New college grad in Huntsville? - Huntsville-Madison-Decatur area - Alabama (AL) - Page 2 - City-Data Forum

deesonic · 10-08-2008, 02:27 PM

You're welcome. I will say that you will be hard-pressed to find a city of it's size that is this nice, clean, and safe though. Cost of living is cheap and wages are good (or have been). You could do a lot worse. You'll find places to hang out if you're looking for them. They're just not as plentiful or as interesting as many other towns have. I say come give Huntsville a look if you have some time and can afford the trip.

Huntsville_secede · 10-08-2008, 03:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deesonic

You're welcome. I will say that you will be hard-pressed to find a city of it's size that is this nice, clean, and safe though. Cost of living is cheap and wages are good (or have been). You could do a lot worse. You'll find places to hang out if you're looking for them. They're just not as plentiful or as interesting as many other towns have. I say come give Huntsville a look if you have some time and can afford the trip.

Yeah I complain about this place but even being bored its still a nice place to live it has a lot to offer. I try to compensate by going out of town to do nightlife stuff in other cities but it gets frustrating sometimes having such limited options here. My main complaints are the nightlife and lack of professional and young professional diversity. There are young people here though but I think that all of the young people buy into the perception that its so boring and they in fact make it worse than it could be.. theres things to do here if more young people came out and brought up the demand I think we could see things built that are more geared towards young professionals

deesonic · 10-08-2008, 08:21 PM

Making Huntsville desirable to young professionals is a stated priority of mayor-elect Tommy Battle as well. So there may be hope yet. I'm not looking for Bourbon Street or anything ridiculous like that. I'm thinking more along the lines of what Chattanooga (a similar sized city) has done with their downtown and riverfront. Family friendly with plenty of social activities for grown-ups in the evening.

Reactionary · 10-08-2008, 10:34 PM

I moved away from Huntsville after college because 'there's nothing to do'. Of course, there was plenty to do but you had to work at it.

Cost of living in HSV makes this an attractive option, but the nightlife is what you make of it. There are always local / regional bands playing, always an 11PM crowd at a few bars, lots of groups with which to associate (clubs for cycling, hiking, mountain biking, caving, etc).

deesonic - hopefully Tommy Battle can follow Bob Corker's (former Mayor of Chattanooga) path - successful Mayor to Senator. I've heard he might want to run for higher office. His election gives him a springboard if he does a good job...

jagIV · 10-08-2008, 10:55 PM

I was born/grew up in hsv. The night life leaves a lot to be desired for a young person. All my friends left. The others stayed because they started families. The single ones who stayed drink like fish. Now that I'm older, there's a lot I miss about hsv.

convextech · 10-09-2008, 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Huntsville_secede

Move elsewhere Huntsville has a horrible night life and a lack of young professionals. If you like diversity you won't find it here either all the people are pretty much the same engineering-tech geek types. If you are willing to travel elsewhere frequently on the weekends it may not be that big of a deal but the nightlife options here are very limited.

Um, hello, but he (she?) majors in structural engineering -- so that's right up their alley. And there are BOOKOODLES of jobs here in your field for good money; you won't get that in SC. You'd have to go to ATL or Seattle to get more than around here, at least from what I've seen amongst my own coworkers and managers.

I find plenty here to do and although I am in my 40s I live like a kid, and I am always running into college kids wherever I go. this is a great place for anyone at any age.

I would take all of the comments you get from here and decide for yourself, not on one person's opinion, obviously.

Huntsville_secede · 10-09-2008, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by convextech

Um, hello, but he (she?) majors in structural engineering -- so that's right up their alley. And there are BOOKOODLES of jobs here in your field for good money; you won't get that in SC. You'd have to go to ATL or Seattle to get more than around here, at least from what I've seen amongst my own coworkers and managers.

I find plenty here to do and although I am in my 40s I live like a kid, and I am always running into college kids wherever I go. this is a great place for anyone at any age.

I would take all of the comments you get from here and decide for yourself, not on one person's opinion, obviously.

The original poster asked specifically about the night life not the job market so I told them my experience as a young professional that moved to the Huntsville area. I don't know anything about structural engineering jobs in the area most of the jobs in Huntsville are more so high tech, mechanical/electrical and aerospace engineering related but I'm sure Huntsville, Seattle, and Atlanta aren't the only cities with job opportunities in that field. People in Huntsville seem to talk like this is the only place in the world that has jobs sometimes, I say you make a decision on whats best for you. If you have a lot of options and nightlife and entertainment is important than I'd say don't choose Huntsville. Being in your 40s automatically disqualifies you on giving an informative opinion on Huntsville's current nightlife for young professionals regardless of you thinking that you "live like a kid" and what does running into college kids have to do with anything? There are three major universities here (Oakwood, A&M, and UAH) so there's plenty of college kids here but they pretty much all leave Huntsville after they graduate. Plus college partying isn't the same as post graduation nightlife, colleges tend to have a lot of sorority, fraternity type house parties that a new graduate that has no affiliation with that school isn't going to want to go to. The fact is the majority of young people in Huntsville do think the nightlife here leaves much to be desired. Frankly anybody who thinks Huntsville isn't lacking in nightlife/entertainment and culture needs to visit another city on the weekend. Don't get me wrong this is still a very nice place to live it has tons to offer in a lot of areas but not much in the area of nightlife/entertainment and culture, i can say it has improved a lot recently though.

Bamachic80 · 10-09-2008, 03:04 PM

Hi there....I've lived in the HSV area since May of this year. My hubby graduated UA in Tuscaloosa and took a job with NASA. I am originally from Tuscaloosa and it is a college town well known for nightlife. Tuscaloosa is definitely boring and...IMO...Huntsville has tons more to offer than my former hometown. My hubby and I are both twentysomethings and have been slow to make friends and acquaintances here. Coming here by yourself is something I don't know if I would do, but it is a great place to live and it seems like there is always something to do here. Huntsville also has rural and urban sections of it that are welcoming to people outside of the box. Feel free to contact me if I could help you in your decision in anyway. Good luck to you!!!!

financelife · 10-09-2008, 08:07 PM

But you're married, Bamachic. plz don't rub it in the poster's face. lol. And Tuscaloosa is way smaller than Huntsville, so no wonder there's tons to do for you besides binge drinking and frat parties.

Bamachic80 · 10-09-2008, 10:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by financelife

But you're married, Bamachic. plz don't rub it in the poster's face. lol. And Tuscaloosa is way smaller than Huntsville, so no wonder there's tons to do for you besides binge drinking and frat parties.

I wasn't trying to rub the poster's face in anything. Yes, I'm married for a little over a year, I did finish college 4 years ago, and I'm past that point in my life. However, in college I did not party hardy and attend frat parties. I was actually the type of person that stayed away from the party scene and mainly just hung around a certain group of friends. In my opinion, I feel there's more to college than drinking and partying. It's great to have fun and enjoy yourself, but getting an education is important also. I'm in my late 20's and I feel that if I was single, in the same boat that the OP is in, I would want advice from all walks of life whether they be young people in college...or older, more established people in a community. Appreciate the comment though