Moving to Montgomery (AIRFORCE) what can I expect?

What's can I expect, will it be the OLD SOUTH or what, what there to do?

Montgomery itself is a big small town, but is really close to lots of other bigger cities with more to do (like Mobile, Birmingham, Atlanta and the football capital of the South - Auburn!(WAR EAGLE!)

It's also VERY close to a 44,000 acre pristine lake - LAKE MARTIN. Maxwell Gunter AFB actually has a recreation area up there that you can take advantage of by camping and hanging out on the water. I don't think it costs anything to get in as long as you have your military ID.

Lots of fun stuff to do there including wakeboard, skiing, concerts, etc.

For more info: www.lakemartinmagazine.com

Welcome to the South!
Nikki

Thanks, great website.

nikki don't lie to him,alabama is a suckey state .dude if you can go somewhere else,GO

mware wrote:

nikki don't lie to him,alabama is a suckey state .dude if you can go somewhere else,GO

From what I’ve seen of Mo, you guys have the same amount of suckey state stuff going on as we have in Alabama. The big difference being, we don’t whine when the temperature gets over 86 degrees. So, go ahead and tell us how you do it up north.

My husband was stationed at Maxwell in 2001, we desided to live in Prattville. 1. The schools unless you go private are much better. 2. The crime rate is much lower in Prattville.

My husband has been retired since 2003 and we desided to make Prattville our home. The kids love the schools. We like the small town feel of Prattville.

http://www.prattville.com/

I am not sure if you have children or not, but that made our choice easier.

Well, I have only been there once. It was only for the evening, so I don't really know what to think of it. I am from out of state and I go to a university about an hour from it. My friend who is doing his internship there doesn't like it. He is from Colorado Springs, incidentally. He calls it "Monkeytown". I suspect that this has something to do with it having many African Americans and a "ghetto fabulous" feel. Most of the South has a lot of African Americans, but Montgomery is in the "Black Belt," and hence has more still. I gather that this name wasn't initially acquired because of the high number of blacks, but because of the black soil which caused much cotton to flourish, which conversely meant that it had an inordinate number of the blacks as slaves; and their descendants still inhabit the region en masse. If you are gay, you can check out 'Club 322' which is located downtown. It stays open very late. They have a show featuring lots of drag queens and male strippers. I'm not sure that it's called "Monkeytown" for this reason - it is just my suspicion. If someone knows that this is incorrect (or correct), do tell.

P.S.

Here is the website for that gay club if you want to check it out:

http://www.club322.com/

There are a couple more but I don't know the names of them. There is a bar which isn't gay but half the people in there were which stays open 24/7. It is called 'Johnny Zips' or something like that. It was kind of sleazy though, so be careful if you go to that one lest someone beat you up.

clr wrote:

My husband was stationed at Maxwell in 2001, we desided to live in Prattville. 1. The schools unless you go private are much better. 2. The crime rate is much lower in Prattville.
My husband has been retired since 2003 and we desided to make Prattville our home. The kids love the schools. We like the small town feel of Prattville.
http://www.prattville.com/
I am not sure if you have children or not, but that made our choice easier.

Thanks for the info on the schools i have two school age kids 13 and 11 they will be a year older when we get there next year how is the real estate market.

What school will they attend if i move to Prattville at that age?

I consulted with my friend in Montgomery on the schools for you. He reports that the public schools in Prattville "hardly anything to write home about", but that they are light years better than the ones in Montgomery. He reports that it's the same with Elmore County, which contains an unincorporated hamlet turned suburb called Blue Ridge on the edge of Montgomery which is very wealthy and much nicer than Prattville - which he says is as redneck as all outdoors. He reports that if you can't afford a private school, the redneck public schools in the suburbs post much higher SAT averages than the ghetto schools in town.

If you truly want an outstanding education for the youths, he reports that you have two options:

The first is the private Montgomery Academy, which has many grads attend Harvard, Yale, Berkeley, Stanford, Duke, Princeton and the like every year:

http://www.montgomeryacademy.org/DesktopDefau...

