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4. That type of etiquette seems refreshing and I am looking forward to it. People here don't hold the door for you, slam doors in your face, bump into you without saying sorry or excuse me, always in a rush, and aggressive driving.
Get ready for a slower pace down here and a lot more friendlier atmosphere. People will bump into you and then apologize and then engage you in a 20 minute conversation. Enjoy it. Traffic is much better than up north, except for a few people who still drive with road rage, I just know there from up north. I really had to change my driving ways when I moved here, tone it down a bit. I swear when I'm driving on 65 I can spot a Michigan driver coming up behind me just by how they drive I use to be one of them.
5. I am really not open about my religious beliefs. I won't be offended in anyway if someone asks me to attend their church. I think that religious beliefs should be kept in private. Out of the workplace, out of schools and public places (except for church of course) It sounds strange that someone would invite you to their church, it's like assuming everyone shares your religious beliefs. Or wants to be "saved" by a guy in which you communicate telepathically with.
I'm not sure how Huntsville is, but the further out into the country you get - the more this is likely to happen. I have been invited to numerous churches over the years. I'm a different religion than probably 75 percent of the people down here. I have visited some of their churches and they were all very nice. They really just want to invite you in and make you part of their family. Also, again, I don't know about Huntsville, but the further out you go the more religion you will see in public places. Don't be surprised to see The Ten Commandments posted on storefronts, restaurants, places of business. The school my kids go to have Christmas decorations in the school, a bible in the school office and a religous club. Religion is everywhere, I think they will respect your views, but what they don't want is anyone coming in and trying to change their ways.
6. It sounds like people really do care about others here. If my car is broke down in the middle of the highway or road, I'd call roadside assistance and let them deal with it. I would never expect a person to actually stop what they are doing, get out of their car, and come to help me. That's unheard of where I come from. About the random conversations, I'm certainly not a very talkative one. I only talk casually with people I know. I teach my child not to talk to strangers. Random conversations with a stranger that you don't know ( who may have ill-intent in the first place) is odd and seems annoying.
People will stop and talk to you constantly, enjoy it. Coming from Michgian where people were being rude and obnoxious (not all, just some) on a daily basis was the norm. Allow yourself an extra hour when running errands for all the talking your going to do with store clerks, people standing in line, etc. People will stop to help you, sometimes more than one person will stop, thats the norm down here....forget roadside assistance.
7. Thats wonderful news. Now that you mentioned it - How active is the Klan in Northern Alabama? They frighten me. I should do some research on my part though but would like to actually read what others who live in Northern Alabama have to say about these Klansman. It's a shame that they are still around today.
I have never seen the Klan. Except for what someone else mentioned about the bussed in rally - I never heard any stories either. They would be the least of my worries.
8.I have heard horrible, nasty stereotypes about Southern people. And stories that others tell about their visits to the South, most of them were pleasant though, and they couldn't wait to go back down again. I will just have to see for myself.
I am looking forward to this move.
I have heard nasty stereotypes about Christians, I have heard nasty stereotypes about Republicans, I have heard nasty steroetypes about Democrats. I have heard nasty sterotypes about Northerners. Reputation is what people think you are - your character is who you really are.
Hope you enjoy your move down here, I think you will like it. For the most part, I love it here and will never move back up north.
I myself just moved from NJ (about 45 mins from NYC - 2 hours in the AM)
Things I noted:
Property Taxes: about 10% of what you would pay in NJ (1000 sq ft house in NJ = $6000 a year 2400 sq ft house in Madison County (not HSV or Madison Cities) $500 - $600 a year.
Discussions of faith, religion, and church @ work. NJ - hardly ever, AL- not overwhelming, but its not odd to hear people talking about church last night. Never seen anyone hounded our talked down to because they are not Christian.
Politics: Def. conservative. As you approach major cities it turns more Liberal. Hunstville is more conservative because of NASA/Redstone/MDA
Manners: HUGE difference - NJ Sir/Maam/Please/Thank you - very rare
Here - If a child does not say it they are usually punished. It took me a while to adjust to being refered to as Sir and Mr. My wife works at a day care here (and did in NJ) difference is major.
Traffic: I 565 (AL) is wide open in the morning I 80 (NJ) would be a parking lot and would take 20 - 30 mins to go 4 miles.
Huntsville has a lot of transplants from many different areas. I do not think you will have any problems here in AL or in the Madison County area.
Politics in Alabama goes right down racial lines to be honest. Majority black counties are almost always blue, and majority white counties are almost always red.
