Thinking of moving to Huntsville - What is it like - Really (Montgomery: environment)

[madisonmamma]

Huntsville is NOT your typical Alabama city, that is for sure! The main thing driving our economy and lifestyle is the high level of education of residents in the area due to the business climate here. It is an amazing place to live!
We moved here from Florida, and I can tell you, I would never want to live anywhere else! If you want the "big city" feel with community atmosphere, Huntsville and Madison is one you should look at! We enjoy a thriving economy, HEALTHY housing market, top rated schools, and fabulous retail and dining! Location wise, you are a half day drive to the mountains for skiing and half day drive to gorgeous Gulf Coast beaches. Can't beat that!
As a Realtor, I can tell you our housing market is STRONG, and will remain that way with the influx of BRAC that is moving into our area. Check out our new campaign Healthy Real Estate that we have just launched, new information is continually being added.

[madisonmamma]

Originally Posted by NicoleC

If you are in Huntsville proper, it's fairly cosmopolitan. There is the NASCAR crowd around, but they are outnumbered by the rocket scientists.

SE Huntsville is a very nice area for the most part; generally you want to be east of the Parkway. Housing is mostly older brick ranchers; as you move farther east the homes get newer and it gets more suburban. A little bit north, there is also the very lovely Medical District, Blossomwood and Jones Valley, and beyond that the historical districts. If you lived and worked in this area you'd have little traffic or commute to deal with, but would still be convenient to almost everything.

There isn't much of a downtown to Huntsville; it's somewhat of a bone of contention here. Downtown is mostly government, children's museums and at night, bars. But it's safe with ample well-lit parking.

You can tell when it is rush hour here, but the traffic is overall very light compared to Atlanta. There are some serious traffic issues along 72 through Madison, and a bottleneck on 72 going over Chapman Mountain; those are the only two bad spots of which I am aware. Neither is near SE Huntsville.

Overall, schools are quite good. There are some exceptions, of course.

If you have a desire to be outside of town, your best bet is to go south of the river into Morgan County on the SE corner of HSV. This area is a bit mixed at the moment -- newer homes are starting to come in but many of the homes in the area resembled run down shacks and garbage dumps. I believe this area is poised for development and provides the best potential residential investment and the trashier areas will get cleaned up as these folks cash in on rising home values. Nonetheless, you can purchase well and be out of town but close to work.

Then there are the numerous, nearly identical outlying suburban areas in almost every other direction. Frankly, they are overpriced at the moment and the newer subdivision homes are not well constructed. From the SE of Huntsville, Hampton Cove would be the most likely candidate for you.

Be forewarned that the farther you get from Huntsville proper, the more it gets like your neighbor minus the beer. (Much of the area is dry.) The kind of place where people are more likely to ask for your church than your name.

Not so......

1. New construction homes not well constructed. There are some FABULOUS builders building in all parts of the Huntsville/Madison/Madison County. There are more GOOD builders than crappy ones.
2. Traffic is a problem EVERYWHERE, even SE and Hampton Cove. Apparently you have not traveled to either of these areas around 5:00. Getting over the mountain to HC is HORRIBLE, and SE gets very congested on the Parkway as well as the service roads and other main streets. Madison on 72 heading WEST is bad beginning around 4:00 every day, but there are many other roads if you are traveling through Madison, even if you are heading to Athens there are better ways to go during those times.
3. As far as the outlying markets go (as far as investments are concerned) Athens and Limestone County are the way to go. Decatur and Morgan County posed some of the lowest growth numbers as well as the smallest increase in home values in North AL the past three quarters, while we are seeing a huge increase in sales and prices beginning to rise in the Athens area. That is the next growth area. Morgan County and Decatur is a very slow moving real estate market, and has been for years. It will eventually pick up, but the movement is heading in the direction of Athens full steam.

[djhaight]

Up front you and I are probably near the same age and family demographics.

I did not like Huntsville, I worked for the Army and would not recomment Huntsville. I lived in Huntsville about 30 years ago and the school were amongst the worst in the country. My child went to Grissom and it was not an improvement from when I went to school. The schools are still behind northern or eastern schools.

Athletically, I couldn't find places for my kids to play baseball and softball. The park disctricts are disorganized and CYS on installation were not much help.

