Move to Huntsville / Madison? (Birmingham, Decatur: home, theater, living in)

[Turbulence]

Hello everyone ,

This year, I plan on making a final move to settle down, and I've always thought that the Huntsville area is the best place for an engineer to live. If you have a few minutes, I'd greatly appreciate your input regarding your living experiences in the area.

~2 years ago, I moved to the Florida area (Orlando) to give it a shot, and, while I have enjoyed certain aspects of it, it's just not an area I see myself living in long-term. Cost of living has really skyrocketed, and the lack of moral values / courtesy in the community is very difficult to deal with. It's borderline impossible to drive somewhere without multiple cars tailgating you (Even if you're going well over the speed limit), and it's become very difficult to enjoy the area's attractions due to traffic / crowds. I mostly value quiet areas, peace of mind, and nature activities - which is very difficult to find in the Orlando area. I know that Orlando is not really known for that ; however, it was a compromise I made with my girlfriend prior to moving.

Most of what I've heard about Huntsville (Especially the Madison area) really seems to fit what I'm looking for, and it sounds like a very great, stable area to start a family in. It looks like you can get a very decent home for ~$400K, and most communities seem to be very quiet. I've visited the area back in ~2017 for a work trip (December), and then I went for a personal visit back in 2020 (July?). All of the people I've met seem to be very great, caring people, and I really get the impression that it's a relatively low-key area to live in. Also, the weather did not seem to be too bad for me; the winters weren't TOO cold to be unbearable, and the summers were hot but manageable. Living in Florida, I've enjoyed the relatively warm weather year-round, but I've started to miss the seasons. It makes it difficult to fully appreciate the warmer weather, and it seems like Huntsville would be a nice compromise for that.

The only challenge I have is convincing my girlfriend to want to move to the area. Her main complaints are a lack of activities and ease of traveling out of the area - which I'm not 100% are issues. When we visited in 2020, we were able to do the following activities, which I thought were fine: HSV botanical garden, space and rocket center, monte sano state park, and the Huntsville lake park. There's definitely not as much to do compared to Orlando, but I think there's still very enjoyable (and less crowded!) activities in HSV.

Right now, I'm really leaning towards moving to Madison and think it's the perfect fit. I've heard that traffic is a bit heavier here compared to Huntsville, but I'm guessing it can't compare to Orlando / NJ? Google maps data indicate that my work commute would be close to 15-30 minutes MAX. My commute now is a head ache and can take 35-50 minutes on bad days; I'd doubt the traffic would be a headache in comparison. The education system also seems to be one of the best in the state (and even the country?).

How has your living experience been in Huntsville / Madison? Does it align with what I've learned about the area so far? Thank you so much for taking the time to read (sorry if it was a bit long!) and provide your insights; it is greatly appreciated !!!

[RocketDawg]

I worked here my entire career, and I stayed here after I retired. That should tell you something.

You summed the area up pretty well. As far as things to do, the Orion Amphitheater opened since you were here, and it's very popular for concerts and even other events during the winter when it's too cold to be outside.

I'd say the area is nicer and safer than most other mid-sized places in the country. Cost of living is still well under the national average.

[PB4Y2]

I grew up in Jacksonville (FL) but have lived in the Huntsville/Decatur area for the last almost 50 years. I love it here. I am a retired engineer and I have read that the Huntsville/Decatur area has one of the highest concentrations of engineers (per capita) in the country.

Summers here get just as hot and humid as they do in FL but just not quite as long. Our really hot summer days start in June and can last into Sept. Winters are relatively mild. We will get some colder temperatures but not often. In my time here, we have gotten into the low single digits probably 4-6 times (only once below 0) but it only lasts for a few days then its back to moderate temperatures. Typical winter days are lows in the 30s, highs in the 50-60s. Snow here is exciting mostly because it is fun to play in and will be gone in a few days. Fall and spring here are similar to winter in Orlando, mild and beautiful.

Traffic in any big city is usually pretty bad but Huntsville is not a big city. I have family in Atlanta and Huntsville traffic can be almost as bad as Atlanta but the heavy traffic (rush hour) in Huntsville lasts about 20 minutes per day while Atlanta traffic is bad about 20 hours per day. Madison is growing by leaps and bounds and their infrastructure is having some trouble keeping up so traffic there is worse than Huntsville but probably not as bad as Orlando.

As far as things to do, it depends on what you want to do. Many of the activities in the area revolve around outdoors. Lots of hiking, biking and boating. While this is not a big city, we are pretty centrally located between Birmingham (90 minutes south), Atlanta (3 hours east), Nashville (2 hours north) and Memphis (4 hours west).

Hope this helps.