Moving to Birmingham...where to shoot?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Hutch-- WASP. Right wing conservative, middle to upper-middle class Scots-Irish with toe-headed children.

Souris—Shannon looks good when I pull it up on Mapquest; sparsely populated…is it ultra-exclusive, or is there a toxic waste dump there, or…what’s the downside?
Oh, and I LIKE your idea about a B’ham shoot!

Greyhound, rlltdjpr—Will Rt 31 REALLY do me better than 65? I’ve got an option for a short-term lease in Pelham near where 31 and 65 come together. That might make it REAL good, if the alt route is fairly smooth. What’s your experience?
Also, re: CCW…I’ve just renewed mine in Tallapoosa County, so I’m covered…legally…until further notice. My TN CCW is also still active, so I won’t get in too much trouble, I don’t guess.

Ala Dan—I’ll avoid E. Lake, Roebuck, Southtown and Cooper Green like the plague. Thanks for the info. I’d also heard that Bessemer was baaaad, but you’re the first to confirm that.

Also, even though the job is downtown, I plan to get in, and get out. Furthermore, unless there’s a metal detector set up somewhere, I don’t go too many places without my ‘little friend’. :cool:
 
Last edited:
Mr. Monk-

I live in a little section of Hoover called Bluff Park, and its right near 31 and 65. I've tried both and definately prefer 31. In fairness, I can take backroads (Shades Crest Rd) that put me on 31 halfway to downtown.
I guess you just have to try both 31 and 65.

If I ever have to go downtown on the weekends, I take 65.


Good luck!
 
Ala Dan, the Brickyard is gone? Wow.

I lived in Forestdale and worked in Ensley. I was there in 95-96 (when they had that big flood and ice storm). My experience in B'Ham was rather limited to the poor/violent/dangerous north side. Forestdale was actually pretty decent, but Ensley is possibly the most hideous place that I've ever been.

The Brickyard was terrifying. Dead people laying there, and none of the residents cared. And New Years Eve? I'm a jaded gun fanatic, and I'm used to gunfire, but when they lit up at new years, it was continuous gunfire for about thirty minutes, coming from all over the projects. I'm talking probably five hundred seperate weapons being shot (mostly) into the air.
 
The crime problem in Birmingham is serious but managable.The issue of illegal aliens is a growing problem with soem cities ignoring it. I work in the southside in the UAB area and deal with BPD and UAB PD often.Don't under estimate the crime problem but don't fear it.
Moody as I said is a city you should look at. It's growing but you still can get that small town vibe easy . The commute from Moody during rush hour is about 30 minutes.
 
Correia My Friend-

Yes, finally the "Brickyard" has been demolished; and its tennants are
scattered elsewhere. I was talk'in to a Birmingham patrol SGT who is
in charge of 2nd shift out of Ensley, and he says that it has definitely
decreased the crime ratio in his grid. I guess "the boys in the hood"
moved over too East Lake-Roebuck, Southtown, Rosedale, Cooper
Green projects, or Bessemer? Also, the "Little Viet-Nam" section of
Bessemer has been demolished. That use to be a place where the
gang bangers would shoot across the street at each other.

Mr. Monk ole' pal-

Another city just came too mind that might suit your needs. How
'bout Hueytown? Home of "The Alabama Gang"~!:uhoh: No not
gang bangers, NASCAR"S Alabama Gang of Bobby & Donnie Allison,
Red Farmer, and the late Neil Bonnett, Davey and Clifford Allison.
Close to Bessemer, and Simmons Sporting Goods~!:D

Mr. Lone Gunman My Fellow Dixie'Lander-

Vestavia-Homewood, Mtn. Brook-Hoover, and No. Shelby
County are still fairly safe. Of these, Homewood would be my
choice. Biggest crime there is shop lifters, and bad check
writer's (aka: paper hanger's). First rate police and fire
protection. Most criminals infiltrate from "the greater
Bombingham area", as they like too do their shopping at
the more afluent stores (Laughing Loudly~!)
 
Shannon and Moody

Moody might be okay, if the traffic in and out of downtown is not a nightmare during rush hour.

So, what's the story with this Shannon area?
On the map, if B'ham was a "donut" of highly populated area, Shannon appears to be a "hole" of almost nothing...Lakeshore Parkway, Lacey's Chapel Road, and Oxmoor Valley Golf Course. There seems to be almost nothing else in that area.
What's the deal? Does anyone know?
 
