Liberalism: Huntsville vs. Birmingham (transplants, find a job, university)

[Austinhippie]

I've been reading about Hunstville being a northern city in the South. I'm a 32 year-old single female and have lived in the South my whole life--Richmond, Raleigh, and now Austin. I'm politically and socially liberal. Would I find my niche more in Birmingham or Hunstville? I know Birmingham is much larger but that doesn't mean more diverse or more progressive. I've read that Huntsville has people from all over, largely due to NASA. Are they integrated into the community or is there a feeling of segregation (socially) between the natives and the newcomers? Thank you so much for your feedback.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Austinhippie

Would I find my niche more in Birmingham or Hunstville?

What line of work are you in?
Which city are you more likely to find a job and a "Plan B" job?

[Austinhippie]

Social research in the university system (bachelor's). But it's more important for me to be happy with its town and its people than to just have a steady job and money.

[LivingInMadison]

I don't know is Birmingham is more liberal, but it is almost a ghost town. I went there during the week and it was desolated. A lot of beautiful old buildings that are empty, not that many people on the streets...what's up with that?

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Austinhippie

Social research in the university system (bachelor's).

Does this mean you already have a job in the UA and you can work in either Birmingham or Huntsville?

[proudmommy]

I have lived here since August '08. I know many "transplants" as well as natives, and I have never sensed any sort of segregation between the two. For the most part, people here seem very friendly and welcoming. The differences between Birmingham and Huntsville probably have more to do with with issues related to living in a small city versus a big city rather than political nuances. For example, if you are single and young, a bigger city might be a better fit. Both cities are probably more on the Conservative side compared to Austin, but it hasn't seemed to be much of an issue for me in the negative sense.

[Huntsville_secede]

Originally Posted by Austinhippie

I've been reading about Hunstville being a northern city in the South. I'm a 32 year-old single female and have lived in the South my whole life--Richmond, Raleigh, and now Austin. I'm politically and socially liberal. Would I find my niche more in Birmingham or Hunstville? I know Birmingham is much larger but that doesn't mean more diverse or more progressive. I've read that Huntsville has people from all over, largely due to NASA. Are they integrated into the community or is there a feeling of segregation (socially) between the natives and the newcomers? Thank you so much for your feedback.

Huntsville seems to have a lot of transplants but despite the fact they come from places like California, Northern Virgina, Saint Louis, Chicago and Michigan a lot of them seem to fit the mold of what's already here conservative type people. Huntsville is not diverse, they have people from lots of different states but they are mostly the same type of people, all engineers working in the same type of industry defense and usually conservatives are more pro-military spending than democrats.

[Jay F]

Originally Posted by Huntsville_secede

Huntsville seems to have a lot of transplants but despite the fact they come from places like California, Northern Virgina, Saint Louis, Chicago and Michigan a lot of them seem to fit the mold of what's already here conservative type people. Huntsville is not diverse, they have people from lots of different states but they are mostly the same type of people, all engineers working in the same type of industry defense and usually conservatives are more pro-military spending than democrats.

That sounds nice to me, Transplants that don't try to change the city where they are moving to.

As for Birmingham, I would guess the city itself is Democrat (due to demographic reasons, not cultural) while the metro area,, like most of Alabama, is solid conservative. That sounds very refreshing to me. I would love to move to a red state someday.

[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.

[mm42]

Alabama is a very conservative state. Huntsville is more liberal than average for the state. The odds of finding a crowd you are comfortable with will be higher in Birmingham simply because of the larger population.