Driving will be a shock to you, the standard line is the a trooper will come up behind you and flash his lights. This not to slow you down but to make you go faster. Expect sticker shock on your insurance, Huntsville is amongst the worst country's high risk areas. I moved away and the cost dropped by more than 2/3's.

BTW, they're still fighting the civil war down there and the prejudices from the 1960's are the same.

All in all, I would'nt move there but, I've lived there and it sucks.

[rnc76]

Originally Posted by djhaight

Up front you and I are probably near the same age and family demographics.

I did not like Huntsville, I worked for the Army and would not recomment Huntsville. I lived in Huntsville about 30 years ago and the school were amongst the worst in the country. My child went to Grissom and it was not an improvement from when I went to school. The schools are still behind northern or eastern schools.

Athletically, I couldn't find places for my kids to play baseball and softball. The park disctricts are disorganized and CYS on installation were not much help.

Driving will be a shock to you, the standard line is the a trooper will come up behind you and flash his lights. This not to slow you down but to make you go faster. Expect sticker shock on your insurance, Huntsville is amongst the worst country's high risk areas. I moved away and the cost dropped by more than 2/3's.

BTW, they're still fighting the civil war down there and the prejudices from the 1960's are the same.

All in all, I would'nt move there but, I've lived there and it sucks.

So you registered on city data so that you could bash a city that you lived in 30 years ago? Interesting. 30 years is a long time, things change, especially in an area that has grown as much as Huntsville has.

[madisonmamma]

Originally Posted by djhaight

Up front you and I are probably near the same age and family demographics.

I did not like Huntsville, I worked for the Army and would not recomment Huntsville. I lived in Huntsville about 30 years ago and the school were amongst the worst in the country. My child went to Grissom and it was not an improvement from when I went to school. The schools are still behind northern or eastern schools.

Athletically, I couldn't find places for my kids to play baseball and softball. The park disctricts are disorganized and CYS on installation were not much help.

Driving will be a shock to you, the standard line is the a trooper will come up behind you and flash his lights. This not to slow you down but to make you go faster. Expect sticker shock on your insurance, Huntsville is amongst the worst country's high risk areas. I moved away and the cost dropped by more than 2/3's.

BTW, they're still fighting the civil war down there and the prejudices from the 1960's are the same.

All in all, I would'nt move there but, I've lived there and it sucks.

I don't know how it was 30 years ago...but things sure are not like that now.

As far as the schools, Huntsville and Madison have some of the best schools in the state, Madison' high school is nationally ranked in the top 5% of high schools. The schools are heavily focused on science and technology, because Huntsville offers so much in that industry.

There are very few people here that are "native". The majority of the people who live here are from other parts of the US, and the world for that matter. We have a wonderful mix of ethnicities. This area hosts some of the most highly educated people in the US, considering we have NASA, Marshall Space Flight, Missle Defense, Boeing, Lockheed, ect. You have a very heavy concentration of engineers. Huntsville and Madison are very diverse, which is one thing that I love about it. You meet so many interesting people here from all parts of the world.

As far as racism, well, that is everywhere. I have lived in many parts of the US, not just the south, and I can tell you there is some level of racism in all parts of the country. So try not to stigmitize a city that you really don't know based on historical geography.

My insurance (both auto and homeowners) dropped dramatically when I moved to the area. We also enjoy the lowest property taxes in the nation.

Kid's sports programs are bountiful. There is baseball, soccer, football, cheerleading, gymnastics, martial arts, basketball, flag football, lacrosse, golf, tennis, ice hockey, just to name a few off the top of my head. There is so much for kids to do here, both athletically and academically. We have museums, the symphony, arena football, minor league baseball, a hockey team, the Space and Rocket center, and a bounty of other science and discovery centers available. Oh, not to mention the other great activities like camping, hiking ect at Monte Sano, and water sports at the many lakes and rivers completely surrounding the area. You are a half day's drive to the mountains for great skiing, and a half day's drive to the beautiful sugar beaches of the Gulf. What more could you want?

Of all the places I have lived, US and abroad, Huntsville by far is my favorite. The quality of life here is outstanding, and the opportunites are endless.

[deesonic]

Originally Posted by djhaight

I lived in Huntsville about 30 years ago and the school were amongst the worst in the country. My child went to Grissom and it was not an improvement from when I went to school. The schools are still behind northern or eastern schools.