Last edited:
Thoughts on Shannon and the Hoover area

Felonious, welcome to the fabled Steel City :)

I currently live in Hoover. While we do face a growing immigrant population here (to paraphrase Seinfeld, "Not that there's anything wrong with that..."), we do have quite the nice little Matchbox community here, or at least that's how I like to think of it...good police and fire coverage and a great school system.

As for Shannon...we lived there (in the Golden Forest Estates area...see "Glenridge Drive" if you're doing the Google maps/satellite/hybrid" thing) and it was VERY nice...quiet, affordable, good, ah demographics...you felt rural but you were 10 minutes from Homewood, Hoover, and Bessemer. This was in the 1995-1997 timeframe. There's been some development out there since, like the Ross Bridge Resort area, but it still looks nice. The big drawback at that time was the school zoning...we were in unincorporated Jefferson County...I don't even know what elementary school we would have been zoned to, but the middle and high schools were many miles away...and you've already read about what fun the traffic can be. We had only one child in school at the time, and she was in a private (church) school then that was closer-by.

Back in those mid-90s days, you could hear shots in the distance as folks from the neighborhood sighted-in their hunting rifles nearby...ahhhhhhhhh, so nice! Don't know if that's still happening out there...I hope so!

I have to also say...HEY Ala Dan! I've been away from these boards for too long...how are you? I didn't know you were at Simmons...I'll have to come see you sometime!
 
Monk,

"On the map, if B'ham was a "donut" of highly populated area, Shannon appears to be a "hole" of almost nothing..."

My understanding of the situation in Shannon is that the area was a major mining area in the past and that most of that land is held by a large mining entity. My wife's aunt has lived there for 30 years. It is quickly losing ground as an osasis from the surrounding cityfied areas. Saw a lot of developement coming in there last Spring when I stayed there a few times.

I agree with Grunt and that you might want to check east of B'ham proper for a place. Traffic can be a bad, but not near what folks see at other main arteries into the city. Plus, I-20 is currently being expanded with more lanes. I worked in Southside (coming from St. Clair Co.) for 10 years and if you do come in from I-20 I could tell you a way into downtown and avoid the 20/59 mess. It threads you through Southtown project, but that's OK during daylight hours.

BTW, welcome to Bama.
 
Forget the 30 minute commute...

...anywhere within 30 minutes of B'ham is dangerous or rundown.

No. Shelby is the place to be
Farm living is the life for me
Land spreading out,
so far and wide
Keep Jeff County,
just give me that countryside...


And I would go ahead and apply to www.scssa.org

You have to have 2 members vouch for you, but thats not that hard. If you like the looks of the place, I'll sign you up:D
 
I'm late getting in on this thread, but here goes...

I live in the dreaded NE corner of the Bham area; ie, Roebuck/Huffman/ Center Point. Where there are people, there will be crime, but the locals are working on restoring the area.

Due to location, I shoot mostly at the ATI range, but am a member at the FOP as well. ( www.foprangeinc.com ). The problem is that the FOP is all the way across town, and makes for a fairly long drive. Both ranges' shops offer reloading supplies and have FFLs. I used to be a member of the Heritage Rifle and Pistol Club, located to the NE in the Argo area. As homes appeared on the ridgelines around the range, I got nervous and left.

One other great thing about Birmingham is that usually there is a gun show every month somewhere in the area. A big one is at the BJCC nearly every other month. We also have Four, count 'em, FOUR Academy Sports stores around Birmingham!:what:

Another vote for Plaza Gun Works!:)
 
GruntII,

I stand corrected, but I never consider Moody *30* minutes from Bham. Probably bacause I was always going to Moody from Alabaster and it took forever to get across 459 to 20....

Wherever you live, you can't go wrong with SteelCity or FOP range or with Plaza Gun Works...Paul is a friend (I use that term loosely;) )
 
Gardendale is also a wonderful starting point, but I'm afraid the 16 min
drive may be a bit misleading; especially on hetic days~!:uhoh: If I
remember correctly, Fieldstown Road is the main drag in Gardendale?
Hey, this city has even been known to host a few small gunshow's~!:D
 
Gardendale.... hmmmm.... Well, depending on the age of your kids, it might be okay. At the risk of sounding like an elitist, the G'dale and Fultondale areas, along with Clay/Chalkville have a reputation of being rather ahhh... rustic. Redneck, not to put to fine a point on it. There are good and bad areas of any bedroom community, but there just ain't gonna be too many College Bowl competitors coming out of those schools, if you get my drift. I hope I've not offended anyone, but you can lose IQ points just stopping there to fill up your car.
 
