We Are Considering Moving To Alabama…

[RetiredAt49]

My DW and I visited Alabama several months ago. We currently live in Idaho and are tired of the extremely long winter/cold conditions and we want to move South.

Just recently some property near Montgomery and another large acreage in Wetumpka hit our radar and we are seriously considering pulling the trigger.

Those of you who are living (or have lived in these areas), we would love your thoughts/opinions. Thank you!

 

[Surewhitey]

Northern AL is much nicer scenery. Rolling hills and near the Smoky mountains. Aunt and sister recently moved to the Scottsboro area. I'd consider this area. SIL lives just east of Athens in an old field. Not my cup of tea for scenery, but all are near the Smokies.

But then Montgomery is near some great coastline... Hmmm

 

[Sunset]

The usual advice is to vist for a couple of months , rent some place to test it out.

Especially as being there in the Summer will be a lot different than in January.

 

[NameTaken2]

Northern AL is much nicer scenery. Rolling hills and near the Smoky mountains. Aunt and sister recently moved to the Scottsboro area. I'd consider this area. SIL lives just east of Athens in an old field. Not my cup of tea for scenery, but all are near the Smokies.

But then Montgomery is near some great coastline... Hmmm

+1
Drove north through Alabama years ago. Most of the drive, saw no location I'd consider moving to. Then in the northern part of the state found ourselves driving through the rolling hills noted by Surewhitey -lots of forested/green areas. Nice vs the red clay to the south IMO.

 

[Surewhitey]

True on living there. Go in August after a good rain. Humidity (and mosquitos) are a couple of things that will test you. We lived in SoCal & I miss the dry air... Here's a pic of Aunties house on the hill in January. 360 views and not many neighbors.

Property tax is one of the lowest on a positive.

 

[Badger]

I lived in Montgomery (Maxwell AFB) in 1960/61 when I was a young teen. I didn't care for it much then but it was a time of turmoil. I have been back to visit my sister since then and I don't see Alabama having changed too much. The far north of the state is a bit better in Huntsville. Sister was glad to get out of Birmingham to move to Huntsville. She probably would have move elsewhere but her grown children with their young ones are in Madison.

Cheers!

 

[ShokWaveRider]

I have a friend that moved to Northern Alabama (Tuscumbia), he hates it and cannot wait to sell his home and leave. Unfortunately, it seems really hard to sell, and it is not a shabby home either.

 

[RetiredAt49]

I have a friend that moved to Northern Alabama (Tuscumbia), he hates it and cannot wait to sell his home and leave. Unfortunately, it seems really hard to sell, and it is not a shabby home either.

Could you please share why your friend doesn’t like it?

 

[RE2Boys]

For what's it worth, I lived in Alabama for 22 years and very much enjoyed my time there. But spent very little time in the southern half of the state......too hot, too humid, two buggy, and too poor for my taste. The northern one third was much too my liking. The Huntsville area is an economically powerhouse and I believe it recently became the largest city in the state. Easy access to Tennessee for outdoor activities. We have toyed with moving back someday from northern PA but family keeps us here. While we don't get much extreme cold, we do get the lake effect snow storms (just snowed two days ago), and enjoy a true four seasons.

 

[Qs Laptop]

My DW and I visited Alabama several months ago. We currently live in Idaho and are tired of the extremely long winter/cold conditions and we want to move South.

Approximately what part of Idaho are you currently living?

I ask because the Boise area is on my radar for relocating, and as I understand it, the winters are fairly mild with not much snow. (I'm currently in Minnesota, which just set a record for annual snowfall.)

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Could you please share why your friend doesn’t like it?

Unfortunately, cannot get into the details on this forum, but pretty much most things. Lack and overall quality of healthcare, people's general attitudes etc.

 

[Lakedog]

Have lived in several states over the years (TN, OR, AL, FL, GA, NC, SC). I lived in north AL (Bankhead NF area south of Huntsville) a couple of years long ago but more recently on Lake Martin (just northeast of Wetumpka) for several years and really enjoyed the area. The lake might skew my opinion a bit but no complaints from my time there. Wetumpka is a very nice small town which I would definitely prefer over Montgomery. The people are as friendly as anywhere I've been. Health care access was comparable to other places I've lived so don't see that as much of a negative. Still have lots of friends in the Wetumpka area. If you have specific questions feel free to PM me.

 

[isisdave]

Maybe around Huntsville. You might consider just across the border in Tennessee (no income tax).

 

[stephenson]

Lived in Montgomery for a year, from north Florida, travelled widely in military and corporate jobs.

I cannot effectively express how awful Montgomery is ... dead end jobs, dead end culture, racist, rundown, terrible public education system ... I could go on with my opinions.

If I HAD to live in Alabama it would be far further south ... coastal, like Daphne or Fairhope. Inland I would pick only Birmingham due to relatively advanced and progressive nature, plus outstanding medical care.

Montgomery? Ewwww.

