We are relocating to AL, wife is from there, has family in Winfield, Sulligent and Northport and other locations, She wants to be back by her family and I could care less where I live as long as there is food. She wants to be close to the beach so she is looking at Fairhope, Daphne, Spanish fort, and Foley. I asked in GD and I got a lot of good results but you guys are there, and is Theodore and Grand bay a bad area? We vacationed to the Gulf shores a bunch of times and that is why she is fixated on that area. I am in school for Servers and networking so I am saying Mobile because I would think that is where the work is going to be. We also were thinking Chelsea I guess which is the nice burb of Birmingham. I have no clue but I don't want to be that guy that keeps her away from her family. We are also interested in new home construction, there seems to be a lot of nice houses built after 2002 and I know it is in a flood area but I would love a basement, for a office or 3-4 bedrooms so I can have a office.

I work in Mobile(Help Desk-IT job) but can't really comment on the safe areas. I drive into Mobile for work and back across the bay as soon as I can leave. Not sure what server level jobs are in the area but Baldwin County won't stop growing and one of these days more IT jobs will show up on that side of the bay. My drive is 100 miles round trip, been doing it for 20 years and it's not really that big of a deal once you get used to it. Summer traffic at the tunnel isn't fun but it's like clockwork. It's going to be backed up in the summer. I'll take 1 hour each way to live in the country and not Mobile.

As far as a basement, I don't anyone in Baldwin County with a basement. You'd have to find a house on the side of a hill to dig into and even then I don't think that would work.

First off you won't find a home with a basement in South AL. The soil is just too wet and you'll have nothing but issues. Mobile has more rain per year than Seattle, WA.

I lived in Loxley, AL for 3 years. It's about 15 minutes from Foley and about 30 minutes from the beach. It had quick access to I-10 which gives you easy access to Mobile. In Baldwin County you can pretty much pick anywhere to live since there aren't many bad areas. In Mobile County you have to be more selective and know where the bad areas are.

Living South of I-10 usually means you have to have hurricane coverage on your insurance. My yearly home insurance was about $2,000 - $2,500 a year.  You don't have to worry about flooding in Baldwin County much, but Mobile County has more low lying areas. I wasn't in a flood zone in Loxley.

So would Fairhope and Spanish Fort be in the flood plain, We pay a ridiculous amount of property tax here in IL so 2k a year is nothing. I don't mind finding a job anywhere and don't mind a commute I would think there are IT jobs all over but Mobile will have the most.  I know a few members told me to contact them and they would help with the job search when I am ready so we are keeping all options open. We looked at Huntsville 1st but she decided she wants close to the beach and who am I to argue with that.

Fairhope and Spanish Fort should be fine unless right next to the water. If you look on the county maps they have floodplains based on 0-100 year events. Property tax for my house after filing for homestead exemption was around $500-600 a year.

Oh, and if you need a good realtor in the area check out Bay Breeze Realty in Fairhope. I used them for buying and selling my home there. They are a smaller husband/wife outfit, but you'll receive some top service from them.

Theodore is just a suburb of Mobile, and parts of it are even served by Mobile Police and Fire-Rescue. The is a high school (Theodore High School) and it is close to I-10 and Hwy 90 for easy access to downtown Mobile and Baldwin County. The areas around the high school are okay, but there are some apartment areas to avoid.

Grand Bay is more rural, with farms all over the place. It had a high school until about 15 years ago until it was closed and folded in to Bryant High in Irvington. Grand Bay has some small grocery stores and pharmacies, but you'd have to go to Tillman's Corner or in to west or central Mobile for better shopping (Publix, etc).

Irvington and St. Elmo are similar areas located north of Bayou La Batre. Mostly rural with a Dollar General and the odd gas station scattered here and there.

Wal Mart is building a large distribution center (over two million square feet) just off I-10 at exit 10. We're hoping that it will spur business to move westward and maybe more homes and stores will be built in the area. It would be great to have a Publix in Theodore or Tillman's Corner to give Greer's and Winn-Dixie some competition.


ETA: Basement? Ha! Enjoy your indoor swimming pool. The water table is way too high for basements down here. Although, you could build up like the houses on Dauphin Island...

West Mobile is golden, I too looked east at the daphne area, but traffic is not something I want to deal with in AL.  Coming from two big city areas, no commute is good.  West of the airport and your good.  I arrive late july so I look fwd to getting together and meeting like minded gun nuts.  If you get out of work before 3pm then you can live east, if not... Go west young man.  See ya'll soon!

I think I just found my next house. I just need to figure out how to get them to not sell it until next year.

Here

Looks like that place has been for sale for several years, slow moving area.  Nice parking!  Just think about lugging your safe up them stairs.

What safe? Are you getting me one for a house warming gift? I don't have enough firearms to get a safe.

from what I have been seeing, Mobile is a very gun friendly town, so your collection may grow quickly