relocating - questions about neighborhoods/schools (Huntsville, Valley: for sale, HOA, new home)

[daac09]

This forum has been very helpful in answering many of my questions about relocating to Huntsville - Thank you so much. I still have a few questions about neighborhoods and schools that maybe some of you can help with.

I am moving to Huntsville to begin a new job this summer. I will work in the medical district. My husband is currently a logistics manager in a manufacturing plant but doesn't have a job lined up yet in Huntsville. We have 2 children, a 5 yo son (will begin kindergarten this August) and a 3 yo daughter. We're interested in the Blossomwood or Jones Valley areas because of good public schools, proximity to my job, etc. However, after a recent visit, I am also considering the Hampton Cove area. Our budget for housing is probably around 400K.

Any input on Hampton Cove vs. the older neighborhoods like Blossomwood and Jones Valley? Experiences with Hampton Cove's schools? How is the drive in from Hampton Cove? (I have heard that traffic on Governor's Drive can be bad, although not as bad as we may be used to since we're coming from a larger city.)

I'm sure much of this info has been discussed here before, so I'm looking at previous threads too, but thought someone my have some specific advice for us. Thanks!

[Charles]

Originally Posted by daac09

Experiences with Hampton Cove's schools? How is the drive in from Hampton Cove? (I have heard that traffic on Governor's Drive can be bad, although not as bad as we may be used to since we're coming from a larger city.)

Yes, someone asked almost these exact questions about a week ago, I think their budget was around $350K.

Hampton Cove Elementary and Hampton Cove Middle are Huntsville City Schools. They are Great Schools rated 9/10 and 10/10 respectively. They are clean, newer campuses. Hampton Cove Elementary is overcrowded but a new elementary school, Big Cove Elementary will be built a few miles away for the 2010 school year and this will make a significant improvement in overcrowding. Most of the parents I've met are educated and proactive and they support the after school clubs and such. For example, HCES supported three robotics teams, one of which my daughter and I were on, and two of the three teams came in 1st and 3rd in the Alabama First Lego League robotics championships. My daughters are in French Club, Math Club, Technology Club, and the Robotics Club. The PTA is very active.

Hampton Cove Middle feeds to Huntsville High School (GS 9/10).

I have lived in Hampton Cove since August and I have only been in traffic on Governors a few times and all but one time was due to an accident. The other time was when it was a few minutes before the employee start time at the Medical District (8:55AM or 9:55AM or something like that...)

Below are photos of Hampton Cove Elementary first day of school, August 2008

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd316/charles_ucsb/DSC_4222.jpg (broken link)






One of HCES robotics teams during competition in December:

[mm42]

Blossomwood and Jones Valley are great. Hampton Cove Elementary has a good reputation also, but as Charles noted it is overcrowded (with relief in sight when the 2nd elementary school opens in that area). The student/teacher ratio at Hampton Cove is 17, which is very high, and the enrollment is 875, very large for an elementary school. Test scores do not seem to be impacted by the high student teacher ratio, probably indicative of the quality of the kids and parents at the school.

It is much easier to find a nice modern house with all the bells and whistles in Hampton Cove, and the neighborhood amenities cannot be beat. We went through the same decision process last year, although our parameters were a little different because our kids are in private school. We ended up in the Jones Valley area because it is more convenient to school, work, shopping, dining, etc. and we also like the hilly, treed atmosphere.

I don't have any experience with the rush hour drive from Hampton Cove to downtown on 431, but I know that coming over Cecil Ashburn is no big deal, because I tried it several times when we were house shopping.

I think one other difference is that Hampton Cove has a larger percentage of relocatees compared to the intown neighborhoods, not sure whether you would consider that a plus or a minus.

[A_Blevins]

Personally, I would suggest Monte Sano. The elementary school up there is wonderful and you'd be in Huntsville Middle and Huntsville High's school districts.

To me, the houses in Hampton Cove are not well built. I have several friends out there in new homes, and all of them have had some sort of major problem. I have always lived in the older homes in Huntsville and have found them to be much more stable. I lived on Monte Sano for a while and loved every minute of it. Currently I reside in 5 Points - which I love - but the houses there are much smaller.

For schools here, you can't go wrong with Huntsville Middle and High and Grissom High. There is always the private school option for elementary and middle school.

[daac09]

Your responses are very helpful.

