re: Looking at a promotion in Birmingham- Need insight.

Good to know...

I lived in Birmingham for 10 years after moving from New Orleans. I am hoping to move back to Birmingham. Live in the right area and you will never worry about crime. A lot of the rough parts of Birmingham are closer to downtown and the airport and north side. The suburbs are safe. It's called "the good side of the mountain." Roads are way better than New Orleans, and the upper-middle class white area in the Hoover and Brook Highland area is extremely expansive.

It is way bigger and more spread out than most people think. The natural landscape is beautiful with rocks, creeks, mountains, and trees. The Summit is a beautiful shopping area on top of the mountain off Highway 280. It's a great place to raise a family. Most houses in Hoover have large yards with hills and trees. Mountain Brook in the Highland Park area is also very beautiful in an old-fashioned way. Take a trip there and see these places and you will be impressed. Birmingham is not full of hillbillies like you would think.

What others say about distance to other places is very true. Only a short ride to the beach, Smoky Mountains, Atlanta, and Nashville. I left Birmingham at 7:30 and was in New Orleans before noon.

Weather is great. Hot in the summer, but fall is beautiful with color, and you usually get just enough snow ever year to have fun with it.

Tornadoes are a very real threat. Get to know James Spann the weatherman on ABC3340 real quick.

Yes, Dallas has more to do, but I would live in Birmingham any day. It's prettier by a mile and closer to other cool places by car.

Highland Park:

Summit Shopping area:

I did what you are contemplating about 14 years ago. It took a full year to get acclimated and for the first several months I wasn't sure. Now, I hope they bury me here.


I've lived in the biggest cities in 4 SEC states and Birmingham is my favorite. You can move around in traffic, the people are friendly, the topography is nice, and the weather is great for about 10 months a year.

I lived in B'ham pre-Saban, so I didn't have to deal with as much bull from the Bama fans then during the Shula days. Auburn was good then, but they aren't as crazy as Bama anyway, so their fans weren't assholes or wore their colors in every outfit like Bama fans. It's a nice town as long as you live in the burbs. Really nice golf courses to play, and some nice lakes and hiking areas if you're outdoorsy. Eventually just got homesick too much and moved back to be closer to family and friends. If you don't have that many ties to Louisiana, you could do worse than the Birmingham area.

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What part of Birmingham should I be looking, considering I'd rather not pay tuition?

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Homewood and Mountain Brook are the two best public schools in Birmingham. Mountain Brook is very expensive though. Your listed household income is below the average for that area.

I'd try there or look into Vestavia, Oak Mountain, Hoover (Spain Park, not Hoover High), or look out in Trussville.

ETA: The complaints about 280 are kinda overblown. It's bad in rush hour traffic, but no worse than Airline Hwy. The only part that is bad is that wrecks don't move out of the road and clog roadways. I don't know why this is a bigger problems on 280 than it is everywhere else, but it is.