Need advice, seeking quiet small town small house... (Birmingham, Mobile: rentals, crime)

sonya610 · 03-08-2009, 02:31 PM

I have lived in the Atlanta area for the past 12 years and I need to get out of here before it takes the last of my sanity. The area is getting bad.

I want to move out to the country and rent a small house, possibly even an old farm type house, that has acreage. The town/area must be 90% white (or close to it). I work from home but would like to be within 1.5 hours of an airport. It is only me and my dogs/cats so schools are not an issue, but crime is. I do not plan to move to a small town and then try to change it so it has the conveniences of a big city.

Does anyone have any helpful suggestions on where to start? What towns are nice? I am thinking that the local newspapers are the best source for rental listings of this type.

I should also mention that I am a white female in my mid forties and not Christian (from CA and more new age). Not sure how extreme some of those little towns are. Not sure if it would matter, or if it would cause issues. I have only lived in large cities and am not that familiar with small town mindsets or prejudice.

Oh, one more thing, I do not know if there are dry counties in AL but I would not want to live in one.

Charles · 03-08-2009, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sonya610

I want to move out to the country and rent a small house, possibly even an old farm type house, that has acreage.

What is your budget for housing (per month)?
About how many acres?

sonya610 · 03-08-2009, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charles

What is your budget for housing (per month)?
About how many acres?

Well, I want a very small older house. I could pay up to $900 a month (that is what i pay now on my mortgage) but I don't want to pay that much for a rental. I would think I could get something small in a rural area for $600 a month or so? Does that sound realistic?

Acreage wise, 1/2 to 1 acre would be fine as long as the neighbors have acreage so there are NO houses close by. It is the distance/privacy I want more than the land.

Keeper · 03-09-2009, 07:28 AM

Check out Arab, Joppa, Baileyton or Fairview. Huntsville airport is about 40 minutes and Birmingham is about an hour.

I know you can find what you are looking for in Arab.

You can get a large older house has 1- 2 acres for around 130K. There are some smaller homes in the 80K range.

There are a few rentals around town but it may not have the land and probably will be older/small house. The biggest problem is finding a rental that allows pets

notime362 · 03-09-2009, 08:37 PM

Keeper, How about Boaz? Now that you don't have to leave town for booze, you think you have it all... I got Huntville an hour North, Gadsden is 25 minutes south, and Birmingham - which seems to have everything is 1 1/2 hours south. Boaz got 500 FRIENDLY people to boot. Only teasing, girl...

Keeper · 03-10-2009, 07:49 AM

http://bestsmileys.com/drinking/8.gif (broken link)

LOL... yep there were so many ppl going the first day of the opening of the booze store they had to call the police to direct the traffic jam. I heard there was a line of cars down hwy69.

Boaz is about the same size of Arab. Glad you are happy there. We need to get together with SammieS and a couple of other folks

Southlander · 03-10-2009, 10:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sonya610

The town/area must be 90% white (or close to it).

Might be a problem. The entire state is like 25% black. In many small towns, the percentage is higher.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sonya610

I ...(am) not Christian (from CA and more new age). Not sure how extreme some of those little towns are.

The smaller the town, the more extreme. And the more likely that folks will want to know about you...and since church is a big part of the social scene - in fact, about the ONLY social scene in small towns - you might have a problem.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sonya610

Oh, one more thing, I do not know if there are dry counties in AL but I would not want to live in one.

Many, MANY counties in Alabama are dry. And in Alabama, dry means TOTALLY dry - no wine and beer allowed with liquor prohibited. By the same token, wet means TOTALLY wet. We do have a law referred to as the "city option." A city within a dry county can, by vote, opt to go wet while the county remains dry. So watch out for that, too.

notime362 · 03-11-2009, 07:34 AM

Here in Marshall County, there isn't a problem with the black population that I see. They live in very small sections of the county. If anything, you will find more Spanish, but then from what I see, it's becoming a problem everywhere. There are good, and also bad. No matter what the race is, you will have the problem. Southlander is right about the church scene, as we are in the Bible belt. If your county is dry, you can bet the churches will battle to keep it that way. My particular town - Boaz - is dry. But if I need something, I go to Albertville ( 5 miles), or or go to Sardis (1 mile South) and get all I need. We have plenty of restaurants, a drive-in movie (yep, they still exist), and a 9 screen movie theater. If you need big cities, go there. Our towns are basically in the 5000+ range. If you need elbow room, you can fine homes with acreage that are VERY reasonable also. I hope we will never become like California. I find here you just ease into things.....(

Quote:

Originally Posted by Southlander

Might be a problem. The entire state is like 25% black. In many small towns, the percentage is higher.

The smaller the town, the more extreme. And the more likely that folks will want to know about you...and since church is a big part of the social scene - in fact, about the ONLY social scene in small towns - you might have a problem.

Many, MANY counties in Alabama are dry. And in Alabama, dry means TOTALLY dry - no wine and beer allowed with liquor prohibited. By the same token, wet means TOTALLY wet. We do have a law referred to as the "city option." A city within a dry county can, by vote, opt to go wet while the county remains dry. So watch out for that, too.

southernnaturelover · 03-11-2009, 10:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Southlander

Might be a problem. The entire state is like 25% black. In many small towns, the percentage is higher.

Most of that 25% is in the central part of the state, except Mobile. The black population in north Alabama is low compared to the rest of the state. The counties surrounding the FL panhandle (Baldwin, Covington, Geneva) also has a lower black population.

sonya610 · 03-14-2009, 06:34 PM

I want to thank each of you for all of your great advice. On reflection, I will not be able to really visit an area in AL a few times and take my time choosing a house/town because AL is several hours by car.

I think I need to find a small town in rural Georgia (there are plenty within 2 hours of Atlanta). It will be easier to get people's opinion on the place, and I can check it out carefully. It is less scary. Plus, and I could be wrong, but their proximity to Atlanta might make them a bit more tolerant of outsiders.

But thank you so much. I did not mean to waste anyones time, I learned a lot in this thread.