Charles, thanks for sharing your pictures; they do give me a better feel for the school. I'm aware of the online ratings but it helps a lot to hear about your family's experiences. For me, the pros for Hampton Cove are the newer homes, neighborhood amenities, and most importantly, the sense of community (especially for my kids). My concerns are that we'll feel far away from things and a little crowded in that area, as well as uncertainties about re-sale value of a home.

How does the sense of community and ability to make friends with neighbors and other young families compare in Blossomwood or Jones Valley?

A - I think that we would love to live on Montesano, but I don't see to many homes on the market there. Am I wrong?

[A_Blevins]

Very few houses go up for sale on Monte Sano, but when they do, they go quick! I know of 4 that are for sale right now on Panorama and Monte Sano Blvd. The community is really tight knit up there and houses are generally passed down through families.

[mm42]

In town is going to be more of a mixed bag.

For Jones Valley, if you are in Greenwycke Village or Jones Valley Estates, you are going to have lots of kids and a community pool and it will be easy to make those connections. But some of the other parts of Jones Valley are going to be less kid-friendly and harder to network.

Similarly for Blossomwood. There are neighborhoods where you can walk to the pool (Blossomwood or Mountain Springs) and the school and they are going to have more kids and more social opportunities, but some of the other areas that feed Blossomwood School will not be that way.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by daac09

Your responses are very helpful.

Charles, thanks for sharing your pictures;

My concerns are that we'll feel far away from things and a little crowded in that area, as well as uncertainties about re-sale value of a home.

How does the sense of community and ability to make friends with neighbors and other young families compare in Blossomwood or Jones Valley?

Some activities for kids middle school age and up are located on the west side of Huntsville Mountain and Green Mountain - things like Huntsville Lacrosse, Huntsville Swim Association and AYSO soccer (though there is soccer and basketball and baseball/tball at Hampton Cove and HC has a summer swim team). This spring for example I will have to schlep three kids out to Hunt Park for AYSO soccer because Huntsville Eastern League (the league at HC) doesn't do soccer in spring.

HC is definitely not crowded; just the opposite. There is a sense of spaciousness with the 270 degree view of the foothills including Huntsville Mountain and Drake Mountain.

I don't know if HC resale is any more vulnerable than anywhere else; in fact, due to it's strict HOA and covenants, I think maintaining property values is one of the highest priorities of the community.

I have four girls 9, 7, 5 years and 15 months old.

One thing to consider is age of homes. Houses around five to ten years old seem to have a lot of kids around that age. I don't know if that is the case for homes 30 years old.

Avoid neighborhoods with streets that slope or are hilly. Kids like to play on flat streets. It's harder to play ball or ride scooters or skates on streets that are hilly. It's a real bust if there is a lot of traffic. Look for neighborhoods with lots of cul de sacs.

If you find a house in a candidate neighborhood, I strongly urge you to get out of your car, walk up to at least three houses on that street, knock on the doors and ask to get a real idea of just how many kids live on that street. That's what we did. If a neighbor points at some homes and says "retired", "teenagers", "single", "retired", "empty nesters", "widow", then I would cross that house off the list.
If they point and say "two kids over there, twins over there, three kids over there..." then you end up having bus stops that look like this:

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd316/charles_ucsb/DSC_4251.jpg (broken link)


http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd316/charles_ucsb/DSC_4252.jpg (broken link)

[daac09]

Thanks for the input.

Charles, thanks for more great pictures. I see your point about the HOAs in Hampton Cove. My concern for re-sale value (more accurately, ease of re-sale) comes from looking at listings in the area on realtor.com and other sites. My impression is that there are a TON of houses for sale in HC, including multiple great looking houses in my price range that seem to have been on the market for a really long time. Maybe this is just due to the sheer number of homes in the area (or due to getting my info from the internet rather than people who actually live in the community), but I worry about this.

mm42 - Since you had a similar dilemma, are you happy that you chose Jones Valley? What are the drawbacks? I think I'm leaning more in that direction just for the convenience of being closer to my job, etc, if we can find the right home.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by daac09

My impression is that there are a TON of houses for sale in HC, including multiple great looking houses in my price range that seem to have been on the market for a really long time. Maybe this is just due to the sheer number of homes in the area (or due to getting my info from the internet rather than people who actually live in the community), but I worry about this.

Maybe one of the forum's realtors, who have their hands on the databases, can provide an assessment of whether there is a disproportionate number of homes for sale in HC. Maybe the percent for sale in HC is the same as everywhere else. Or, maybe there is a higher percentage of homes for sale. It's hard to tell from tools available to us. Someone would have to analyze the data.