Somewhere around B'ham

[BamaDave]

Originally Posted by Hoping4Huntsville

Anybody have any input regarding Cullman? I know it is not a practical commute to either H'ville or B'ham but it appears to be a growing community with excellent schools. Just trying to get a feel for what people might think about the community and the folks that live there. Part of the appeal is the location and size. It is a large enough community to stand on it's own I would assume. We have been bitten twice now by moving to "outlying" communities where people were unfriendly and distant and we are trying desperately not to do that again.

It's a pretty nice town with most conveniences, but it is not progressive or diverse at all. Cullman is formerly a "sundown town" where Black people were expected to leave before sunset, and Black people in the region still know and talk about this. On the other hand, I recently saw two young guys walking through the North Cullman Walmart holding hands, so times are certainly changing even in the most unexpected places.

Like others have posted, finding acreage property in a progressive area in Alabama will be very difficult. The only progressive places are in the urban areas, where acreage will be very expensive and hard to come by.

[OuttaFlorida2]

Sorry to hijack your thread, was just up in Birmingham last weekend. Looking for 10+ acres with or without a house. We looked N,NE but it looks like SW has a lot of land too for livestock(cow, Alpaca). Is South of Bessemer safe or is all of the SW a bad area? It would be a unique location for us as our kids will someday need college and we'd be able to send them to UAV or University of Alabama. Thanks!

[BamaDave]

Originally Posted by OuttaFlorida2

Sorry to hijack your thread, was just up in Birmingham last weekend. Looking for 10+ acres with or without a house. We looked N,NE but it looks like SW has a lot of land too for livestock(cow, Alpaca). Is South of Bessemer safe or is all of the SW a bad area? It would be a unique location for us as our kids will someday need college and we'd be able to send them to UAV or University of Alabama. Thanks!

If you can get down into Shelby County, the school system should be decent; although, someone who lives down there can certainly provide more details about schools in the more outlying areas. I'm not sure about Jefferson County south of Bessemer. I imagine safety is fine, and nearby McCalla has a good reputation as a suburb for people who commute to either Birmingham or Tuscaloosa (and Mercedes). But I don't know how good the schools are in that area.

I would probably stay out of Bibb County, as it's poor and probably doesn't have good schools.

[OuttaFlorida2]

Originally Posted by BamaDave

If you can get down into Shelby County, the school system should be decent; although, someone who lives down there can certainly provide more details about schools in the more outlying areas. I'm not sure about Jefferson County south of Bessemer. I imagine safety is fine, and nearby McCalla has a good reputation as a suburb for people who commute to either Birmingham or Tuscaloosa (and Mercedes). But I don't know how good the schools are in that area.

I would probably stay out of Bibb County, as it's poor and probably doesn't have good schools.

Thank you, I'm not too concerned with public schools as we are doing homeschool, mostly concerned with Bessemer bordering Mccalla and I guess Bessemer is one of the worst crime areas in the state. Granted it looked like the north section of Birmingham is really rough as well.

[Mississippi Alabama Line]

Originally Posted by OuttaFlorida2

Thank you, I'm not too concerned with public schools as we are doing homeschool, mostly concerned with Bessemer bordering Mccalla and I guess Bessemer is one of the worst crime areas in the state. Granted it looked like the north section of Birmingham is really rough as well.

We were in a homeschool group in north Shelby County, and there are some families out there south of McCalla area, so you could plug into that. It's 'okay'. It's not the safest but I doubt you'll have problems, but I also doubt your property value will go up beyond just regular real estate. They do have an outdoor strip mall there that's again, 'okay'. I'm not going to lie the west side of Jeffco and going towards Tuscaloosa isn't the greatest area in the world, a lot of weird crime out that way, just kind of a sleazy feel. But if you have land, most likely folks aren't going to bother you and you likely won't have a single problem at all. It's just not my preferred area.

[BamaDave]

If you've ever heard of the podcast S*** Town, the story takes place in the very northern part of Bibb County close to the point where it meets Tuscaloosa and Jefferson Counties. That may give you an idea about what some areas to the SW of Birmingham are like!