<p>linnylu, I stayed at the Country Inn & Suites about a month ago and went for a long walk (3 miles) through the residential areas south and west of the hotel. I didn’t see anything that made me think that the area was sketchy.</p>
<p>I can second that. Although we haven’t stayed there, it is one of the hotels we looked at last year. I wouldn’t have an issue staying there. Our criteria is always that it is a hotel, with room entrance from inside the building, located in an area that appears safe day/night, (no strange people hanging around outside at all hours or extended stay facility) clean rooms and lobby, non-smoking, and reasonable rates…it doesn’t have to be fancy, but it does have to be clean and safe. I think you’ll be fine there.</p>
<p>SEA_tide beat me to it but there’s nothing remotely sketchy about Skyland Blvd…and I’ve been to my fair share of questionable places. I’ve been to that Wal-Mart a number of times in the middle of the night and as he says, there’s always a cop near the entrance. I’ve never seen anything to indicate that the area is any less safe than anywhere else in the city.</p>
<p>As for the hotels off I-20, I’d again chalk that up to paranoia. My mom has stayed at two and they were fine. I don’t mean any disrespect to any other posters, but unless someone can provide an incident to justify his/her concerns, you shouldn’t feel any reason to worry about anything and certainly shouldn’t base anything off one person’s speculation. I’d be willing to bet almost all of the crime in Tuscaloosa involves students with drugs and/or alcohol.</p>
<p>^^As much as I love Tuscaloosa and would like to believe that all crime in Tuscaloosa likely involves those students who are involved with drugs or alcohol, I can tell you that is certainly not true. Do I feel my daughter is safe in Tuscaloosa and at the UA, yes or she wouldn’t be there. Are there areas of Tuscaloosa that are less safe than others locations within the city or county, absolutely. I grew up in Tuscaloosa as the daughter of a Tuscaloosa Police detective, and Tuscaloosa is no more immune to crime than any other city and it never has been. To think so would be extremely naive. I have many family members who still reside in Tuscaloosa now, including one who is a police officer, one who works on campus, and one who teaches school in the city to name a few.</p>
<p>Of course, I would encourage anyone to be diligent in choosing a place to stay, places to go, and times to be out and about in various areas of the city and take the free advice/opinions offered here under consideration, but make the call for themselves. My opinions are just that…opinions, but are based upon the criteria I listed above along with advice provided by those who have lived in the area and not paranoia, but we can certainly disagree.</p>
<p>^^Bamagirls: I am the daughter of a police detective turned FBI agent who worked violent crimes out of the Dallas FBI office for over 20 yrs. The stories you hear growing up are often hilarious and sometimes frightning!</p>
<p>As my husband and I were eating breakfast at the Rama Jama’s (awesome), we were sitting by a table of 10-12 of Tuscaloosa’s finest. We were laughing so hard because they were discussing an incident that had occured earlier that morning involving," …a large boar down on Hellen Keller Rd." They went on to dexcribe how large the tusks were and how they had to, “…run it on back up into the woods.”</p>
<p>We were attending Bamabound and decided that our daughter would be quite safe around campus as long as she keeps her street smarts and stays away from any wild boars!!</p>
<p>SMBradshaw, that is hysterical! I had no idea there were wild boars roaming the streets of Tuscaloosa. I’ll warn my D that she needs to watch for boars in the road the same way she watches for deer up here.</p>
<p>While I’ve never seen one, I understand that feral hogs are abundant in Texas and the southeast!</p>
<p>Well I’ve never seen any boars, but I swear that those squirrels on campus are up to no good. I’ve also seen a couple of deer before, plenty of raccoons and oppossums, and I swear I saw a huge beaver climb out of a drainage pipe behind Hardaway once.</p>
<p>MesquiteGirl, my D and I came to the same conclusion about the squirrels when we were at BB. There were several squirrels doing peculiar things. And they’re scrawnier and have much skinnier tails than the squirrels we’re used to. We were actually fascinated by the campus squirrels.</p>
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<p>Word is one even owns a computer and posts here from time to time…</p>
<p>Mesquite_girl24: You probably have seen some boars. Different spelling, though.</p>
