Is Huntsville wecoming enough for us? (photos, progressive, religion)

[DvlsAdvc8]

Well, in that case Charles, you can't say religious people are closed minded anymore.

This lady is about to be very open minded... over a wide area.

[Southlander]

In a small town, people tend to have a lot of relatives that they spend a lot of time with. That leaves little time to spend with people they don't know that well.

Also, in the South, a lot of socializing and meeting people tends to take place at church. It comes from the time that there was little to do other than church, and farming took up so much time.

You may not approve, but that's the way it is.

[HB2HSV]

Originally Posted by DvlsAdvc8

Is it true? How often does religion come up with a new idea?

Do you know that engineers are not *allowed* to go to hell by the divine declaration?

'Cause once you get a few engineers together, they'll start build HVAC systems all over the place. Pretty soon, hell would not be hot anymore!

Back to OP's question... (so my off-topic post will not get deleted )

Sounds like you have a lot of choices of cities in the south to consider. The question you must ask for you & your family is, what do you guys enjoy doing and is there enough diversity for us to plant our family in?

The answer was a yes for us, but we are simple people who enjoy simple lives. We do miss the metropolis of OC, CA but not the crowd ,the traffic & the high cost of living. Online access has eliminated many geographical barrier for us as well. We also like the friendliness of people here. Imagine getting actual help & attention at your local HD & Lowes! It doesn't happen often back in metropolis. We also miss the great & diverse ethnic foods back there, especially the 'hole-in-the-wall' mom & pop stores that's so authentic. But I guess we'll have to get MORE illegals here in order to enjoy that type of great food.

My wife and I like to take a walk around the neighborhood after dinner and, as a result, we got to know many of our neighbors. It is true that most of us are from somewhere else so the natives may not think we are in the 'true south'. But overall, we find that we are accepted and fit in just fine.

So is Huntsville area a good place to live? Yes, it is for us and many like us. But will this area offer what you're looking for? That the question only you can answer.

Best of luck in your search.

[HB2HSV]

Originally Posted by Southlander

In a small town, people tend to have a lot of relatives that they spend a lot of time with. That leaves little time to spend with people they don't know that well.

Also, in the South, a lot of socializing and meeting people tends to take place at church. It comes from the time that there was little to do other than church, and farming took up so much time.

You may not approve, but that's the way it is.

You'll also need to learn to talk *Southern* and *smile* a lot (with a little coaching from the Southlander )

For example,

ya'll is a given. Blend that in at least once in every sentence

Might could signal to your neighbor that you *get it* and you're talking their language, as in "I might could do that...".

Mo betta will get you invited over for a BBQ. When asked if you want some 'fixin', you'd reply "mo betta !!".

[DvlsAdvc8]

Originally Posted by HB2HSV

Do you know that engineers are not *allowed* to go to hell by the divine declaration?

'Cause once you get a few engineers together, they'll start build HVAC systems all over the place. Pretty soon, hell would not be hot anymore!

No no no - that wouldn't meet the customer's requirements (as we all know, the customer is the Devil). An engineer in hell would find the optimum temperature to roast human flesh using the least fuel.

[deesonic]

Jeez...You live in Auburn. You may as well call Hades home, sinner. haha... Couldn't help but make a football reference.

In all seriousness, Huntsville might be fine for your family. But you might consider Asheville, North Carolina as well. That is one of my favorite southern cities. Savannah, Georgia is also nice, but the public schools are horrible (lived and taught there).

[gsp4ever]

Originally Posted by oakford4

We would prefer not highly-populated places like Atlanta, and prefer having the ability to access and tap into a mid-sized city from a smaller, surrounding community. As examples of places that have initially appealed to us are Franklin, TN, Boone, NC, Raleigh/Durham, NC, and Fairhope, AL.

Franklin and Raleigh might be good choices especially if you will need access to the city and a decent sized airport from where you lived. We live on the western side of Huntsville and use the Nashville airport about half the time for travel. Franklin has good public schools. So does Brentwood and the private schools in the Nashville area are excellent. I cannot speak as knowledgably about schools in the Raleigh area.

