STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

Cricket · Gucci

Montgomery, AL? Anyone? Anyone?

Bastet · Kate Spade

I've been to Montgomery, but was only there for a week. "Downtown" seemed small to me, but it was nice. The civil rights memorial and museum is very nice. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s church is there, too. There are a few colleges in/near Montgomery. I went by the campus of one and there was a cute little street with shops and some nice and inexpensive restaurants. There's also a nice outdoor mall outside the city with some great stores and some upscale dining and some nice chain-type places. There is also an outlet mall. I was there on work travel, so I didn't stay downtown, I was right outside the city, and was advised by the concierge at the hotel not to walk around after dark. So, I think like any city it's got its good and bad areas. We also had a tornado warning while I was there, with air raid-type sirens and all, but I have no idea how common that is.

Teresa · Kate Spade

I thought you were moving to D.C.? Was that someone else?

Cricket · Gucci

No, that was me. My husband is in the Air Force, and the Pentagon was one of our options, but for a totally different job. He'll be attending the Air University's leadership school (Air Force University). It's a guaranteed promotion to Lieutenant Colonel and he'll basically get paid to go to school to get another Masters Degree. After his year in Korea without me I'm looking forward to some down time without flying and a big bonus is he won't deploy! It's a good thing!

Bastet- thanks for the info. I think we've figured out what suburb we want to live in, and they have some great houses. We'll get so much more house for our money than here in Phoenix, so I'm excited about that!

bloomie · Marc Jacobs

I live in a town in Alabama about 1.5 hours from Montgomery. I have been there many times because I had an aunt that lived there. There are some really nice sections of Montgomery and some not so nice. There is a nice mall called Eastdale a very nice open air mall called Eastchase. It has an Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, Gap, etc. The Parisian (or maybe its Dillards confused

) has an awesome shoe section. Stay away from Montgomery Mall, though. It is not safe

Bastet · Kate Spade

bloomie wrote:

I live in a town in Alabama about 1.5 hours from Montgomery. I have been there many times because I had an aunt that lived there. There are some really nice sections of Montgomery and some not so nice. There is a nice mall called Eastdale a very nice open air mall called Eastchase. It has an Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, Gap, etc. The Parisian (or maybe its Dillards) has an awesome shoe section. Stay away from Montgomery Mall, though. It is not safe

It's a Dillard's. And they did have some great shoes!

alagirl · Kenneth Cole

bloomie wrote:

I live in a town in Alabama about 1.5 hours from Montgomery. I have been there many times because I had an aunt that lived there. There are some really nice sections of Montgomery and some not so nice. There is a nice mall called Eastdale a very nice open air mall called Eastchase. It has an Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, Gap, etc. The Parisian (or maybe its Dillards) has an awesome shoe section. Stay away from Montgomery Mall, though. It is not safe

ITA with Bloomie about the malls, esp. Montgomery Mall. Super scary.
I live about 3 hours from Montgomery, but went to college at Auburn which is about 45 minutes away, so I know a little about it. It is an easy city to navigate and you won't have any trouble learning your way around. I think most of the nicer homes and neighborhoods are on the east side of town.
If you get bored in Montgomery, Auburn is just up I-85 and has some awesome little boutiques, gift shops, etc. You'll also be about an hour from Birmingham which has some great shopping too at the Summit and the Galleria.

Good luck with the house hunting!
Not to hijack the intent of this thread, but bloomie, what town do you live in? I didn't know you were from Alabama too!