Transplanted Arizonians might be moving to Huntsville (Birmingham, Madison: 2015, apartments)

[Carathebaker]

Hello Everyone!

I would appreciate some helpful advice.

My partner might be transferring from the Raytheon office in Tucson to the one in Huntsville.

We're both clueless in regards to the city, affordable housing, decent neighborhoods, public transport, things to see and do, etc.

To be more specific I suppose I should list some of the must haves:

Must be in a safe and decent neighborhood - meaning it's safe to walk about at night, say around 9:00 p.m.- and lovely neighborhood with interesting houses, apts and with trees.

Must be diverse neighborhood - meaning people of all ages, races, creeds, and cultures.

Must be pet friendly environment- meaning plenty of parks or green meadows and other dog-loving owners.

Must be within reasonable commuting or walking (preferred) distance from grocery stores (prefer local), museums, book shops, live theaters, cafes, bistros or restaurants. Would prefer the coffeehouse culture (e.g. poetry readings, folk, jazz, or world music)

Must be within 30 minutes from either hiking trails, beaches, or mountains.

Must have a reasonably healthy economy.

Must have house that can accommodate two adults, two full grown dogs, the occasional overnight guest, a garden, and a workshop.


Is all of the above too much to ask for within our budget of $240k? We'd prefer to go under that price so any good sound advice from the locals would be so greatly appreciated.

Thanking you all in advance.

Carathebaker

p.s. are there any places in Huntsville that might be looking for a really good part time baker?

[zenjenn]

In terms of a potential house, your best bet will be Five Points neighborhood, I think, but I'm not sure if you'll find quite what you're looking for there at your price point. Going to South Huntsville will be kinder on your budget, and there are some very nice neighorhoods there too.

Keep in mind Huntsville is a nice city, but a mid-sized engineering city. We have a surprisingly nice little arts scene but I feel like you are asking where our SoHo is or something, and you won't quite find that here. There are a few nice cafes and a few nice bistros, one real (but small) art museum. Local theater/dance productions run for a week, our little symphony generally runs each concert for 1 night only, and professional productions blaze through and generally do at most 2-3 performances before moving on. Lowe Mill is a great venue featuring local artists, but it has limited hours and is mostly a Friday and Saturday scene for the most part - and not in walking distance of places you'd likely live. Nothing in Huntsville is really walkable, frankly. It's an easy city to get around and find parking in, but it's not walkable.

Getting to hiking trails in 30 minutes, done. Hiking trails and hills. "Mountains" are not a thing as they are known out west (I'm from California myself), and of course we're not really near a real beach, but there is Lake Guntersville about 30 mins away. It seems like almost everyone here has dogs. The Gulf beaches and Smoky Mountains are both close enough for a weekend getaway.

If you can embrace it, it's a nice city and its arts scene is very accessible which makes it very easy to get involved if you'd like. Culture-loving people can be quite happy here if they are realistic about expectations and can embrace the scale of our community. I personally love it, and I am an arts-minded person myself. But it's no bustling urban arts scene, that's for sure, and the good eats restaurants are few and far between, and the arts scene is limited by the city's scale. But on that front, Nashville, Chattanooga, Birmingham, and Atlanta are all a day trip away.

Good luck in making your decision.

[lindy112]

I also think 5 Points would fit most of your criteria except the price point will be a little high (if you want something updated and bigger than a 2-bedroom). You might also consider Mayfair/Thornton Acres. I know it's a chain but Whole Foods will be opening later this year and it'll be walking distance to some of the houses in that neighborhood.

[HB2HSV]

Welcome possibly to Huntsville

You will find Huntsville/ Madison area small enough you can just about live anywhere and still have access to hiking trails, good shopping with 1/2 hour drive.

The question is where do you like to live? Downtown? Suburbs? Country? We got them all.

[Reactionary]

You will need a car. Public transportation is limited. Keep in mind that Huntsville has ~180,000 residents not Tucson's 500,000 or million metro.

Must be in a safe and decent neighborhood - meaning it's safe to walk about at night, say around 9:00 p.m.- and lovely neighborhood with interesting houses, apts and with trees.

Old Town and Five Points (adjacent neighborhoods) are close to downtown with interesting houses and trees but few apartments. Even though Five Points is known as a walkable neighborhood, there are few sidewalks.

Must be diverse neighborhood - meaning people of all ages, races, creeds, and cultures.

Nope. People in Huntsville are 90% black or white and mostly live in racially identifiable neighborhoods.

Must be pet friendly environment- meaning plenty of parks or green meadows and other dog-loving owners.

Huntsville has one dog park (near Old Town) with another under consideration in South Huntsville.

