Sweet! Any local food you'd recommend, especially in regards to Pizza, Burgers, and Fried Chicken?
Nothing comes to mind at the moment in regards to Pizza and Burgers at the moment. (Keep in mind that I don't live in Huntsville but rather a distance away so I only visit their once every other month, so I don't know everything their is to offer of the top of my head.) but if your interested in or authentic Cajun food in general the
Po Boy Factory is a pretty great restaurant that is a must try in the food category.
I also got told by the person hiring me that Huntsville was a liberal(er) place (She knew I was from Massachusetts, so I bet she was trying not to scare me off). Is there any truth to that?
The City is conservative mostly thanks to it's mayor Tommy Battle whom has done a remarkably good job by the city adding over 9,000 jobs (according to numbers he released) during his second term in office.
Understand Huntsville has always been a spot of major economic activities for awhile the city boast Redstone arsenal a branch of both Boeing and Northrop Grumman, since Battles has taken office a branch of Polaris as well as two lines of Remington arms has also moved in. (Remington because laws passed up north made the production of specific weapon illegal)
So it's not that the city is more liberal it's just that people their are mostly center conservatives of a more open mindset than most others and coupled with the cities income being so well only helps this atmosphere.
You might as well be asking if politicians are liar's the state
lives in sports bars in Huntsville in particular, Alabama and Auburn games are played constantly along with NASCAR and Baseball/Basketball. Heck last election I remember a conservative bar owner allowing people to come watch the election at his bar and that was pretty common.
Bottom line if you go to a sportsbar and find you don't like it, their are at least thirty more to chose from.
Also, how bikeable is it? I didn't bother getting a license, because I lived in MA (now I'm probably going to get one), but a car is expensive as well. I know there are some bike paths to my workplaces, but what about the rest?
What do you mean by license? Car or Bike? and by bike to you mean like a motorcycle or a Bicycles?
I will assume you are talking about Bicycle's at least as far a biking goes and say the city is pretty bikeable as you can see here.
Homepage - Bike Huntsville | See and Be Seen
Their are greenways and downtown is as bike friendly as you can get, but keep in mind that the city while prosperous is pretty big and you will need to learn your way around it as the city does have a bad spot here and their that you wouldn't want to be anywere near without a gasoline power vehicle.
Unlike most cities I have been to Huntsville is sprawling and the interstate seems to loop around itself a lot so it can take some getting used to.
One last thing I will point out is that if you bike, take
a lot of cold water in the summer, and I mean
a lot, fill the bottle with ice or keep it in a cooler, in this part of the South one hundred degrees is common in the summer especially when you are on concrete and furthermore the sun is beating down on you in a good day, the
worst type of a summer day in the south is when the sky is grey and it has recently rained recently trust me humidity is the worst.
So bottom line is carry water.
Also, do you know anything about local nerd groups/gaming shops? I'd like to get a head start looking for a D&D group or something similar.
The
Deep comes to mind, their are also gamestops and a few other game stores that do similar stuff for various groups and every once in a while a convention will be held at Von Braun center and not small ones either they can get huge!
I can't name any groups off the top of my head at the moment though.
Finally, and specifics about the area I might have missed that you'd like to mention?
If you ever get the chance to go to the space and rocket center do so, if not well a quick drive by on the interstate will give you a look at the Blackbird, A Saturn rocket and of course the space shuttle.
As for interactions with people keep a few things in mind.
- Be humble, to a Southern person their is nothing that will earn their respect quicker than admitting your own flaws and doing right by other's as well as being friendly.
- Keep in mind people might joke around about your accent but remember that people do that in workplaces and you are a person coming into their lives a Southern who heads to New England would likely face the same difficulties.
- If you see someone flying a Confederate Flag don't assume the worst of them immediately, and try to ascertain if they are good people first as not everybody who uses it can be labeled as bad. (I know you know this just a friendly reminder.)
- Understand that until you have been here two-four years you are going to be seen as a outsider until then by some so keep that in mind.
But if you keep all that in mind you will be okay.
