Thanks for all of the information in the first Huntsville thread. Can you guys give me a little information on which areas are good places to look. We would probably want to be reasonably close to things like grocery shopping, hair/nail salons (yeah, i know), etc. A golf course/country club type neighborhood with tolerable rules would be nice. I was looking online and saw a golf community named "Canebrake". The houses were nice, but the cost per square foot was surprisingly low ($115'ish per sq. ft.). Does anyone know what the reason for that might be?
OT: Huntsville, AL II
- Thread starter AlSwearengen
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You want Hampton Cove or Jones Valley. Don't move to Madison. When people complain about 'chain restaurants' in Huntsville, 9 out of 10 times they're really talking about Madison.
Here are some pictures of Jones Valley and Hampton Cove:
Hampton Cove Country Club (about a mile from my house) -
I wake up to this every morning:
Jones Valley:
Here are some pictures of Jones Valley and Hampton Cove:
Hampton Cove Country Club (about a mile from my house) -
I wake up to this every morning:
Jones Valley:
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Agree with 57
I even got a house on the poor side of Snob (Hampton) Cove I'll put on you right. Only problem with Hampton Cove is the traffic. I got a friend who lives 5 miles further (Monrovia/Madison area) that can get to work on RSA as quick if not quicker than me. But if you can travel outside of 7:15-8:00, the traffic's pretty light. A lot might depend on where you're going to work. Seems like a lot of people in Hampton Cove area work from home (a lot of engineering nerds like me, too). I got divorced & moved to South Huntsville because I wanted a cheap, small house & to be closer to work. Traffic is much, much lighter here (at least on my route to work). Resale in Hampton Cove is about as good as it gets, too. My house is on a busy road, or I would have already sold it multiple times (that's killing me). It's also a little older than a lot of the newer, cheaper construction (doesn't have all the things Mama's want nowadays but is probably built better).
What sort of work you looking for? My company has a lot of openings in the engi-nerd type fields right now. PM me if interested. Know a lot of other nerds around here, too. Also, Hampton Cove has 2 of the best (if not the best) public elementary schools in the county (single middle school that is also one of the best). Sorry for the disjointed rant. Been a long day & got to go on travel tomorrow.
I even got a house on the poor side of Snob (Hampton) Cove I'll put on you right. Only problem with Hampton Cove is the traffic. I got a friend who lives 5 miles further (Monrovia/Madison area) that can get to work on RSA as quick if not quicker than me. But if you can travel outside of 7:15-8:00, the traffic's pretty light. A lot might depend on where you're going to work. Seems like a lot of people in Hampton Cove area work from home (a lot of engineering nerds like me, too). I got divorced & moved to South Huntsville because I wanted a cheap, small house & to be closer to work. Traffic is much, much lighter here (at least on my route to work). Resale in Hampton Cove is about as good as it gets, too. My house is on a busy road, or I would have already sold it multiple times (that's killing me). It's also a little older than a lot of the newer, cheaper construction (doesn't have all the things Mama's want nowadays but is probably built better).
What sort of work you looking for? My company has a lot of openings in the engi-nerd type fields right now. PM me if interested. Know a lot of other nerds around here, too. Also, Hampton Cove has 2 of the best (if not the best) public elementary schools in the county (single middle school that is also one of the best). Sorry for the disjointed rant. Been a long day & got to go on travel tomorrow.
I agree with these 2. I live in Hampton Cove also. Couldn't be happier. Close to just about everything. 5 minute drive to Jones Valley which is about to explode ith high end retail/restaurants.
I'm in Hampton Cove, too. Been renting a house here for a couple of years, but will not buy. And yes, I play quite a bit of golf...
Mainly, I don't mind the drive over the mountain every morning. I'm from Atlanta, and find it rather relaxing. But everyone else in this town thinks I live on the other side of the moon and never come to visit. Me: "Hey, how about dinner over at our place sometime this week?" Them: "Oh...that's just soo far! How about we meet somewhere instead?"
Also, just about everything we want to do is "over there"... Movies, meet up with friends, splash park, etc...
We'll be buying in Jones Valley, as it's the most close-in, but you've got to search _hard_, as some houses/areas are great and most are crap! If you like the country club life, strongly consider Valley Hills CC area.
I would really discourage anyone from Madison. Reminds me to much of suburban Atlanta. All these people everywhere and crap roads...
Mainly, I don't mind the drive over the mountain every morning. I'm from Atlanta, and find it rather relaxing. But everyone else in this town thinks I live on the other side of the moon and never come to visit. Me: "Hey, how about dinner over at our place sometime this week?" Them: "Oh...that's just soo far! How about we meet somewhere instead?"
Also, just about everything we want to do is "over there"... Movies, meet up with friends, splash park, etc...
We'll be buying in Jones Valley, as it's the most close-in, but you've got to search _hard_, as some houses/areas are great and most are crap! If you like the country club life, strongly consider Valley Hills CC area.
I would really discourage anyone from Madison. Reminds me to much of suburban Atlanta. All these people everywhere and crap roads...
