Your thoughts? Apt Communities... (Birmingham, Hoover: 2013, apartments, rent)

[AG1908]

Can anyone share their expeeriences or thoughts on the following apartment communities?

-The Abbey at Riverchase
-700 Riverchase
-Ashby at Ross Bridges

Are they will kept comunities and are they located in safe areas?

[Mississippi Alabama Line]

Originally Posted by AG1908

Can anyone share their expeeriences or thoughts on the following apartment communities?

-The Abbey at Riverchase
-700 Riverchase
-Ashby at Ross Bridges

Are they will kept comunities and are they located in safe areas?

The first two are OK, but they are generally meant for people working in Hoover (Riverchase area), which has a bunch of employers. They had a shooting there a few years ago, but it was two women fighting over the Iron Bowl (get ready for this nonsense if you follow through with the move). Just don't fall for the "You hAvE to PICKZZZ between BAMA and AuBuRnzzz!!!!"

Ashby is out at Ross Bridge and is OK I guess, I looked there in 2013 but ultimately bought a house. It's in a nice area but I don't know about the apartments themselves.

Both of these are going to be a haul for you to downtown.

[MinivanDriver]

Originally Posted by AG1908

Can anyone share their expeeriences or thoughts on the following apartment communities?

-The Abbey at Riverchase
-700 Riverchase
-Ashby at Ross Bridges

Are they will kept comunities and are they located in safe areas?

Yeah, but they would also constitute a slog into town. There are plenty of safe places closer to town. Don't you want to avoid schlepping an hour to and from the office every day?

[steveklein]

Originally Posted by MinivanDriver

Yeah, but they would also constitute a slog into town. There are plenty of safe places closer to town. Don't you want to avoid schlepping an hour to and from the office every day?

Did this person say they work downtown normal 9 to 5 ish hours? Even if so, peak driving times, you can get from Riverchase to Downtown in 30-40 minutes. Ross Bridge is more like 20-30.

None of those commutes are that bad into town... if you are even headed downtown. This may shock some posters on here, but lots of people work in Hoover, Bessemer, the 280 corridor, etc. and aren't traveling to downtown Birmingham every morning and have little to no desire to be in the heart of the city.

[MinivanDriver]

Originally Posted by steveklein

Did this person say they work downtown normal 9 to 5 ish hours? Even if so, peak driving times, you can get from Riverchase to Downtown in 30-40 minutes. Ross Bridge is more like 20-30.

None of those commutes are that bad into town... if you are even headed downtown. This may shock some posters on here, but lots of people work in Hoover, Bessemer, the 280 corridor, etc. and aren't traveling to downtown Birmingham every morning and have little to no desire to be in the heart of the city.

Maybe. Forty-five is more like it for Riverchase. And God help you if there is a wreck on the interstate. With the limited number of arteries southbound, the OP won't get home until much later. Meanwhile, the OP can get home to a nice apartment around English Village or near downtown Homewood in about ten minutes, one within walking distance of lots of stuff. And those areas are safe as the womb. Rent would be comparable, too, especially when you factor out all the wear and tear on the car.

Hey, Hoover is okay if you have kids.

But if I'm a single person who works downtown at any hour, then about the last thing I'd want to do is drive to and fro to the suburbs where there is a paucity of other single people or things to do. I mean, if I were single and someone insisted I live out in suburbia, I would spend the entirety of my time there looking for the escape hatch.

Be honest and get in the Way Back Machine to your single life. Think about what you enjoyed doing in your off time. Almost every fun event? Downtown or Southside. Almost every good restaurant, nightclub, or bar? Downtown or Southside. The arts scene? Downtown or Southside. Concerts? Downtown or Southside.

Hey, the OP's life might not be a constant whirl of parties or nightclubbing. I was never that way myself. But I certainly enjoyed going to hear bands play. The girls I dated all lived on Southside--or within a stone's throw.

I mean, hey, Hoover is great for church socials and the whatnot. But if I'm single and wanting to meet people my age and all that goes along with the single and unencumbered life, Hoover and the exurbs beyond are about the last place on the planet I'd want to be marooned. Especially if I'm going to work downtown.


Back to the OP. Birmingham is a diverse enough place. We get your desire to live in a safe neighborhood. But what do you like to do for fun?

