Moving to Birmingham

[Music1358]

Hello,

I have applied for a job near the Birmingham area, close to Leeds, at Highlands School.
Just wanted to know if anyone knew about that area, if apartments are affordable for a recent college grad.

-I was reading down this post and the Cahaba River in Leeds sounds almost perfect! Do they have many apartment complexes in that area? How close is that to Highlands School?

Thanks!

[jbaseden]

Hi all,
So glad folks added these insights--even though most info is from 2007 and this is early 2014, it's still great info and appreciated greatly by those of us making big decisions about relocating to a place we've never been or seen before. I found the same great insights on this forum 3 years ago when I got a job at Yellowstone N.P. and moved from Delaware out here to Emigrant MT. I just got a new job in Birmingham AL, so I'm back here trying to figure out where I might want to live. This is BY FAR the most useful info I've found, and when combined with the newly updated "street view" features in Google maps/Google Earth, you can really get a feel for things, even from 2,000 miles away. Definitely an anxiety-reducer! -JB

[MsKey99]

Xoxo

[MsKey99]

Hope you have enjoyed your move to Birmingham, Al.

[jbaseden]

Originally Posted by jbaseden

Hi all,
So glad folks added these insights--even though most info is from 2007 and this is early 2014, it's still great info and appreciated greatly by those of us making big decisions about relocating to a place we've never been or seen before. I found the same great insights on this forum 3 years ago when I got a job at Yellowstone N.P. and moved from Delaware out here to Emigrant MT. I just got a new job in Birmingham AL, so I'm back here trying to figure out where I might want to live. This is BY FAR the most useful info I've found, and when combined with the newly updated "street view" features in Google maps/Google Earth, you can really get a feel for things, even from 2,000 miles away. Definitely an anxiety-reducer! -JB

Hi, Me Again,

Quick update to my Feb. 2014 post—

Started new job in downtown Birmingham in May, but had one heck of a time finding a good place to rent. Ended up renting a house outside Tuscaloosa to live.

Good news: federal employer-subsidized vanpool arrangement makes the commute very inexpensive and reduces the stress of daily driving (it's a one-way 55-mile commute).

Bad news: when I got here and looked for housing in BHam area, couldn't find anything reasonable, affordable, & safe; seems there's typically a huge demand for rentals at that time of year (late April-early May) due to a glut of arriving UAB med school students/residents.

So I have a house near Tuscaloosa but it's costing me $1200 a month and has some real safety issues and other drawbacks. So I'm trying to figure out how to rent something else at end of my one-year lease (4/30/2015) and reduce rent to within my means (i.e. around $750-900 a month) for housing in either BHam or Tusc areas, without having the same problems. Meanwhile, any suggestions, ideas and/or comments welcome!

In retrospect, I guess I was spoiled by Montana cost of living (no sales tax, rent $450 month for cool cabin etc) so I'm still getting adjusted to the cost of living here. People are really helpful, concerned, nice around here, which has been a great help--so thanks all you good people who've been so kind to the newbie.

-JB

[Southlander]

$450 a month?!?
You will definitely not find that in Birmingham!
The cost is probably going to be close to the same in Birmingham. You might want to look at some of the less popular areas - Gardendale, Bessemer (the nicer parts), Hueytown etc.
Keep looking, and letting people know that you're looking...you never know.

[steveklein]

does it have to be a detached house? there are some pretty nice apartments in and around birmingham for under $1000

[cpg35223]

Craigs list is also a good option.