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University Drive in Madison is commonly referred to as 72, because it is the far western extreme of a road that runs for the most part through Huntsville. But good try.
Actually, it is referred to as 72 because it isn't University Drive. It doesn't become University Drive until it reaches the HSV city limits.
Actually I didn't flee Huntsville - I never lived there.
Yeah, I was just generalizing based on most of the people I know that live in Madison and absolutely love dissing Huntsville.
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Originally Posted by VMH2507
However, the topic of this thread is Why Huntsville people have so many problems with Madison. I have witnessed this a number of times. One acquaintance has said on more than one occasion "I don't know why ANYONE would want to live in MADISON!!" as if it were a dirty word. Needless to say she is an acquaintance, not a friend. Another friend drops little tidbits about how far it is to come from SE hsv to Madison, how hard it is to find your way around in Madison, how there are no street lights (although there is one directly in front of my house). My only conclusion is that some SE Huntsville people think they are a little better than other people, and are threatened when so many people choose to live elsewhere. Just my take on it.
I have to agree with the acquaintances and friends. I don't think I'm better than anyone, certainly don't feel threatened, but I still don't like Madison. Looking at the map, it looks like just another neighborhood of Huntsville... its so decentralized it doesn't even feel like its own city.
I have to agree with the acquaintances and friends. I don't think I'm better than anyone, certainly don't feel threatened, but I still don't like Madison. Looking at the map, it looks like just another neighborhood of Huntsville... its so decentralized it doesn't even feel like its own city.
Yes, please don't feel threaten by the city of Madison. Just because it has many, many excellent choices of neighborhoods, hill sides, open plain, etc., many supermarkets, many great restaurants, and EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT SCHOOLS across the entire city. Those who don't live here are just green with envy !
Yes, please don't feel threaten by the city of Madison. Just because it has many, many excellent choices of neighborhoods, hill sides, open plain, etc., many supermarkets, many great restaurants, and EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT SCHOOLS across the entire city. Those who don't live here are just green with envy !
Yeah, cuz the views in Madison really compare to the views in SE hsv... Jones Valley and Hampton Cove. There's only a couple neighborhoods I liked in Madison and getting to them on the underdeveped roads pretty much sucks. What great restaurants are in Madison?
I'm pretty happy with the schools my kids are headed for... and who knows what any school will be like in 10+ years. I have a ridiculous number of very scenic hiking and mountain biking routes within 3 miles, river kayaking, big cove creek greenway, hays preserve, flint river, madison co. nature trail, monte sano, goldsmith-schiffman... in Madison you've got what, Mill Creek? Indian Creek? And a ton of highly trafficked, unbikeable roads and very little hiking.
The comparison of Huntsville schools to Madison schools is Apples and Oranges anyhow given that Madison is nowhere near the size of Huntsville nor does it as democraphically diverse an area; schools are generally indicative of the demographic that lives in the area served. Madison is just the western side of the normal suburban distribution of middle-aged, middle-to-upper class, educated folks w children. Folks that can afford the new homes in the suburbs. SE hsv is the eastern side of the same phenomenon in one greater metropolitan area.
According to Great Schools, the two are virtually the same when you compare them as suburbs of one "city".
Madison:
Great Schools Rating - School Name
10 Discovery Middle
10 Liberty Middle
9 Bob Jones High
9 Columbia Elem
8 Horizon Elem
8 Madison Elem
8 Heritage Elem
8 Rainbow Elem
8 Mill Creek Elem
7 West Madison Elem
avg rating: 8.5
SE Huntsville (which I define as everything east of memorial and south of downtown):
Great Schools Rating - School Name
10 Grissom High
10 Hampton Cove Middle
9 Hampton Cove Elem
9 Huntsville High
9 Huntsville Middle
9 Jones Valley Elem
9 Mountain Gap Middle
9 Challenger Middle
8 Monte Sano Elem
8 Challenger Elem
8 Weatherly Elem
7 Mountain Gap Elem
6 Whitesburg Elem
6 Whitesburg Middle
SE Huntsville avg rating: 8.36, 57% rated 9 or higher.
Madison avg rating: 8.5, 40% rated 9 or higher.
The averages are just about the same even with Whitesburg dragging SE hsv ratings down, while southeast hsv clearly has a significantly greater proportion of the "elite" schools. Even when you compare test scores, which we did when we moved here, its pretty much a wash.
Madison residents just get away without having to contribute resources to poorer areas that tend to distort the view of the entire system. Don't get me wrong the Huntsville system overall has a number of problems from mismanagement, but when you look at the metropolitan area as a whole, Madison and Southeast hsv are mirror images of the same demographic and the schools reflect that in ratings, test scores, you name it. Its less about the school district and more about the socio-economic status of the parents of the students that an individual school is serving that makes a good school.
SE Huntsville (which I define as everything east of memorial and south of downtown):
Great Schools Rating - School Name
10 Grissom High
10 Hampton Cove Middle
9 Hampton Cove Elem
9 Huntsville High
9 Huntsville Middle
9 Jones Valley Elem
9 Mountain Gap Middle
9 Challenger Middle
8 Monte Sano Elem
8 Challenger Elem
8 Weatherly Elem
7 Mountain Gap Elem
6 Whitesburg Elem
6 Whitesburg Middle
OK, I think I get it. You love SE Huntsville. But the question is why do you hate Madison? I have a number of friends who live in SE Huntsville so I go over there frequently and while I know that there are lovely areas, I also know that there are a lot of not so lovely areas -- pretty much all of S memorial for example. There are also lovely areas in Madison, but you seem to focus only on what you consider to be not so lovely.
