Moving Here? Need Advice? Help Us Help You. (Birmingham, Hoover: appliances, townhomes)

[Arshness]

Can anyone comment on the Crestwood, Avondale, Highlands areas? I've been directed there by some friends who live in Birmingham and know the area far better than me but I'm hearing mixed things about the safety in Crestwood too... Any more information is appreciated.

[cpg35223]

Originally Posted by Arshness

Can anyone comment on the Crestwood, Avondale, Highlands areas? I've been directed there by some friends who live in Birmingham and know the area far better than me but I'm hearing mixed things about the safety in Crestwood too... Any more information is appreciated.

We lived in Avondale for 14 years and never had a thing happen to us.

[Arshness]

I know someone here suggested we check out highlands on this thread and I had a friend we got in touch with in Birmingham tell me that Crestwood is up and coming and renaissancing and that it would be a good place for us.

So we're going to go drive through those areas tomorrow and try to find anything for rent.

[bham2b]

1) In what area of town will you be working? Really important stuff, that. And what kind of commute time are you wanting?

I will be working in downton, 6th Ave. S. I would like a commute under a 1/2 hour. Wife will be in school at UAB.

2) Do you have a price range for your house or apartment?

200k to 300K. Of course the lower the better.

3) Do you have children? Do they have unique educational needs?

Yes, he is 3 with no special needs. Whatever house we might buy must be zoned for a good elementary school. We have really been looking at Vestavia, Trussville, and the Edgewood/Shades Cahaba areas of Homewood. We would love Mt. Brook, but there is very little in our range.

Trussville seems to have the most for the money. There are lots of houses priced below the 2011 tax assessment value. The area also seems to have far more inventory for sale than the others. Is there a reason for this?

Vestavia would be more convenient and I think preferable, but it is much harder to find something we like in our price range.

4) What do you enjoy the most during your free time? The arts? Fine dining? Sports? Hiking? Or just getting away from it all?

Free time? I like outdoors, watching sports (TV), and fishing. My free time revolves around my son and I'm sure will remain that way for a while.

5) Do you have special medical needs?

No.

6) Do you want to be in a neighborhood where everyone knows one another or do you simply don't care?

Knowing people is nice, but affordability, schools, yard, basement (Wife is terrified of weather), updated kitchen (don't have time to remodel), and commute are more important - basically in that order. We are both from the south, love it, and hope to never leave it again.

My wife is going back to school and we would likely be looking to re-sell in 4-5 years when she is done. We have considered renting, however, we hope to be in the Birmingham area for a while and we have spent the last 6 years bouncing around the country. As mentioned, it is also very hard to rent with a large dog.

[cpg35223]

Originally Posted by bham2b

1) In what area of town will you be working? Really important stuff, that. And what kind of commute time are you wanting?

I will be working in downton, 6th Ave. S. I would like a commute under a 1/2 hour. Wife will be in school at UAB.

2) Do you have a price range for your house or apartment?

200k to 300K. Of course the lower the better.

3) Do you have children? Do they have unique educational needs?

Yes, he is 3 with no special needs. Whatever house we might buy must be zoned for a good elementary school. We have really been looking at Vestavia, Trussville, and the Edgewood/Shades Cahaba areas of Homewood. We would love Mt. Brook, but there is very little in our range.

Trussville seems to have the most for the money. There are lots of houses priced below the 2011 tax assessment value. The area also seems to have far more inventory for sale than the others. Is there a reason for this?

Vestavia would be more convenient and I think preferable, but it is much harder to find something we like in our price range.

4) What do you enjoy the most during your free time? The arts? Fine dining? Sports? Hiking? Or just getting away from it all?

Free time? I like outdoors, watching sports (TV), and fishing. My free time revolves around my son and I'm sure will remain that way for a while.

5) Do you have special medical needs?

No.

6) Do you want to be in a neighborhood where everyone knows one another or do you simply don't care?

Knowing people is nice, but affordability, schools, yard, basement (Wife is terrified of weather), updated kitchen (don't have time to remodel), and commute are more important - basically in that order. We are both from the south, love it, and hope to never leave it again.

My wife is going back to school and we would likely be looking to re-sell in 4-5 years when she is done. We have considered renting, however, we hope to be in the Birmingham area for a while and we have spent the last 6 years bouncing around the country. As mentioned, it is also very hard to rent with a large dog.

I might suggest the Cahaba Heights section of Vestavia. It's inside 459, überconvenient, you get Vestavia schools and it's a relative bargain compared to the rest of Vestavia. Worth a look in my book.

Edgewood/Shades Cahaba part of Homewood is also really good, but more expensive. Trussville is nice, but kind of far out for an easy commute.

