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Well I just got back from a 3-day-long weekend in Huntsville, in which my husband and I were scoping out the area as a potential place to live. I thought I'd share my experiences and impressions with others on this board who are considering relocating. For reference, I'm from (and a native of) California. Also due to time restrictions, I did not get to see any of North Huntsville (instead, limiting my search into the areas that included the company where my husband interviewed and the schools I'd like my children to attend.)
First and foremost, Huntsville is a growing, thriving city. I can honestly say that if you teleported a southern Californian into the middle of a Huntsville commercial area, they'd be hard-pressed to tell you they weren't in California. Anyone who pictures a sleepy southern town has it all wrong. It isn't downtown Los Angeles, mind you, but its relatively diverse, clean, and active.
However for all this, the city also does not have much distinctiveness. It is very odd, actually, because you'll see things like, a sizable convention center/theater, a big central park, regional medical centers, museums, etc without the highrise skyline and associated congestion that would accompany most downtown areas of a city of this size. Interestingly, an article was printed in the Huntsville Times this weekend that addressed this very issue. As stated in the article, these limits allow the more historical areas to retain their atmosphere and charm, though may also contribute to expansive sprawl. Much debate surroundign this issue continues.
Moving further south you'll find plenty in the way of commercial venues, restaurants, etc. I had heard it said on this board that Huntsville boasts many francise eateries but not many local restaurants. In this, I must disagree. I saw numerous privately owned and many ethnic eateries. Surin's had Thai food as good as any I had ever had. I further enjoyed the smoke-free environment of the restaurants, as is mandated by Huntsville city ordinance. Coming from California, this made me feel quite at home.
In spite of all the buzz of commercial venues, take a few twisting turns into the adjacent hills and you end up in gorgeous housing subdivisions, with charming brick homes nestled on wooded lots. These, I fell in love with. Greenwyke, Blossomwood, Mountain Gap, Jones Valley, all areas I would love to live. The further central you go, the more expensive and older you get. I found the homes in the southern region more to my liking - newer, still on wooded lots, and cheaper, for a short 5-10 minutes further away from downtown. These homes I also found preferable to the even NEWER Hampton Cove, which is a little bit *too* new and pristine for me, though the gorgeous, upper-class looking neighborhoods will undoubtedly appeal to many.
The heat, though striking this weekend with its record highs, I did not find necessarily more oppressive than the record highs of my inland California hometown, nor more oppressive than the many east-coast areas I have visited during the heat of summer. Saturday was cooled off with a balmy breeze and a brief rain and even lightening that I found refreshing in contrast to the hot, searing, stale blaze of an equally severe California bake. There were more bugs, I'm sure because I heard them in the form of twilight cicadas, but they never bothered me. I never saw a mosquito, I didn't get a bite, and I don't recall swatting anything other than a single cloud of gnats I walked through. Granted, I didn't walk through any woods or near any lakes, but it was nothing like the scourge of mosquitos I have experienced in Florida that come at you mercilessly without regard to where in civilization you might be strolling.
Whether projected or not, the locals did seem more polite. I heard far more "ma'ams", "sirs" than I do in California, and saw more smiles and chatter among strangers.
I was particularly astute to watch for any signs of racism, which seems to be the boogeyman in the Californian's mind when you mention "Alabama". I am white, but I made no secret of the fact that I am Jewish, and never was once treated with anything less than fine manners in response. I never saw a Confederate flag. I did not notice any actual racism, though I did undoubtedly notice a more blunt approach to black-white issues in conversation and in media. There are "white neighborhoods" and "black neighborhoods" and residents seem to speak of these with blunt realism rather than with the smokescreen of presuming colorblindness. There does seem to be a legitimate understanding of the baggage that having any segregation occur in a Southern city, and a desire to see more integration, but as the segregation is a social phenomenon people seem at a loss as to what to do about it. City government seem to be making attempts to better integrate the city, but each action comes with unintended consequences that they then have to address.
That brings me to what I think Huntsville's biggest flaw, in that it is a city that is obviously suffering some growing pains in terms of infrastructure. You can see it when you drive around, hear it when you talk to locals, and read it in the paper. However it seems to be a city that has a legitimate interest in tackling these challenges, and everyone I talked to seemed satisfied with the city government. Those coming from the west will also find, like any city east of the rockies, roads are less planned and gridlike than those of us from places like California and Arizona are accustomed to.
