Family Friendly Communities in Birmingham... (Mountain Brook, Sylacauga: real estate, HOA, houses)

[USAFVET]

Hello All,
Please tell me your thoughts on Liberty Park, Forest Park, Redmont Park,Greystone, Highland Lakes,Shook Hill, Mountain Brook.

I was born and raised right here in Birmingham, Alabama (Irondale area)
I have been away from home due to being in the Air Force, and now that I am moving back with a family of my own I have noticed a lot of things have changed.
I now want a community that is very family friendly...when I say this I mean activity wise. For example, when I was in Arizona the community I lived in there was very busy. Saturday Morning it began at 10am with children's t-ball, then the older kids little league. Then the wives had their softball game, and then men finished up with ours. A total day of family fun. This was with all sports from football, soccer, Basketball, you name it...Children always out and about playing like kids should and not always in front of the PlayStation or XBOX. On the weekends the entire family had activities.
I have grown used to those types of things and I really want that for my family. Community cookouts, festivals, block parties all of it would be great. We have really considered Mountain Brook but have heard and read a lot of mixed ratings about the area. When I grew up in Irondale, the kids from Mountain Brook were very snobbish and all had their cliques.
We also don't want our children growing up thinking money is everything, and that they have to dress a certain way or shop a Saks etc.
Like I said i'm from here and know all about the "tiny kingdom" I just wanted to know if it is more diverse yet? Are there any other ethnic groups in the area now, as my family is of black heritage.
We are used to being the only blacks in areas and that is not a problem. My wife and I just wanted to know if it frowned upon that blacks would live in Mountain Brook. We are not super rich like most in the area, but we can certain;y afford to be there.
It's just that when I left everyone was working hard to be in that area or to stay in that area. Also I really did not want to live off of 280 because the area traffic was always and is always a mess whenever I come through.
I really thank you for your help and will continue to comb through the forum as I have found one thread about Mountain Brook....

Thanks ever so much...

[USAFVET]

Almost forgot...if anyone has anything to say about why the real estate agents keep pushing golf course living? I do not wish to live on a golf course I would like some land for children to play. I was just curious as to if it may be a good investment or are a lot of people running from it and that is why they are pushing it so hard...
Thanks again...

[Threestep2]

Originally Posted by USAFVET

Almost forgot...if anyone has anything to say about why the real estate agents keep pushing golf course living? I do not wish to live on a golf course I would like some land for children to play. I was just curious as to if it may be a good investment or are a lot of people running from it and that is why they are pushing it so hard...
Thanks again...

If it is not what you want - let them push.

GreyStone - I am guessing that you are looking at The Farms/Glen ...not the 7-figure properties. HOA has taken controll of Big GS, The Farms and The Glen not to mention that mayor road repairs are on the horizon which will bring a special assessment. The schools are great!

[cpg35223]

To me, the central question is where you'll be working.

For most commuting, I think Liberty Park is an excellent choice. Vestavia School systems (I think it covers the entirety of Liberty Park, but double check to be sure). It's a quiet part of town, but pretty close to lots of amenities. And if you commute downtown, driving up Overton Road is a far cry better than slogging all the way in on 280. To be sure, you'd spend some time on 280, but not nearly as much. And prices are not outrageous.

On the other If you live in Highland Park, Greystone, and places out there, then you'll need to really have some good books on tape. LOTS of commuting time.

Forest Park on Southside is my personal favorite. It's graceful and convenient to every place in town and is a five minute commute to downtown. Plus there's a little bit of everybody there. The chief problem is the public school system. We lived in Southside for 14 years and used private schools for a while, but finally hurdled Red Mountain when we began looking at the tuition for Altamont or John Carroll.

Hope that helps.

[USAFVET]

Originally Posted by Threestep

If it is not what you want - let them push.

GreyStone - I am guessing that you are looking at The Farms/Glen ...not the 7-figure properties. HOA has taken controll of Big GS, The Farms and The Glen not to mention that mayor road repairs are on the horizon which will bring a special assessment. The schools are great!

Thanks Threestep for your info... 7 Figure homes are not a problem...we are actually looking for something like that and with at least 2 or 3 acres of land.
Road work huh...would you happen to know the areas? Is it just 280 road work?

[USAFVET]

Originally Posted by cpg35223

To me, the central question is where you'll be working.

