Information Provided about Kenny's Coverage Area
Restaurants
Kenny Bradford - Property Manager
Madison’s restaurants have the charm and home-cooked goodness you would expect in any Southern city. As for the food itself, for good BBQ or Southern home cooking, the Greenbrier Restaurant is a local fave. Alabama also has some Mexican standouts, like the Casa Blanca Mexican Restaurant + Cantina and the Bandito Burrito of Madison. The city even has some great Asian food at places like Edo, Bento Box, and Charm Thai.
Crime & Safety
Kenny Bradford - Property Manager
Madison is a fantastic place to raise a family, if you have children or any plans in the future. Madison is a great community. Everyone watches out for each other, and even though it’s technically a small city, it feels like a small town. If you don’t believe me, the stats tell their own story: Madison’s violent crime is 65% lower than the U.S. average and 67% lower than Alabama’s average according to 2009 data. I would consider it one of the safest communities in the state, and also in the South.
Recreation
Kenny Bradford - Property Manager
Huntsville has eleven public golf courses, 57 parks, and several annual festivals that take place in the city. Some of the festivals are the music fest Big Spring Jam, the scientific Annual North Alabama International Festival, and the Panoply Arts Festival. As for parks, there are state parks, skate parks, dog parks, gardens, and many other types for any recreation you could imagine. You could surround yourself in nature and wildlife, or grab your skate deck and hit the half pipe. And, of course, the city’s performing arts scene, sports teams, and museums make for interesting places to check out on any day or night.
Economy and Jobs
Kenny Bradford - Property Manager
Huntsville is known for a rather unique industry: aerospace. It is the reason it’s nicknamed, “The Rocket City.” A lot of these companies are in the Cummings Research Park, which is the fourth largest park of its type in the world. The city is also known for the Marshall Space Flight Center, which is the largest NASA center. There are a number of technology companies as well, some of them military. In its ranking of best places in the US to do business, Huntsville ranked #6 overall, and #1 in engineers employed.
Apartment Costs
Kenny Bradford - Property Manager
Montgomery has around 15 post-secondary schools, many of them notable. There’s Alabama State University (5,800 students) Troy University--Montgomery (3,000 students), Auburn University--Montgomery (5,079), Faulkner University (3,500 students)... these are just some of the more well-known schools. Also, the U.S. Air Force’s headquarters for professional military education is located here, at Air University in the Maxwell Air Force Base. The K-12 public schools are operated by Montgomery Public Schools.
Economy and Jobs
Kenny Bradford - Property Manager
As you can imagine, most of Montgomery’s economy is agricultural, like the production of soybeans, peanuts, etc. Behind agriculture is government jobs, or specifically, jobs at the city’s air force base. The base employs 12,000 people. The next largest employer is also government: the state of Alabama, with 9,500 employees. Overall, the city accounts for nearly a tenth of all of Alabama’s gross product.
Schools & Education
Kenny Bradford - Property Manager
Montgomery has around 15 post-secondary schools, many of them notable. There’s Alabama State University (5,800 students) Troy University--Montgomery (3,000 students), Auburn University--Montgomery (5,079), Faulkner University (3,500 students)... these are just some of the more well-known schools. Also, the U.S. Air Force’s headquarters for professional military education is located here, at Air University in the Maxwell Air Force Base. The K-12 public schools are operated by Montgomery Public Schools.
Weather
Kenny Bradford - Property Manager
Bessemer has a subtropical climates where the summers are brutally hot (high 90s/low 100s fahrenheight) and the winters are pleasantly mild (40s/50s fahrenheight). Birmingham is part of the Dixie Alley region, which is part of the Tornado Alley and is extremely susceptible to severe storms. The largest tornado outbreak ever hit the area hard in 2011, as you may remember seeing. But don’t let that scare you, the weather is sunny year round (the summers are very hot though), and if you’ve ever experienced a winter up north then you can appreciate the mild winters in Bessemer.
Traffic & Commuting
Kenny Bradford - Property Manager
Bessemer is within 100 miles of three of Alabama’s finest cities. Montgomery is 94 miles away, Tuscaloosa is 45 miles away, and Birmingham is the closest, at just 13 miles away. I would say that only Birmingham is a realistic everyday commute, although Tuscaloosa is possible if you don’t mind long drives (especially during rush hour). And yes, in case you’re wondering, driving is practically the only way to get around the area. A lot of residents want a bus route, rail, or some kind of public transit that connects Bessemer to nearby cities, but there currently isn’t anything. If you have a car and don’t mind driving, you’ll be fine.
Renter Friendly
Kenny Bradford - Property Manager
Birmingham has a growing rental market that has numerous apartments at an affordable price. The median rent here is $703, which is a good deal less than the national median of $950. There are currently 38,000 properties that are being rented in Birmingham, and of the properties on the market, 47.5% are for rent (only 17% are for sale). Rentals, in downtown especially, have become more popular in recent years as the city’s culinary and cultural scenes have flourished. In a few years, the rent might not be as cheap as it is today, so if you’re going to make a move to Birmingham it should be soon!
Nightlife
Kenny Bradford - Property Manager
Birmingham has venues like the Alabama Theater, bars like the Parkside and the Dram, clubs like the Quest Club, dive bars like Marty’s... anything that a big city needs for a memorable night, Birmingham has. There’s room for classy nights and bar crawl nights in the same weekend here, and activities as different as seeing your favorite metal rock band and checking out the newest gallery at the Birmingham Museum of Art. The best part about renting in Birmingham as opposed to a suburb is the access you’ll have to the nightlife anytime you want.