I would cross Boone, NC off your list. I lived there for a while and grew up going there for vacations most every Summer and Fall. It's very isolated and not close to a mid-sized city at all. Some people might say that you have *easy* access to Charlotte, Asheville and Johnson City, TN but I don't think it's very reasonable to always be driving an hour or more when you need decent services or shopping. Boone attracts a lot of Floridians and others who have vacation homes in the Mountains. So the cost of living is quite high there (due to isolation and wealthy tourists/second home owners) and there is a good deal of year 'round tourism there when you add the fall colors and winter (ski areas) tourism. Traffic can be quite congested on the main roads. Appalachian State University attracts quite the hippie element and tends to have a big drug culture. There are also the long time mountain locals who tend to be impoverished, relatively uneducated and not welcoming to outsiders. Boone is not diverse from what I've seen. Lots of whites. On the other hand, Boone does have easy access to lots of outdoors activities and is a nice place to visit for a couple of days. In the long run, for me, it was a boring place to live.

We've been in Huntsville for several years now and find the area to be welcoming. It's full of transplants so maybe that's why. Several good school districts to choose from in both the city and county with active parent groups. Not many people send their kids to private schools here (you will find an element of snobbery with regards to Nashville's private schools--it's a status symbol for families) I would agree with what others have said about finding a neighborhood with sidewalks and maybe a clubhouse and pool. There seem to be lots of kids in neighborhoods like those.

[HB2HSV]

Originally Posted by DvlsAdvc8

No no no - that wouldn't meet the customer's requirements (as we all know, the customer is the Devil). An engineer in hell would find the optimum temperature to roast human flesh using the least fuel.

Exactly, that's why there's a "divine declaration" by the supreme being.

Because once you let engineers go to hell, they will reduce heating bill cost, improving efficiencies and start creating its own renewable resources to the point that hell does not need to import heating fuel anymore.

Our divine creator doesn't want to get into that type of dispute with the Devil, because He knows that when it comes to dispute, hell has many more lawyers.....

Now back to OP's question

As you can see, Huntsville is really a piece of heaven because 1 out of every 10 people here is an engineer !

[rnc76]

Raleigh is significantly bigger and more congested than the other cities you mention. It has grown too much too fast IMO and is still growing. I used to really like Raleigh, but it just seems like a smaller version of ATL now to me. I've heard a lot of good things about Greenville, SC. It is a city about the size of Huntsville as well.

As far as Huntsville, I think you'll be welcomed. There are so many people here from all over the country. Lots of people from midwest, the northeast and CA. Of course, a lot of technical people from all over the south end up in Huntsville as well because it is one of the few high tech cities in the SE. I know Charles always pushes moving into a neighborhood with a bunch of kids the same age as yours and neighbors in your tax bracket. I guess there is some validity to that, but I find that very boring personally. I like living in a neighborhood that has a mix of transplants and locals. We have a lot of older people that have lived in the neighborhood forever, but also lots of younger couples that have bought small houses and fixed them up. There are kids of all different ages. It makes for nice mix IMO and a true neighborhood. Racial diversity is not that prevelant in Huntsville, it is basically white and black. We have some Asian and Indian engineers that have located here but most of the work requires citizenship. Of course there are an increasing number of Hispanics. In general I find people here low key, down to earth and welcoming. We do not go to church and have had no problems making friends and having an active social life.

[33458]

Originally Posted by deesonic

Jeez...You live in Auburn. You may as well call Hades home, sinner. haha... Couldn't help but make a football reference.

In all seriousness, Huntsville might be fine for your family. But you might consider Asheville, North Carolina as well. That is one of my favorite southern cities. Savannah, Georgia is also nice, but the public schools are horrible (lived and taught there).

I was thinking Asheville, too...have family there...some secular, some not - but laid-back, for sure. They do well around there.

My husband does not like the essence of patchouli...at all...which is why that location was not seriously considered.

Raleigh struck me as depressed. And the all-too-obvious tweakers at a children's park kinda set me back...

Greenville...pretty, very pretty. Socially, however, we did not fair well.

Have you thought about visiting Chattanooga? Not sure of the demographics, but always a pleasant time.