Canebrake:
I built the golf course at Canebrake back in '97 for a rich developer that got greedy and lost his *** on poor decisions. Course and neighborhood were bought by an out of state investor; and I chose to part ways for "a better opportunity". Any way out of state investor rode the real estate storm for a few years and then sold to a local Athens group who now have it. Athens is a nice small community about 20 miles west of Madison, no mall or large fancy retail outlets, but if you don't mind the drive to Madison or Huntsville it is a solid option for being close but not in the middle of everything.
Athens has one public high school that is probably 1,000 to 1,200 students vs Huntsville with 3 that are probably 1,500 to 1,800 each. Not that you mentioned it as a concern but private schools in the N. Alabama area are non existent.
Decatur is also a good option with more to offer than Athens. Decatur is 50,000 plus with two large high schools and a great public school system. Burningtree Country Club is your golf option there, not as fancy a layout as Hampton Cove or even Canebrake, but a well established facility with a nice neighborhood.
I definitely think Athens or Decatur would be a less expensive option than Hampton Cove or Jones Valley, both with instant access to I-65 for north south travel.
I built the golf course at Canebrake back in '97 for a rich developer that got greedy and lost his *** on poor decisions. Course and neighborhood were bought by an out of state investor; and I chose to part ways for "a better opportunity". Any way out of state investor rode the real estate storm for a few years and then sold to a local Athens group who now have it. Athens is a nice small community about 20 miles west of Madison, no mall or large fancy retail outlets, but if you don't mind the drive to Madison or Huntsville it is a solid option for being close but not in the middle of everything.
Athens has one public high school that is probably 1,000 to 1,200 students vs Huntsville with 3 that are probably 1,500 to 1,800 each. Not that you mentioned it as a concern but private schools in the N. Alabama area are non existent.
Decatur is also a good option with more to offer than Athens. Decatur is 50,000 plus with two large high schools and a great public school system. Burningtree Country Club is your golf option there, not as fancy a layout as Hampton Cove or even Canebrake, but a well established facility with a nice neighborhood.
I definitely think Athens or Decatur would be a less expensive option than Hampton Cove or Jones Valley, both with instant access to I-65 for north south travel.
We have lived in HSV for almost 20 years after graduating from M-State. Both myself and my wife are from Petal. We absolutely love it here and would never go back to MS. My parents also moved from Hattiesburg/Purvis to Decatur after retirement and are now moving to HSV. I think they have really enjoyed living in Decatur the last couple of years. There's a lot going on in downtown Decatur.
I personally would never live in Madison, simply because of the traffic, but they do have good schools.
HSV schools are currently in a desegregation battle with the DOJ that could cause the whole school system to get turned upside down and inside out. We moved our family to a desirable school district a few years ago (Blossomwood) and invested a lot of money in our home. The potential rezoning battle could put that investment into jeopardy. So, we are just waiting to see what happens in the next year or so. If you have school-age children, this is something to consider.
As for good areas to live in HSV: Blossomwood, Jones Valley, Monte Sano, South HSV, Hampton Cove, 5 Points, and Downtown are all good depending on what you are looking for. My parents just bought a new home in Jones Valley and I think it's a great neighborhood. One thing about Hampton Cove is that you have to drive over the mountain to get into HSV, but there is a fair amount of stuff there too. Blossomwood and 5 Points are really close to downtown and have easy access to I-565 which can quickly get you to Research Park or the Arsenal. Jones Valley is also fairly centrally located with tons of shopping and eating.
As for golf courses: Jones Valley has "The Ledges" which is a mountain-top resort community and very pricey. There's also Cherokee Ridge to the south of HSV which I believe is reasonably priced, but would be in the Arab school district and would be about 20-30 minutes from HSV.
I personally would never live in Madison, simply because of the traffic, but they do have good schools.
HSV schools are currently in a desegregation battle with the DOJ that could cause the whole school system to get turned upside down and inside out. We moved our family to a desirable school district a few years ago (Blossomwood) and invested a lot of money in our home. The potential rezoning battle could put that investment into jeopardy. So, we are just waiting to see what happens in the next year or so. If you have school-age children, this is something to consider.
As for good areas to live in HSV: Blossomwood, Jones Valley, Monte Sano, South HSV, Hampton Cove, 5 Points, and Downtown are all good depending on what you are looking for. My parents just bought a new home in Jones Valley and I think it's a great neighborhood. One thing about Hampton Cove is that you have to drive over the mountain to get into HSV, but there is a fair amount of stuff there too. Blossomwood and 5 Points are really close to downtown and have easy access to I-565 which can quickly get you to Research Park or the Arsenal. Jones Valley is also fairly centrally located with tons of shopping and eating.
As for golf courses: Jones Valley has "The Ledges" which is a mountain-top resort community and very pricey. There's also Cherokee Ridge to the south of HSV which I believe is reasonably priced, but would be in the Arab school district and would be about 20-30 minutes from HSV.
5 Points is similar to the Cotton District in some ways. It's a trendy older neighborhood from the 50's that has really seen alot of renovation/flip projects in the last few years. We strongly considered buying in there, but future property values concerned me. We might buy a new $150,000 house with $50,000 houses on either side under the assumption that they would be renovated as well. What happens if they don't get renovated? There's alot of that stuff in 5 Points.
Also, the Southern half of 5 Points is much nicer than the Northern half - Pratt Avenue basically being the divider.
Also, the Southern half of 5 Points is much nicer than the Northern half - Pratt Avenue basically being the divider.