The second option is the private Catholic school, Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School. Here, the youths through the eighth grade attend one of two other Catholic prep schools and then they all tranfer here for the final four grades. While they don't have quite as many grads go to Harvard and the like, it is the only other school in the Montgomery area which is far above the national average in academic standards, SAT scores and the like. Most in Montgomery are far below the national averages as well as Alabama averages. Montgomery Catholic Prep's tuition isn't as high as Montgomery Academy's either.

http://www.knights.pvt.k12.al.us/

This a seperate state. Blacks on the Slum side and whites on the rich side. If you are prejudice, you will fit right in. If not, you will not. The schools suck as well as most of the people.

There are more private schools than public and they are cheap compared to private schools in NC. We moved from Illinois to Alabama and the private schools here are more challenging than Illinois' public system. Plus, they all have athletic programs including football. Several have 1,000+ students.

Ollie wrote:

This a seperate state. Blacks on the Slum side and whites on the rich side. If you are prejudice, you will fit right in. If not, you will not. The schools suck as well as most of the people.

Ollie, do you really know most of the people of Montgomery? Don't look at it as “black and white,” try looking at it as “people who enjoy an evening grilling out in their yards with friends and feeling relatively safe, as apposed to people being robbed at gun point while they are grilling out in their yards.”

Airman wrote:

What's can I expect, will it be the OLD SOUTH or what, what there to do?

I'm still in the military and still have kids in private schools in Prattville. The public schools have gone down hill quite a bit and are very overcrowded due to the growth of Prattville and the new "mall area and Bass Pro Shops". If you like to golf and do outdoors type activities all year long then you will most likely be okay here. The only thing that drives me nuts about being here is the whole Auburn/Alabama football subject. The people here will literally pick a fight with you if you don't like "their team" or say anything that is not positive. Also talking football 24/7 and 365 days/year is really grinding but the folks here will do it. The real estate market is softening a little but it is still pretty healthy when compared to other areas of the country. Stay out of the Montgomery public schools!!! Believe it or not, you may not want to shop in Montgomery county at all due to the 10% sales tax too. Montgomery county is one of the most corrupt and mismanaged cities in America. Come to Maxwell or Gunter to work and live outside of Montgomery in Prattville or Millbrook. Any other questions, let me know. Yak

Come to Maxwell or Gunter to work and live outside of Montgomery in Prattville or Millbrook. Any other questions, let me know. Yak. This i can do, Thanks

Born & raised in Montgomery, moved to Atlanta, now in Tallassee. Overall view; Montgomerians have the same aggrevating ways as most cities. Bad driving, inconsiderate public actions and a need to prove themselves. What will nail you? If you don't like the following, you're gonna have stress: 1. Montgomerians seem to have a "&^%$ You" attitude. They'll jump in your lane, cut you off, talk LOUDLY on their cell phone in resturaunts/stores/anywhere with no concern for others then look at you as if your wrong when you glance at them. 2. It's true, the public schools have a D- national average across the board! Just check any .gov site. 3. Yes, Montgomery is 58% african american, 36% white, 6%. So if being a minority makes you uncomfortable, your probably gonna stay inside the base. Please understand, most are not raised with honor, motivation and integrity. These are NOT Martin Luther King disciples. They are used to taking what they want, getting ANYTHING for free that they can lay their hands on, talking anyway they want (even to police and your children) & seem to NEED attention on an intrusive level. Playing LOUD music so you'll notice, talking as LOUD as possible, screaming at each other in public and on and on... These are the bare FACTS from someone who was there for MANY years, and who got the heck outta there. Good luck my friend!

WHEW!!!

Kris wrote:

Born & raised in Montgomery, moved to Atlanta, now in Tallassee. Overall view; Montgomerians have the same aggrevating ways as most cities. Bad driving, inconsiderate public actions and a need to prove themselves. What will nail you? If you don't like the following, you're gonna have stress: 1. Montgomerians seem to have a "&^%$ You" attitude. They'll jump in your lane, cut you off, talk LOUDLY on their cell phone in resturaunts/stores/anywhere with no concern for others then look at you as if your wrong when you glance at them. 2. It's true, the public schools have a D- national average across the board! Just check any .gov site. 3. Yes, Montgomery is 58% african american, 36% white, 6%. So if being a minority makes you uncomfortable, your probably gonna stay inside the base. Please understand, most are not raised with honor, motivation and integrity. These are NOT Martin Luther King disciples. They are used to taking what they want, getting ANYTHING for free that they can lay their hands on, talking anyway they want (even to police and your children) & seem to NEED attention on an intrusive level. Playing LOUD music so you'll notice, talking as LOUD as possible, screaming at each other in public and on and on... These are the bare FACTS from someone who was there for MANY years, and who got the heck outta there. Good luck my friend!

