Welcome to the Secesh Cesspool!
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9/17/2018
Let's see, something, anything, nice to say about this place. Well, the property taxes are low, as is the cost of living, BUT...that's because it's a sh!thole town and no one decent really wants to live there. Other than those like me who are forced to be here because they were assigned here as a duty station. I've been here for 2 years, and it's the only place in the US where I *constantly* carry a firearm for protection, because of the seediness and rampant criminal populace. I've had to draw it twice in that time for self defense, although fortunately never had to use it either time. In over 20 years in the military, it is by far the worst place I've been stationed (including Kuwait, Afghanistan, and Iraq), and luckily I'm only here for a short more period of time.
So let's see, what all is so bad? First of all, the heat and humidity is awful. From May until October, your house A/C will be running. All. The. Time. And it's not like Florida, where you get the nice breezes from the coast, to help offset the misery. Nope, none of that here. And it shows with the miserable people, as everyone is irritable and angry due to the heat. Or at the very least, passive-aggressive; "bless your heart" is what the locals say when they're attempting to condescend. The southerners *act* nice to your face, then as soon as you walk out of the room, you feel the knife go into your back. The white folks HATE northerners, or anyone not from the south who speaks proper English and are educated, and don't use trashy words like "y'all" or "fixin" or "might-could" or whatever else they say. If you don't like college football, you're automatically outcast, because that's all that Alabama (or Auburn, for that matter) is known for, because they can't muster a real big-league professional sports franchise. Or anything good really, in the state, for that matter, now that I think on it.
Sales tax is a minimum of 10%. In some places higher, depending on the community and where you shop. You'd think that would be used to improve the city. But yet, the majority of the city of Montgomery appears to be right out of a third-world country movie set, and the roads...don't even get me started. Speaking of roads, the drivers are simply AWFUL. Terrible. Seriously, some of the worst I've seen in the US, and I've lived in 8 states, and been to all 50. The lack of turn signals and common courtesy is appalling, running red lights is rampant, and the arrogance to hang out in the left lane, driving just slightly over the speed limit on the highway, and not yield or get over....and it's the majority of people that seem to do this. One day, I passed over 10 people in the center lane on I-65, who refused to get over. Never seen anything like it, anywhere in the world. But that pretty much summarizes Southern efficiency, if it works and is moving along and running smoothly, it's not for Alabama. The slower, inefficient, and more aggravating the process is, the more at home and natural it is for Alabama.
Finally, this is as red of a state as you can get. I'm a naturally conservative person, but this place is so ass backwards, that it turns my stomach. The way that minorities and anyone who isn't a Bible-thumping "Christian" are treated is a throwback to the last century, and the black vs white racial tension is palpable, even in 2018. You talk anything bad about the confederacy, Robert E Lee, or Alabama football, and that nearly incites a riot. If you're in the military and looking at an assignment at Maxwell, or Rucker, or anywhere close...seriously you might think about resigning. Or retiring. Or going AWOL/deserting. Because even Leavenworth is better than Montgomery. And just for the record, this review includes the suburban towns of Prattville, Millbrook, Coosada, and Wetumpka, as well as greater Montgomery. In fact, the traffic portion of my review for those towns might even be worse, because of the commute, which is horrid and tedious from those towns. The area code of 334 as a whole is nauseating.
JT | Taos, NM