What DON'T you like about Huntsville/Decater areas? (Decatur, Madison: appointed, buying)

[ZnotZed]

What bugs me about Huntsville is... so many people make their living off the military you can't say boo about anything military. You'll get your legs cut off at the knees.
It's all RAH RAH RAH GO ARMY GO GO GO AMERICA; I dare not say anything against the military because I know someone will reply with their own views and make mine seem uninformed. Which they are not. Being a former military member AND a person who thinks for myself.
**
that said, another thing I don't like about Huntsville is... Wal-Mart is KING here.
Just try to inform people about Wal-Mart and see what happens.
**
Lines at the post office, yes, I agree, they are bad. But... you can do most of that stuff online these days.
Crime... yeah... I don't go jogging alone in this city. There's a lot of crack and meth and all that.
OK and now for my number one complaint:
Driving.
People here tend to not use blinkers, be in a HUGE rush to get to and from anywhere, go twenty to thirty over the speed limit, take shortcuts through neighborhoods, for that matter they take any shortcut they can find.
They run red lights, talk on cell phones while driving, weave in and out of traffic and tailgate like there is no tomorrow.
I've lived in Chicago, San Fran, OKC, Richmond... been to New York, even.
this is the worst city for driving ... I would love to ride a bike to work but, in this city, you are taking your life in your hands.
Literally.
**
OK I thought of another thing. Trying to get involved in community stuff, I find that people around here tend to NOT respond to e-mail inquiries. You go to a website that says 'for more info, email us at __________'.
And you never hear back from them. This also goes for online job applications. I think I have applied to about a hundred jobs online and heard back from exactly five so far.
It's a great place to live if you are conservative, upper middle class or better, with a family and a solid marriage, and can afford a good neighborhood with a home alarm system.

[Reactionary]

Just to prove your point: boo to you ZnotZed

[Charles]

Originally Posted by ZnotZed

What bugs me about Huntsville is... so many people make their living off the military you can't say boo about anything military. You'll get your legs cut off at the knees.
It's all RAH RAH RAH GO ARMY GO GO GO AMERICA; I dare not say anything against the military because I know someone will reply with their own views and make mine seem uninformed. Which they are not. Being a former military member AND a person who thinks for myself.
**
that said, another thing I don't like about Huntsville is... Wal-Mart is KING here.
Just try to inform people about Wal-Mart and see what happens.
**
Lines at the post office, yes, I agree, they are bad. But... you can do most of that stuff online these days.
Crime... yeah... I don't go jogging alone in this city. There's a lot of crack and meth and all that.
OK and now for my number one complaint:
Driving.
People here tend to not use blinkers, be in a HUGE rush to get to and from anywhere, go twenty to thirty over the speed limit, take shortcuts through neighborhoods, for that matter they take any shortcut they can find.
They run red lights, talk on cell phones while driving, weave in and out of traffic and tailgate like there is no tomorrow.
I've lived in Chicago, San Fran, OKC, Richmond... been to New York, even.
this is the worst city for driving ... I would love to ride a bike to work but, in this city, you are taking your life in your hands.
Literally.
**
OK I thought of another thing. Trying to get involved in community stuff, I find that people around here tend to NOT respond to e-mail inquiries. You go to a website that says 'for more info, email us at __________'.
And you never hear back from them. This also goes for online job applications. I think I have applied to about a hundred jobs online and heard back from exactly five so far.
It's a great place to live if you are conservative, upper middle class or better, with a family and a solid marriage, and can afford a good neighborhood with a home alarm system.

What's an example of something negative about the military? Be hypothetical if you want.

The rest of the comments about driving, returning emails, etc. Are they fair? Are they truly specific to Huntsville? I'll bet you go to just about any City-Data forum and somewhere there's a post about that town's drivers being the worst.

Returning phone calls. Can't see how that could possibly be a Huntsville thing. To conclude that it is would have required a big test with lots of apples to apples data. Bet that wasn't done.

What's wrong with Wal Marts? One stop shop.

I never wait in line at the Post Office on Governors between 11th and 12th street. I go there at least once a week usually between 330 and 430 PM.

[rnc76]