I don't know what Air Force you are a member of, but you sound like a true racist to me. I'm white and I was born and raised here, I also served 24 years in the United States Air Force and you are a total disgrace in my opinion. Why don't you go to your commmander and tell him that you can't be stationed here because it's not compatible with your taste. Besides, we don't want you here anyway. Go back to Colorado or where ever you came from. We don't need comments like yours about our state and our people, black or white. I just hope you come here with that attitude and let "Monkey Town" or any other comments you use slip in the wrong place. You'll see then what being in the South is all about.
You make me sick! You are supposedly in the Air Force and going where they need you to go, but you've got to get on a public forum like this and cuss us, before you ever even have a chance to experience what this area has to offer. If you had any guts at all, you would use your real name. I'm Tim Jones in Prattville, you come see me and I'll set you straight mister. You've got it all wrong about the South. I've lived in Colorado, Texas, and several other countries and I loved everywhere I was stationed. I appreciated the opportunity to tour the world while serving my country. Maybe you should look for a new profession since you are so unhappy with the one you are in now.
You contact me when you get here.
CMSgt Timothy Jones (I'm in the book)
USAF Retired
Proud American and Veteran.

Brian wrote:

Well, I have only been there once. It was only for the evening, so I don't really know what to think of it. I am from out of state and I go to a university about an hour from it. My friend who is doing his internship there doesn't like it. He is from Colorado Springs, incidentally. He calls it "Monkeytown". I suspect that this has something to do with it having many African Americans and a "ghetto fabulous" feel. Most of the South has a lot of African Americans, but Montgomery is in the "Black Belt," and hence has more still. I gather that this name wasn't initially acquired because of the high number of blacks, but because of the black soil which caused much cotton to flourish, which conversely meant that it had an inordinate number of the blacks as slaves; and their descendants still inhabit the region en masse. If you are gay, you can check out 'Club 322' which is located downtown. It stays open very late. They have a show featuring lots of drag queens and male strippers. I'm not sure that it's called "Monkeytown" for this reason - it is just my suspicion. If someone knows that this is incorrect (or correct), do tell.

You can expect crime to exceed your expectations. you can expect within the next 5 years for this town to be overrun by blacks. You can expect your stuff to be stolen, your family to be humiliated in some way.

Dont come here Montgomery sucks! I have lived here for 41 years and I know the changes. Anyone that comes here and says they love it. do not know about it. This place is crap

Like some of the other people said. The crime rate has been up in the last two years. but you can always find something to do especially if you are into theatre,dnace, arts, stuff like that. I f you get bored, Birmingham is an hour away,Atlanta(2 hours), Gulf shores and florida( beaches), Mississippi(3 hours) casinos, but we have a few here in the surrounding areas. The clubs depending on what kind of music you like have things going on all the time. for all types around Montgomery. The Thursday paper has a GO! Section in it and it tells all of the happenings for the weekend at clubs and bars. Live music, We always have artists coming to perform. I t really depends on the kind of person you are. Homebody or Club body. lol. Every one is different when it comes to living somewhere. some adapt and some don't and always find something to complain about instead of moving. I have lived here all 28 years of my life and i make the best of it. The cost of living is pretty good even with the 10% sales tax. If you are making $30K or more you are considered ok as far as making ends meet here. It also depends on the side of town you are living on or visit. So its what you make it. There are friendly people here. me being one of them.Private schools are good. One of our magnet schools got Blue ribbon School of Excellence 2007. Some of the schools are trying to do what they can. One of our public school has achieved Torchbearer School for 2 years Which means it is given to schools with high poverty and the kids academics are very high.So its only what you make it and what you like to do.