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Hello, I have been reached out to about a possible position in Huntsville, Alabama. I have heard it is a growing city and a well educated town, but I have not heard much else. I have a few weeks to think it over, so I wanted to post something here since this site has helped me in the past.
The move would be a fairly large change for me as I am in my mid twenties. I grew up in the Pittsburgh, PA area and then spent a couple of years in both Columbus, OH and Cleveland, OH.
Is Huntsville a good place for young professionals? Does the city have a decent social scene and does it have a lot to do for someone my age?
I'd say it's the best city in the state for Young Professionals! We've had a big shift in the past 10 years from a underdog town to a place that caters to post-college grads and YP's. Our downtown area is being revived with several new craft breweries and places to eat, and hosts several fun activities a year (food truck gatherings, concerts, ice skating, and Slide the City came to us back in September). Larger festivals such as Whistlestop and Panoply also offer activities that bring people in from all over the country.
On the business side, we have a lot of networking and professional development opportunities for YP's (check out the Chamber of Commerce or Leadership Huntsville/Madison County for programs) due to all the government organizations and research companies that are based here. It's also a good place for small businesses in terms of community support and target audience.
For activities, we have America's largest independent center for the arts (Lowe Mill), one of Alabama's top state parks atop Monte Sano mountain (which also has 20+ miles of hiking and mountain biking trails), and the Space & Rocket Center (coolest museum in the state, in my opinion). Our local parks and rec centers are top-notch, but if none of those spark your interest, you are less than two hours by car from Nashville and Birmingham and only 4 hours from Atlanta and Memphis.
But I think one of the best things about Huntsville is the people. We do have a smaller native population, but a lot of us are just like you- we have people who come from all corners of the U.S. (and the world) by themselves or with their families, either for jobs or from a friend's reccommendation, and all are welcome with open arms. We are one of (if not the) most diverse cities in the state, and once people arrive here they never want to leave. It's an up-and-coming, forward-thinking metro area with lots of that good ol' Southern charm!
I could honestly go on forever about how great my hometown is, but hopefully this gives you a bit of insight into life in Huntsville
P.S.- if you'd like to find out more information about Huntsville from other users, there's a "useful links" thread on our city forum main page to check out.
Hi Tbone! Huntsville Young Professionals has been an active group for years for people your age, Huntsville Young ProfessionalsHuntsville Young Professionals Huntsville has really progressed in the last 10 years as far as trying to appeal to your age group by expanding downtown activities (Greene Street Market, pop up shops, free outdoor putt putt, food truck festivals, etc.) these are mostly organized by Downtown, Inc., Downtown Huntsville We have several mixed used communities with lofts, dining, clubs, etc., including Providence, Belk Lofts, The Avenue (in construction), Twickenham Square and one more (sorry, I've forgotten it's name). Craft beer is really popular here and we have several breweries and the Nook is a popular beer drinkers destination. We have Pinhook Creek food truck park, with a second food truck park on the way. Shopping/dog walking/browsing/dining is prevalent at Bridge Street Towne Center. The Von Braun Civic Center is our concert venue (and hockey and (at least we used to have) an indoor arena football team. A nice thing about Huntsville, is it is 1.5 hrs drive to both Nashville or Birmingham and ~ 4 hrs to ATL, so you could get your "big city fix" and the beach is ~ 5 hours south. valleyplanet.com | Huntsville's Original: Free Events, Arts and Entertainment Magazine will provide you with music, events, arts, etc. We have at least a couple of dog parks and many greenways for walking/jogging/biking and the River is a short drive where we have Ditto Landing in Huntsville, or you can drive ~20 miles west to Decatur. Outdoors-wise, we have Monte Sano mountain, Green Mountain (Huntsville/Madison County Nature trail) for hiking/picnicking, photography, etc., Our Valley Events - Huntsville's original online events calendar is another good source for events. If you enjoy sports, Frisbee golf is fairly popular with at least two courses that I know of, gyms are plentiful, public and private tennis courts are, too, bowling, indoor trampoline park (Shakalaka is it's name) and we are getting a high speed veloce indoor speedway, www.velocehuntsville.com/ , swimming pools, sand/beach-style volleyball park, too. Lowe mill is a thriving entertainment venue for arts and music and hosts outdoor concerts during nice weather. www.lowemill.net/ So, in my humble opinion, this is the prime time for someone like you to move to HSV, the cost of living is low, crime rate low (always relatively speaking) and wayyyyyyyy more to do than when I was growing up. I've only spent time in Columbus (of the cities you have lived in) and can say it will be smaller and not a football-centric town (Go Bucks!), almost zero snow here, but we do have change-of-seasons, and friendly people. I hope you make the decision that is right for you and I hope this information is useful. If you have specific questions, post away, I'm sure I've missed a lot.
Thank you to both of you for the help and information! I think I am going to apply for the position so I can come down and explore the area a little bit. To be honest, I have never been to the south (other than Florida once). I am excited to explore it. My main concern was the size of the city. I am not opposed to smaller cities at all, they just sometimes mean lack of nightlife, youth, things to do, etc. It seems like that is not the case here. Huntsville seems to be steadily growing with tons of transplants and a decent amount of activities within the city and outdoor activities outside of the city to keep me busy. Thanks again for the information!