<p>Wonder why they’re wandering around T-town. Didn’t anyone tell the Razorbacks that they’re playing Bama in Fayetteville later this year? :)</p>
<p>the talk about the bad parts of town and safety is intersteing to me. exctifan and I had a discussion about this during BB. Coming from the DC/Baltimore area, both of us had a hard time finding any parts of town that came close to making us wonder if they were “bad”. And we both admitted to looking for them while driving around! </p>
<p>Mind you, as a home care nurse I would need to have an armed escort to go into some parts of Baltimore to provide care to my patients. This was company policy, not me over reacting. </p>
<p>That being said, crime happens in the best of neighborhoods. So you always have to keep safety in mind, no matter what neighborhood you are in!</p>
<p>Vlines- as a former dc suburbanite for many years ( and nurse!) I am going to rest assured that I will not see too much that will shock me</p>
<p>10th Ave between 15th st and 27th st isn’t the best of neighborhoods. The housing projects were there and I guess those not destroyed by the tornado still are. It’s one of the reasons Bent Tree apartments are so cheap because they sit right across the street from the entrance to the projects. Charleston Square was cheap for the same reason but that complex was leveled by the tornado.</p>
<p>I think La Quinta hotel area is sketchy. However, I don’t think where Country Inn is located, even though it’s only about a block away, is a problem.</p>
<p>There’s just something bad about that bit of land where La Quinta is that isn’t well-kept.</p>
<p>^^ I share that thought.</p>
<p>I never made any such claim that there is no crime outside of students with drugs and alcohol. I was careful to use the word “almost” and I also didn’t make it out to be supportable with evidence because it’s not. The point is that people are giving entirely anecdotal advice about what they consider to be unsafe areas without any real reasons.</p>
<p>Anywhere you go, you are at risk of crime. I have seen nothing during my time living in Tuscaloosa to suggest that Wal-Mart or the hotels near I-20 are in any way more dangerous than anywhere else and I haven’t seen anybody provide any more of a case than what essentially amounts to a “gut feeling” to contradict me on that.</p>
<p>I grew up in NYC, so people who come to NYC to visit always ask me “Is it safe?” I would give the same advice to them about NYC as I would about Tuscaloosa. It is a city, crime happens. Minimize your risk factors (don’t flash expensive jewelry or lots of cash, walk with someone at night, stay in well lit areas, watch your surroundings as you walk to your car, always keep your wits about you, if something or someone makes you uncomfortable, don’t ignore your gut feelings, call 911 if you feel threatened).</p>
<p>Well, now that I see the above advice, I realize that this same advice applies to wherever you live or travel. Be aware and stay safe.</p>
<p>macamatic,</p>
<p>I do agree that others certainly shouldn’t base anything off one person’s speculation. As for my family, we spent quite a bit of time visiting properties after developing our criteria for acceptable places to stay. Once we identified acceptable properties, we visited and looked at rooms for cleanliness and gleaned as much information as we could using various sources ranging from review sites to speaking with others about prior experiences and seeking out advice from those who live and work in the area. Because each of us likely has our own specific standards and criteria for determining places to stay, eat, and shop, I often suggest others do the same by exploring whenever they have the chance. It is likely that any parent here with a student at the UA will find the need at some point to make reservations and having this information first hand helps in making a wise choice in regards to personal comfort, price, convenience, and safety. When providing a recommendation, I won’t recommend a property at which I wouldn’t stay with my own family. Using the information we have, my family would be likely to stay at the hotel linnylu asked about which I had initially told her was fine, and possibly at The Comfort Suites (sorry blue hen, but I think you and I are talking about the same property and using similar names??) if I didn’t have a vehicle loaded with valuables. Those two places are the only ones in the vicinity of Skyland Blvd. at McFarland near I-20 that I would recommend. Is it possible to have a safe, comfortable, and affordable stay at the LaQuinta or some of the other properties…possibly, but they don’t meet the criteria for my family. I’m happy to read about others who have different experiences and views and make draw their own conclusions.</p>