Where is the work? (Birmingham, Huntsville: best city, condos, house)

[mayperl]

Hey all:

My bf and I are relocating to AL from Northern VA. He will be working in Birmingham but we are looking to live outside the city.

Where is most of the employment near [city]? Is this mostly an industrial and health care state?

[Southlander]

Mayperl, there are lots of great residential areas near Birmingham. Do a search of the Alabama forum. Health care is the biggest Birmingham industry. Not a lot of manufacturing there. Twostep is a B'hammer...I'm sure she'll add good info. Good luck!

[mayperl]

Thanks. I realized I should have been more detailed in my question

I'm wondering if there is much in the corporate world. Currently, I am working in project management and carry a background in a number of industries including: General Motors (corporate), Unisys (software solutions), GTSI (government technology wholesale re-seller), Fannie Mae (financial), Sapient (IT consulting).

Where is the best city that holds these types of jobs?

Thank you to anyone who can help me in my research!!

Take Care.

[Threestep]

Unfortunately I cannot post links,

1. Birmingham is a hub of education/finance/healthcare/automobile/steel.

2. Considerable changes in the local market make-up have freed an abundance of great talent. There are a number of on-line industry publications with great archives available. Most free. You may want to read up on local M/A such as Saks, Regions, Compass, SouthTrust, HealthSouth, Total Systems.

3. Do you carry current PM certifications? This is a question from my professional side.

4. Have you considered the diversity of the employment market? As PM you have responsibilites not only on both sides of the fence but work with a team as a team. An other post of yours makes me ask this question.

5. The jobs are here and so is the competition. You are good at what you do, have an edge, you will find not only a job but a calling.

[jdw123]

Originally Posted by mayperl

Is this mostly an industrial and health care state?

Huntsville, AL has the highest concentration of engineers in the country. Something like 20% of those employed are engineers. It has the second largest research park in the world. Tons of defense work, NASA, space, chemical eng, IT.

So to answer your question, NO. Alabama is NOT mostly an industrial and health care state. We are mostly a defense work and space exploration state. Huntsville isn't called "Rocket City" for nothing.

Birmingham sucks. Some of the suburbs are nice, but the city sucks big time.

[Threestep]

Would you mind to tell me what you base your knowledge on AL industry and Birmingham on? Thank you.

[Southlander]

Originally Posted by jdw123

Huntsville, AL has the highest concentration of engineers in the country. Something like 20% of those employed are engineers. It has the second largest research park in the world. Tons of defense work, NASA, space, chemical eng, IT. So to answer your question, NO. Alabama is NOT mostly an industrial and health care state. We are mostly a defense work and space exploration state. Huntsville isn't called "Rocket City" for nothing. Birmingham sucks. Some of the suburbs are nice, but the city sucks big time.

I have to disagree on a couple of points. HUNTSVILLE is mostly defense work and space exploration. The REST of Alabama is pretty diversified - here in Decatur we have steel (Nucor, Micor, Feralloy), a LOT of chemical manufacturing (3M, Solutia, Toray, Novacor) one of the biggest chicken processing plants in the South (Wayne Farms), and space (Boeing). The rest of the state has automotive, steel, banking, health care and research, shipping, and a LOT of forestry and agriculture (usually-we have severe drought right now).
Birmingham does NOT suck, it has a lot to offer, although you might not want to live downtown if you are concerned about schools. Lots of the old buildings downtown are being converted into condos. Great gourmet restaurants, lots of entertainment, arts. Birmingham has lost a couple of headquarters thanks to mergers, but there's still a lot of opportunity there.

[mayperl]

Oh wow - thanks everyone! That was very informative. I've had a hard time finding specific large companies to target other than Boeing and Raytheon.

My bf will be working in B-ham but we are def. not interested in living in that city. I was inquiring as to where most the corporate jobs were so we can decide on a city between B-ham and where ever it is I could most likely find work.

The company names helped, I should be able to get some headway with that. Thanks again!

[mayperl]

Thanks, I have also heard that the actual city of b-ham sucks which is why we have no desire to live there but simply inquiring on the northern AL area of employment so we could house hunt between b-ham and what ever area holds the best jobs for me... maybe I should be considering driving to ATL?

[Southlander]

That's an awful long way to drive every day! Not to mention the Atlanta traffic...you might want to check alabama dot gov to link to some state sites that list industry. Or the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce Web site to get a handle on businesses in the area. Good luck!