealing stuff. A lot of folks still leave their doors unlocked and their purses or wallets in cars.

There are lots of churches and everyone is very welcoming. People stop and talk to you even if they don't know you. Men hold the door or tip their hats if you are woman. A lot of ppl do sit outside but it is pretty hot here during the summer.
Housing is very reasonable. Apts are less than $400 a month for a nice place.

The downside is there are very few jobs here that make more than $10 an hour. You will have to go into H'ville for better jobs. There are tornadoes in NE AL too which if you are not use to them it can be scary.

Really it depends on how big a town you want to live in and where in the state.

[avecar10]

Chilton County fits alot of what you are describing. Right in the middle of Bham and Montgomery. Clanton is the largest city but may be a little too "big" for what you are describing. Other towns are Jemison, Thorsby and smaller communities of Maplesville, Isabella, Verbena. Some have k12 schools but Clanton and Jemison are a little bigger than that. You have Lake Mitchell and Lay Lake right there which are very popular. Churches everywhere you look. People speak to you as you pass and everybody knows everybody for the most part, esp in the smaller towns. Hop on 65 N or S and in a half hour you have movie theaters, bowling and shopping galore. Not much in terms of industry--there are a couple of suppliers to the automotive plants in the state, paper mills, but alot of people commute to Bham or Montgomery to work. And traffic going in and out of Shelby County/Bham is a mess much of the time. Lots of affordable housing, new developments have sprung up in recent years. It's a beautiful county in a great location in the state, lots of peach orchards--Chilton Co. is famous for it's peaches. You should check it out!

[The_Rambler]

I live in Anniston, which is fairly small. The schools are terrible, everyone goes to church and knows everyone else, but as far as safety goes the crime is worse per capita than Detroit.

Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitors sites is not allowed

There are no jobs, no entertainment, and everyone pretty much hates each other.

So... this is not what you're looking for. Honestly, the whole "tiny safe southern church town" thing is a myth. Where you've got less people and "big city" hustle, you've got provincialism, drug manufacturing, moonshining, abject poverty, and domestic crime that no one talks about because they "keep it in the family".

[JHS4937]

Thank you all, even though some of it was rather depressing. I grew up in a small Alabama town before I moved to Chicago. But now I'm tired of big city life. And I want to raise my son in that type of place. I was afraid that all the little towns had changed.

[Threestep2]

Originally Posted by JHS4937

Thank you all, even though some of it was rather depressing. I grew up in a small Alabama town before I moved to Chicago. But now I'm tired of big city life. And I want to raise my son in that type of place. I was afraid that all the little towns had changed.

Have you read some of Ramblers other posts?

Why do you not move back to your small town? My concerns are - how do you plan to support your family? You are looking for top schools and what comes with them in small town USA when even city schools are struggling with cuts?

It it summer, do some homework with a good roadmap and take a trip with your kid through AL.

[marmac]

Fort Payne ( or anywhere in Dekalb County )

[writerwife]

I've lived in a few different towns here and I'm sure there are many that fit that bill but, the closest that I'm familiar with that was like that, is Arab, AL.
In the neighborhood where I lived, everyone at one point or another was outside chatting with neighbors. I sat on our neighbors porches many times with a glass of iced tea and they sat on mine. When one of my small kids at the time wiped out on the road on her bicycle, no less than 8 neighbors were out there pronto scraping her off the road and wiping the blood off of her face, etc. When one neighbor spied someone in my back yard at night that didn't belong there (teenage kid), they called the police who were there pronto. During harvest season, I always had a crop of veggies but I never owned a garden. The schools were great for my kids. It really was a great place to raise them.
There were times when I worked outside of the home and when I did get home, before I was in the house, one of my neighbors would holler out the front door to bring my husband and kids over there, they fixed dinner for all knowing I would be worn out. How great is that!!??
In many ways, I miss it.

[AuburnAL]

Vina, Phil Campbell, Red Bay

Small. Everyone knows each other (they're all related). Schools probably aren't great. Phil Campbell and Red Bay have stores in a localized area. Red Bay sort of has a downtown. Lots of churches (not sure you'll find a town in Alabama with only one church). If you want to expand the space you're looking for Hamilton could work. More of a downtown. Lots of water.

Auburn is not a small town, but it has everything except for the water sources. Plus the schools are great.