Here's the deal. A northern refugee myself, I've learned that people in Alabama are pretty much an embracing sort, as long as you understand a few things, based on my time here:
1) Alabama is different culturally from wherever you hail. Think of it as moving to a different country where a lot of things are the same, but a lot of the things are different.
2) With this in mind--and for God's sake--don't start kvetching about how much better you did things up North twenty minutes after unpacking the moving van. Please. You wouldn't move to Colombia or Papua New Guinea and criticize how the people do things there, would you? Yet some transplants do this reflexively the moment they arrive, then wonder why Alabamians get annoyed. And, quite frankly, if things were really so swell up north, then why have so many of us had to move down South to follow jobs?
3) Contrary to popular belief, people here did vote for Obama in the election. Yeah, McCain won handily, but when you realize that Obama outpolled Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary by a 2:1 margin, it's not like people here are afraid to vote for a black man. The other thing you have to realize is that the South suffered a great deal at the hands of the Democratic Party over the past 120 years in terms of cronyism, corrupt government, and sleazy backroom dealings that would have made any Russian apparatchik blush. So when speaking of Southerner's Republican voting, stop treating it like a pejorative and think of it as the natural distrust of Democratic misrule over more than a century. What's more, Southerners tend to have a profound suspicion of 'progressive' government, given how Southern states actually had much more heavy-handed governments than Northern ones for a long time. I myself am a political independent. Whenever anybody tells me they vote straight party lines, I start checking for the lobotomy scars. But after learning a great deal of Alabama history, I can understand why so many educated Alabamians are so hostile to the Democratic Party.
4) Etiquette matters here a great deal. People down here say, "Please," "Thank you," and "You're welcome," a great deal--and tend to mean it. "Sir" and "Ma'am" are also used liberally in conversation. Southerners believe in a lot of the little civilities. And if a child addresses you as "ma'am," please don't correct them. Southerners believe that this is a fundamental part of raising children. And, having been shocked by the rudeness of some teenagers when visiting family up in Ohio, I can see their point.
5) The degree which people have a problem with your being atheist will be directly proportional to the amount of times you bring it up. It is not uncommon to be invited to church by a new acquaintance, but a simple, "No thank you" will be accepted graciously. There are plenty of atheists down here. They are not persecuted, pilloried, or put in the stocks.
6) Perfect strangers will strike up conversations with you in the checkout line. Yes, this weirded me out at first. Now, however, I like it a great deal. If you have a flat tire, perfect strangers will slow down and ask if you need a hand. Again, I like this a lot.
7) Two Saturdays ago, I was enjoying barbecue at Bob Gibson's in Decatur, and there were three different interracial couples there, each sitting at different tables. I'm happy to report that nobody pelted them with rocks and garbage. Nobody spray painted obscenities on their cars. The waitress smiled at them, exchanged pleasantries, and didn't dump food in their laps. No impromptu Klan rallies formed in the parking lot and the patrons weren't sprayed with buckshot. I think you'll be fine.
8) Having been a northerner myself, I can tell you that folks up north seem to indulge in far more stereotypes than the Southerners do. Oh, sure, it's not Nirvana here, but I actually think race relations are better down here than in , say, Chicago. Or Cleveland. Or at least more cordial.
In short, Southerners tend to be people-driven. If you are nice and respectful to them, they will be nice and respectful to you, regardless of your race, religious beliefs, or political creed. If you make the effort to make friends, they will invite you into their homes. We have found the vast majority of Alabamians to be hard-working, wise, intelligent, kind, and considerate of their neighbors. You know, kind of like the people where you come from.
However, if you remain cool and aloof, condescend to them, and don't respect their beliefs, then don't be surprised to get the cold shoulder. And if you approach them warily, as if your dealing with a bunch of knuckle-dragging yokels straight out of Deliverance, then you're not going to enjoy life down here. Really and truly, how you get treated when you arrive will all be up to you.
All that being said, it's not Tobacco Road down here. The tone of your posts kind of assumes that it is. I hope I'm wrong.
Been said by a PP, but tossing my two cents here too... the above is a very good perspective. I had the pleasure of living in NE 'bama for a few years a bit ago, loved it... but yes, even from rural Ozarkian Missouri, 'tis a different area. Regret leaving TAG area, due to job/employment. With that all said, unfortunately, there is some racist BS still flowing through some idiots in the area - movers being afraid to be on Sand Mtn. after dark, burnt crosses and other crud in/on peoples' houses, yards, etc., and so forth. Nevertheless, 'tis a beautiful area, culturally, geography, and peoples.
