Tuscaloosa, Alabama

OkHuckleberry4907
2y ago
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I feel like Tuscaloosa and auburn are pretty comparable as college towns, where life revolves around football, but I’m bias “Roll Tide”

The food scene in Tuscaloosa is a bit lack luster in my opinion. It’s a few international restaurants in the area, but not sure if they are all 100% authentic. You will have a few good options, and if you get tired of it bham is just a little drive away.

Tuscaloosa has a Sam’s club, Fresh market, Publix, and the standard places such as aldis, Winn Dixie, Walmart and target.

I currently live in “The Townes” and it’s safe with good schools nearby and easy access to the lake for warm weather activities. I am considering moving down the street to a new subdivision for a bit more yard space but I love my neighborhood. It’s very kid friendly and they enjoy decorating for the holidays so be prepared for that, you don’t want to be the family that doesn’t decorate.

I have one specialist doctor in the DCH tower that’s a good guy but he is the only one I see in DCH, there is a great ENT in town, but for anything else and any type of emergency I recommend going to UAB

Para has several programs and activities that you can join and I’m sure soccer is an option. I haven’t seen any posts about pickle ball, but I think they have it periodically at North river yacht club and at Indian hills country club.

Bear_Upstairs
21d ago
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Welcome to Alabama! Tuscaloosa is a beautiful centrally located city in AL, it is largely a “college town” where the University has a lot of pull in the local economy and politics, but it slows down a lot in the summer/winter break times as the students usually leave.

From my experience, it’s a bit hard to make friends as a permanent resident because most of your age group has a 2-4 year lifespan here and often moves on elsewhere after graduation, lots of social activities are centered around the bar scene. Birmingham is a fun bigger city an hour away with better nightlife and more stuff going on.

It’s a fast growing place with new stuff popping up all the time, if you’re into hiking, fishing, football, or hunting -this is a great place for you! Downtown is fairly safe, like most cities, there are areas to avoid but I feel generally safe just about anywhere and haven’t really experienced any of the petty theft/violence some people have mentioned in this sub.

birtsmom
19d ago
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Better have a car, love college football, be prepared to decide if you're for Alabama ( in Tuscaloosa) or Auburn ( there are quite a few of us around). There's nice hiking. An art museum in Birmingham. Neither Atlanta, Huntsville, nor Nashville are too far away. Beaches on the Gulf of Mexico have outrageous hotel,/condo rates. Rent is absurd here. Mostly because of out of state Alabama students who want to live like they do at home- driving BMWs, Audis, Range Rovers. It's out of control. When I got out of school in 1985 I could afford a decent apartment with my $7 an hour pay. I now make 4.5 times that and cannot afford the same apartment ( if you go by the 30% of your budget on housing). Good luck.

Dependent_Chair6104
20d ago
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I’ve been here for 12 years, and I like it. I’ll probably move at some point, but I never feel motivated enough to get around to it, so it must not be that bad!

Positives for me are a nice downtown area, good food, pleasant people (in my experience), fairly close to Birmingham, decent enough parks, and easy to navigate.

Negatives are the heat, horrible pedestrian/bike infrastructure, not close to major music venues (big artists come about as close as Atlanta or Nashville, usually), and a less varied nerd scene than I’d like.

I’ve never had any crime issues, personally, and I’ve lived in a variety of places around town. I’m sure that’s not universally true, but just throwing out my experience.

Tuscaloosa Alabama | The pros & cons of living here.