Flute4U

Hi Captain Crunch! I actually got my undergrad at UA and may be returning for my PhD. You'll love it, it's a great school! I would definitely say Tuscaloosa has a small town vibe. But, the nice thing is you are close to many larger cities for weekend trips (Birmingham, Atlanta, Nashville, New Orleans, Chattanooga, Memphis, Florida panhandle, the coast). As far as things to do in Ttown, there's not much unfortunately. There is the Drag with all the undergrad frequented bars. There are some nicer places in downtown Ttown that the grad students frequent too. And, it seems like there is a bit of a revitalization project going on, which is good. When I was down there in February there were a whole bunch of new places that were pretty nice (at least the ones I went to). There is also Midtown Village which has some decent shopping and some really great restaurants (Kobe is to die for). There are two state parks pretty close with trails, canoeing, horseback riding etc. Tannehill is about 30 minutes away between Ttown and B'ham and Oak Mountain is about an hour away in Birmingham. And, of course, there is football, which you will have to learn to love if you are at UA! As far as housing, I wouldn't worry too much about living close to campus. The closer you get, the older and more expensive things get. Northport and Cottondale are great areas. There are also a bunch of new developments going in (there was a tornado that went through a few years ago that leveled a large part of the main road into Tuscaloosa). Look for new developments along McFarland Blvd. Hope that helps!