Liberalism: Huntsville vs. Birmingham

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Originally Posted by DanInHSV

HSV is very conservative, with pockets of liberal bohemian types (all in the Monte Sano/ five points area). While conservative may be refreshing for some people, it's a bit annoying to come in to work and tolerate the water cooler talk about the latest volatile anger installment from Rush Limbaugh or Glen Beck. If you are a political independent, they think you are some kind of communist. I would much prefer Birmingham socially but there isn't an aerospace industry there.

This. NE Huntsville is quite politically/religiously diverse (kind of the bohemian side of Hsv). During the election season I saw an almost equal number of signs for Obama, McCain, and Ron Paul (he's pretty big in Five Points). Diversity is out there, but not conspicuous in certain areas of the city (Madison, S Hsv, Hampton Cove) the non-republicans are probably hiding out. Now, that said, I do have friends in Madison and South Huntsville from all perspectives of religion, politics, etc. Like I said, probably just keeping their mouths shut.

So I would ultimately base your decision on the job you like best and any other quality of life factors (like Huntsville's lower cost of living, lower crime rates, better public scools, and less traffic, or Birmingham's larger city, more entertainment options, etc). I would also say that in your profession, you are much more likely to run into other liberals than if you were in the, say, defense or engineering fields.

Good luck!