Hoover Alabama

When people visit Birmingham Alabama, it can be a bit confusing.  To drive around, it would appear to be a large city with a large population.  But looks can be deceiving.

The actual city of Birmingham only has 212,237 people living within the city limits.  But the Birmingham Metro has over 1,000,000 people.  Where are all the others?  They live in the 30 suburbs that completely surround Birmingham causing it to be landlocked.

The largest suburb by far is Hoover.  There are 84,126 people living there.  The second largest is Vestavia Hills with 34,018 in population.  Quite a difference between numbers 1 and 2.

Hoover Alabama sits astraddle two counties located along the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.  Both Jefferson county and Shelby County Alabama are represented in Hoover.  Hoover is home to the Riverchase Galleria which is one of the largest shopping centers in the southeastern region of the United States.  It is also one of the largest mixed use centers in the entire country.

Many consider Hoover to be the most desirable suburb of Birmingham.  The average price for houses/condo's in the area is $251,300.  That compares favorably to the average sale price for homes in the state which is $123,200 and extremely favorably when you compare it to the average sale price for homes in the city of Birmingham which is $87,700.

The average rental amount for the city of Birmingham is $694.00 while the average rental amount for the city of Hoover is $909.00.

According to the FBI, the average number for crime in the United States is 297.4.  While the city of Birmingham has a number of 769.7 - the city of Hoover's number is 170.9 which means that Hoover is way below the national average for crime according to the FBI.

The city was named after William H. Hoover, a local insurance company owner and was formally founded on April 28, 1967.  Prior to that, it was known as the Green Valley community.  Originally planned as a residential community, commercial growth took off like a rocket after the opening of the Galleria in 1986.  It is now home to several large corporations such as Blue Cross/Blue Shield.

The weather in Hoover is mild to moderate with long hot summers and relatively short mild winters. Since most of the city sits atop a mountain or high hill, the breezes coming through the many trees, makes the summers more than bearable.  Occasionally it sees snowfall but not enough to boast about and when it does, the snow has usually melted before sundown.  Since this is central Alabama, it is humid and there are mountains and a bountiful amount of tall hills.  So when it rains and the temperatures fall at or below freezing, ice can and oftentimes does form on the streets making them practically impassable.  Luckily, that only happens once or twice a year and some years not at all.

The pictures below were taken during the winter of 2013.  Look at all the abandoned vehicles on highway 31 which cuts all the way through Hoover.  This was truly an exception to the rule and everyone was caught off guard.

The scenic beauty of this area is truly amazing.  Mountains, tall hills, deep valleys make driving in this part of the country anything but boring.  Add to that the fact that the residents have long been staunch protectors of the natural beauty and you have a gorgeous place to call home if you live in this area.

There are so many things to see and do that I can't imagine anyone getting bored here.  Lots of extremely well maintained parks, walking trails, hiking trails, boulder parks and of course, Aldridge Gardens.

Aldridge Gardens is named after the Aldridge family who originally owned and developed these gardens as their own private sanctuary.  The family house still stands and is now the visitor's center and offices for the gardens.  Many new forms of roses and especially hydrangeas have been cultivated here.  It's in high demand as a venue for weddings and family reunions.  It's also a wonderful place to sit and read a book while watching the many birds, ducks and other water fowl on the lake.

Another big draw in Hoover is the Lover's Leap hiking trail which boats a diner at the top with extraordinary views.  

Another great hiking and rock climbing park is known as the Moss Rock Preserve and Boulder Field.  Repellers and zip liners love this park.

Around the turn of the last century Hoover (and Birmingham to a lessor extent) was fairly isolated from the rest of the country.  This all changed with the creation of the Brock Gap rail line that cut through the mountains and opened the area up to the railroad.

Hoover is home to one of the finest comparably sized city owned baseball parks in the country.  It was used for years by the Birmingham Barons and was actually where Michael Jordan played his first professional baseball game.

Star Lake is another favorite outdoor spot for people in the area.  It boasts fishing, boating and beautiful sceneries all year long.

Hoover is proud of its veterans and boasts a well maintained and well equipped Veterans Park.

Here's a view of one of the fire towers in the area, complete with the requisite buzzards.

If golfing or visiting a world renowned spa is your idea of fun, Hoover has that as well.  The Hoover country club is first class.  Named after the iconic Ross Bridge (picture below), I don't think anyone will disagree that the Renaissance-Ross Bridge Club Resort is one of our country's finest.  

If fishing or canoeing is your thing, there's always the Cahaba River.  One of the cleanest and most staunchly protected river sections in the country, this river runs through Hoover, parts of Birmingham and through many of the other suburbs of the metro area.  

  

Add all of this to the exceptional school system and the many theaters, fine eating establishments and other amenities of this city, and Hoover is a great place to call home!

