Living in Huntsville, Alabama: A Full City Tour

Oct 20, 2026 · @Richard

Thinking about moving to Huntsville? We filmed a full city vlog, and this post walks through every stop: the airport, the hospital, downtown, the weather and taxes, where we eat, the trails, and the newer communities.

Getting oriented: the Space & Rocket Center, the airport and the hospital

We started at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, the place most people picture when they think of Rocket City. It is incredible inside, but we have only taken our kids once or twice. If you move here, it is more of a tourist stop than a place you visit week to week.

Next, the airport. It is small, with plenty of green space around it, and getting through it is easy. When we flew back from an international trip a couple of years ago, parking was about $10 a day. Flights are often direct or connecting through Atlanta.

Then the hospital. Huntsville Hospital is the biggest complex in the North Alabama area. The area is not known for specialized care, so if you have bigger medical needs, talk with your doctor about options. People we know have gone to UAB in Birmingham, roughly an hour and a half to two hours away, or to Vanderbilt in Nashville, about two hours away. Double-check drive times for your own situation.

Downtown Huntsville and Big Spring Park

Big Spring Park is my favorite spot downtown. It sits behind the Huntsville Museum of Art, which sets up an ice skating rink in the winter, so the park looks completely different outside of that season. It is a nice place to push a stroller, feed the ducks, or feed the koi, and it is right by the Von Braun Center, so it is easy to stop by after an event.

Parking downtown is one of the few places in Huntsville you pay for. We parked for an hour and 15 minutes and it cost about 98 cents, 35 cents of which was a convenience fee. It is nowhere near the parking prices in a downtown like Atlanta or Charlotte.

Honestly, most people who move here will not spend a lot of time downtown specifically. It is worth seeing, and we will show you where we like to spend our time below.

Weather, taxes and insurance

Weather. If you have never been to the South, expect humidity. We filmed in October on a day that hit the high 80s, and in summer we have seen 87 degrees feel like 102. Summers are long, hot and humid. Winters are very mild, but a dusting of snow can shut down the city, schools and a lot of workplaces, and people in rural areas can get stuck because there are no services to plow the roads. Evenings also get dark early here: around 6:30 in the fall and 4:30 in winter, with very little twilight.

The upside of all that water is how green it is. People coming from desert states tell us that is a big part of the draw. We also have tornadoes in the area, so keep that in mind.

Taxes and insurance. These are the things we pointed out in the video, so confirm the details for your own situation.

Social Security, government pension and state pension income, including military, are not taxed by the state.
Property taxes are very low.
Homeowners insurance is reasonable compared to what we hear from people leaving Florida or California. There are pockets of flood zones to watch for.
Sales tax is about 9%, and groceries are taxed.
State income tax is around 5%.

Density. Huntsville is sprawling and the density is low, which is why you find so many cul-de-sac neighborhoods and larger homes.

Getting around: a car-dependent city

Huntsville has very limited public transportation. A couple of buses run around town, but there is no metro like you would find in DC, so plan on driving.

Electric vehicle charging is also thin. There are a few pockets with chargers, but very few across the area. If you drive an EV, check that before you move.

The area is growing a ton and the infrastructure is behind, so there is constant road work and a lot of traffic. Everything looks closer on the map than it really is, and some spots have much worse traffic than others. Before you pick a place to live, test the drive times that matter to you.

Eating out at Stovehouse

I am not a big fan of downtown dining, so when people visit on a preview trip, I tell them to go to Stovehouse. It has a lot of open space, spots you can rent for events, some shopping nearby, and live bands. It is also a good place to kill time between showings.

The food hall has a ramen place, a Mediterranean spot, a barbecue place and an ice cream shop. On the day we filmed, we ate at the crepe spot. You would think crepes are dessert, but we had a spicy ahi crepe and it was delicious. We have not even tried every place there yet.

Stovehouse also has a personal story for us. The rooftop is where we first said "I love you." It was Christmas time, there were lights and live music, we had the whole rooftop to ourselves, and it started raining while we danced.

Gardens and trails

Huntsville Botanical Gardens. We were here just last Sunday after church, once the kids had a nap. We showed up around 4:00 or 4:30 and spent a nice hour. Our toddler played in one of the kids' water features, and they are relaxed about you bringing a picnic dinner. We have a membership, and there are events all year long. It is right by Research Parkway, so you can stop on a lunch break or after work.

Monte Sano. This is one of the most popular hiking areas around. Some paths are free and some have paid parking. School groups come through, and it is beautiful. Be honest with yourself about the outdoors here, though: we saw mosquitoes, and there are ticks, copperheads and rattlesnakes in this part of Alabama. Check for ticks after you hike and watch where you step.

Madison County Nature Trail. This one is my pick. We went as a family a couple of weeks ago, and our toddler walked the whole loop by himself. Afterward we got ice cream at Handel's as a reward.

Shopping and newer communities

Huntsville has just about every amenity you would want, often in several locations: malls like Parkway Place, grocery stores, and movie theaters. Most of the smaller suburbs around here do not even have a movie theater, and none have a Whole Foods.

We stopped at three areas to show how the pieces fit together:

Hays Farm. A master-planned community where Sam's Club is walkable, with Lowe's and Home Depot close by, the new Grissom High School nearby, and Whole Foods and Publix not far away. It is about 2 miles from Gate 3 at Redstone Arsenal.
Mid City. Home to Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, near both Village of Providence and Hays Farm, two more master-planned communities.
Green Mountain. Several builders work up here. You get large lots, big homes, mature trees and a secluded feel at a price that still feels affordable for the space, with trails that some subdivisions back up to and the Madison County Nature Trail close by. John Hunt Park is nearby too. If I could live anywhere in the area, this is the spot I would pick.

Newer communities are filling up quickly, and some of the older neighborhoods, like Midtown, are already built out. Alabama is a buyer-beware state, which adds steps to a relocation, so it helps to have someone walk you through it.

Watch the full tour

You can watch the whole 26-minute tour here: Living in Huntsville, Alabama FULL VLOG TOUR.

We put a lot of time, effort and money into a free map tour of the area, with every city broken down and the information you will need. We wish we had it when we moved here. It also links to our relocation guide, which covers schools and more.

If you are thinking about moving to Huntsville, tell us a few things about what you are looking for and we will help narrow the search. Give us a call, send a text or an email. We also post a home tour every Saturday at 8 a.m. Central, so subscribe to the channel to see inside homes in the communities we showed here.

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