Country vs. City (Huntsville, Decatur, Madison: houses, established neighborhood, tornado)

[NVCouple]

Hello, my wife and I will be relocating to the Huntsville area and are debating over whether we should live in "the city" or in one of the outlying communities on a farm. Would like to hear thoughts on the best "country" towns/places to live and if you don't recommend any, then which part of Huntsville are best?

My wife and I are middle aged, professional, and have no kids at home. We prefer older homes in established neighborhoods and don't like the macmansion lifestyle so many others adore.

[1973PINTO]

stay away from the harvest / meridianville area .. tornado alley ...come to new market or hazel green ...

[NVCouple]

thanks. what about some of the homes out in/near Bankhead? I came across a couple of farms out that way that seemed attractive. We'll be spending the week of the 17th in the area looking around. The only thing I worry about in the country is not having broadband connectivity. I can work from anywhere as long as I can get online.

[RocketDawg]

Another thing about living in "the country" is the slower response of emergency personnel, particularly medical as we age. I'm in the same boat as you.

If you want an older and established house, you might check out southeast Huntsville. Many of the houses there were built in the 1960s, perhaps earlier, during the first big boom times of the space program. Farms in Madison County I would think are pretty hard to come by, and if you find one, it'll be at a very premium price.

Some of the outlying towns you might want to consider are Gurley (funny name, but named after a person I assume), a few miles south, maybe 30, is the town of Arab (pronounced with a long "a" and two equally emphasized syllables), areas north toward the Tennessee line perhaps in Meridianville, Hazel Green, Harvest ... all those places have suburban areas but with rural areas also. For whatever reason, the Harvest and Meridianville areas do seem more prone to tornadoes than others.

I live in Madison, but most houses here are fairly new and it's basically a bedroom community for Huntsville ... you can't tell the difference from one to the other. In general, the area has huge, low density sprawl, so you'll have to go pretty far out to find that farm. Generally speaking though, traffic isn't a huge issue relative to large cities. The area is still growing fairly rapidly though, and last I heard Madison was the fastest growing city in the state.

[NVCouple]

Originally Posted by RocketDawg

Another thing about living in "the country" is the slower response of emergency personnel, particularly medical as we age. I'm in the same boat as you.

If you want an older and established house, you might check out southeast Huntsville. Many of the houses there were built in the 1960s, perhaps earlier, during the first big boom times of the space program. Farms in Madison County I would think are pretty hard to come by, and if you find one, it'll be at a very premium price.

Some of the outlying towns you might want to consider are Gurley (funny name, but named after a person I assume), a few miles south, maybe 30, is the town of Arab (pronounced with a long "a" and two equally emphasized syllables), areas north toward the Tennessee line perhaps in Meridianville, Hazel Green, Harvest ... all those places have suburban areas but with rural areas also. For whatever reason, the Harvest and Meridianville areas do seem more prone to tornadoes than others.

I live in Madison, but most houses here are fairly new and it's basically a bedroom community for Huntsville ... you can't tell the difference from one to the other. In general, the area has huge, low density sprawl, so you'll have to go pretty far out to find that farm. Generally speaking though, traffic isn't a huge issue relative to large cities. The area is still growing fairly rapidly though, and last I heard Madison was the fastest growing city in the state.

Much appreciated RocketDawg! Getting in and out of the city won't be an issue as I work from home and only need to get to an airport once a week for work; we're just moving there as we want out of Vegas and through our research, the Huntsville area seemed to best meet our wants and needs.

[1973PINTO]

Originally Posted by RocketDawg

Gurley (funny name, but named after a person I assume),.

yes funny name .. a quick history lesson .. the town of Gurley was named after confederate soldier Frank Gurley .. he was a local hero .. he is the fellow named on this historical marker about a mile from my home ... he was put in prison for a short time for this then later released ...
[IMG][/IMG]

[harry chickpea]

Originally Posted by NVCouple

Hello, my wife and I will be relocating to the Huntsville area and are debating over whether we should live in "the city" or in one of the outlying communities on a farm. Would like to hear thoughts on the best "country" towns/places to live and if you don't recommend any, then which part of Huntsville are best?

My wife and I are middle aged, professional, and have no kids at home. We prefer older homes in established neighborhoods and don't like the macmansion lifestyle so many others adore.

We live in the country and LOVE it, but I would suggest that you look more at places within the city, or Athens, or Decatur. It is an entirely different lifestyle in the country. Do you like to bush hog? Do you know how to deal with feral dogs? Do you enjoy using a chainsaw? Do you understand that tractors are more important than cars? If not, live in city limits.

[NVCouple]

Originally Posted by harry chickpea

We live in the country and LOVE it, but I would suggest that you look more at places within the city, or Athens, or Decatur. It is an entirely different lifestyle in the country. Do you like to bush hog? Do you know how to deal with feral dogs? Do you enjoy using a chainsaw? Do you understand that tractors are more important than cars? If not, live in city limits.

I grew up a river rat in Texas (along the Brazos River) and am very familiar with a the country life. I grew up buck'n hay, shuck'n corn, clean'n stalls and all that goes with working on farms and cattle ranches. Heck, I drove a tractor before I ever drove a car and I started driving our farm truck on public roads when I was 11 (in Texas if it's a farm truck, you don't need a license), so I have no problem dealing with any of the issues you reference. Heck, we had feral hogs (much worse than feral dogs) and mesquite (far worse than any bush hog'n I can imagine in Alabama) to deal with. lol

The only reason for the indecision regarding city vs. country is my wife. Now she IS a city girl being she's from a city of more 12 million. But me, I am a country boy all day long and it's still in my blood.

Funny how you jumped to a conclusion and went straight to saying "look in the cities". I knew what I was asking or I wouldn't have asked. I just wanted some input on which areas are best whether in the country or in the city. We'll likely end up with both... a small place in the city and a small farm in the country. But thanks for your input any way. lol

[NVCouple]

Originally Posted by harry chickpea

We live in the country and LOVE it, but I would suggest that you look more at places within the city, or Athens, or Decatur. It is an entirely different lifestyle in the country. Do you like to bush hog? Do you know how to deal with feral dogs? Do you enjoy using a chainsaw? Do you understand that tractors are more important than cars? If not, live in city limits.

Originally Posted by HOSS429

yes funny name .. a quick history lesson .. the town of Gurley was named after confederate soldier Frank Gurley .. he was a local hero .. he is the fellow named on this historical marker about a mile from my home ... he was put in prison for a short time for this then later released ...
[IMG][/IMG]

Thanks for the history lesson on the town of Gurley. I'm a lover of history and enjoy learning all I can about places I live or visit. Again, thanks!

[harry chickpea]

"My wife and I are middle aged, professional, and have no kids at home. We prefer older homes in established neighborhoods and don't like the macmansion lifestyle so many others adore."

Please explain what part of "country" knowledge we were supposed to glean from that. Last time I checked, there are no "established neighborhoods" in the country or on farmland...

Following logical deduction based upon information presented is not "jumping" to conclusions. If you had mentioned feral pigs instead of established neighborhoods you would have had a different response. GIGO