Pride of ownership seriously lacking in this area (Birmingham, Huntsville: low income, transplants)

[FatTails]

Originally Posted by dijkstra

As for Walmart, they all suck. Every single one of them. I have been in them all across the country and I do not remember ever leaving a Walmart thinking "man that was a great Walmart." lol They are intentionally understaffed which also leads to disorganization and items missing from shelves. Walmart corporate does it to save on labor costs across the board. The only reason people consistently shop there is because of the prices. We tolerate the nonsense and aggravation just to save a few bucks.

A few years ago I went to Yellowstone and stopped at a Walmart in Idaho Falls. I was super impressed with how nice it was. Only Walmart I've ever been to where I thought that.

[maillemaker]

As others have pointed out, the Surburban Extended Stay Hotel is about a block away from Huntsville's largest housing project. Projects create economically depressed areas, which is why it's not a very good way to house the poor.


Basically anything east of Sparkman on Highway 72 is going to be kind of dumpy.

[Chris_NorthHSV]

Most of these areas people are talking about will have a lot of demolition and rebuilding in the next 30-40 years. That part of University is likely to get sucked into the redevelopment happening around downtown. Madison Boulevard won't stay the same as it is either over that same time period.

[HSVAeroEngineer]

Originally Posted by FatTails

A few years ago I went to Yellowstone and stopped at a Walmart in Idaho Falls. I was super impressed with how nice it was. Only Walmart I've ever been to where I thought that.

You should see the Walmart in Avon, Colorado- I have been to 49 states and that is the nicest store I have ever been to, however, Avon, CO is a very wealthy town comparable to Aspen.

My point was not so much about how nice and luxurious a Walmart may be but about how it is managed- The Walmart in Madison at 8650 Madison Blvd- you can go there anytime of the day, there is almost always a very long line, the employees mostly do not have the slightest clue what they are doing which shows that their training program is crap.

I work in Aerospace and usually if there are systemic problems with a specific manufacturing facility-it all starts with Management- they really dictate how things are going to be done and they really define the "culture" of a specific facility- Once again, I like living here in Huntsville so far but there is a chronic issue with bad management in this area. It is not just a few places, it is a lot of places.

[HSVAeroEngineer]

Originally Posted by Chris_NorthHSV

Most of these areas people are talking about will have a lot of demolition and rebuilding in the next 30-40 years. That part of University is likely to get sucked into the redevelopment happening around downtown. Madison Boulevard won't stay the same as it is either over that same time period.

Trust me, I tend to be critical but I am very excited to be here in Huntsville right now. I see so many opportunities to invest and make money here, I think the next five years will be very exciting for those who are open to good changes, although I hope this area does not swing to the Left politically.

I saw that happen in Nevada and Reno right now might as well just become part of California. If this place can stay religious and Conservative, it will only get better.

You are always going to have that type of crowd- "We have always done things this way, how dare you change it"-that is the mentality that keeps so many places in this country stuck in a complete state of backwardness and ignorance however I hope this area does not change politically.

[Igor Blevin]

Originally Posted by HSVAeroEngineer

Please don't knock me for saying that people do things very differently in other parts of the country- I moved here from CO and I have traveled extensively- I really like living in this area of so far but the thing that still blows my mind is the total lack of care, maintenance and pride in ownership that you see in many places here.

I can give you several examples but I stayed at the Suburban Extended on University Dr and that place was the worst managed extended stay hotel I have ever stayed in the entire USA- so I decided to move to the Woodland Suites in Madison-I thought, better area, hopefully better quality of people. I was wrong-same thing.

Yesterday, I went to a car wash in Madison, the place looks semi abandoned. If it was my car wash, I would keep it clean, shining, heck, I would try to update it a bit, you know like just basic TLC, so that it does not look like we are still living in 1983.

In any case, I think it is probably a combination of ignorance, low standards and truly "not knowing any better" but for people who think outside of the box, I drive to work everyday and I see investment opportunities truly every mile around Huntsville- you just need to use your brain a bit- I think people that come from other areas of the country with a different mindset, you can be very successful here just by having a bit of common sense and thinking outside of the box.

Is this a Huntsville thing, or just a post-Covid thing? My hotel experiences lately have not been positive and a lot of friends are complaining about it.

Businesses took a hit. Employees are in short supply and recent hires may not be as motivated to work hard as prior employees. I just don't know.

Your problem sounds kind of universal right now. They broke the world for a disease with a 1.5% casualty rate among the infected and it is going to take multiple years to get back to any semblance of normal.

They broke the world.

[Rick In Madison]

Originally Posted by Arya Stark

I completely agree with you... it is the entire south.

I drive around New England that there is not a single home that seems to be in bad shape. It is like every owner sees gold in their homes.

Also, when I look at real estate ads in New England all the homes are "staged" but in the south? Not so in the south and they don't even seem to do the basics.. like switch out 1980s fixtures for 2022 fixtures.

Tragic.

[harry chickpea]

Originally Posted by Rick In Madison

Tragic.

I agree! What are we coming to? Does this mean I have to wax the abandoned lawnmowers in my front yard???

[HSVAeroEngineer]

Originally Posted by Igor Blevin

Is this a Huntsville thing, or just a post-Covid thing? My hotel experiences lately have not been positive and a lot of friends are complaining about it.

Businesses took a hit. Employees are in short supply and recent hires may not be as motivated to work hard as prior employees. I just don't know.

Your problem sounds kind of universal right now. They broke the world for a disease with a 1.5% casualty rate among the infected and it is going to take multiple years to get back to any semblance of normal.

They broke the world.

I don't disagree with you entirely however COVID has also become a copout- a BS excuse to just be mediocre and not go above and beyond.

I have not had the pleasure to deal with the DMV here in Alabama yet but in Colorado, they were horrendous- they would close the office 30 minutes before the posted time and not even update their hours on their website, the excuse was always the same BS excuse "Because of COVID". At one point, they had a 90 day backlog just to schedule an appointment.

Overall, I find people here in this area to be much friendlier, overall much happier than in CO, easier to approach and talk. I like a lot of aspects of the culture here, I just think a few things may be improved and they will be but overall, moving to AL was one of the best things I could have done.

[MisterEd51]

You started out talking about pride of ownership. I agree there are towns and parts of towns that appear to not have changed in over fifty years. I see buildings that have deteriorated and make an area look very depressed. I suspect that much of that is economic where the owners don't have the money to keep up the maintenance. It is easy to say the answer is to just sell the property to someone that has the money to develop the property to its potential. A lot of that is happening in Huntsville now.

I remembering in a post here maybe five or ten years ago where there was discussion about some housing development being shut down and was supposed to be redeveloped. Someone brought up gentrification. For some that is a very toxic term. I understand why that was brought up but if were taken to its extreme then development in Huntsville would come to a halt. For example, there are several parts of Southwest Huntsville that are being razed and redeveloped. I see how some of this has displaced some lower income homes. Overall it has been making existing homes in Southwest Huntsville more costly and caused rents to jump. I see how many people of limited income will be squeezed out of buying homes or even renting them. This seems like gentrification at work. The problem is that is the natural result of rapid redevelopment in a part of Huntsville that has been depressed for many decades now. Overall I am positive about what is future is bringing to Southwest Huntsville even though I lament about its cost.