Thinking of moving to Huntsville - What is it like - Really (Madison: crime, school district)

[cobolt]

Originally Posted by vakinderegg

I have heard wonderful things about Seattle....Why do you want to leave?

Because 10 months of rain and clouds gets real old, real quick. Because I"ve been priced out of the housing market and the cost of living is unreal. Because people aren't very friendly here...polite, yes, in a "Hello, now go away" sort of way. Because the salaries do not keep up with the high cost of living. Because this area is a playground for serial killers and sociopaths. Oh I could go on. There are good things: wonderful hiking, beautiful scenery...but for me the cons outweigh the pros.

[gsp4ever]

cobolt--it's always good to get an outside/objective opinion of Huntsville. I'm always complaining about poor urban planning in this area and I sooo hope that things will change for the better. Unfortunately, it's been my experience that there are very few "walkable" areas of Huntsville and, those that are walkable are near areas of town with expensive housing--sometimes extremely expensive. Also, they've tried to "manufacture" walkable "main street" types of areas like Providence (and even Bridge Street) which is a bit odd to me but is obviously the going thing right now.

[cobolt]

Originally Posted by gsp4ever

cobolt--it's always good to get an outside/objective opinion of Huntsville. I'm always complaining about poor urban planning in this area and I sooo hope that things will change for the better. Unfortunately, it's been my experience that there are very few "walkable" areas of Huntsville and, those that are walkable are near areas of town with expensive housing--sometimes extremely expensive. Also, they've tried to "manufacture" walkable "main street" types of areas like Providence (and even Bridge Street) which is a bit odd to me but is obviously the going thing right now.

I agree with you. I really think if people (the planners) are smart about things, it could be a really neat area. My concern is that things are already so spread out that they will either continue to do so, or most of the area in between will become "filler" area, so to speak. It doesn't seem as though the growth came as a result of the city/downtown but rather the research park and Redstone. So the progression of development is more hodgepodge/patchwork instead of something coming from the central part of town and logically rotating out like the spokes of a wheel. I am thinking of Louisville, KY as I type this as a perfect example of a very walkable city that sort of "spokes" outwards into a more rural feel and with unique neighborhoods. Now...it's very densely populated but doesn't feel that way. It isn't perfect but as far as development goes, the planners were very smart. There is sprawl in the suburbs to an extent but for the most part it's a pretty workable place.

The real drawback for me was just how spread out things were in HSV. I could of course see the good---more like country living and there is something very attractive about that. But it does require alot of driving---crosstown to supertarget or wherever. The freeways are easy enough but a few of the main drags were....well, a drag. For an area of under 200k, it can be a real nightmare down the road if the planners aren't smart. They need to be proactive and not take the bandaid, put out fire approach to infrastructure. I really hope this happens because it will continue the high quality of living for the area. You don't want to have the nightmarish traffic that Lexington, KY has. It's about 250K but I found the traffic, the sprawl, the drag after drag of malls and shopping centers really frustrating. HSV has a great opportunity in that it's still in the early development stages and can hopefully counteract alot of the bad that comes when growth outruns planning....and bad planning is what I'm talking about.

I really enjoyed my visit though. And I really enjoy ya'll on the forum and your information. Don't take anything I say as a blow. It's just an observation. You've really got a gem of a place. So clean and very safe. Lots of potential. I don't mean that in a "let's build everything" sort of way. I mean that in a "access to wonderful walking parks, trails in town" sort of way. To me the city is on the precipice of either becoming HuntsVegas or HuntsVille.

[Highpointer]

Originally Posted by HouseFullaBoys

Because I get it all the time. While working for a local builder, I dealt 99% with people relocating and visitng the area for the first time. The major reason for hesitation was because of the reputaion of the Alabama school systems. About 2 weeks ago I was attacked on another site as being a bad mother for allowing my children to be educated in Alabama. (I wrote about this in another thread)

On what site were you attacked for "being a bad mother for allowing my children to be educated in Alabama." If that is true, then how could you be a good parent if you live in Alabama?

It does not appear to me that people from Alabama are less intelligent than people from other parts of the USA. In many cases, people in Alabama may be more intelligent than people from many other parts of the USA. When I was a graduate student in engineering, the head of my department grew up in Montgomery, Alabama and graduate from the U.S. Military Academy before he earned his Ph.D. in Engineering. He must have been a pretty smart person to have accomplished that.

[BKOTH97]

Originally Posted by Highpointer

On what site were you attacked for "being a bad mother for allowing my children to be educated in Alabama." If that is true, then how could you be a good parent if you live in Alabama?

It does not appear to me that people from Alabama are less intelligent than people from other parts of the USA. In many cases, people in Alabama may be more intelligent than people from many other parts of the USA. When I was a graduate student in engineering, the head of my department grew up in Montgomery, Alabama and graduate from the U.S. Military Academy before he earned his Ph.D. in Engineering. He must have been a pretty smart person to have accomplished that.

I have dealt with this stereotype as well. Like your department head, I graduated HS in a small town in central Alabama (Sylacauga) and then I went to West Point. When I arrived in New York I was asked on numerous occasions about the state of our plumbing and whether it was indoor or outdoor. I thought this to be odd, but there are people out there who know nothing of Alabama except Bull Conner, George Wallace and what they have been fed by some backwards director in Hollywood. I feel I must obliterate the common perception and I do that on a regular basis since I travel extensively. As the Greatest Generation continues to pass away, I hope that we can forge a new identity.

[ionlife]

The image that AL has with the NE and around the country is wrong--at least for the Hville/Madison area. But that is why I am sure only 15% of MDA is willing to move down here (there are other factors for why, but the image problem ranks up there). We love it here--love the lifestyle and the overall friendliness of the area. There are some drawbacks--I will miss the Smithsonians etc (but they are rare for USA anyway), but I figure, heck, I know where they are and I can visit them.

[BKOTH97]

Originally Posted by cglover

The image that AL has with the NE and around the country is wrong--at least for the Hville/Madison area. But that is why I am sure only 15% of MDA is willing to move down here (there are other factors for why, but the image problem ranks up there). We love it here--love the lifestyle and the overall friendliness of the area.

The ironic thing is that the people with this perception have based their ideas on stereotypes. They look down their nose at Alabamians sure of themselves and with an air of superiority all while their own ignorance and closed-mindedness shines through.

Slowly Huntsville, and to a lesser degree Mobile, is changing the national perception. Our best days are still ahead of us.

[HouseFullaBoys]

Originally Posted by Highpointer

On what site were you attacked for "being a bad mother for allowing my children to be educated in Alabama." If that is true, then how could you be a good parent if you live in Alabama?

Sorry, I entered that probably 6 months ago, can't remember what board I was on. I do remember the lady was from Chicago and she was mean. She went off and claimed that Alabama was like a foreign country, uneducated people taking less pay for jobs and putting all of the poor northerners out of work. Yada, yada... I never went back. However, I do get that often, how bad the schools are and so on. Mostly people use national stats that often have AL and Mississippi as the bottom 2 based on test scores and graduation rates. It makes them feel better about themselves I suppose.

[gsp4ever]

Well, it certainly doesn't help that AL and MS are always near the bottom of the educational stats. Plus the mainstream media always digs up some toothless fool with a really bad accent to interview (wearing overalls with no shirt underneath) for their "news" stories. Makes a *great* impression, I'm sure.

[Charles]

This is an absolute crack up. (What the heck, it's Friday.)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJuNgBkloFE

YouTube - Americans are NOT stupid - WITH SUBTITLES