What about Huntsville, AL

[astroboy]

Huntsville has gotten a lot a good press lately, good business climate, "green" friendly, low cost of living, etc. Have any of you folks lived here or had any expereicne as to the real scoop, or is it just a lot of PR hype?

 

[unclemick]

Yep

Used to be a well kept secret when I lived there in the 70's for retired military and NASA types. But it's grown a lot since then.

Haven't been back since the late 90's to visit.

 

[wildcat]

PR hype if you ask me. I have been 2x to visit a friend. Like any place there are a few nice spots but poor city planning is starting to catch up with them. Cost of living is low but I don't see where they would get any "green" friendly points. The economy is largely based on the defense industry. I would give a "C" for a grade.

 

[alphabet soup]

Unlkess you're military, stay away.

I mean, Huntsville, Alabama

 

[yakers]

Ask Grumpy, I think he lived there. I have been there a couple times, I expected it to be terrible, rural Alabama, but was surprised at how pleasant it was. It is still not a big place, but the people are friendly, the prices are cheap (compared to California) and it has most services you would want. Personally, I'd sooner go up towards Nashville. But Huntsville way exceeded my expectations.

 

[grumpy]

Ask Grumpy, I think he lived there. I have been there a couple times, I expected it to be terrible, rural Alabama, but was surprised at how pleasant it was. It is still not a big place, but the people are friendly, the prices are cheap (compared to California) and it has most services you would want. Personally, I'd sooner go up towards Nashville. But Huntsville way exceeded my expectations.

Well, I didn't actually live there but I spent one week a month there for about three years on NASA business so I got to see the city and sorounding area alot. The housing prices compared to the D.C. area were rediculously low. I enjoyed the slower pace of the southern lifestyle. For the south, Huntsville was surprisingly cosmopolitan (good restaurants, shopping, recreation, etc.). I also enjoyed the lack of bad traffic compared to D.C. However, as a Jewish, northeast liberal I did not find the culture to be one where I would feel comfortable living.

Grumpy

 

[laurence]

You mean they didn't invite you to the Klan rallies?

I'm not comfortable with the idea of living that far south (South?), I'm probably overly stereotyping. DW loved North Carolina, near Duke University.

 

[poboy]

  Daughter and her family live in Huntsville . They are crazy about the place and the schools.  Good housing, medical, recreation.  Lots of tech related with remnants of the Von Braun and other captured German scientists . I live in LA(lower Alabama) and warned her about moving to Huntsville cause I heard they had some liberals there.  But, you know kids never listen.

 

[Dawg52]

You mean they didn't invite you to the Klan rallies? 

I'm not comfortable with the idea of living that far south (South?), I'm probably overly stereotyping. 

Yeah, I would say that is overly sterotyping.

 

[laurence]

I'm guilty. I've never been to Alabama, so I shouldn't have said anything.

 

[REWahoo]

You know, at one point this weekend I went to get DW's pill and a glass of water to bring up to her in bed, and I looked into the jar and said, "I wonder if this packs an awesome buzz?". I resisted my curiosity.

Suuuure you did...

I've never been to Alabama, so I shouldn't have said anything.

 

[Jarhead*]

Suuuure you did...

Looks like a pretty strong case, but let's wait for the DNA results before we present it to the D. A.

 

[laurence]

All my white trash relatives are from Arizona. Oh there I go again, but it's about myself this time, that's o.k., right? :

 

[RE2Boys]

Somehow I missed this thread back in April, probably too busy doing tax returns.

I lived in Huntsville for 22 years (1982-2004) as a displaced Yankee from NW Pennsylvania. I was reluctant at first to take the job…..always thought that Alabama was way too close minded, uneducated, and dirt poor. Whatever stereotypes you may have of the South, they don’t apply well to Huntsville. It has the highest average education level and second highest per capita income level ( a rich suburb of Birmingham is number one) in all of Alabama. Predominantly a white-collar town. Very high tech area, prosperous, one week of winter a year, dirt-cheap property taxes (though they get you on the 8% sales tax), don’t tax most pensions.

I think the population is about 170K, very cosmopolitan as many folks either moved there during the 60’s or are descended from those folks. Compared to most cities on the eastern seaboard, traffic flow is pretty good. Schools are mixed, excellent schools in south Huntsville, terrible in north Huntsville, good in nearby Madison, AL, so-so in the fast becoming not so rural county. South Huntsville schools beat the best in this area of PA.

Weather, while hot in summer, is not as uncomfortable as near the coast such as Washington or Richmond. Far enough away from the Gulf that the humidity is not bad. I’d rather spend a summer in Huntsville than in DC, I often had to travel to DC for work. Think Nashville but with an even milder winter.

