Madison schools? (Huntsville, Valley, Brent: for sale, home, neighborhoods)

[NoleFanHSV]

Originally Posted by LCTMadison

They are building a new theater off Hwy 72 and Bridge Street is just outside the Madison city limits, so its not like its that far. Plus we have a good bit of new shopping in the area.

You can't really compare Madison and Decatur. Decatur is twice as big as Madison. Madison is about 30 square miles, Decatur is close to 70. Madison is more of a "bedroom" community...bmrisko's comparison to Brentwood is a good one.

Aside from business I very rarely find the need to go into Huntsville for anything. Pretty much everything I need I can get within 10 minutes of my house.

I don't think physical size has anything to do with it. Orange Park Fl, just about 10K residents, has both a mall and theater. Its a metro to Jacksonville(where I grew up).

I live in Providence currently, and I usually have to go to Huntsville for everything. The only thing I enjoy in Madison is Kohls. Its just been recently Target has been in Madison as well. For entertainment, I go to Huntsville. I know there are a few bars in Madison( The station comes to mind), but thats about it.

Then again, I can get on my soap box about Huntsville too. Huntsville now has more residents than Chattanooga, but I find Chattanooga much more enjoyable overall in terms of Shopping and Entertainment. Battle is trying to do something about our Downtown, but there are just too many forces against him.

[LCTMadison]

I love that Mayor Battle is trying to do something great with downtown, but I highly doubt it will ever reach the awesomeness that is Chattanooga's downtown....love it.

HSV overall is lacking compared to larger cities but that is what you expect. I frequently go to Bham and Nashville for specific shopping we don't have, and I have to go all the way to ATL for Ikea. Its just how it is, we are not near as big as those cities, so naturally they are going to have things we don't (and won't) have.

But in regards to Decatur which was my point (the comparison between Madison/Decatur)....1. I would hardly qualify Beltline Mall as a great shopping destination and 2. Beltline Mall has been around longer than Madison has....at least before Madison was what it is today. 3. It makes sense to have something like that in a city like Decatur, its quite a jaunt into Huntsville for them. 4. Decatur is and has been for a while self sustaining. Madison is not. How Huntsville goes, there goes Madison. Just how it is.

Sandy Kirkendall in 2008 was saying he had that big development coming to the south end of County Line that never materialized, although the city did rezone that land. I was always pretty skeptical about that, as he unveiled it right before the election.....and nothing ever happened. I'll be honest, I think when the County Line exits are complete you will see quite a boom of commercial down on that end. I really hope we get some great stuff on 20...its just become an eye sore.

Here's an article, there are probably some really old CD threads on it as well.

Huntsville Development News: WaterStone: a more in-depth look

I'll add this....I remember when I was a kid, my parents had friends that built a house in the "boonies" that is Hunington Chase, literally it was the only thing on County Line. And when we moved here....nothing was on County Line but Breusters and Subway. I had to *gasp* drive to 72 just to go to Publix. The growth has been pretty great to watch over the past few years.

[Tyler Johnson]

Originally Posted by NoleFanHSV

I don't think physical size has anything to do with it. Orange Park Fl, just about 10K residents, has both a mall and theater. Its a metro to Jacksonville(where I grew up).

I live in Providence currently, and I usually have to go to Huntsville for everything. The only thing I enjoy in Madison is Kohls. Its just been recently Target has been in Madison as well. For entertainment, I go to Huntsville. I know there are a few bars in Madison( The station comes to mind), but thats about it.

Then again, I can get on my soap box about Huntsville too. Huntsville now has more residents than Chattanooga, but I find Chattanooga much more enjoyable overall in terms of Shopping and Entertainment. Battle is trying to do something about our Downtown, but there are just too many forces against him.

You make great points Nolefan! Let's face it, Madison will always be one big, crowded neighborhood and nothing more. It is a shame the city did not plan better. Though, many Madison residents love it. This Madisonite is not one them.

My dilemma is where to go from here? I love scottsboro and guntersville but just tooo far from work. Jones Valley is looking like the perfect place for us. I am simply not in a position to make the move now. Hindsight is always 20-20 and I sure wish I would have explored the area more when I moved here.

[needtosellmyhome]

Originally Posted by Tyler Johnson

You make great points Nolefan! Let's face it, Madison will always be one big, crowded neighborhood and nothing more. It is a shame the city did not plan better. Though, many Madison residents love it. This Madisonite is not one them.

My dilemma is where to go from here? I love scottsboro and guntersville but just tooo far from work. Jones Valley is looking like the perfect place for us. I am simply not in a position to make the move now. Hindsight is always 20-20 and I sure wish I would have explored the area more when I moved here.

