Good Apartments in Huntsville/Madison (Redstone Arsenal, Columbia: lease, condos, crime)

[swoosh23]

I am a 32 single male and I have grown up in Charlotte. I have relocated to Columbia SC and now am getting transferred to Huntsville. I am looking to get into an apartment that is in a nice part of town or where there is as little crime as possible. Please if anyone knows of some apartments that are nice and near places that a single 32 year old male would like, please post!! I have no clue as to where to look, what to expect as this is the first time I have relocated to a place where I have never been to in my life!! Also what is the demographics on age in Huntsville? Is there a big single community? Thanks for any responses.

[TitansFan]

I've lived at the Vintage Apartment at the corner of Old Madison Pike and Slaughter Road before I moved into my house. It was a very nice, safe, well-managed complex. The office and maintenance folks were generally eager to help you. Although it's very close to the Redstone Arsenal, Research Park, and Bridge Street (a brand new outdoor mall in Huntsville), the rush hour traffic on Madison Pike made commuting somewhat difficult.

The Paddock Club apartments in Providence (off US-72 west) is also really nice. There are several new restaurants within walking distance: Phuket (Thai food), Market Street Cafe (home cooking), Grill 29 (upscale steak, seafood), and Mellow Mushroom (pizza, coming soon).

Generally, SE Huntsville, the far West part of Huntsville, and Madison are the safest parts of town. NW Huntsville between Memorial parkway and Research Park blvd (aka Rideout Rd.) and SW Huntsville (west of Memorial parkway and south of I-565) might be areas to avoid, based on reputation, although I don't have any personal experience living in these parts of town.

[Reactionary]

Look at Monte Sano Terrace. It is across the street from biking / hiking trails, close to downtown bars (Humphrey's, Mason's), and convenient to Research Park and the Arsenal.

As far as singles go, HSV is a great place to raise a family.

Look for HYP events when you get here.

[swoosh23]

Thanks for the imput.. I am assuming when you say it is a great place to raise a family.. are you implying you should be married before you get there? I am going to look into the Apartments that were listed. Thanks again for your help and I will look in to the HYP when I get there.

Swoosh23

[Reactionary]

swoosh23 - just a heads up that the singles scene here is what you make it. Some people note the lack of bars, lack of vibrant downtown, tough to meet people, etc...

There's plenty to do if you've got a good attitude: nice parks for hiking / biking / birdwatching; rivers and lakes for boating / canoeing; lots of sports to play; some sports to watch (baseball - Stars, soccer - FC United, hockey - Havoc, roller derby - Dixie Derby Girls); a few good bars; a few festivals (Big Spring Jam and Panoply); HYP events; a few decent coffeeshops; lots of volunteering opportunities... Plus, Bham, Nashville, and Chattanooga are less than two hours away. The beach is six hours.

If you're interested in furthering your education, UAH is a good school.

[FlourChild]

I have also heard good things about The Vintage. It's right next to the Indian Creek Greenway, a biking/walking/skating/running park which is apparently a good place to exercise and meet people.

From experience, I have to warn you off Royal Pines Apartments (on Old Madison Pike, just east of Research Park Blvd). When we lived there from 03-05, the complex was already tobogganing madly downhill, in terms of safety and maintenance quality, and their management was notably unethical and dishonest when it came time for us to buy a house (lease buyout). They gave us about four different stories, none of which matched, about our lease buyout, demanding more and more money each time. By a decrease in safety, I'm talking about increasingly frequent incidents of vandalism to parked vehicles, altercations in the parking lot, etc.

[clamoore]

I can recommend a slightly off-track place to rent. For three years I lived in the Country Club Apartments on Airport Road. You are close to the restaurants, Crestwood Hospital and a few bars. I lived in a building with nine other units. I didn't have a problem with noise or crime. You may want to look into renting one of the villas they offer. The villas are small, one-story condos. There is a big open green area in the middle of the complex. There is a pool and a barbecue area in the open area. Tennis courts next to the swimming pool. I enjoyed living there and I found the management to be easy to work with when I got married and needed a couple extra months to rent until I moved into a house. The rates were great, I rented a two-bedroom unit and it was cheaper than a single unit at Paddock. As long as you turn right out of the complex, no problem with traffic. Turning left onto Airport may present some difficulties during morning/afternoon rush hour.

[Southeastern]

http://www.sealyrealty.com/highlandpointe.html

Check out Highland Pointe apartments.

On Jeff Road, a 1/4 mile north of University Blvd and Jeff Rd intersection.

[dee1965]

Look into Windscape apartments in Madison off Sullivan street it has easy access to I-565 Madison Huntsville Alabama Apartments - Windscape Apartments . Great place to live.

[JakeWilliams]

I have to agree, Royal Pines was where I lived when I first moved to HSV, in 97-99. I moved to the apartments behind Target off of University (they've changed names so many times I can't keep track). I would avoid both of those. Royal Pines was slowly sliding when I was there, and the other apartments had some people that I would not choose to live beside.

I can't help much on demographics, I'm 30 but I haven't been single in a long time. I agree with what everyone else here said - I've heard good things about Monte Sano Terrace but never lived there, and most of the other apartments (especially in the Madison area) are good. It depends on where you work too, if you want to be closer to work if you work downtown or near the hospital then Madison may not be the best option.

Jake