I would recommend the University of Montevallo to prospective students. It has a fairly small campus, you can walk or bike to your classes from your dorm. It is a very historic campus with lots of brick buildings and roads (which can be a little rough on your car's shocks). If you want to get into theatre or teaching, Montevallo is the place to go. They have a very good reputation for those things. If I had it to do over, I would still choose the University of Montevallo.
Off campus housing has become much more available in the last few years. The local police department has been accused of harrasing communter students (those that don't live on campus). There is no football due to the original land charter forbidding "contact sports". Located in a VERY small town, not much to do. Birmingham is about 30 to 45 minutes from campus. Large population of student body embraces "alternative lifestyles". The art department and the teacher training departments seem to be the most highly regarded.
Personal recommendations, live off-campus, learn to cook if you want to eat decent, and pay attention to what part of town you are in (it changes in a blink of an eye).