Politically, the city actually seems fairly moderate, at least from the view of an outsider. I did not see the stickers or signs or demonstrations I sometimes see in California, and my general impression is if people aren't donning bumper stickers, holding demonstrations, and sticking signs in their lawn with great frequency, they are generally politically moderate. A conservative leaning is seen only insofar as the defense industry is widely supported (the town depends on it, after all), and teens dress more modestly than they might in a typical liberal town.
All in all, I like it, and it seems like a delightful place to live. A job offer may be forthcoming, and if it is one we are happy with, I'd say it's pretty likely we'll be moving there!
As a fellow Californian and potential future Huntsville resident, I have been waiting for your report, so thanks for the great information. A couple of quick questions for now, what about traffic flow and congestion, rush hours, etc? And is your impression that the city lives up to all the great posts and comments you hear about it here and from other places? And what about quality and style of new homes, compared to new CA homes? May have more questions later. Thanks again.
Great recap. I think you described Huntsville very well, both its positives and negatives.
My least favorite part of Huntsville is the sprawl and the fact that seems to be the style of development that the local government supports. The height restriction issue is so annoying. Why can't they just zone the couple blocks next to the historic districts differently than the rest of downtown? How hard is that?
I'm glad you had a nice trip overall. Let us know what you decide.
Highway traffic was nothing. Surface street traffic seemed surprisingly heavy when we first arrived on Saturday, though I suspect this experience can probably be attributed to the fact that our hotel was near the Madison Square mall, and this weekend was "tax free weekend" statewide for clothes and school supplies, so locals were hitting the mall en masse. That said, we ourselves hit the mall for a belt and socks for my husband that he forgot, and we were surprised that the mall attendance seemed heavy enough to be on par with a SoCal mall. The mall was crowded enough to fill Madison Square's parking lots to the brim, but not enough where the mall seemed any more congested than a SoCal mall on a typical weekend (a holiday weekend would in SoCal would, for example, be much, much worse.)
We think our theory is correct, because we twice hit the roads during "rush hour" - once my husband did on his way to his job interview (Huntsville surface streets) and again we hit the highway to the airport around 5 pm. Its not vacant, its buzzing along with cars, but at no time were we held up, stopped, or even mildly slowed. There were no rush hour meters nor was there need for any. And, it looks like Huntsville is busy building more overpasses and roads. We're told Madison city roads still need a lot of work.
Anyways in a nutshell, the traffic was denser than we expected, but certainly nothing approaching SoCal traffic.
Does the city live up to the great posts and comments? Hmm. In parts of the city, I'd say "yes!", in other parts, "no". Along University Drive, and I get the feeling, further north, it's a little bit bleh and crummy. Not much beautification and some businesses with tacky-looking signs and whatnot. I've heard Northwest Huntsville is worse, but I didn't visit.
Other parts of the city, are undoubtedly gorgeous, as you drive past forests and rolling hills and green pastures. Hopefully, the city government will be careful to encourage growth while still preserving the beauty of the natural landscape. As a Californian, I'm sure you know too well what happens when too much is paved too fast. New commercial developments seem to be planting trees and greenery, but it's too young to really see how well it will mature.
New homes are generally gorgeous homes with brick veneer and a style that tries its best to emulate southern arcitecture. The interior is very similar to new homes in California. Generally, there is more land, and a lot of new homes belong to an association. Most have immature landscaping, though I imagine some of these neighborhoods will mature nicely over the years, but they'll never have the woodsy backdrop of my favorite Huntsville neighborhoods.
We are just back from 10 days in Huntsville. Out experiences are similar to yours. Like you we used our current home (Rust Belt) as a point of reference. The 'traffic Jams' are nothing compared to Chicago or Detroit. The infastructure is lightyears ahead of Michigan. We walked at night in the downtown Big Spring Park with out fear. At one point durring a 30 minute walk downtown I noticed the lack of trash So I looked and counted Three (3) bits of litter. At one point on University Drive 3 Black and Whites stoped traffic for a funeral. Now I don't know about you but I worry about getting killed driving through a red in route to the final resting place of a loved one.
