Maxwell AFB - Montgomery AL

browneyes_326

Hi mommies-
Looks like we may be heading to Maxwell AFB for 1 yr tour (Air War School) PCSing next June... Happens to coincide with my DS going to Kindergarten!
Any advice? Areas, things to do, schools ... Anything that would be of interest
I've done a ton of googling but I like to hear 1st hand stories!

hawksfan82

We just got here 3 weeks ago! I can't tell you too much yet. I'm not sure if you are planning on living on base or off. We bought a house off base because we will be here for years and we wanted to get outside of town a little bit. Prattville is a pretty nice area with nice schools and shopping. I know there are things to do. There is a zoo. Other than that, I haven't done too much exploring yet.

browneyes_326

Hawksfan82 Awesome! Prattville is where we're looking! It's tempting to buy b/c houses are very affordable but we may only be there 12-18mo so we'll rent off base.
Thanks for the reply, helps to confirm the info in finding on the web.

hawksfan82

You're welcome!

It's crazy how cheap these houses are. I'm sure you will find something that suites your family well. The base is nice enough. We just came from Keesler where everything was relatively new so it's a little change for me. Haha. It's nice though. My only complaint is the heat so far. You would think being on the Gulf Coast for several years I would be used to it. I think it's worse here. Not sure where you're coming from. Maybe you're used to this heat. We're from the Midwest so it was a change for us. Haha

browneyes_326

Oh lord no I am not used to that heat!!
We're coming from San Diego ... DH is Navy, he's going to Maxwell for special training. I'm a wimp and was just saying that I'd love an assignment somewhere in the North East for some cooler weather ... Oh boy I'm on trouble. I see high energy bills in our future

hawksfan82

I'm actually not sure how the energy bills are here but when we were in Biloxi, the summer months were the worst. In the "winter" it wasn't too bad. Maybe you'll end up somewhere cooler after this. I would love to end up back north. I miss having all 4 seasons. Maybe someday. We'll be here for awhile. Haha

Last night we went out to dinner in downtown Montgomery. It was my first time there. I was surprised at how nice the area was down there. There's a river walk and some really nice restaurants. We ate at an Italian place called Sa Za. It was amazing. I highly recommend it if you like that kind of food.

browneyes_326

I forgot to ask ... Do you have kids yet that are school age? I found the school that our DS will go to kindergarten at and it looks super cute

hawksfan82

I attempted to send you a PM. Let me know if you can't see it.

JENandJEH

We just got to Maxwell in July and will only be here a year.  DH is in the Army so this is our first time at an AFB.  We chose to live off base and were looking in the Prattville area but ended up finding a place in Millbrook.  We LOVE this little town.  We found that we could get a bit bigger house for the same amount of money and we weren't right on top of our neighbors.  Our neighborhood is quiet and spread out with big trees that provide a lot of nice shade and help keep the house cool.  

DS1 started 1st grade at the local elementary school and we are VERY pleased.  It's a K-2 school and everyone is so caring and all of the teachers we've encountered thus far has been wonderful.  I know a lot of people will say to stay away from the public schools down here but we did our research and were very pleased with what this school had to offer and the faculty/staff.  Someone actually told me the other day that the Elmore County schools were really starting to pick up the pace and overtake some of the other local schools...not sure how true that is but we've ultimately been pleased and the school is very comparable to the school he came from in Kindergarten.  

hawksfan82

I agree! Millbrook is another area worth looking into. When we were looking at houses, we liked the ones in Millbrook better than Prattville. We ended up outside of Deatsville because we fell in love with our house/neighborhood.

Our realtor said the same thing about the schools. I guess that's why a lot of new houses are being built around here.

hlm184

Go to a Biscuits game!

imakeeff0rts

We're at Ft. Rucker just about an hour and a half away from Montgomery. There's great shopping there, a nice zoo (although it's on the smaller side, but we still enjoyed it), and you'll be close-ish to Eglin AFB (Destin, FL) and Pensacola NAS (although the beaches at Destin are WAY nicer, but Pensacola has an awesome museum). 

Be prepared, though - it's small town everything here. The area airports are small regional airports, and many of the stores don't have the selection that you might be used to. However, there's a lot of stuff to do - you just have to go out and find it. 

As far as energy bills go, we live on post and the Army pays to a certain point. Our house is old and drafty, so we always end up having to pay the overage which is usually only around $30 a month. 

smithr44

We've been in Montgomery for about 4 months, now. Prattville is the nicer area. We haven't found much to do, but I've heard they have concerts & things to do around river front(?).