Tell Me about Trussville (Homewood, Alabaster: rent, HOA fees, consignment)

[bham2b]

I am likely moving to Bham in the fall. I am from the south and have lived in small, midsized, and large cities. Have lived in other areas of Alabama but am still realtively unfamiliar with Bham. I am married, both early 30s, and have a 3 year old son. I will likely be working in downtown Bham. I will most likely rent for 6 months then look to buy. I would prefer my son attend public schools. The conventional wisdom seems to be that Mountain Brook has the best schools. When I compare home prices between Mountain Brook and Trussville, you can buy twice the home, built in the last ten years or so, for what you pay to live in a house built in the early 60s in MB. Greatschools.com rates the Trussville schools at 9 while MB is rated a 10. I understand, however, that Trussville is an up and coming area and has only had its own school system for 10-15 years. Trussville has also just built a new high school, middle school, and elementary. Anyway, I don't want to start a debate over which area is better. I am looking for information.

What is the approx commuting time from Trussville to downtown Bham? What is Trussville like? How significant of a differece does it make if you get outside Jefferson county? Really any information about Trussville would be great. Probably gonna take a weekend trip to the area. Thanks.

[Mouldy Old Schmo]

For a pro-Trussville opinion:

City of Trussville - Welcome

[Keeper]

My daughter has a friend who lives in Trussville and she works in Bham. She loves it there and her home was built a couple of years ago She doesn't have any children so I can't say anything about the schools.

The one thing is if you go into a new subdivision is to check on the CDD and HOA fees.

You can also do a 'search this forum' for Trussville. We have had several threads about it here.

[Hamletxx]

Very Good Post

[kwest205]

Having 2 kids of my own and living near the area I will agree that Trussville has twice the house potential and very nice subdivisions. The schools are good. Paine is a little overcrowded at present but they are working on expansion. The high school is VERY nice and the middle school is where the High School used to be. As for the curriculum It has been awhile since I attended those schools but they have always maintained great scores and have a lot of programs for gifted,special needs and other programs. I hope this helps.

[mamitapreciosa]

Trussville does not take care of it's poor people. A few years ago, a thrift store wanted to occupy space in Trussville. The city not only rejected the request, they BOUGHT the space so no one could put such a business in. I have no love for a city that does not take care of it's less fortunate. The high school is full of heroin users, as is some of the more rural parts of town.
I would NOT live in Trussville, if the home were given to me.
Just my two cents, and I grew up there

[jakabedy]

In regard to the previous poster, the part about the thrift store is true. My take on it is that Trussville wants to be seen in the same light as the Homewoods and Vestavias of the world (if not the Mtn. Brooks) rather than the Alabasters, Pelhams and Gardendales of the world. It occupies a bit of a middle ground right now, and the thrift store move was part of their attempt to move to the next tier. Vestavia also had a recent kerfuffle about a thrift store.

Trussville does have some older, rural areas. And those folks manage to coexist with the suburban influx. I have no knowledge of specific drug use, but I would assume there is some, just like there is everywhere. It is a desirable place to live.

*I have never lived there, and have no vested interest in boosting or warning about the place.

[raj kapoor]

The city was doing what the majority of residents wanted and they elected them to do just that. If a resident wants to seek out a thrift store I am sure they can find one. Most are looking for consignment stores however.

It is sad that we no longer are willing to honor other's desires as well as our own anymore; in fact others seem to always be wrong in eyes of people like mamasita. (she sure seems to know alot about dope)

raj

[cpg35223]

I like Trussville. It's an interesting mix of new suburbs and old small town. That being said, I would really hate to deal with the traffic on Highway 11 every day. It's reading 280-level proportions in terms of nightmarish congestion. It would behoove Trussville to hire a boffo traffic engineer to sort that stuff out before it gets worse.

[jakabedy]

Originally Posted by cpg35223

I like Trussville. It's an interesting mix of new suburbs and old small town. That being said, I would really hate to deal with the traffic on Highway 11 every day. It's reading 280-level proportions in terms of nightmarish congestion. It would behoove Trussville to hire a boffo traffic engineer to sort that stuff out before it gets worse.

Yeah. 11 is a cluster. They need to find a way to shift traffic on the south/east end of the city to the Derby Drive exit on 459 onto Queenstown Road/Amber Hills. But folks who live down that way probably already do that. The fact that all the commerce is along 11, and that everybody wants to stop and shop/eat/whatever on the way home from work is a problem. It just is.