If it weren’t for the need to move back to PA to take care of an elderly parent, I would have very happily remained there. Yes, I am a retired NASA engineer, not a rocket scientist but worked with them frequently, like Homer Hickam of the movie “October Sky”

Now that I’m back in PA, I find that Huntsville was very progressive in comparison. Government here is very fragmented, regional planning and cooperation is non-existent.

I look back fondly to those days in Huntsville, but also have learned to appreciate what each area has to offer. I’ve found that as long as I stayed away from the hassle of big cities I've enjoyed every place my career took me.

RE2Boys

 

[youbet]

I'm guilty. I've never been to Alabama, so I shouldn't have said anything.

Yep. You lost your poker face with that post Laurence.

 

[haha]

All my white trash

While we are on this topic, I am not too crazy about the term above. It is racist, pejorative, judgmental, downright ugly (applying the term trash to human beings) and everything else nasty that we would not tolerate for a moment if similarly directed at any other group. The moderators would be buzzing around the author like a swarm of hornets.

Once dumping on fat people has been outlawed, only working class southern whites will remain as the 'Feel free to have at 'em group". We should remember that these people are disproportionately dying in our Army and Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan right now. They didn't plan the war, vote for the war, or get business contracts from the war. They just fight it and die in it.

I know Laurence goes out of his way to have the right attitudes, and to be polite and inoffensive. I know he would never speak this way if it weren't so embedded in our PC culture that it is OK to hate and abuse this particular group. That he could speak this way is an illustration of what I mean, of how deeply accepted this prejudice is.

Who cares what trash thinks or feels? Can trash even think and feel?

I believe that the perceived right to hurt people comes from dehumanizing them, and I plan to resist the dehumanization of any group that I either am, will be, or may have been associated with. Most groups have figured out the importance of fighting slurs. They may seem harmless, but they alter what is seen as permissible in society.

Ha

 

[youbet]

Laurence's post was made six months ago and he apologized. Still, Ha's point is well stated and should apply on an ongoing basis as something for us all to keep in mind. No group should be demonized based on the region of the country where they reside, their religion or lack of religion, their race, their education or their economic status.......among other things.

Thanks for the reminder Ha.

 

[Mr._johngalt]

Laurence's post was made six months ago and he apologized. Still, Ha's point is well stated and should apply on an ongoing basis as something for us all to keep in mind. No group should be demonized based on the region of the country where they reside, their religion or lack of religion, their race, their education or their economic status.......among other things.

Thanks for the reminder Ha.

If you add "their politics", that pretty much puts me out of business.

JG

 

[astromeria]

They didn't ...vote for the war

I agree with everything you said Ha, except this. This administration and its war has been supported by the votes of Southern white males more than any other group, with the possible exception of some Rocky Mountain state males.

 

[Nords]

Once dumping on fat people has been outlawed, only working class southern whites will remain as the 'Feel free to have at 'em group". We should remember that these people are disproportionately dying in our Army and Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan right now. They didn't plan the war, vote for the war, or get business contracts from the war. They just fight it and die in it.

I don't disagree with your sentiments, but I'm not sure that working-class whites are a larger military population than African-Americans & Hispanics. I don't know how we can tell that they're disproportionately dying in the war, either. That'd be a heckuva training issue!

Especially in the Army infantry...

 

[Dawg52]

I agree with everything you said Ha, except this. This administration and its war has been supported by the votes of Southern white males more than any other group, with the possible exception of some Rocky Mountain state males.

It took more than the South to get Bush elected. I assume you mean the last election was a proxy for the war.

 

[astromeria]

Try a more subtle approach (counties):
http://www.princeton.edu/~rvdb/JAVA/election2004/PurpleAmericaPosterAll50.gif

In any case, I was referring to demographic breakdowns of types of voters (region, gender, income) that I read abut (too lazy to search for now).

 

[youbet]

I agree with everything you said Ha, except this. This administration and its war has been supported by the votes of Southern white males more than any other group, with the possible exception of some Rocky Mountain state males.

And even so......... I don't think that stereotyping a group, especially with mean spiritied racial overtones, is appropriate. Even if you don't agree with them politically.

I'm not saying you're doing this Astro, in fact you clearly stated you agreed with Ha, but I want to be sure we don't get off on some detail of Ha's post and lose the main point.

 

[haha]

I want to emphasize that my post had nothing to do with Laurence personally. Laurence is very completely socialized with no weird attitudes that I have ever noticed.

That he used the term shows just how innocuous it is thought to be by the dominant cultural subgroups in America.

Ha

 

[shiny]

Can we use the term "trashy?"

Growing up in the south it was my mother's goal in life to prevent us from being "trashy".

Don't smoke, it's trashy.

Don't go in the store barefooted, it's trashy.

Don't dye your hair blonde then let the dark roots grow out 3 inches, it's trashy.

And so on and so on...