I did a quick search on realtysouth.com for Vestavia homes under 300K and found a bunch. Try this link:

http://realtysouth.com/PropertyResul...der=descending

[Slp1991]

Hi,
I'm a 21 year old girl and this is the first time I'll be moving to another city, I'm from North Alabama. I'm looking for an apartment that would be fairly affordable, no more than$500 a month and close to the downtown area. I've heard Birmingham is not the safest area so I'm a little worried about this. How safe is Birmingham for a female college student and how is the nightlife and what exactly does Birmingham have to offer for a college student? I know nothing about this place and would love the insight from someone who has actually lived here. Safety is the top priority for me, what areas should I be cautious of? And it seems like a fairly spread out city, is it hard to find your way around?
Any help and info would be amazing. Thanks!

[cpg35223]

Originally Posted by Slp1991

Hi,
I'm a 21 year old girl and this is the first time I'll be moving to another city, I'm from North Alabama. I'm looking for an apartment that would be fairly affordable, no more than$500 a month and close to the downtown area. I've heard Birmingham is not the safest area so I'm a little worried about this. How safe is Birmingham for a female college student and how is the nightlife and what exactly does Birmingham have to offer for a college student? I know nothing about this place and would love the insight from someone who has actually lived here. Safety is the top priority for me, what areas should I be cautious of? And it seems like a fairly spread out city, is it hard to find your way around?
Any help and info would be amazing. Thanks!

If I'm young and single, I would be on Southside. More precisely, the area that surrounds Highland Avenue. Plenty of apartments in that area (Although $500/month will be tough). The area is pretty safe with plenty of things to do in the immediate area. However, as with any larger city, you should always keep a good eye out.

In what part of town will you be working or attending school?

[CakeLady_WPB]

Hope I'm posting in the right place...

My husband is up for a job transfer and his company listed Birmingham as one of the possible cities he could end up in. So, I'm now scouring the internet looking for places in the Birmingham area we could live.

We are late twenties, with 1 child, who will be starting Kindergarten this fall.

My parents and most of my siblings live in the Auburn, AL area - but my husband and I currently live in Florida.

We'd like to move to be closer to my family - though, a 2 hour drive down to Auburn really is not super close. Still better the the 9 hours it takes now, I guess.

Anyhow, we'd be looking for a single family home to rent comparable to what we are renting now which is a 2000sq ft mid-2000's home for 900$/month. Eventually planning to buy, and we would definitely want land, 5 or more acres. Must have an outstanding school district, one where parents are welcome to volunteer and be really involved in. I stay at home, and am tossing around the idea of going back to school when my son starts this fall to finish my degree, so somewhere near a community college or smaller state college even would be nice - but not a deal breaker. My husband currently commutes an hour to and from daily for work, and has for the last 6 years, so we'd prefer to be closer to his work - the problem being the he drives for his job, so - that's not super important either. Somewhere quiet, kind of country-ish, but not super far from good restaurants and shopping? We definitely DO NOT want any type of HOA community, or any place where you pay to be told what to do with your house (We lived in one of those places here and hated it!) and a place where friendly neighbors and a small town like atmosphere would probably suit us really well.

In our spare time we like to do stuff around our house - in particular, I do a lot of container gardening and my husband is a tinkerer. Our son is into riding his bike, t-ball, and hiking.

Thank you in advance for nay help you can provide

[cpg35223]

Originally Posted by CakeLady_WPB

Hope I'm posting in the right place...

My husband is up for a job transfer and his company listed Birmingham as one of the possible cities he could end up in. So, I'm now scouring the internet looking for places in the Birmingham area we could live.

We are late twenties, with 1 child, who will be starting Kindergarten this fall.

My parents and most of my siblings live in the Auburn, AL area - but my husband and I currently live in Florida.

We'd like to move to be closer to my family - though, a 2 hour drive down to Auburn really is not super close. Still better the the 9 hours it takes now, I guess.

Anyhow, we'd be looking for a single family home to rent comparable to what we are renting now which is a 2000sq ft mid-2000's home for 900$/month. Eventually planning to buy, and we would definitely want land, 5 or more acres. Must have an outstanding school district, one where parents are welcome to volunteer and be really involved in. I stay at home, and am tossing around the idea of going back to school when my son starts this fall to finish my degree, so somewhere near a community college or smaller state college even would be nice - but not a deal breaker. My husband currently commutes an hour to and from daily for work, and has for the last 6 years, so we'd prefer to be closer to his work - the problem being the he drives for his job, so - that's not super important either. Somewhere quiet, kind of country-ish, but not super far from good restaurants and shopping? We definitely DO NOT want any type of HOA community, or any place where you pay to be told what to do with your house (We lived in one of those places here and hated it!) and a place where friendly neighbors and a small town like atmosphere would probably suit us really well.

In our spare time we like to do stuff around our house - in particular, I do a lot of container gardening and my husband is a tinkerer. Our son is into riding his bike, t-ball, and hiking.

Thank you in advance for nay help you can provide

Where in the area will he work?

[Slp1991]

I'll be attending UAB so the downtown area I guess.