This once great neighborhood can make a comeback!

Norwood is an historic neighborhood of Birmingham, Alabama in the northeast corner of the "North Highlands" area.

Norwood's borders follow an irregular path of creek, roads, and railroad tracks. Village Creek forms the northern border for 1.24 miles. To the east, the border comes down along the Louisville & Nashville Railroad's track to Interstate 20/59, then follows the interstate west to Vanderbilt Road; it then follows that road down to Richard Arrington, Jr. Boulevard and back to the east to the railroad and then down to the southern border. The southern border follows 9th Avenue North southwest to 31st Street North, then turns due west until meeting Arrington Boulevard; it follows Arrington briefly before turning due west again across the interstate to meet Carraway Boulevard. Carraway is the western border up to 19th Avenue North. The northwestern border follows 19th Avenue east to the Southern Railroad track, then follows the track NNW back to Village Creek.

The location of this neighborhood is ideal.  It is a 10 minute walk from the BJCC, 20 minutes from Linn Park and about that distance from the Railroad Park.  Interstate access is literally next door to the neighborhood and it lies smack in the middle between the downtown area and the airport.

The neighborhood was designated an historic neighborhood in 2012.  The main street in the neighborhood (Norwood Blvd) had been on the National Registries for many years prior.

In 2013, the popular television show and magazine, "This Old House" comprised a list of 61 historic neighborhoods nationwide that they viewed as the best historic neighborhoods in which to buy and renovate.  In the southern region, Norwood was number 2.  Nationally, Norwood was in the top 61.  The results were based on community involvement, purchase price, condition and cost of renovation as well as the city in which the neighborhood was located.

Once Norwood is brought back to life, it will be the largest restored historic neighborhood in the state of Alabama.

This neighborhood has a total of 3,510 people.  The houses  are built in the styles of Craftsman, American foursquare, neoclassical, prairie and various victorian era styles.  Prices for these houses range the gamut of well under $20,000 (for fixer uppers) all the way to over $120,000 for the more renovated and completely renovated houses.

There are over 1,000 homes included in this neighborhood.  They range in size from 2 bedroom bungalows all the way to 8 bedroom mansions.  As a matter of fact out of the 1,000 homes included 382 of them have more than 4 bedrooms and 352 of them have 4 bedrooms.

Below are just a sample of both renovated homes and homes in need of renovation as of December, 2014.

The house below is the original home of Dr. Charles Carraway.  He was the namesake for Carraway Blvd and also for the Carraway Hospital. Both of which are in the Norwood neighborhood.

When this neighborhood was developed around 1910, it was a well planned neighborhood with a gorgeous scenic boulevard running the middle.  This neighborhood was where the doctor's, lawyers and entrepreneurs built their dream houses.  In the mid 1960's, the development of Interstate 20/59 cut the neighborhood off from having direct access to the rest of the city and in effect gave the neighborhood 1 easy way in and out.  It was about this time that the original homeowners began moving to the suburbs.  Was it because 20/59 was built near their homes or because 20/59 made it much easier to live outside the city yet commute to the city for work? Probably a combination of the two.  At any rate, the neighborhood began to see a gradual decline with fewer professionals either buying into the neighborhood or staying.  After a time, people focused on other historic neighborhoods, buying up the properties, renovating them and turning them into thriving districts while Norwood was all but forgotten.  As a result, many of the stately mansions have either been torn down, burned down or left to fall down naturally.  

Beginning in about 2005, a renewed interest in the neighborhood flared.  Many young professionals who wanted to own and renovate a mansion but had been priced out of many of the historic neighborhoods began to buy and fix up those in Norwood.  The Village Creek that runs for over a mile on the edge was cleaned up and turned into the Village Creek Greenway. An involved homeowners association was developed and a group known as the Norwood Resource Center began to sponsor such yearly events as the "Couch to 5K Walk/run", the "Blvd Blast 5K", the "Garden Workday" and the "Norwood Market at the Trolley Stop".  A "Learning Garden" and community garden was developed.

Below is a picture of the running trail that follows Norwood Blvd.

The following shot is of a small portion of the Norwood Learning Gardens.

This picture is of Norwood Market at the Trolley Stop.

This neighborhood is an incredible area with tons of history as well as charm.  The rents in this neighborhood are diverse.  There are apartments that rent for as little as $350 a month and some single family dwellings that rent for as much as $1,200 a month and everything in between.

As with all historic neighborhoods, if people don't come in and turn it around, it will eventually become a ghetto wasteland.  Sadly we've seen far too many of those.  However, every time a house or apartment building is renovated, the neighborhood goes up a notch.  The property values goes up a notch and the rents go up a notch.  

Norwood isn't beyond repair - yet.  I'd live in one of those majestic mansions sitting on the winding gently sloping historic Norwood Blvd.

But that's just me.