[Mississippi Alabama Line]

Originally Posted by MinivanDriver

Maybe. Forty-five is more like it for Riverchase. And God help you if there is a wreck on the interstate. With the limited number of arteries southbound, the OP won't get home until much later. Meanwhile, the OP can get home to a nice apartment around English Village or near downtown Homewood in about ten minutes, one within walking distance of lots of stuff. And those areas are safe as the womb. Rent would be comparable, too, especially when you factor out all the wear and tear on the car.

Hey, Hoover is okay if you have kids.

But if I'm a single person who works downtown at any hour, then about the last thing I'd want to do is drive to and fro to the suburbs where there is a paucity of other single people or things to do. I mean, if I were single and someone insisted I live out in suburbia, I would spend the entirety of my time there looking for the escape hatch.

Be honest and get in the Way Back Machine to your single life. Think about what you enjoyed doing in your off time. Almost every fun event? Downtown or Southside. Almost every good restaurant, nightclub, or bar? Downtown or Southside. The arts scene? Downtown or Southside. Concerts? Downtown or Southside.

Hey, the OP's life might not be a constant whirl of parties or nightclubbing. I was never that way myself. But I certainly enjoyed going to hear bands play. The girls I dated all lived on Southside--or within a stone's throw.

I mean, hey, Hoover is great for church socials and the whatnot. But if I'm single and wanting to meet people my age and all that goes along with the single and unencumbered life, Hoover and the exurbs beyond are about the last place on the planet I'd want to be marooned. Especially if I'm going to work downtown.


Back to the OP. Birmingham is a diverse enough place. We get your desire to live in a safe neighborhood. But what do you like to do for fun?

I have to agree with this.

While Hoover and the other suburbs are great for raising a family, I would never point a single person out there unless they worked there and wanted a short commute. This isn't 1995, the single professional crowd has left Hoover for downtown. All the apartments where those folks used to live are now pretty rough.

I also would never point a family towards downtown.

To me, Homewood is the best of both worlds.

[Saskia Calico]

Originally Posted by MinivanDriver

Maybe. Forty-five is more like it for Riverchase. And God help you if there is a wreck on the interstate. With the limited number of arteries southbound, the OP won't get home until much later. Meanwhile, the OP can get home to a nice apartment around English Village or near downtown Homewood in about ten minutes, one within walking distance of lots of stuff. And those areas are safe as the womb. Rent would be comparable, too, especially when you factor out all the wear and tear on the car.

Hey, Hoover is okay if you have kids.

But if I'm a single person who works downtown at any hour, then about the last thing I'd want to do is drive to and fro to the suburbs where there is a paucity of other single people or things to do. I mean, if I were single and someone insisted I live out in suburbia, I would spend the entirety of my time there looking for the escape hatch.

Be honest and get in the Way Back Machine to your single life. Think about what you enjoyed doing in your off time. Almost every fun event? Downtown or Southside. Almost every good restaurant, nightclub, or bar? Downtown or Southside. The arts scene? Downtown or Southside. Concerts? Downtown or Southside.

Hey, the OP's life might not be a constant whirl of parties or nightclubbing. I was never that way myself. But I certainly enjoyed going to hear bands play. The girls I dated all lived on Southside--or within a stone's throw.

I mean, hey, Hoover is great for church socials and the whatnot. But if I'm single and wanting to meet people my age and all that goes along with the single and unencumbered life, Hoover and the exurbs beyond are about the last place on the planet I'd want to be marooned. Especially if I'm going to work downtown.


Back to the OP. Birmingham is a diverse enough place. We get your desire to live in a safe neighborhood. But what do you like to do for fun?

I found it interesting that you do not equate church socials with the single and unencumbered life. LOTS of singles would prefer church socials to the nightclub/bar scene, and definitely prefer "suburbia" to Southside and downtown!

Just sayin'.

[MinivanDriver]

Originally Posted by Saskia Calico

I found it interesting that you do not equate church socials with the single and unencumbered life. LOTS of singles would prefer church socials to the nightclub/bar scene, and definitely prefer "suburbia" to Southside and downtown!

Just sayin'.

That's nice. But the fact that she works downtown kind of tips the scale.