Thank you to both of you for the help and information! I think I am going to apply for the position so I can come down and explore the area a little bit. To be honest, I have never been to the south (other than Florida once). I am excited to explore it. My main concern was the size of the city. I am not opposed to smaller cities at all, they just sometimes mean lack of nightlife, youth, things to do, etc. It seems like that is not the case here. Huntsville seems to be steadily growing with tons of transplants and a decent amount of activities within the city and outdoor activities outside of the city to keep me busy. Thanks again for the information!
Young people in Huntsville marry early or leave, so don't expect much on a day to day basis for you, based on the three cities you mention. One of the posts mentions a lot of things, but they don't contribute much to quality of life unless you live like a tourist.
My comment is not about the city, but about the fact that its local culture just lends itself to young families. The things you would like are so few you would grow tired soon.
I do think you should visit and see for yourself because Huntsville is a very recently developed town and does not have the urban character of cities in your region at all; it is more like a suburb to a larger city. Strip shopping centers and all that go with that.
Tbone... what are the odds... i use to play PS2 with a Tbone from PA - assuming no relations - lol
Anyways, although I spent 13 years of my childhood in Northversales, PA (really close to Pittsburgh)... it would be extremely difficult for me to compare the two city's.... Huntsville seems to sit in a vally where as PA is so hilly its almost impossible to determine if your in a Vally or not.
And ive only lived around Lake Erie in OH which to me was more of a "Hick town" - no offense - than down here in AL.
However, in regards to job security/options... i personally feel that saying Huntsville is a good place for young professionals would be an understatement.
Huntsville, is indeed a growing city which supports a "technology park" and better yet Redstone Arsenal which is rapidly growing!
As far as outdoor activities... you'll probably want to buy a nice pair of hiking boots and spend some time hiking around mount Monsanto... alternatively, you could go fishing (etc) on the Tennessee river.
Unfortunately, although i am only 25 i can not speak for Huntsville's social scene (outside of vape meets etc) nor can i speak for HSV night life as my wife and i do not have the time to regularly partake in clubs that do not have poles. However, i have heard through the grape vine that there are at least a hand full of night clubs that are "typical" when it comes to mainstream clubbing. However, you may want to do a little research before you wind up at the wrong place at the wrong time... (IE wearing typical club apparel to a country club... that you did not realize was a country club... then find out that said country club has a mechanical bull (which you want to try)... but you arrived unprepared and thus are denied access because you do not look country... - btw that was off the top of my head - not from experience or anything...)
Final thoughts... (*edit: I dont like all the above ground cabling [power/cable/whatever wires] in comparison to other cities ive lived in where the majority of their power lines are buried underground... Also, expect to see many vacant buildings... including a walmart and i think kmart just shut down... nevertheless youll notice all the mom and pop stores that didnt make it through the years... yep there still standing.. and nope they dont look pretty) Huntsville is a diverse, wide spread area where you can expect to drive through different classes of residences in order to get to your destination thus, while you may want to ensure your car doors are locked on a certain blocks (*cough university dr) while the next block you can basically leave your car running, doors unlocked, walk into a gas station and expect nothing to happen to your car -although, i would never recommend this - lol. There are just as many bad areas (Madison mall) as there are good areas (Bridge street, parkway place mall, etc) but this just IMO as this will be the case no matter where you move to. (This may or may not help - Moderator cut: link removed)
for what it’s worth I do not necessarily foresee myself living in hsv forever, then again its hard to see myself settling down anywhere (and I’ve lived in FL , PA, OH, MD, NC, VA, and now AL and have had lengthy visits to Canada and Germany).
Any ways, good luck in your endeavors!
***btw i can not speak for other comments like "Young people in Huntsville marry early or leave" as i got married when i was 18, before moving to HSV and i plan on working on Redstone until i finish my cyber security degree.
Last edited by Count David; 01-11-2016 at 07:21 PM..
Reason: competing site
I grew up in NE Ohio and went to college in Ohio at OU...and lived in Ohio till I moved to DC for grad school when I was 26. So I know the Midwest where you lived. We moved down here 7 months ago for a job I took here. And I would say couldn't be happier!
Great place, with low cost of living, Tons of outdoor and other activities, very friendly people similar to the mid west in that regard and taxes on real estate that are about twenty percent what you'd pay on a same priced house in Columbus, Cleveland and Pittsburgh. And that's a fact, as I looked at moving back toward all three. So that's huge.
Lots of bars, craft beer places, small cool music venues and any scene you want here --- hipster, country, conservative, progressive etc. really a melting pot here and I like that. Now, obviously Christian and conservative might be the norm, but I don't really know where people I see stand on things. And thas fine by me
So as a whole - great place, great people, great job prospects and great cost of living and city. Come on down to the good life!
[quote=jewel104;42558501]Hi Tbone! Huntsville Young Professionals has been an active group for years for people your age, [url=http://www.huntsvilleyoungprofessionals.com/]Huntsville Young ProfessionalsHuntsville ...
Your post is very informative even to me (well past the twenties) as I've recently re-relocated here. Appreciated!
Thanks everyone for the information! I am coming down to interview next Tuesday the 26th. I am flying in on Monday the 25th so I will have a few hours to drive around and check out the area.
Does anyone have any recommendations of what I should see that would help me in my decision? Obviously, I do not have the job yet, but I would like to know if it would be a good fit or not if offered.
Thanks again!
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A big help!
