SperlingViews - Decatur, Alabama

Houses are quite nice and quite affordable and property taxes are low. What more could one ask for.[read more...]

I should clarify that the "lovely houses by the river" are near the Point Mallard Parkway water way and in Point Mallard itself. Downtown, Point Mallard Parkway, Point Mallard - very nice area. Burningtree mountain itself -dark, gloomy, dated homes. Maybe in time they will fix it up there.[read more...]

All of Decatur is just beautiful, people are very sweet, like the sweet tea there! Houses are homey and well kept everywhere. The only place not so bright and pretty is Burningtree Mountain, in Decatur. We lived on the mountain for a bit and did not like it there. It is dark and gloomy up on that hill. The area right below the hill is not well kept either now. We moved to one of the newer housing areas by the river. This housing area is just lovely and the downtown houses and downtown area in Decatur is just magical, as there are many trees there and lots of rich history there. Lots to do in near by Huntsville. Downtown area will be even more charming, in Decatur, when Fine Arts Center is built. The schools are pretty good in Decatur. All in all, Decatur is a nice town to raise a family in. [read more...]

I've lived here for over 20 yrs mostly due to a divorce decree by a judge that later resigned to keep from being impeached for taking bribes. The property taxes are lower due to the fact that the natives here own alot of property and they don't want to pay for it. But they charge higher sales tax on everything including food and medicine than even the other nearby and bigger city's. There is nothing to do here-no amenities of any kind because that would take money out of the pockets of the corrupt city council-all of which leave there positions wealthy regarless of their circumstances when they got the position. The police are completely corrupt and unless you are among the wealthiest natives here theives can rob you blind and they won't do anything about it. The people are not friendly unless you like people that smile at your face and stab you in the back when you turn around. You will be highly disappointed if you come here unless your idea of a good time is staying locked in your house with the garage door closed like the cops told my neighbor after she was robbed "so the thieves won't know if your home or not". Next time maybe the will come in while she's there and she can lose her life. Thanks guys![read more...]

My experience in Decatur has been a rather odd one. I have meet some really nice people, however I have wondered how anyone stays in business in this town. Here's a quick run down of my encounters: 1. Needed floors redone in my RV, Called a flooring company, to come and measure... they never showed. 2. went into an Rv Store to inquire about purchasing a table for my RV that was made of wood: The response; "Well..... they are really expensive, you can probably find one cheaper if you look around...." I told him that I had and that a table that size was hard to find. He continued to discourage me. Now, I really did not want to look around,but he talked me right out of the sale.Not because I did not want to spend the money, but because I was becoming annoyed with his "no sale" sale's tactic 3. Finally got a flooring company to do the floor, They did not return calls, got the details wrong, when I said something to them, they acted as if I was being difficult with the famous question " what can we do to make it better?" well, for starters don't tell me you are going to call me on a certain day and they 3 or 4 days later I have to call you. 4. Walked into U haul on Beltline, ordered a hitch for my car, they said it would be there in 2 days and they would call me. 7 days later I called them, they said it went to the wrong address, they corrected it, Said it would be in 2-3 days, more than a week went buy, I called them, this went on for a month, After all that, I said forget it and had a friend order it and put in on. 5. Called a different Rv store, (there are only two in town) and told them that I wanted someone to come out and put an awning on my RV. Their response...Well,,,, I don't know when he can get out there, can you bring it in? ( I said no) Well.... you know we charge a 50.00 trip charge. ( I said Ok) and you know they start charging labor from the time they leave the shop...It would be cheaper if you could bring it in......, ( I hung up!) There are more, but do you get where I am going with this. What is wrong with these people, How do they stay in business, either they provide terrible customer service or they want you to go somewhere esle. PEOPLE OF DECATUR: WHEN FOLKS COME TO YOUR TOWN TO SPEND THEIR MONEY....TAKE IT!!!!!!!![read more...]

While reviews of this place may seem great this place has all to readily adopted a new name. "Decatur - The Place Where Dreams Go To Die". While there is a low crime rate, there is more than enough crime to make people a little leery about leaving their doors unlocked. The commerce industry here is not good. It is like pulling teeth to get any kind of new business in this town and if we do get anything it's usually only going to be industrial related jobs at the factories that spring up along the river (3m, solutia, boeing etc). And on that note don't forget that this particular part of the Tennessee River (at last testing 4 years ago) was 4x more polluted than EPA regulations. There is a strong religious streak here that while it's great for CHRISTIANS ONLY doesn't leave a lot of room for other faiths or cultures, especially since the primary people here are white or black Baptists. Hispanics have started to flood the town and it has created a rift between races, with new "ghettos" being formed all the time. The cost of living, while it may seem good, is not so good. With the lack of jobs in many sectors and the forcing of people to take minimum wage jobs or underpaid jobs, it makes housing options and living a very hard thing. Most people in the town actually have to commute from other towns up to 20 and 30 miles away to find a job and then the cost of the commute kills them. There is a severe lack of arts and culture in the town and very little in the way of attractions unless you like sports or are a fisherman. So.. take it how you will, but everyone I've ever known that has ever come here has only wanted to get out of the town as fast as they can and to move on to better places.[read more...]

Alabama is growing. The city of Decatur is growing. The Cost of Living in Decatur is above the National Average. Having traveled the United States extensively, I have found no reason for the Cost of Living to be as high as it is in Decatur. Services are average of less and Taxes are high.[read more...]

I couldn't afford anything as a nurse in Decatur,Ala.I lived there for 6 yrs. If you don't have friends or family in the Decatur area, you are not going to enjoy the things they do have there. My utilities where high. I had a little house with higher payments then my big house here in Ohio. And crime rate is higher than stated on this page. Food cost more and school supplies are about $200 a year.[read more...]