Must be within reasonable commuting or walking (preferred) distance from grocery stores (prefer local), museums, book shops, live theaters, cafes, bistros or restaurants. Would prefer the coffeehouse culture (e.g. poetry readings, folk, jazz, or world music)

Five Points has a local grocery store (Star Market), the Art Museum is downtown, bookshops = Barnes and Noble, zenjenn covered theaters, plenty of restaurants including some local. Not much 'coffehouse culture' except for Lowe Mill or Old Towne Coffee.

Must be within 30 minutes from either hiking trails, beaches, or mountains.

Beaches? Have you looked at a map? Plenty of hiking trails nearby.

Must have a reasonably healthy economy.

Huntsville depends on military and NASA, which have uncertain prospects given the massive federal debt.

Must have house that can accommodate two adults, two full grown dogs, the occasional overnight guest, a garden, and a workshop.

You should be able to find a house in Five Points, Old Town, Mayfair, Blossomwood, or Medical District within your price range. From Blossomwood you can easily walk to hiking trails.

[Carathebaker]

Hello Everyone!

ZennJen in regards to culture, Huntsville pretty sounds like Tucson, AZ but less pretentious. Tucson likes to think they're quite metropolitan but they're very much a medium size fish in a tiny pond or more like, a bucket. I think what gets me frustrated about Tucson is the pretentiousness of thinking they're a sophisticated metropolis when in actuality they're an oversized town, full of potholes, strip malls next to KB homes, and organized homeless "activists" taking over the sidewalks of downtown (they claimed violation of freedom of speech, a U.S. district judge agreed, hence the homeless living on the sidewalks in "dream pods" and aggressive panhandlers). Plus I think too much emphasis is placed on the University of AZ, catering to the students, the sports teams to the point where there's too much congestion, too many red tag violations, and causing a microcosm of crime (ranging from loud frat parties to rape and vandalism of a Mosque). The charm of the Old Pueblo with its simple innocent local emphasis is gone.

We live way out East of Tucson, closer to the mountains and 45 minutes away from downtown, so I guess not being within walking distance is not too much of a hardship. Plus the scenery here is breathtaking and I love my little (1435 sq. foot) house with our small herbal garden, apple, peach, and olive trees. So, in that respect moving would wring my heart having to leave our neighborhood.

Lindy112, the reason my partner and I want to go under that budget is to get a bit of a financial head start since I'll be looking for work when get there. We'll start looking at the area you suggested and we might rent to start. And I know Whole Foods is considered a chain but because of the quality of organic produce, I don't really consider them typical of the corporate chain supermarkets, so I'll be happy as a lark to shop there. Is there a Trader Joe's there as well?

HB2HSV, thank you for the welcome. We haven't quite figured out where we want to live yet. I personally wouldn't mind living near all the book shops, cafes, and coffeehouses but I think my partner would prefer near the country. So we'll have to rent to start.

Thanks again all . . . perhaps what we'd both like to find is a "charming small town feel" with all the "big city amenities." We have a week to research before he gives his supervisor an answer . . . wish us luck on making a decision.

[Carathebaker]

Reactionary - thanks for those very helpful hints and the reproof regarding beaches! LOL! I'm from Southern California so when I said "beaches" I should've said "body of water!" My mistake!

I'll keep in the mind the public transit system. We both have cars but I'm trying to use public transit as often as I can. Only in the last 5 years has Tucson's transit system become more convenient but it's still quite limited in where you can go in the City.

When I first came to Tucson 20 years ago from San Francisco, it was quite a culture shock. But in time you learn to appreciate the charms of the city and what it has to offer. Although lately in the past five years Tucson is trying too hard to be another Phoenix or Scottsdale which is a mistake and should've kept to its Old Pueblo charm.

You've given me much food for thought and I appreciate the input!

[Reactionary]

Cara - Huntsville is located on the Tennessee River, which is impounded at several points forming lakes (Guntersville Lake ~30 minutes East and Lake Wheeler ~ 45 minutes West). Living on or near the lakes is possible in your price range (however give up amenities).

The best beaches (white sand / warm water) in the world are ~6 hours or so drive to the Gulf of Mexico.

Get the idea of "book shops, cafes, and coffeehouses" out of your head.

The areas I recommended have houses that are similar in size to your current home. Add Monte Sano to the list of potential neighborhoods.

[lindy112]

Originally Posted by Reactionary

Huntsville has one dog park (near Old Town) with another under consideration in South Huntsville

The new dog park will open next month.

Southside Park and dog park will open March 28 in south Huntsville | AL.com


No Trader Joe's is planned at the moment but you never know.

I think renting is the way to go for now. It'll give you the opportunity to check out different areas and see what you like (and what you don't). I have a rental available right now in Mayfair but it's probably too big for you (3000 sq ft).

Good luck in your decision!

[Carathebaker]

Probably at this point renting is the only option since neither of us can agree where to live; downtown vs. country side.

Thank you everyone for all the input