Originally Posted by ZnotZed

What bugs me about Huntsville is... so many people make their living off the military you can't say boo about anything military. You'll get your legs cut off at the knees.
It's all RAH RAH RAH GO ARMY GO GO GO AMERICA; I dare not say anything against the military because I know someone will reply with their own views and make mine seem uninformed. Which they are not. Being a former military member AND a person who thinks for myself.
**
that said, another thing I don't like about Huntsville is... Wal-Mart is KING here.
Just try to inform people about Wal-Mart and see what happens.
**
Lines at the post office, yes, I agree, they are bad. But... you can do most of that stuff online these days.
Crime... yeah... I don't go jogging alone in this city. There's a lot of crack and meth and all that.
OK and now for my number one complaint:
Driving.
People here tend to not use blinkers, be in a HUGE rush to get to and from anywhere, go twenty to thirty over the speed limit, take shortcuts through neighborhoods, for that matter they take any shortcut they can find.
They run red lights, talk on cell phones while driving, weave in and out of traffic and tailgate like there is no tomorrow.
I've lived in Chicago, San Fran, OKC, Richmond... been to New York, even.
this is the worst city for driving ... I would love to ride a bike to work but, in this city, you are taking your life in your hands.
Literally.
**
OK I thought of another thing. Trying to get involved in community stuff, I find that people around here tend to NOT respond to e-mail inquiries. You go to a website that says 'for more info, email us at __________'.
And you never hear back from them. This also goes for online job applications. I think I have applied to about a hundred jobs online and heard back from exactly five so far.
It's a great place to live if you are conservative, upper middle class or better, with a family and a solid marriage, and can afford a good neighborhood with a home alarm system.

You won't jog here in Huntsville? Why is their such an active running community then? There is only a couple small portions of west Huntsville that I might not want to job through during the day.

I've found just the opposite about community stuff. There is an active community here and the city is small enough to get involved and feel like you can make a difference.

The driving here is no different than anywhere. In fact, most drivers here are polite IMO, they let you merge, people even give you the courtesy wave when you let them merge. People here just aren't very stressed out. I do agree that drivers here have no clue about the rules of the road when it comes to pedestrians and bicycles. They don't even seem to understand that pedestrians have the right of way at a crosswalk. Therefore, if a person is waiting to walk across the road and you are taking a right turn, the car is suppose to wait for the pedestrian to pass before turning right.

[DvlsAdvc8]

Originally Posted by Charles

What's an example of something negative about the military? Be hypothetical if you want.

I'm bored so I'll bite. My SN is DvlsAdvc8 - hint hint.

Negative on the Military... hmmm... how about the taxes necessary to support a Military whose budget is larger than the next 10 countries combined? And all but 2 of those are close allies.

How about the increased likelihood that a dominant Military is to be used with less restraint, because of the supposed superiority/ease of victory, than a less dominant one?

Let's see, how about the fact that military towns often have a disproportionately large "lower economic class" that often correlates with higher crime rates and various social problems that would otherwise be more evenly distributed and diluted (the little military town I grew up in had the distinction of having the most bars/abc stores per capita of any city/town in the state... and highest alcoholism rates heheh ). The common belief while I was in college was enlisting was something you did as a last resort - usually because you couldn't or didn't want to go to college and couldn't find a decent job otherwise. It was a fallback. "Well, I can always join the military" was a common phrase to hear even back in high school. I don't imagine that's such a great way to aquire the best people. Some would even say its a sort of "semi-productive welfare". (that statement should start a flame war lol)

How about the preponderance of ideologues? One could view that as something negative about the military - a huge tendency to group think.

Having so many people tied into the "military industrial complex" as Eisenhower put it, can distort the nation's priorities. Everyone really just wants to protect their bread under the guise of "patriotism" and higher ideals. Ever notice that Republicans generally favor military spending and the Military is widely regarded as predominantly Republican? Whodathunk it.

There ya go, that's my best shot. That's sure to get me hung from a tree in these parts! DvlsAdvc8 = Devils Advocate people. lol

[caution]

LOL. Wont' touch the military thing. Too political.

Anyway, Huntsville has one big negative to a newcomer from the big city. People move slow and drive fast.

That's what I don't get about HSV. If we're going to be laid back about business, customer service, etc, why drive so damn fast?

:-)

[DvlsAdvc8]

Originally Posted by caution

LOL. Wont' touch the military thing. Too political.

Anyway, Huntsville has one big negative to a newcomer from the big city. People move slow and drive fast.

That's what I don't get about HSV. If we're going to be laid back about business, customer service, etc, why drive so damn fast?

:-)

LOL so true on all counts.

[HSVbulldawg]

Originally Posted by caution

LOL. Wont' touch the military thing. Too political.

Anyway, Huntsville has one big negative to a newcomer from the big city. People move slow and drive fast.

That's what I don't get about HSV. If we're going to be laid back about business, customer service, etc, why drive so damn fast?

:-)

This place has slow drivers compared to where I moved from. Also, people are much less aggressive with their merges here than in other cities I've driven in. I'm probably one of the ones in rush that you guys are talking about.

[caution]

I noticed that too. It isn't that drivers are rude here -- far from it. Merging goes well or people who have to yield the right of way and stop. That's rare elsewhere.

It's just the speed limits probably haven't caught up with the growth. I see no reason to hit the posted speed of 50 on a highway where the distance between lights is less than 1 mile and both sides of the road are full of shopping centers.

I'm all for driving fast when the way is clear, but people here seem to haul ass from one side of a parking lot to the other, only to have ABS nearly kick in hauling them back down to a crawl.

:-)

[HB2HSV]

Originally Posted by Reactionary

the Dem-controlled legislature banned sex-toys, ..

*sigh* - thank Gawd for internet shopping