Thanks. I'm not worried too much about underperforming school system...

See, y'all have to understand: we are 'bout 50/50 homeschoolers. Sound wierd? Yep.

Each year, we kind of look at what's best for each of our 3 kids. We pray, we do analysis of their mental, spiritual, emotional, social, and academic development, and make whatever decision is best for each child, for that year.

Here's the 16yr old girl's record:
pre-K, private school.
K-5, public elem. school.
6-8th, homeschooled.
9th & 10th, public high school.
Her GPA is 3.9, last semester she had straight A's, and is in band, a wrestle-ette, and youth group (church). Quite headstrong, but I can't IMAGINE where she gets THAT. :cool:

14 yr old boy:
pre-K, Kindergarten -- private school.
Grades 1-5, public elem. school.
7th, public middle school.
8th, homeschool.
He's asked to go to public H.S. (where his sister attends) next year, and that's the plan for now.

10yr old girl: (She's been diagnosed ADHD by both a school board panel and one of the best pediatric ADHD specialist east of the Miss. River):
K-1, public elem. school
2-3, homeschool.
4th, 1/2 homeschooled, 1/2 public.
5th: homeschool.

So we are NOT the glazed-eyed, fanatic homeschoolers by any means. We are also not going to let the mediocrity of a local school system's capabilities hamper them from being all they can be.

Rustic is good. Really uneducated, opinionated, trashy redneck is bad. I'll go meet some folks and see what it's like before ever moving there, but there are always ways to meet one's family objectives despite less motivated people surrounding.

I mean, if it's a total loser of a school system, it MIGHT deter me, but if it's just not the "trendiest" school of the moment, but otherwise with competent and caring teachers and administrators, we can WORK with that.
 
Howdy,

I live over in Riverchase (Hoover).

I would suggest somewhere in Hoover, Alabaster, or Pelham. There are a TON of neighborhoods going in and a wide range of prices. If I had my pick, I would live in Shelby county over Jefferson County.

I used to work right across the street from AL Power building at BellSouth. My wife works at UAB now.

You are at an advantage with the attached deck, walking to and from work was always an adventure since I had to park 6 blocks away and often worked late.

There is a pretty good cafeteria attached to the AL Power building, but you probably won't want to eat there every day. There are plenty of restaurants around, but you just have to keep an eye open.

That area is pretty busy, lots of folks working in that area and it's relatively safe.

The big problem with it IMHO is that there is a Greyhound bus station very nearby and a ton of panhandlers and EDP's milling about. I would see someone being cuffed and stuffed outside the station nearly every day. There were a lot of bum fights, purse snatchings, etc.

For shooting: There is a free range at the Cahaba Wildlife Management Area (cheap access or hunting license required).

The best place on my side of town is Steel City Sports Shooting Association.
http://www.scssa.org/

One of my buddies is a member at this place, it's too far for me:
http://www.hrpclub.org/

In Jefferson County, you will need to be a resident for either 3 or 6 months (can't remember) and 3 signatures of residents before you can get your CCW. It's cheap and can take 3 weeks to process (though mine was turned around in less than 24 hours).

In Shelby Co. they run an instacheck on you and hand you your permit. No sigs or waiting period required when I lived there.

Did I mention that traffic sucks? It's a way of life here though and you're probably going to be screwed no matter where you live if you are headed downtime in the morning.
 
For my last renewal of the Jefferson County CCW, I was offered and sprang for the additional $2.50 laminating job on the card...for a total of $10, it's just an amazingly low cost to pay each year compared to what I've heard/read about some locales outside the state.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

spencerhut
  • Locked
Thinking About Moving from CA to Oregon
2
Replies
32
Views
1K
springmom
S
4
  • Locked
Where to Live in NW OR/SW WA To Freely Shoot In Your Backyard/Close To Your Home?
Replies
18
Views
3K
PBinWA
P
T
  • Locked
Where to Shoot in Ohio
Replies
11
Views
814
The_Armed_Therapist
T
E
  • Locked
Want to move to Texas
2 3 4 5 6
Replies
126
Views
7K
Acera
Acera
J
  • Locked
Issues with Moving to a More Rural Community
Replies
13
Views
516
Sam1911
S
Back
Top