Considering relocating to Huntsville area (Madison: insurance, condos, hotel)

[henders]

Hello.

My husband and I are considering relocating to the Huntsville area sometime in 2007. Both of us have backgrounds in defense/technology, so it seems that Huntsville would present us with good job opportunities. Our initial research has indicated that it's a nice place to live, but we'd like some insight from the locals. Can those of you from the area please give us some of your likes/dislikes so that we may better determine if it's the place for us?

Thank you in advance.

[AnotherBravesFan]

Hi. My husband and I are also looking to retire in '08, and Huntsville has made it to our very short list of potentials. Where I'm coming from: San Diegan tired of smog, traffic, high density living, high cost of living. We visited last year and were quite impressed - lots of green, little traffic, highly educated populace (especially in Madison), outstanding median income #s, coupled with very affordable housing/property taxes. As you probably know, BRAC is bringing lots of people from DC area now, so the area is growing. Lots of new housing developments going in. From what I've gathered, the East/Southeast areas are the upscale areas with prices up to $800k. With all the engineers/NASA people/military retirees that seem to be there, I think you'd fit right in and make friends easily.

[brandoni57]

I love the size of Huntsville, it's not too big, not too small. Its a wonderful town filled with friendly people from all over the country and world, and homegrown locals who have been here all their lives. 1 in 10 people in Huntsville area have a phd, Huntsville is highly educated and generally well off financially.
What is great about HSV-
FOOD: Also, there are several places to eat, Italian, Cajun, Asian, fine dining we've got, local country meats and threes are all over, if you love Thai.. we got several to choose from, Indian we also have a lot of, Italian of course is a lot, Mexican.. almost too many, and some of the best Bar B Q in the world is here of course! Huntsvillians are affluent and proud of the fact that we eat out so much so you are bound to run in someone you know (once you get to know us) when you eat out.
Nightlife: Huntsville's downtown use to be dull 6 years ago, but the city leaders are helping developer revitalize it.. there are sooo many clubs and bars coming back to downtown and so many currently there, developers are building condos and restaurants and bars all the time. Not just downtown but also on main corridors like University drive.
BRIDGE STREET: Also, the bridge Street development in research park will be phenomenal! It is a major development of European style high end shopping with clubs, restaurants, a Westin Hotel with Condos on the top floors, office buildings, sympony orchestra performance hall, a bowling alley slash nightclub, a theatre where you can "wine and dine" in the balcony as you watch the movie (21 years or older) to be in the balcony and all of this will be around lakes with watertaxi access! It's under construction now and will be ready probably Summer or Fall of 2007.
Copy and paste the following link into your address bar for more info:
http://www.bridgestreethuntsville.com/

the GREAT OUTDOORS: Huntsville is always so green. The mountains are covered in trees and the valleys and rolling hills have trails all over them. Huntsville was voted one of the top 10 "Green Cities" due to our huge number of hiking, biking, and walking trails and several parks. We have great access to rivers and lakes, but most people who are outdoors hike or bike our greenways. Golfing around here is Huge, you can golf most of the year!

Huntsville is a beautiful place and you will love it. The pride Huntsvillians have in their town is amazing, you can probably tell. Welcome to your new home!

[marysally]

I am also a resident of Huntsville, well Madison actually. I love it here -- Hsv is just the right size, not too large or too small. I moved here 8 years ago from Houston, Tx and I have not regretted it one moment. The cost of living is much lower -- very low property taxes, utility costs, and insurance rates. House prices have gradually increased but nothing like some other parts of the country. Schools are good in Madison and SE Huntsville as stated by a previous poster.