For most commuting, I think Liberty Park is an excellent choice. Vestavia School systems (I think it covers the entirety of Liberty Park, but double check to be sure). It's a quiet part of town, but pretty close to lots of amenities. And if you commute downtown, driving up Overton Road is a far cry better than slogging all the way in on 280. To be sure, you'd spend some time on 280, but not nearly as much. And prices are not outrageous.

On the other If you live in Highland Park, Greystone, and places out there, then you'll need to really have some good books on tape. LOTS of commuting time.

Forest Park on Southside is my personal favorite. It's graceful and convenient to every place in town and is a five minute commute to downtown. Plus there's a little bit of everybody there. The chief problem is the public school system. We lived in Southside for 14 years and used private schools for a while, but finally hurdled Red Mountain when we began looking at the tuition for Altamont or John Carroll.

Hope that helps.

I like the Highland Park area as well, used to live in Highland Tower in 2000
Loved the parks in the area, we noticed the dog park is no longer a true dog park. Now the dogs have to be on a leash which is really crappy. Commute won't really be a problem as I work from home and only use Regus Offices when I have to hold a meeting and I noticed there are a few in town One right off of 280 and one in the Lakeshore area.
Liberty Park seems like it may be nice I will look at a some homes in that area....
Thanks so much for your help.... really appreciate the feedback.

[Threestep2]

Originally Posted by USAFVET

Thanks Threestep for your info... 7 Figure homes are not a problem...we are actually looking for something like that and with at least 2 or 3 acres of land.
Road work huh...would you happen to know the areas? Is it just 280 road work?

For acerage you need to go further out. That basically eliminates the "established communities" from Greystone to Vestavia. Without an idea of your actual budget there is no way to direct your search.

280 is the main connection from Sylacauga to downtown. Greystone/Hugh Daniels intersection to The Summit will take you an hour from 6:30-9:00 :>)

[USAFVET]

Originally Posted by Threestep

For acerage you need to go further out. That basically eliminates the "established communities" from Greystone to Vestavia. Without an idea of your actual budget there is no way to direct your search.

280 is the main connection from Sylacauga to downtown. Greystone/Hugh Daniels intersection to The Summit will take you an hour from 6:30-9:00 :>)

Wow that is a little lore than I would like to ride in a car just for an outing. I did not think 280 was really that bad. Thanks for the heads up.

I wanted about a minimum of 3-4 acres, and wanted to spend no more than 1.9 mil. I did find a couple in an area called Shook Hill ... Shook Hill Circle to be exact. If I am not mistake I think that still falls into the Mt. Brook area but seems to be a lot of older people in the area did not see too many kids. If that is my best option we will just have to get the children out and involved with recreations centers and such in the area instead of the neighborhood?
What do you think of Shook Hill??? Ok Area???

[jakabedy]

There are always league sports that can be found for the kids. I don't have specific knowledge of Mt. Brook, but something tells me that league sports might not be as big of a deal there as in other areas. But I could be totally wrong about that. As for adult leagues, they seem to mainly be church leagues. So that is something to consider.

As for Shook Hill Circle, there are some beautiful houses in there. Corporate CEO's, etc. It is not gated, but is quite exclusive. It is definitely Mt. Brook.

[USAFVET]

Originally Posted by jakabedy

There are always league sports that can be found for the kids. I don't have specific knowledge of Mt. Brook, but something tells me that league sports might not be as big of a deal there as in other areas. But I could be totally wrong about that. As for adult leagues, they seem to mainly be church leagues. So that is something to consider.

As for Shook Hill Circle, there are some beautiful houses in there. Corporate CEO's, etc. It is not gated, but is quite exclusive. It is definitely Mt. Brook.

Church leagues are great would be right up my alley!
As I did searches in Mt. Brook for teams in such did not find too much. But I may have looked in the wrong area.
So Shook Hill is Mt. Brook...Thanks for that info it was hard to figure out just looking at the map.
I like the homes, and I like the area seems quiet and peaceful. Thanks so much for your input. Right now Shook Hill is top of our list.
Unless we really find something that is super family friendly where the homes are not the cookie cutter style (all look alike) and there is enough yard to hit the baseball around or not be able touch your neighbors house from your window and such...

Thanks again