Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Congratulations! -- You have successfully passed the cross-examination portion of your Relocation Process; you have defended your decisions with aplomb, you have each made salient points for your arguments.
Seriously, I wish y'all the best of luck. Sounds like Hunstville and Alabama are getting some heady, bright people as new residents. You will soon discover the meaning of a phrase you have long heard about: "Down Home."
Now let me suggest a certain BBQ pit. Not in Huntsville, but in a bedroom community just west, in Decatur -- Big Bob Gibson's BBQ. And when in B'ham, try Dreamland, Golden Rule, Full Moon. If you don't like BBQ, you "best to gettin." BBQ : Alabama :: Tacos : California.
I bet you never thought you'd be living in a place where "Heart of Dixie" was printed on all license tags up until about five years ago! And Confederate flags fly freely and proudly, mostly in a genuinely non-racial context (despite what what your TV tells you). Alabama: a special place; undervalued (and underestimated) in the lore of American History.
SP
Last edited by san phlegmatico; 08-18-2007 at 02:44 PM..
Zenjenn, after reading your checklist, I agree that you've made a great choice. Have y'all checked out UAH? It's a fine engineering school (one of my children is a senior there.) I understand that some employers have worked out telecommuting arrangements for continuing ed, so that their employees only go to the campus to take exams or do lab work. The school seems to have terrific relationships with companies in the area, and it takes seriously the feedback/advice given.
My older child has decided to settle in HSV, and plans to buy a house in Madison next year. The house we own there is too big, so we'll be selling it in the spring. I still have hopes of building a house there in a few years, when dh takes early retirement, but would prefer to go with a custom builder next time as I have definite ideas about certain things that aren't available from production builders.
We think there's plenty of offerings at the Von Braun center, the botanical garden, the Space & Rocket center, UAH, etc. for our leisure time. I look forward to cool weather in the fall and visiting Monte Sano again, and I have yet to hike Rainbow Mtn. I think it will be quite a while before we get bored there, but if we do, there's always a quick road trip to Nashville or Atlanta.
"we don't take advantage of that which we're basically paying top dollar for. I don't deny that southern California boasts many fine qualities, but I really don't value it enough to take advantage of it." -zenjenn
Sooooo true! My husband and I went to Laguna Beach in Orange County, Calif several months back, and we were commenting on how people from all over the world would KILL to be here...and here we are...our once a year trip just 20 minutes away to Laguna Beach. In a way, we've exhausted all that Californina has to offer: Disney passes several years in a row, a couple BIG plays in LA, a run-in with Justin Timberlake at a comedy club in Hollywood, going to see TV show tapings, more and more beach trips, snow days up in the local mountains, super fun Angels baseball games, many trips up the amazing California coast and to Yosemite and Las Vegas...all of which will happen every year again when we go "home" at Christmas and several weeks each summer. I guess it's about time to go on a few east coast adventures. Yes? BUT...I will say there's a certain intensity about living in Southern California that I'm going to miss.
"we don't take advantage of that which we're basically paying top dollar for. I don't deny that southern California boasts many fine qualities, but I really don't value it enough to take advantage of it." -zenjenn
Sooooo true! My husband and I went to Laguna Beach in Orange County, Calif several months back, and we were commenting on how people from all over the world would KILL to be here...and here we are...our once a year trip just 20 minutes away to Laguna Beach. In a way, we've exhausted all that Californina has to offer: Disney passes several years in a row, a couple BIG plays in LA, a run-in with Justin Timberlake at a comedy club in Hollywood, going to see TV show tapings, more and more beach trips, snow days up in the local mountains, super fun Angels baseball games, many trips up the amazing California coast and to Yosemite and Las Vegas...all of which will happen every year again when we go "home" at Christmas and several weeks each summer. I guess it's about time to go on a few east coast adventures. Yes? BUT...I will say there's a certain intensity about living in Southern California that I'm going to miss.
Ch ch ch changes...
Running into Justin Timberlake is a GOOD REASON to get the hell out of California.
Yup! It's one of our reasons for choosing Huntsville as well. Right now my husband is in the middle of his studies, but the state university he attends only offers up to an M.S. in engineering. There are some private options for a PhD, but it gets very pricey and/or far. UAH offers engineering PhDs, at state school prices, a short distance from where he'd work and live. That's a rare combination. I'm further glad to hear you say they are very compatible with working engineers, too.
Quote:
our once a year trip just 20 minutes away to Laguna Beach.
That makes me laugh.. we have our "once a year" beach trip, if that. We were married in Laguna Beach though, very beautiful. But I just find beach trips such a huge hassle. It's still a good 45 minutes at least to the nearest beach, so then there's the drive, and I better leave before dawn to get a parking spot, huge crowds, and usually I'm there about 2-3 hrs and I'm ready to go home. (And after all that, I'm looking at a good hour of cleaning the sand off of every surface on the car and each kid.) IMO, the gulf is a better family beach destination anyways. California surf can be very nerve-wracking if your little kids are playing in it (I know one person who lost a son who got dragged under at Laguna Beach, and he was 15. No joke.), as well as the freezing cold water and the soft sand. I have family in Florida, and while I prefer west coast beaches for scenery and coastal hiking, and I have always found southeast beaches way more relaxing to actually sit on an do the "beach thing". (Though as a kid, I of course preferred California beaches. I remember going to the gulf with my brother and while we marveled at the warmth of the water, we missed having waves to play in.)