. At one point on University Drive 3 Black and Whites stoped traffic for a funeral.
Welcome to Alabama.. Police escort the funeral procession and stop all cross traffic.
It is customary for all traffic to stop when a funeral procession passes even in the opposite lane. There seems to be some question as to whether it is a law or just southern tradition. You never pass a funeral procession, even on a four lane hwy. If you check back you will see we had a discussion about this a while back.
Huntsville is a wonderful city. Downtown is coming into its own now. Nice parks and cafes. While there is more traffic during rush hour it is not nearly as bad as other cities. My daughter drives to 40 miles one way every day in less than an hour during rush hour.
All I can say is 'Ya'll come back now ya hear'
Does the city live up to the great posts and comments? Hmm. In parts of the city, I'd say "yes!", in other parts, "no". Along University Drive, and I get the feeling, further north, it's a little bit bleh and crummy. Not much beautification and some businesses with tacky-looking signs and whatnot. I've heard Northwest Huntsville is worse, but I didn't visit.
University Dr is an eyesore IMO, although a convienent one. All the big box retailers and chains are out there. There are portions of it that are older and more run down. As you go further west past Research Park Blvd out until East Limestone County, it become newer and newer. I can't stand that area, there is zero character and the traffic is getting worse by the day. The people that live out there complain about it non-stop and expect the city and county to expand every road the day after they buy their house. It would be nice to see some of the more "tired" properties between Sparkman and downtown bulldozed and new developments put in place rather than pushing further and further to the west eating up more and more land. However, as you say, that is Northwest Huntsville, which is not the best school districts and most of Huntsville's crime occurs in that area. Even so, I wouldn't call it a bad neighborhood. In fact, I've yet to come across a part of town that I have felt unsafe during the day, even areas where there are projects.
North along Memorial Parkway and Highway 53 is also pretty "bleh and crummy", but that side of town is getting some nicer, newer retail development like a Lowes and Gander Mountain sporting goods, which is an improvement in the case of that side of town. Once you get North of there, the landscape becomes prettier again. Alabama A&M has a very nice campus that sits on a hillside in North Huntsville.
The suburbs out 72 West, 53 North and Memorial Parkway North past A&M such as Monrovia, Harvest, Hazel Green... are basically cookie cutter, mass produced developments with zero character, with a few exceptions. There are many very nice homes, but they are brand new and look just like all the other home around them. However, this area does seem better integrated than Southeast Huntsville. I think this is due to a couple reasons. First, the property is cheaper. Second, it makes sense that since the Northwest side of town has traditionally been the "black" side of town that middle class black families would move to the suburbs out that direction.
I would like to think that black families are welcome in SE Huntsville as well. I've never seen any overt racism, but the neighborhoods are overwhelmingly white for the most part.
I was also there in the last 2 weeks and can't believe how clean it was. The lack of trash was astonishing. I also noticed that the smaller lower priced housing ,the yards were all cut and trimmed.
I will be moving there in 08 as soon as the house sells here.
We first lived in Huntsville in the mid-90's and it seemed a bit ecclectic to us (moved from Atlanta); I attended an event at the Space and Rocket Center one day and was thrilled to have met Admiral Alan Shepard there. Two days later there was a Jerry Jeff Walker concert on a flatbed trailer in a Walmart parking lot. Quite a contrast. Not bad, though, just different than Atlanta. My job then had us moving and after a few years in Dallas, Orlando and Austin we found ourselves back in Huntsville, and this time for good. After a career change I now stay busy selling homes in this growing market and my wife stays busy running a growing gymnastics business.
Public schools are terrific here. There are tremendous colleges and universities here. Retail is expanding and so are the selections of restuarants. Rush hour here is like 3 AM traffic on LBJ in Dallas. Sprawl? You only have a 45-minute-to-an-hour commute here by choice. In other cities that's the trade-off to find more affordable home prices. Not so, Huntsville.
It's a great community and we're so pleased to be an active part of it - and raise our kids here. Regardless of whether you're from California or elsewhere, welcome to Huntsville. We're proud to know you.
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Just complete trip in Huntsville