I recommend you moving to the Hazel Green-Meridianville Area. They are both right outside of Huntsville (to the north) and are both reasonable sizes. They have a population of about 4,000 each. The schools are very great schools to if you have/are planning to have children. They have about three grocery stores and about seven shopping centers. Hazel Green is only about 20-25 minutes north of Huntsville and Meridianville is about 15-20 minutes north of Huntsville. For more information, visit Hazel Green, Alabama - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia or Meridianville, Alabama - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. I hope you choose one of these areas !
First let me say that in the Huntsville area, Hazel Green and Meridianville (well, and New Market) are my favorite areas outside of town. The previous poster has some good suggestions with the exception of "shopping centers".
I just want to make sure people who don't know the area aren't thinking mall. I guess you could call them stereotypical strip malls. You know, the cheap long rectangular building with 4-8 little businesses in them. Yeah, they have those, but people aren't going to get up on Black Friday and say "You know, let's go shopping in Meridianville!"
A lot of folks in Hazel Green actually shop in Fayetteville--as close (closer for some) and a lot let crowded.
But, the poster had a good suggestion. The schools used to be considered one of the "country" schools in the county, but with growth over the last 20 years, the schools have really stepped up.
Politics in Alabama goes right down racial lines to be honest. Majority black counties are almost always blue, and majority white counties are almost always red.
See, I totally reject that. Are you saying that if Colin Powell had run for president against Al Gore in 2000, Alabama would have voted for Al Gore? Not a chance. I also think Artur Davis might have had a puncher's chance for Governor--except for the fact that the 2010 elections are likely going to be a bloodbath for Democrats nationwide.
See, I totally reject that. Are you saying that if Colin Powell had run for president against Al Gore in 2000, Alabama would have voted for Al Gore? Not a chance. I also think Artur Davis might have had a puncher's chance for Governor--except for the fact that the 2010 elections are likely going to be a bloodbath for Democrats nationwide.
If Colin Powell had ran against Al Gore he would have been running as a republican, so of course he would have won. Whites in Alabama will vote for the more conservative candidate no matter his/her race (just like white Louisianans voted for Jindal). I'm not saying that whites in Alabama are racist, I'm saying that they are staunchly conservative and republican.
I also don't think blacks in Alabama vote democrat because they're liberal, I think they vote democrat because that's the way their parents and grandparents have voted for the past 40+ years (since the civil rights era). Both whites and blacks in this state are pretty well set in their ways.
Just look at the maps of past elections, north AL is almost solid red, and then there is a great big swath of blue going through the center of the state aka "black belt". It's kinda obvious what happens.
I'm siding with snl on the "racial lines", to the extent that blacks vote 80%+ for Democrats and 90%+ for black Democrats.
However, blacks are generally socially conservative (pro-life, pro-2nd Amendment) and church-going, in other words, natural Republicans. IMO the GOP needs to reach out on economic and education issues.
For the OP or others who don't have a racial scorecard, Congressman Artur Davis (D) is running for Governor; he is black.
Perhaps of interest to the OP: Les Phillip is running for Alabama's 5th Congressional District, which includes Huntsville. He is a Republican, plus he's got the endorsement of Mike Huckabee, who won the Alabama GOP Presidential Primary. He is black, but doesn't use that circumstance to define him. He is a family man, Naval academy graduate, retired Naval aviator, successful businessman, immigrant, Tea Party activist, and all-around good guy. I know him and I like him (personally and politically).
After reading these posts, I have some questions. I am a northerner, from the northeast actually. Historically,my state, New Hampshire, has been conservative and has moved more toward the center. NH is a wonderful place, however very cold in the winter. My husband and I are traveling south after Christmas to spend some time in the Florida Panhandle. We plan to look at Alabama as a possible place to retire; primarily Fort Payne and Rainsville.
Question #1: What do you mean by liberal?
Question #2: Why are people afraid to be on Sand Mountain after dark?
Question #3: How serious is the meth problem on Sand Mountain?
Question #4: Why do people live on Sand Mountain?
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Traffic is much better than up north, except for a few people who still drive with road rage, I just know there from up north. I really had to change my driving ways when I moved here, tone it down a bit. I swear when I'm driving on 65 I can spot a Michigan driver coming up behind me just by how they drive 
I use to be one of them.
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