Best Area to Live with a View?

To those of you who live in Huntsville. Where is the best area to Live where you have a view? We%26#39;ve lived in the mountains in N. Nevada and although we like the 4 seasons and trees, it will be hard to look out over just flat land.

Best Area to Live with a View?

I think the East and Southeast sides of town have the nicest views. There are lots of trees and the terrain becomes much more hilly than the west side of town. As you go west towards Decatur the land really flattens out quickly, with lots of cotton fields and pasture lands, which is pretty in its own way, but there aren%26#39;t many hills.

I%26#39;m not sure how rural of a setting you%26#39;d like, but here are some nice places around town. The west side of Monte Sano has a lot of neighborhoods with views both looking up at the hill and down at the city. Monte Sano is a hill and 2000 acre state park just on the east side of town (probably 3-4 mile drive from downtown) that is approx 1000 ft higher than downtown. Owens St area east of downtown has nice views looking up at Monte Sano and is only about 2 miles from downtown and very convienent to everything. The houses were built from about 60s-80s, there are lots of nice trees giving the area a private feel even though the lots are all less than 0.5 acres. This is considered a pretty ';desirable'; part of town. Off Bankhead Parkway going up Monte Sano, there are neighborhoods with great views looking north of Huntville towards Tennessee. On top of Monte Sano, there are some properties that have great views of the city and looking north of Huntsville, but they don%26#39;t seem to go for sale very often. There are a few very high end neighborhoods high up on the hills overlooking the city, Governor%26#39;s Bend, Cliff%26#39;s Edge and The Ledges come to mind. These are huge, very expensive homes. They have incredible views and I don%26#39;t now your financial situation, so I thought I would tell you about them.

Hampton Cove area out 431 South is another pretty area surrounded by hills. This area is VERY suburban, basically all new construction and has a bit of a reputation around town as being ';snobby';. An area I like is Jones Valley. This is a very nice suburban area in southeast Huntsville surround by hills that is very convienent to everything. Jones Valley has a mix of new and older (back to the 60s) houses. This area is around 4 Mile Post Road and Carl T. Jones Rd.

Heading out 72 East, there are numerous neighborhoods in different price ranges that have hills surrounding them just outside of town. Also, if you keep going about 15-30 minutes from town towards Gurley, Paint Rock, Woodville... the area is much more rural. You may be able to find land out that way.

The area by Guntersville Lake is absolutely beautiful as well. There are hills surround the lake and it is much more rural. However, this area is 45 minutes minimum from Huntsville. It is a big lake, so the distance depends on where you are on the lake.

I%26#39;m sure there are other areas, but these are some of the places I%26#39;m familiar with. Good luck with your decision.

Best Area to Live with a View?

Check out Keel Mtn Estates in Gurley just off 72E. Some beautiful mountain top lots with views are available and it%26#39;s a short drive from Huntsville. Kind of a rural development with large 1+ acre treed lots. There%26#39;s also some nice views from the Hytop and Skyline areas of Jackson County just north of Scottsboro on Hwy 79 off of 72E. You might also check out the Princeton/Hollytree/Swaim area of the Paint Rock Valley just past Gurley and north of 72E on Hwy 65. Land prices will be be much lower in these areas than in Huntsville.

I agree with Coaster. If you want some space and a view, the area out 72E is great. I always enjoy driving through that area. Coaster, do you know what the 1 acre lots go for out there?

Keel Mtn. Estates has several phases now. They were in phase one%26#39;s early development when I bought 2 choice bluff lots that were close to 3 acres about 12 years ago. If I remember correctly I paid about $35-40k for both. I sold those long ago though. I believe the lots are now going for around $30k each. The Powells own most of the land on Keel Mtn. and have done the development. I believe the widow of Ed Powell is still in the real estate business and would be the one to contact- her name is Kimberly Powell. Last time I priced land in Skyline and the other areas I mentioned the prices ranged from a few hundred dollars an acre for rugged mountain land to around $20k for something in a development with a view but that was 6-7 years ago. At the time though that was some of the best land prices around and still within a decent drive to Huntsville. Limestone county prices (where I live now) are pretty good too but views are hard to come by (but I have one).

Keep Mtn. Estates has lots from 1 acre for $25,000 up to 4 acres with a stocked pond for $85,000. They have a minimum 2,000 sf building restriction. Horses are allowed, but no mobile homes. Septic tanks are used, but water, electricity and garbage are from Huntsville Utililties. Some of the lots can even be subdivided.

It%26#39;s about 21 miles to the exact center of Huntsville (downtown) or about 28 minutes drive.

Lots of new construction in the Northeastern portion of Huntsville and Madison County as well as the area of Owens Cross Roads and Brownsboro. New Market also has a lot of open land and acreage, but not as much with the views you%26#39;re talking about.

We have an extremely lovely area with lots of smaller mountains and lush green valleys. Absolutely fabulous place to live. Clean, green and beautiful. High economic level, high educational level, high tech jobs, lots of green space, good mixture of recreational activities, the arts, sports, outdoor activities, low taxes, low utilities, low traffic (especially compared to Birmingham, Nashville, Chattanooga, Atlanta, Houston, Memphis). Centrally located just 2 hours South to Birmingham or North to Nashville, 1.5 hours North to Chattanooga, 4 Hours East to Atlanta and West to Memphis and only 6 Hours to Orange Beach!

Hope you will seriously consider our lovely valley. We have many retirees here and coming here. Can send you references if you%26#39;d like. Some from Virginia, California, Florida, Georgia and they can tell you how they like it compared to where they used to live.

Any questions,send another post and I%26#39;ll try to find out for you.

Would love to read an update to this question. I have lived most of my 57 yrs in New Orleans. My house escaped flooding although my condo got some water. My friends and I would move if we could decide where to go. Life is terrible here in New Orleans post-Katrina. I will certainly evacuate to Huntsville for our next hurricane evacuation.

We are tired of getting ripped off my contractors and forking over our hard-earned savings to a bankrupt utlityu company who expects the few of us us who returned to pay for all of the Katrina damages. We are sick of political corruption, skyrocketing property taxes, soaring sewerage and water board fees to pay for a system that is over 100 years old. Although we will miss New Orleans, we will not miss the hell we are going through to try to live here. and let me mention that the police must concentrate on pursuing murder cases so we need to work with the FBI and Attorney General to pursue contractor fraud. Robbery is too prevalent to pursue.

I am an environmental health scientist, and job opportunities abound in my field everywhere. I have enough money to not work another day if I wanted to but will not have it if I stay here.

I will miss the Louisiana Philharmonic Symphony, the New Orleans Museum of Art, the wonderful Audubon Zoo and the magnificent Aquarium, the music, etc. And I will lose a lot of money trying to sell my home that was designed by an architect that studied under Frank Lloyd Wright (38 skylights over 30 squares, cork floors, copper fireplace). But it will be nice to have a grocery and drug store nearby in the parish, and some neighbors.