"The gulf is a better family beach destination anyways. California surf can be very nerve-wracking if your little kids are playing in it (I know one person who lost a son who got dragged under at Laguna Beach, and he was 15. No joke."
Zenjenn -- I don't know how much time you've spent on the Gulf, but please, please do not underestimate it! The undertows are notoriously strong -- my little girl got dragged out a couple of years ago and she was in waist deep water.
It was by the grace of God that we got her back, sand packed in her suit, her mouth, her nose and ingrained in her scalp, from being dragged along the bottom. We later heard that a 17 year old boy had drowned the day before, due to the undertow! And an Australian lifeguard on vacation was killed in the Gulf a few years ago by the undertow - and if anyone knows how to battle an undertow, it's an Australian lifeguard.
Plus -- my husband's cousin is a pilot and he flies over the Gulf in a private plane on a regular basis - he says you would not believe the number of sharks just off the coast. And it seems he's right -- I think it was about three, maybe four years ago, 13 people were killed in the Gulf, in one weekend due to shark attack and undertow.
Between the undertow and the sharks, the Gulf of Mexico in Alabama is NOT family friendly - I don't care who tells you otherwise. It can be very, very dangerous. My children are not allowed in the water. Period. We go down to picnic on the beach, but for water play, we stick to the water parks.
If you stay out of the water, it is really nice in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, now that the most of the Ivan damage is cleaned up and the hotels have rebuilt. We go several times a year. I think you'll enjoy it -- just be careful -- The water can be very dangerous.
I once when in a snorkelling excursion - well, it was in the Bahamas, when I was 13. I was a fairly strong swimmer for my age but was still 13. Our lifeguard/guide had to pull me back in because of the strength of the undertow!
But in the gulf (or the Atlantic in general), you can splash around up to your ankles/knees, or getting buckets of water for sand-building, which is mostly what I mean. In California you can't really let a child under age 7 or so play at the surf without firmly being held by an adult, because you never know when an unexpected 5 ft wave might rush in and knock a child right off their feet, even if they were "just up to their ankles." I remember once as a child, maybe 8 yrs old, I was playing no more than 10 or 15 feet out from shore and an unexpectedly large wave knocked me over and flipped me around several times. I couldn't even tell which direction was up. Fortunately my father was there and reached down and pulled me up before the next wave pummeled me!
Shark attacks are pretty rare. I've read that more people get killed by bee stings than shark attacks. I'm really not worried about sharks attacking people playing in a few feet of water. Generally if they attack a human, it is because a human is swimming farther out in a manner that looks similar to prey.
"we don't take advantage of that which we're basically paying top dollar for. I don't deny that southern California boasts many fine qualities, but I really don't value it enough to take advantage of it." -zenjenn
Sooooo true! My husband and I went to Laguna Beach in Orange County, Calif several months back, and we were commenting on how people from all over the world would KILL to be here...and here we are...our once a year trip just 20 minutes away to Laguna Beach. In a way, we've exhausted all that Californina has to offer: Disney passes several years in a row, a couple BIG plays in LA, a run-in with Justin Timberlake at a comedy club in Hollywood, going to see TV show tapings, more and more beach trips, snow days up in the local mountains, super fun Angels baseball games, many trips up the amazing California coast and to Yosemite and Las Vegas...all of which will happen every year again when we go "home" at Christmas and several weeks each summer. I guess it's about time to go on a few east coast adventures. Yes? BUT...I will say there's a certain intensity about living in Southern California that I'm going to miss.
Ch ch ch changes...
mp33 - please keep us up-to-date on how you are adjusting to your new home.
I live also live in Orange Co. (Irvine). My husband and I are back and forth about moving out of Cali some time in the future. I was looking at Fairhope, AL, but we really want an older, larger home with acreage, and it seems as though NE AL might have that. Most of our family is back east...FL and NY. Husband is originally from the south, and we lived in NC (near Camp Lejeune) 94-95. At that time, I was eager to get back to Southern Cali, but it's changed so much and become so crowded. "My town" is not the charming and fairly quiet city it once was. It's beautiful here, yes. But where in the world can you find a home with lots of privacy in Southern Cali, unless you have millions?
I find the topic of racism interesting. I, as a very white person, experienced a little of that when I lived in Hawaii. I found it pretty amusing, but decided that I would not want to raise my children there. Here in Irvine, I've had an older Asian woman hiss at my kids when they had little American flags in their hands. I have received odd looks when I shop in a Persian bakery. So...it's all over.
I love reading what everyone has to say about Alabama...pro and con. I just might have to take a trip back there to see it for myself.
You will get a better deal in NE AL on housing with acreage. Fairhope is a lovely town but being so close to the water has driven the price of housing out of sight. There are a few little towns north of Fairhope where prices are a little lower but not by much.
Now let me suggest a certain BBQ pit. Not in Huntsville, but in a bedroom community just west, in Decatur -- Big Bob Gibson's BBQ.
Sorry, friend, but Decatur is NOT a bedroom community! We do have some folks that drive to Huntsville to work, but we have a good bit of our own industry lined up here along the river, and throughout town...3M, Boeing, Solutia, Toray, Daikin America, Nucor Steel, Ferralloy etc. etc. Gibson's BBQ CAN be good...but the quality seems to be uneven since they began concentrating on expanding the brand. Try Whitt's....it's take-home, but it's consistently excellent!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Dream home in northeast AL??
