Thinking of moving to Huntsville (Madison, Valley: home, job market, safe neighborhoods)

[Kareismoving]

Hello,

I currently live in Indiana and am considering relocating. I am tired of the harsh winters so I am looking for a new place.

How is Huntsville for the 30 age range? Are the people friendly? Would it be hard to make friends?

One thing I worry about is making friends, it seems like the older you get the harder it is to make friends when you relocate.

Are the people into fitness there? Are there lots of gyms and running clubs?

Can you have a garden there? How is the cost of living?

Any advise on the area would be greatly appreciated!!!

[rnc76]

People here are generally very welcoming of newcomers. I haven't found it very hard to make friends. I think it is a little easier with kids, since this is such a family friendly town. The nightlife is a little lacking though for the size of the metro.

There is a very active running club here. They sponsor events all year long, road and trail races.
Huntsville Track Club Home Page
There is also an active biking club.
Spring City Cycling Club of Huntsville, Alabama
There are also thousands of acres of land either in the city or adjacent with miles of trails for hiking and mountain biking. Some of the popular areas are Monte Sano State Park, Monte Sano Land Trust, Hays Nature Preserve, Wade Mountain, Rainbow Mountain, Green Mountain... All of those places are pretty large (200-2000 acres or so) and either in Huntsville, Madison or just adjacent to the city.

The cost of living is low overall, especially for the job market. Housing costs vary greatly. Like anywhere, the most desirable areas can be pretty expensive ($150+/sqft). However, there are lots of new developments on the edge of Huntsville and Madison that are really reasonable ($80-100/sqft. Even close to the center of the city there are nice, safe neighborhoods that are fairly inexpensive ($100 or so/sqft).

I don't know much about gardening, but the clay soil may make life a little harder than in Indiana. I think with a little effort though, you should be able to have a nice garden.

[Kareismoving]

Thanks for the info - how are the winters and summers?

[rnc76]

Winters are relatively mild, but it can get suprisingly cold. I have yet to really see snow here in 3 years. Last year we had maybe 1/2" and I saw kids in the neigbhorhood making these snow/mud/grass snowmen, it was really funny. I actually kind of miss snow sometimes. Summer can be brutal. Last summer was absolutely awful and worse than normal, I have never experience heat like that. The AVERAGE high for the month of August was 98.2 degrees, which set a record. However, other than July and August, it is usually bearable. June and September are hit and miss with perfect days mixed into hotter days. Spring and Fall are fantastic. There are lots of flowering trees here: dogwoods, pear blossoms, cherry blossoms and magnolias that bloom in springtime. We get suprisingly nice color in Fall (at least much better than I expected).

[HsvMike]

Hi Kare, what part of Indiana are you from? I relocated here from NW Indiana. The winters are great compared to what it is like up there. The summers start earlier and end later than what you are used to and are pretty hot, but it hits up close to 100 up there as well. Everyone gave great advice and it really is a friendly place.

[dbkeel1]

Kare, try this for data on the area: Tennessee Valley BRAC: Relocation information: Housing, Education, Quality of Life, Huntsville, BRAC, Redstone, Tennessee Valley, Madison County, Alabama, AMCOM, MDA, SMDC. Come on down!

[autobahn]

For young singles groups, check out: HYP and Alive...

www.huntsvillealive.com

Huntsville Young Professionals

They always have stories on them every week in the weekend section of the paper:

al.com: Go