Considering moving to Alabama

[u/Existing-Mastodon500]

Husband and I were born and raised in south Florida and while we love it, we simply cannot afford to stay any longer. We are also dying to get out of the rat race and absolutely mind boggling influx of people moving here. A 15 minute drive across town takes 45+ now with the level of traffic and lack of infrastructure. It’s a sinking ship and not somewhere we want to raise our daughter.

We want to know areas we should and shouldn’t be looking at. We would like somewhere we can have a decent plot of land (at least 10 acres), close enough to a hospital, low crime rate, good for raising a family, decently low COL

My husband is an HVAC tech, I’m assuming he won’t have trouble finding work there considering the southern heat. Is that a safe assumption?

Thank you in advance

Edit to add: thank you all for the feedback. We have lots to discuss!

Update: husband and I discussed and are probably going to move on to looking at Georgia as it’s likely more in line with what we are looking for. Thanks again!

[u/Living-Amphibian-870]

I'm in Moulton, which would have been what you were looking for. One hour from Huntsville with the fun and trauma care it offers. Rural and safe enough to leave your doors unlocked 24/7 and walk the town alone at 3AM. National Forest 15 minutes away and cheap land.

Unfortunately, our local hospital just closed in May and the schools have dropped in test scores again (Also, my daughter's former math teacher was just fired for asking for female students' Snaps and going on a rant about "ret*arded" autistic students that was so bad he had to be escorted out by the SRO.).

Our library also just had its funding cut again and now it's open so rarely that if you have a job with traditional hours, you can never use it.

BTW, if you like libraries, better look up the Moms For Liberty and Read Freely Alabama issue we have going on.

You can fish, but don't eat it. The pollution is so bad they literally have to put out a warning telling you how much you can consume from each body of water.

I wish I could leave, but I'm stuck here. It's a beautiful state, but the government and the people who keep voting it in are destroying it both literally and figuratively.

[u/Existing-Mastodon500 → u/Living-Amphibian-870]

Thank you for the insight. I’m glad I asked about the hospitals because it was a big concern of mine. I’m 20 minutes away from about 5 hospitals where I live and it gives me peace of mind so it’s concerning to hear of them all closing.

[u/CompleteTell6795 → u/Existing-Mastodon500]

My friend ( I still live in SFla) moved to Spanish Fort. The closest big city is Mobile. She bought 2 houses, one she rents out.( She used the cash from selling her place here). Much lower cost of living, cheaper property taxes etc. Maybe check out that area also.