Is Huntsville, Alabama, Overrated? Residents Speak Out Online

"What they WON'T tell you about Huntsville." That was the header for a post in the subreddit group for Huntsville, Alabama, a few months ago. The topic challenged Huntsville residents to be "brutally honest" regarding Huntsville with "the good, the bad, and the ugly," for anyone considering moving to the area. These are a few of the responses.

Huntsville, AlabamaPhoto byWeaponizingArchitecture (wiki commons images)

First of all, the person who posted the topic in the Huntsville subreddit, didn't have a glowing opinion of Alabama's Rocket City with regards to the massive growth and influx of new residents to the area. This was the opinion the person posted about Huntsville:

"I've been running into a lot of new residents lately that have been disappointed that the dream they were sold about Huntsville being a fun, thriving place to live, work, and play, is actually an overpriced, overcrowded town that its local residents can't even afford to live in anymore because all the rents are being jacked up to $2000+ a month, and we just keep building new apartments on every patch of grass we can find while softening the blow with coffee, BBQ, and burgers."

One of the very first responses disagreed that Huntsville is a place too expensive to live - especially when compared to other major cities. They said,

"Can this sub(reddit) be named b*tch and moan about Huntsville? Maybe you guys should try living in a real city, see how expensive it can be.'

Another person was quick to agree with that opinion - that compared to a lot of large cities, Huntsville is still very affordable.

"Christ, even Birmingham would cripple the Huntsville-critical. To say nothing of Atlanta (or suburbs), DC, Boston, Chicago, San Diego, Denver, and many others."

In yet another response in defense of Huntsville compared to other cities, one person stated,

"I concur! I grew up in Crapville, Ohio and it's only gotten worse there. I love Huntsville and have enjoyed all 30 years here. People who don't like it should start doing something positive to change their situation or find a place they love to live. Life is tough, grow up. Things are more expensive in many, many places across the U.S.. We have jobs, good schools, recreation, relatively low crime and people here are polite."

The discussion eventually led to several comments about taxes and infrastructure. One person noted that "our tax dollars in Alabama do not show in our infrastructure as they do up north." In response to that statement, another person stated,

"We pay dramtically less in taxes, and the infrastructure investments reflect that. want better roads, neighborhoods, parks, etc? be prepared to ante up. It's a real head-scratcher that people want to live here because of relatively lower living expenses, and then blast the city, county, and state, for not meeting the standards that exsist in more highly-taxed communities."

Then there were comments where people bashed the state of Alabama, complained about the people and politics, etc. Overall, however, those comments were by far fewer than the comments that reflected positively on the community of Huntsville. Two Redditors summed it up best with these observations:

"Huntsville is no Utopia but it's what you make it. It's full of substantial growth in population, traffic, housing, you name it. Huntsville does also not hold the patent on problems, but by and large, there are worse places to live."

"For everyone ripping on cost of living, it's everywhere, folks. Inflation, post pandemic laziness, politicians are corrupt, corporations are buying up the land and building expensive apartments, and people are just straight apathetic these days. There is no perfect Utopian society unless the human ego changes."

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