Places to live in Alabama? (Huntsville, Auburn: school, university, living in)

[pmck94]

Hi all,

I have posted some threads here but I just want some more information.

I am 19 years old, currently on a path to become a journeyman HVAC technician. If all goes well, in about 4-5 years I will have my license. When I do get my license, I plan on moving to Alabama because of the following reasons: 1. I cant take the cold weather anymore. 2. steady work due to the heat (servicing AC units, etc) however, I want to go into commercial HVAC. 3. slowed down pace, Southern hospitality, and a much friendlier vibe.

I'm not a big party animal, in fact I'm generally quiet... pretty much a social extrovert and solitary introvert if that makes sense haha; it's not my scene. I prefer a city with a small town mix. probably between 25k - 50k people living in it (relative because I live in a city with 125K people). Of course, someplace affordable for somebody who is single (I plan on raising a family someday though).

If the opportunities dont arise here for me to land an apprenticeship, then in about 18 months I will be moving to Alabama to get my license there.

Are there any cities that fit my desires?

If you'd like more info, by all means ask away

thanks,

Michael

[CoreLysium]

Nothings really changed since last time:
http://www.city-data.com/forum/hunts...e-alabama.html
http://www.city-data.com/forum/hunts...opics-too.html

But now that you want a town (small city), I actually have no info about that. Not sure what the population around Auburn/Opelika/Columbus is, but that area seems nice to me.

[needtosellmyhome]

Well the City of Madison has approximately 42,000 residents which would fit your goal of between 25,000 and 50,000 residents; The City of Madison is tightly adjoined to the City of Huntsville though which has approximately 180,000 residents so this might not be what you're looking for. Some users on this forum think Madison is too crowded and difficult to drive in but there are other cities all over the country that are far more crowded and difficult to drive in than Madison, Al. In the most recent years I've mainly found that HWY 72 in Madison is difficult to drive on Saturday's-it gets pretty crowded there; it's not like a traffic jam in some other cities in the U.S. though. I'm sure there will probably be other posters that will now reply with their opinion of the poor road infrastructure in the City of Madison now. It has been a topic on our city-data page numerous times. I personally LIKE the City of Madison though and I know quite a few other folks personally that do as well. I'm not living in the City Limits of Madison anymore but I do still like the City of Madison.

[LCTMadison]

Originally Posted by pmck94

Hi all,

I have posted some threads here but I just want some more information.

I am 19 years old, currently on a path to become a journeyman HVAC technician. If all goes well, in about 4-5 years I will have my license. When I do get my license, I plan on moving to Alabama because of the following reasons: 1. I cant take the cold weather anymore. 2. steady work due to the heat (servicing AC units, etc) however, I want to go into commercial HVAC. 3. slowed down pace, Southern hospitality, and a much friendlier vibe.

I'm not a big party animal, in fact I'm generally quiet... pretty much a social extrovert and solitary introvert if that makes sense haha; it's not my scene. I prefer a city with a small town mix. probably between 25k - 50k people living in it (relative because I live in a city with 125K people). Of course, someplace affordable for somebody who is single (I plan on raising a family someday though).

If the opportunities dont arise here for me to land an apprenticeship, then in about 18 months I will be moving to Alabama to get my license there.

Are there any cities that fit my desires?

If you'd like more info, by all means ask away

thanks,

Michael

One thing to consider about "living" in Madison is while you technically DO reside there, you will be spending a great deal of your time in Huntsville. You would probably not do well in the industry you want to go into just restricting yourself to Madison....so basically, it is like living in a bigger city even though you are outside the city limits. It definitely does not have the "small town" feel. While we are our own "city" we are more of a "bedroom" community and very dependent on HSV.

CoreLysium mentioned Auburn, and I will tell you that is an awesome place to live, having lived there when I was in school. The university is there, but overall it is pretty laid back and really does feel like a "small town". You also might look at some smaller towns like Cullman, Brewton, Pell City, Fort Payne, Jasper, .....all pretty small comparatively but still relatively close to a larger city if you did want those conveniences every once in a while. Athens is just right outside of Huntsville and is separated enough that it does really have that "small town" feel...but there are more than 50,000 there I would guess. Arab is another great area as well....Keeper can tell you all you need to know about there!

There are TONS of these smaller towns scattered throughout AL....

[CoreLysium]

Oh, but not Phenix City. (yes, it's spelled that way.) If it's still as bad as I heard it was. (This is all hearsay.)

[needtosellmyhome]

Wikipedia lists the population for the CITY of Athens at 21,897 per the 2010 U.S. census. But there are more residents than that when you include the Athens "area" that is outside the city limits.

Athens, Alabama - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Georgianbelle]

Auburn is a nice town, but during the school year the traffic can be horrible. There are too many students and not enough places to park. Forget going anywhere on game day weekends.

[LCTMadison]

Originally Posted by CoreLysium

Oh, but not Phenix City. (yes, it's spelled that way.) If it's still as bad as I heard it was. (This is all hearsay.)

Holy cow, yes it is....wouldn't want to live there, or Opelika.

[pmck94]

Helpful forum, especially on the Alabama sub forum haha.

As of right now it's just a search, I'll ask in the other subs of Alabama. I'm not saying I'm limiting myself to the HSV area, however I feel like I'd have more potential there... we'll see how everything goes.

I'll consider the cities/towns listed here and read more up on them. Thank you for the information

Sorry to offend any Auburn fans, but, Roll Tide hehe.

[TreyFry]

Michael, you should look at Scottsboro. It perfectly fits the big small town out in the country lifestyle you are looking for. You could work in Huntsville or Chattanooga, TN. Both are under an hour commute and there is plenty of HVAC work in our area too. Best of luck to you!

Regards,
TreyFry