So you lived here 30 years ago and you feel you are knowledgeable enough about Huntsville to make comments like this? "Northern or eastern" schools eh? Well, sir or ma'am, as a completely inferiorly public educated native Huntsvillian, I can't "recomment" your point of view.

[Keeper]

I didn't live in H'ville 30 years ago, but I did live there 40 years ago and I can tell you it has changed a lot. The area has grown as has downtown. Schools are good compared to many states.

Property taxes and HOI are very reasonable now and they weren't that bad back in the 60s either. We were a single family income and had a very nice newer house. The H'ville area is very diverse compared to many southern cities even back in the 60s there were many neighborhoods that were diverse.

The one thing that was high back then was rent. There were no apts and there were not a lot of houses to rent so you paid much more for a rental house than you did if you bought a house.

Are there racist in AL? Of course, there are still some racist but you will find them in every state. Read a few of the other city/state forums and you will find a lot more racist comments than you will ever find on the AL forum.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by djhaight

Up front you and I are probably near the same age and family demographics.

I did not like Huntsville, I worked for the Army and would not recomment Huntsville. I lived in Huntsville about 30 years ago and the school were amongst the worst in the country. My child went to Grissom and it was not an improvement from when I went to school. The schools are still behind northern or eastern schools.

Athletically, I couldn't find places for my kids to play baseball and softball. The park disctricts are disorganized and CYS on installation were not much help.

Driving will be a shock to you, the standard line is the a trooper will come up behind you and flash his lights. This not to slow you down but to make you go faster. Expect sticker shock on your insurance, Huntsville is amongst the worst country's high risk areas. I moved away and the cost dropped by more than 2/3's.

BTW, they're still fighting the civil war down there and the prejudices from the 1960's are the same.

All in all, I would'nt move there but, I've lived there and it sucks.

Some ding-a-lings....

Milken Institute - Best Cities Index 2007


* The Wall Street Journal
One of country’s Top 10 Cities — Business Vitality
Leading City for Concentration of Architectural and other Engineers
* careerbuilder.com
One of the country’s “15 Great Cities for Job Seekers”
* Forbes Magazine
A Leading City for Business and Careers
* Kiplinger’s Personal Finance
Nation’s 25 Best Cities — Mid-level professionals
* MSN/Sperling’s
One of Country’s Top 10 Cities for Job Growth and Affordability
* Manpower
One of Nation’s Top Ten Cities for Job Growth Markets
* Popular Science
Huntsville named one of “America’s Top 50 Greenest Cities”
* Computerworld
Huntsville named one of country’s Top 5 Technology Cities
* Relocate-America.com
One of America’s Top 100 Places to Live
* Milken Institute
Huntsville ranked as one of the nation’s Best Performing Cities
* National Geographic Adventure
Nation’s Top 50 cities for outdoor adventure activities
* Expansion Management Magazine
Huntsville named one of America’s leading 5-Star Business Metros
* Foreign-Direct Investment Magazine
# 1 U.S. Small City of the Future

[dramamama]

Other than the airport issues no complaint from this transplant--great place!

[Bravo35223]

Originally Posted by Charles

Some ding-a-lings....

Milken Institute - Best Cities Index 2007


* The Wall Street Journal
One of country’s Top 10 Cities — Business Vitality
Leading City for Concentration of Architectural and other Engineers
* careerbuilder.com
One of the country’s “15 Great Cities for Job Seekers”
* Forbes Magazine
A Leading City for Business and Careers
* Kiplinger’s Personal Finance
Nation’s 25 Best Cities — Mid-level professionals
* MSN/Sperling’s
One of Country’s Top 10 Cities for Job Growth and Affordability
* Manpower
One of Nation’s Top Ten Cities for Job Growth Markets
* Popular Science
Huntsville named one of “America’s Top 50 Greenest Cities”
* Computerworld
Huntsville named one of country’s Top 5 Technology Cities
* Relocate-America.com
One of America’s Top 100 Places to Live
* Milken Institute
Huntsville ranked as one of the nation’s Best Performing Cities
* National Geographic Adventure
Nation’s Top 50 cities for outdoor adventure activities
* Expansion Management Magazine
Huntsville named one of America’s leading 5-Star Business Metros
* Foreign-Direct Investment Magazine
# 1 U.S. Small City of the Future

Great stuff......