I grew up in Atlanta (50's/60's) and lived in what was considered to be the best area --Garden Hills/Buckhead, which for those not familiar is generally considered to be like Blossomwood. I never recall people in Buckhead hating people who lived in Decatur or Alpharetta or Dunwoody. In Houston, I lived in Clear Lake because of it's proximity to JSC but never recall hatred of CL from people who lived in River Oaks or Memorial. In both these cases I think people realized that people choose to live where they want for a number of reasons and didn't hate them for their choices.
[quote=DvlsAdvc8;23472766]Yeah, I was just generalizing based on most of the people I know that live in Madison and absolutely love dissing Huntsville.
All the Madison residents I know moved from other parts of the country and have lived in Madison for at least 10 years. On my street neighbors are from upstate NY, St. Louis, Alpharetta GA, Birmingham, and Texas X 3 + me. None lived in Huntsville previously and a number are original owners of ~ 20 years. Maybe you need to get to know more Madison people.
Yeah, cuz the views in Madison really compare to the views in SE hsv... Jones Valley and Hampton Cove. There's only a couple neighborhoods I liked in Madison and getting to them on the underdeveped roads pretty much sucks. What great restaurants are in Madison?
I'm pretty happy with the schools my kids are headed for... and who knows what any school will be like in 10+ years. I have a ridiculous number of very scenic hiking and mountain biking routes within 3 miles, river kayaking, big cove creek greenway, hays preserve, flint river, madison co. nature trail, monte sano, goldsmith-schiffman... in Madison you've got what, Mill Creek? Indian Creek? And a ton of highly trafficked, unbikeable roads and very little hiking.
<yawn>.... Man, you sure go out of your way trying to convince yourself that you bought in the "right" neighborhood, don't you? Those of us who are secure in our decision making know we made the right decision. We are happy with our neighborhoods, parks, availability of daily necessities, shops, and convenience.
We have plenty of greenways and walking trails in Madison. If I want to go river kayaking, and I can't think of the last time I did this, I can drive 30 minutes. In fact, I could go up to Tennessee or Georgia and get a better kayaking experience.
Quote:
The comparison of Huntsville schools to Madison schools is Apples and Oranges anyhow given that Madison is nowhere near the size of Huntsville nor does it as democraphically diverse an area; schools are generally indicative of the demographic that lives in the area served. Madison is just the western side of the normal suburban distribution of middle-aged, middle-to-upper class, educated folks w children. Folks that can afford the new homes in the suburbs. SE hsv is the eastern side of the same phenomenon in one greater metropolitan area.
According to Great Schools, the two are virtually the same when you compare them as suburbs of one "city".
Madison:
Great Schools Rating - School Name
10 Discovery Middle
10 Liberty Middle
9 Bob Jones High
9 Columbia Elem
8 Horizon Elem
8 Madison Elem
8 Heritage Elem
8 Rainbow Elem
8 Mill Creek Elem
7 West Madison Elem
avg rating: 8.5
SE Huntsville (which I define as everything east of memorial and south of downtown):
Great Schools Rating - School Name
10 Grissom High
10 Hampton Cove Middle
9 Hampton Cove Elem
9 Huntsville High
9 Huntsville Middle
9 Jones Valley Elem
9 Mountain Gap Middle
9 Challenger Middle
8 Monte Sano Elem
8 Challenger Elem
8 Weatherly Elem
7 Mountain Gap Elem
6 Whitesburg Elem
6 Whitesburg Middle
SE Huntsville avg rating: 8.36, 57% rated 9 or higher.
Madison avg rating: 8.5, 40% rated 9 or higher.
The averages are just about the same even with Whitesburg dragging SE hsv ratings down, while southeast hsv clearly has a significantly greater proportion of the "elite" schools. Even when you compare test scores, which we did when we moved here, its pretty much a wash.
I have never criticize that there are no good schools in the Huntsville school district. All I've said is that the Madision city schools are all EXCELLENT ACROSS THE SCHOOL DISTRICT, which you can not say that about the Huntsville school district.
Quote:
Madison residents just get away without having to contribute resources to poorer areas that tend to distort the view of the entire system. Don't get me wrong the Huntsville system overall has a number of problems from mismanagement, but when you look at the metropolitan area as a whole, Madison and Southeast hsv are mirror images of the same demographic and the schools reflect that in ratings, test scores, you name it. Its less about the school district and more about the socio-economic status of the parents of the students that an individual school is serving that makes a good school.
Oh boy, why don't you just keep spew your bitterness toward the city of Madison? Those of us who live in Madison do not need to justify why by attacking another city!
Keep in mind why the city of Madison was created. It was the residents of Madison who felt that they were ignored by the City of Huntsville, coupled with bad school system, and they decided to control their own destiny by incorporate their own city so they will no longer victims of big city politics. This is what responsible citizens who do not rely on big government hand-outs do.
We are doing just fine in Madison. Please keep your bitterness away.
Keep in mind why the city of Madison was created. It was the residents of Madison who felt that they were ignored by the City of Huntsville, coupled with bad school system, and they decided to control their own destiny by incorporate their own city so they will no longer victims of big city politics.
I hate to interrupt a good flame war, but I can't let this stand without responding. Madison was incorporated in 1869, and this revisionist fiction has absolutely nothing to do with the true history of Madison. There was no connection of any sort to Huntsville in the incorporation of Madison in 1869.
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