I've known several people that live in Madison that have said IF they lived in Huntsville they would prefer the Jones Valley area over many of the older parts of Huntsville. In the more original parts of Huntsville so many neighborhoods just have older style ranch homes and old split level style homes that aren't nearly as pretty as all these newer and new Madison neighborhoods. I've never really known anyone that lived in Madison that didn't like it though....we lived there (in city limits) over 25 years and live just outside the city limits of Madison now......we didn't move because we didn't like the City of Madison but when we sold our home in the City of Madison we liked the neighborhood over here better.....

[CoreLysium]

If I was to live in Huntsville again, in a house, I'd probably pick the area SW of Drake and Whitesburg or over in the neighborhoods west of the parkway between Rosie's and Logan Drive.

That said, I've not been in that area in a few years, so it might have changed.

After my daughter gets out of high school (she's still in elementary) I'll be moving to whatever apartments pop up in Jones Valley that aren't too expensive. In fact, the ones they're building now are probably a pretty good option.

[Tyler Johnson]

Originally Posted by needtosellmyhome

I've known several people that live in Madison that have said IF they lived in Huntsville they would prefer the Jones Valley area over many of the older parts of Huntsville. In the more original parts of Huntsville so many neighborhoods just have older style ranch homes and old split level style homes that aren't nearly as pretty as all these newer and new Madison neighborhoods. I've never really known anyone that lived in Madison that didn't like it though....we lived there (in city limits) over 25 years and live just outside the city limits of Madison now......we didn't move because we didn't like the City of Madison but when we sold our home in the City of Madison we liked the neighborhood over here better.....

I agree. I don't dislike Madison. It simply is not a good fit for me. If you want to eat out every night at a different place for months Madison is perfect but that is not my thing. I have two good friends I fish guntersville with that moved from Madison to jones valley and hampton and they say the same thing... "I like it better here".

[LCTMadison]

If I was going to live in HSV, Tyler, it would be Blossomwood or Jones Valley. I love those older neighborhoods, that is actually what I prefer personally TBH. My husband, however, does not We actually looked extensively in Hampton Cove but in the end the much longer commute for my husband was too much for him, so Madison is where we settled. He had a 45 minute commute where we last lived in FL and he did not want to have that again.

I love living in Madison, but I could be perfectly happy in JV, Blossomwood, South HSV or even Hampton Cove. I just don't like living far out away from conveniences.....we have made that concession before to get more "house" and I was just never happy there.

As far as the schools (which was the original topic) you can't go wrong in any of those areas, except now there is concern as to what is going to happen around Blossomwood with this zoning proposal....and many of my HC friends don't care for the drive over the mountain to HSV High, they would rather ideally have a high school out in their community.

I also have always felt very drawn to the Athens area particularly the neighborhoods north of 72 around Lindsey Lane/Nick Davis/Forrest. There are some absolutely stunning homes over there and there is just something about that area that has always appealed to me.

[FatTails]

I'm glad we decided to rent for a while before buying a house here. Although HC is a nice area, that "mountain" really kills it for me. Especially during bad weather when I hear my coworkers groaning. We rented off Zierdt for a while and am glad we didn't buy there either. It took ten minutes to drive to a store but the distance didn't come with any good perks like cheaper housing or bigger lots.

My team leader lives in Madison and he wants to move, but he wants his grade school daughters to stay at their current schools. This is really limiting his choices because he wants a new house, fairly big, zoned for the same schools he is zoned for now, and cheap. I don't think he's getting all four of those.

[needtosellmyhome]

Originally Posted by Tyler Johnson

I agree. I don't dislike Madison. It simply is not a good fit for me. If you want to eat out every night at a different place for months Madison is perfect but that is not my thing. I have two good friends I fish guntersville with that moved from Madison to jones valley and hampton and they say the same thing... "I like it better here".

There is also going to be the new development "Lendon" in Jones Valley that is going to be like the "Village of Providence" of Jones Valley. (a TND-Traditional Neighborhood Development)

I don't know that much about it except the articles I've read on the internet and their web site:
Lendon of Huntsville, New Huntsville Area Homes, Huntsville Alabama

It is developed by John Blue and Peter Lowe. The builders they have announced are- Dan Maxwell (Maxwell Homes Inc.), Jason Johnson (Cornerstone Builders), John Allen (Southern Construction and Design Inc.), Ken McDaniel (Ken McDaniel Homes Inc.), Randall Smith (Celebration Homes), Steve West (Westmark Construction Inc.), Tim Reeves (Reeves Custom Homes Inc.)

Steve West and Tim Reeves have also built homes in the Village of Providence. Celebration Homes is currently building homes in McMullen Cove (just past Hampton Cove). The other builders built quite a few homes in the City of Madison (Dan Maxwell, John Allen, and Ken McDaniel).

The homes in Lendon will certainly have a steep price tag but if the developers and builders can make it successful it will be a nice addition and improvement to the Jones Valley area.

[CoreLysium]

The pdf of the plan has a date of Sept 2012 on it.

Is it still a go?