Huntsvillians/Alabamians feelings on newcomers (Huntsville, Tuscaloosa: transplants, real estate, how much)

[Charles]

This thread on the California forum,

A Serious and Provoking Question for California Natives

prompted me to start this thread, on the Huntsville forum:

Does it seem that the majority of people living in expensive communities are from another state (or even foreign countries), most notably Virginia and California? Does it seem like the nicer subdivisions and communities in Huntsville and Madison county are filled with out of staters and foreigners? When you walk around are you constantly meeting non-native Huntsvillians and non-native Alabamians? With all this, how do you native Alabamians and Huntsvillians feel when you see your most expensive and prized land under ownership of out of state, and out country people?

[rnc76]

I think it depends on what you consider as "native". To me it seems like a lot of the higher end property is owned by old money Huntsvillians (some of whom have serious money) or people who transplated here 20-30+ years ago and started a company that has taken off. In Huntsville, those people are "native" to everyone except the old money crowd. There are "new money" areas like Hampton Cove and parts of Madison that are filled with transplants, but I've never noticed animosity. Very few areas are truly out of reach for someone with a decent job, I think that makes a difference because a comfortable quality of life is attainable for most people.

[HB2HSV]

Read your link and replied.

I think people who cling onto the proud heritage of "native" simply feel a sense of comfort with surroundings, people and rituals that they're accustomed to. Unfortunately in today's business environment, relocation across states every so often is a fact of life. The fact that Huntsville/ Madison area is not a stereotype "deep south", in that it accepts outsiders and have modern day conveniences, was a big factor in our decision to relocate here.

[mm42]

I think anyone, anywhere who makes a fuss about "native" vs. "non-native" and/or is not welcoming to newcomers is a short-sighted, narrow-minded nincompoop.

[southernnaturelover]

Originally Posted by Charles

how do you native Alabamians and Huntsvillians feel when you see your most expensive and prized land under ownership of out of state, and out country people?

A 1/4 acre lot in a subdivision is the "most expensive and prized" land?

[rnc76]

Originally Posted by southernnaturelover

A 1/4 acre lot in a subdivision is the "most expensive and prized" land?

If it is on Monte Sano, Huntsville Mtn or Green Mtn and has a view, then yes.

[cpg35223]

Well, it all depends.

I think newcomers are welcomed without reservations. It's what they do after the moving van is unpacked that makes them accepted or not. Here's what I've observed in my 16 years in Alabama:

1) Three days after you move here, stop grousing about how much better things were in Ohio or Oregon. If things were so great there, you'd have a job there. We like things the way things are. What's more, we're probably already aware of our issues, and have steadily worked to make things better. The progress I've experienced here is pretty remarkable. This state has come a long way in a short time, and we certainly don't need your pointing out all our flaws.

2) The culture is different here. Strangers talk to strangers. People expect you to say Please and Thank You. Kids are expected to be polite. And -- GASP -- total strangers might, on the rare occasion, invite you to attend church with them, but won't be offended if you politely decline. You can either complain about it or just accept it. After all, if you moved to Saudi Arabia or Italy or Japan, would you talk about how stupid everybody there was, too?

3) People here are more outgoing. If somebody initiates a conversation with you, invites you to a party, or tries to reach out in some other fashion, it is rude to gape at them as if they're trying to run a con game on you. People tend to be friendly for no other reason than to be friendly. If you cannot accept their invitation to have coffee or come for dinner, say it with deep regret and offer to reciprocate sometime in the future, for you are glad that they reached out to you.

There you go. Do those three things, and I guarantee you'll be accepted and embraced quickly. I know we were.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by southernnaturelover

A 1/4 acre lot in a subdivision is the "most expensive and prized" land?

I suppose if one out of stater or foreigner bought one lot on 1/4 acre it wouldn't be a big deal.

What happens when you multiply that by 10,000?

I have spoken personally with residents of Big Cove the community SE of downtown Huntsville and the site of several subdivisions . These residents have families that go back to the early 1800s.

How do I know? I've had conversations with Mr. Sibley who wrote the book.

[mimpdaddy]

Some people on this forum might say I dont like newcomers to the state, but that's not true. I want new people in the state of Alabama because it helps the state grow. But when some Newcomers or locals say things like "there's Huntsville and the rest of Alabama". It doesn't sit well with me.

[hindsight2020]

The problem as I see it is that there's a pervasive attitude of complacency towards the idea of "transplatism", which is the real problem; transplants snatching up the perceived "high value" qualities of a geographical location is only but a symptom of the problem. This is to say, ever since the corporate state (military industrial complex included) decided to sell americans on the globalization mantra, it became harder to justify among "natives" the non-economic value of regional cultural homogenity as an ingredient for social long-term stability. That is because people are too busy chasing a salary across state lines for their entire productive lives, and rationalizing it as an inherently valuable pursuit. Americans are remarkably aloof to the logical extrapolation of their domestic transplantism and their globalized fate, as if they possessed the right to stop the globalization train at the coasts at their choosing. Meanwhile, the law of unintended consequences is taking place and the coasts of this country are being repatriated by foreign hands, hands who do not share nor genuinely care or appreciate the cultural idiosyncrasies of said regions, never mind the country. All the while, Americans in places like Huntsville shrug their shoulders while providing the standard "I moved here for the great salary and low cost of living" while shunning the idea of homesteading as both uncultured (perhaps politically incorrect) and economically impractical (the latter which is true but only because of your complacency, not because the job fairy made it so). The only reason why people find comfort in said attitude is because they haven't been asked to move to Bangladesh, yet, and find such proposition highly unlikely as if Huntsville possessed such a rather different geographical construct than that of Central Asia. If that was the case, why are companies not finding the talent there organically and hence the transplantism prevail? Because of course there isn't anything organically beneficial to conducting said work there (the transplants would disagree of course, it's their livelihood) and that you're really a corporate decision away from being told to either pack up and chase the job at the expense of said cultural stability, or die poor and lonely because you're not "globally conscious". Gimme a break. Americans tout globalization as if they sat in the capital owner side of capitalism, when in reality they are in the proletariat side of capitalism, along the billion chinese and the bangladeshis.... this is the worst case of house slaves ever. Wake up.

Look, I wasn't particularly benefited from the cultural idiosyncracies of Alabama during my tenure in Tuscaloosa, but even I can recognize the peril that lies in the cultural balkanization provided by transplatism, BRAC job be damned. There is no melting pot, that's a myth, America's cultural benefit of transplantism is that of a cultural emulsion, not a melting pot. So you end up with a bunch of transplants who do not particularly find value in the cultural context in which they live (though they'll never publicly verbalize this) and a native population that ends up literally holding up the empty bag (lack of access to said prized qualities via overpopulation). The case example of California provided by the OP exemplifies a dramatic outcome, which is why many East/West Coasters have fled to the Midwest and South, but to believe that they'll stop in the Coasts and leave your Huntsville dream untouched is outright disingenous. It is one thing to ask AL folk how they feel about a bunch of California/New England/DC transplants and their impact on real estate, traffic and cost of living increases, it is another one entirely to ask the transplant how THEY feel about the logical extrapolation of their own behavior, since after all they are the ones running away from something. If I was a native of HSV I wouldn't feel particularly good about the precedent these job/migratory population influxes make in the context of my cultural and economic identity, then again I'm a homesteader and I'm fighting an uphill battle of my own in an economic environment that doesn't take too well to those who refuse to pack up and leave at the snap of a finger....