Just my opinion, though.

 

[skyking1]

Approximately what part of Idaho are you currently living?

I ask because the Boise area is on my radar for relocating, and as I understand it, the winters are fairly mild with not much snow. (I'm currently in Minnesota, which just set a record for annual snowfall.)

Boise is indeed a relative banana belt. You can grow a nice garden there.
It is amazing what a little elevation and positioning can do.
All around there it can be a real challenge, but that Boise bowl can be nice.

 

[Out of Steam]

The Huntsville area is an economically powerhouse and I believe it recently became the largest city in the state. Easy access to Tennessee for outdoor activities.

I've only been to Huntsville briefly for work, but it made a positive impression. But it wouldn't be for me, as I'm struggling with summer heat and lack of winter in Virginia.

 

[Surewhitey]

Crime in Huntsville would keep me away from the city. Niece just bought a house there & made me look...

 

[big-papa]

My cousin and her husband live in the mountains northwest of Gaylesville in the northeast part of the state and love it there. Pictures she posts from her deck are stunning! It's fairly remote, but that seems fine with them.

Cheers

 

[frayne]

Originally from Ohio and I've lived in the NW Georgia area for the past fifteen years. I'm right on the Ga.,Tn., Alabama border in a bedroom community of Chattanooga, Tn. I like the change of seasons with mild winters, golf year round and being close to the grandkids. We are about halfway between Atlanta and Nashville and there are plenty things to do right around Chattanooga as well. What I don't care for is the increasing traffic on I-75/24/27/59. There are some crime problems pretty much confined to the urban areas of the city, gangbangers shooting each other. If you suffer from any allergies, BEWARE, the native Indians use to call the Tennessee river valley, the valley of the sick head. The heat and humidity in the summer takes some getting use to but the spring and fall are exquisite. My advice is to spend some time in different areas and at different times of the year and see what best fits. Good Luck.

 

[Fermion]

If you have a place on priest lake in Idaho, I'd housesit for you in the winter

Some of the best snowmobiling in the country.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Personally, I would steer clear of any of the poorest states, but that is just me.

https://www.fcnl.org/updates/2022-10/top-10-poorest-states-us

 

[RetiredAt49]

If you have a place on priest lake in Idaho, I'd housesit for you in the winter



Some of the best snowmobiling in the country.

Nope but we have a cabin in Island Park just 25 minutes from West Yellowstone and the snowmobile trails there beat anything I’ve seen…. We just want a primary home in warmer climate [emoji1]

 

[Walt34]

Personally, I would steer clear of any of the poorest states, but that is just me.

https://www.fcnl.org/updates/2022-10/top-10-poorest-states-us

Well, it isn't accurate to characterize all of any state by it's reputation. Although we live in West Virginia, it's not all Appalachia or even close to it. When we told friends and family where we were moving we got a lot of "You're moving WHERE?" But we do in fact have clean running water, indoor toilets, reliable electricity and (obviously) access to Internet. Other than significantly lower traffic levels (one of the main reasons we moved) and real estate prices I didn't notice a lot of differences between here and ten miles from Washington, D.C. where we used to live.

Unfortunately a lot of other people are figuring that out and are moving here too. All in all though, we'd miss out on a lot if we had written off the entirety of WV because some parts of it are not where we'd want to live.

 

[38Chevy454]

*Every* state has good and bad points. Go and check out the area. Nothing like personal experience to help make a decision. Talk to people, ask questions, and stay in different seasons as suggested. You have limited experience there already. Just increase that as much as you can.

I've only driven through or stayed along the gulf on RV trip. So can't help out much with my opinion.

In my working career I moved several times to new locations. I always landed ok and tried to make the best of my new area. Some I was ready to leave, some I would have stayed and been happy.

 

[simple girl]

We lived in Birmingham, AL for 6 years and loved it!

We made wonderful life-long friends and I really think that's what all the difference was for us. (Note: We lived in MS, too, in a small town in the country. Everyone already had their lifelong friends and honestly no one wanted to make time for newbies - we found it a very isolating place to live with few activities of interest.)

In addition to the above, the surrounding area and northern parts of Alabama are just BEAUTIFUL. It reminds me of the gorgeous hills of PA where I grew up. We love to hike and canoe and there were so many wonderful options. We joined a hiking club and just have the best memories from that, as well as from a dancing group I belonged to.

I would not have wanted to live in the countryside, though. I suspect that may have been an experience similar to when we lived in a small town in MS. We liked having access to a fairly large city and having diverse things to do. In addition, the medical care at UAB in Birmingham was top notch!

Caveats? Tornados. They are really bad in the spring. And the heat and humidity in the summer is bad. And, you are a fairly long drive from the ocean, if that is important to you. In addition, the winters can get pretty cold for a bit, so if year-round warm temps are your thing, go further south. We now live in FL and love it even more (minus the hurricanes, lol, you can't have everything), but I really do miss the lush hills and hiking of northern Alabama.