New college grad in Huntsville? (Birmingham, Columbia: living, young professionals, restaurants)

[sctiger07]

Hi,

I'm finishing my masters degree in December and am looking for a job (obviously not a great time for that). A recruiter I've talked with is trying to get me interested in Huntsville. I'm not familiar at all with Alabama, and have never really pictured myself moving there. Is this an area that would be enjoyable for a 23 year old, recent college grad?

I'm originally from Columbia, SC so I'm used to the south, but don't want to live in a completely "hee haw" (as I saw someone else here say) area.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

[Charles]

Originally Posted by sctiger07

Hi,

I'm finishing my masters degree in December


Is this an area that would be enjoyable for a 23 year old, recent college grad?

What did you major in? Is the recruiter bullish on you finding work in Huntsville? Where else?

I guess it depends on how you define enjoyable. (Not that these sets of activities are mutually exclusive), Meeting lots of chicks, parties, clubs, etc, or living affordably, saving money, avoiding traffic, spending time doing some outdoor activities?

[sctiger07]

Structural engineering. Basically the recruiter has 3 jobs she's trying to fill, 2 of which are looking for people with 5 years of experience. She's slightly bullish on this job just because she wants to fill it and get her commission I guess.

One of the things I like about Huntsville is the outdoors part. But I would also like to be somewhere that has a significant population of recent college grads and a good nightlife.

[Huntsville_secede]

Originally Posted by sctiger07

Structural engineering. Basically the recruiter has 3 jobs she's trying to fill, 2 of which are looking for people with 5 years of experience. She's slightly bullish on this job just because she wants to fill it and get her commission I guess.

One of the things I like about Huntsville is the outdoors part. But I would also like to be somewhere that has a significant population of recent college grads and a good nightlife.

Move elsewhere Huntsville has a horrible night life and a lack of young professionals. If you like diversity you won't find it here either all the people are pretty much the same engineering-tech geek types. If you are willing to travel elsewhere frequently on the weekends it may not be that big of a deal but the nightlife options here are very limited.

[Southlander]

I have to agree...I wouldn't want to be a young single here. Most all activities are family-oriented. Might not be so bad if you're from here, and have family here and some of your friend are already here. But to come here with no friends, no spouse, no family? Nah.

[VJ86]

I agree with Southlander. I'm 22 and I seem to find enough to do around here, but I've also lived here for a very long time and my family and friends are here so a lot of my social outings revolve around them. If it weren't for that, I don't think much would be keeping me here at this stage in my life.

[sctiger07]

Thanks for the responses, that's sort of what I was expecting from the other posts I've read.

[deesonic]

Well I'm basically a lifer here. This is far from a "heehaw" town for sure. However...

Short story....When I was a young college grad from Jax State I wanted so bad to get out of Alabama. I moved to Denver and absolutely loved it. My college sweetheart followed me out, we ended up married, both joined the Army and ended up stationed in Georgia. We got out and my wife (also a Huntsvillian) and I decided to move back home. If I had it to do all over as a young college grad, I'd go right back to Denver or some other more interesting place. Now in my 30s, married, with my first child on the way and family all over North Alabama, Huntsville works for me. But sadly, I ordinarily wouldn't recommend Huntsville to a young single college graduate looking for night life.

That's not to say there is no place to go or hang out. But just look at the concert schedule in this town for instance. Not much comes here anymore. Also Huntsville does not have any centralized night life location that's convenient for pub crawling and such. For instance, in Denver there was LoDo. In Savannah, GA there was Downtown/River Street. Or even Birmingham which has 5 Points South. You could simply grab a cab to one location and have endless places to check out and then cab safely home. Not the case in Huntsville. Downtown Huntsville has made some strides, but there still has been resistance to development downtown. And I don't just mean night life. I mean shopping, restaurants, pubs, etc. Any way I'm rambling.

If you do come here, become active in a local group like the Huntsville Young Professionals and you'd find more like minded people to hang out with. Otherwise, it's a great town for families like others have mentioned. Good luck.

[financelife]

Especially if you're a female, find some other place to start your career. Seriously. Dallas, Denver, ATL might be fun to start out.

[sctiger07]

I was actually hoping to have a job in ATL with the company I worked for over the summer, but with the current economic situation...well, you know the drill...they're not hiring at the moment. At this point I don't know if I'll be able to be too picky with where I end up.

Thanks again, it's really nice to be able to get perspective from people who actually live there (and not the recruiter trying to sell me on a place).