If you ask Rob Buddo why he loves Huntsville, he’ll tell you that its downtown is among the best city centers in the United States. As he finishes his first year as the president and CEO of Downtown Huntsville Inc., that answer seems somewhat expected. But it’s genuine. Buddo is passionate about the Rocket City and his role there.

Buddo was born in South Carolina and grew up in North Carolina. But he always had a tie to Alabama. As a kid, he visited family in Evergreen and later attended the University of Alabama. After graduating, he stayed and worked for Main Street Birmingham.

“During my tenure there, Main Street Birmingham merged with Operation New Birmingham to form REV Birmingham,” he says. “We were focused on the neighborhood commercial cores of Birmingham, but also downtown and Five Points South.”

After five years, he and his wife moved, first to Washington, D.C., and then to Houston. But they always felt Alabama was calling them home. When an opportunity arose to continue his work with REV Birmingham, they decided to move back.

“We were very instrumental and hands-on in transforming the Woodlawn commercial core,” Buddo says. “I think when I first started in 2011 my office was one of the only things there. My office, a record store and a thrift store. Now it’s packed with a lot of different kinds of businesses, restaurants, and it’s turned into a really thriving district. So it was cool to be a part of all of that.”

He loved helping Birmingham’s renaissance, but the opportunity in the Rocket City sounded like a new adventure. Now, looking ahead to his second year, Buddo is excited about all the possibilities for Huntsville.

“When you’re working in a city that has so much growth and so much potential, it’s just really fun to be a part of that,” he says. “I think the Huntsville of today is going to be very different from the Huntsville of 20 or 30 years just because we’re continuing to grow and expand and bring new things here.”

Here, Buddo answers a few essential questions.

Visitors to Huntsville’s Big Spring Park get a reminder of the city’s space legacy, just steps away from the spring where John Hunt founded the city in 1805. (Paul Gattis)

This is Alabama: What’s your favorite part about living in Alabama?

Rob Buddo: At this point, my wife and I have chosen to live in Alabama. Even after living in other places, this is just kind of what has felt like home. So I would say my favorite part, and it sounds probably a little weird, but I think just the general speed and quality of life.

One of my favorite things is sitting outside at breweries and restaurants and just enjoying the scenery, enjoying the towns that we’ve lived in and enjoying the natural beauty of the state. The entire state offers a great quality of life. There’s so much you can do here, whether it’s hiking, hanging out at the lake or the beach, to just enjoying the towns and food and beverage options. And when we’ve lived in other places, we always seem to be missing what we had in Alabama.

From mountains in the north to the sandy beaches of the Gulf, Alabama is filled with beauty. (Tamika Moore)

TIA: What’s one thing people across the country should know about Alabama?

Buddo: There are kind of two things. I think everyone would agree that Alabama gets mislabeled to some degree, but Alabamians are far more sophisticated than I think people give us credit for. When I talk to people in my industry who are in other parts of the country, they are just blown away by what we do in Birmingham and Huntsville and all the great things we have here.

I think the big thing is, I’m just always blown away by how incredibly beautiful the state is. Growing up in the Carolinas, those are two of the most beautiful states in the U.S. And I think Alabama’s right up there with them. I love being in the middle of the mountains to a degree here. Our coast is beautiful. I’m always surprised by how pretty the whole state is, and I don’t think enough people know that.

TIA: What’s one place in Alabama you’d like to visit but haven’t yet?

Buddo: It’s probably a little surprising, but I’ve never been to Mobile. I know they’ve got a vibrant downtown. I would love to head down there. It’s a city that’s so unique with so much history.

TIA: What do you love most about Huntsville?

Buddo: It probably sounds a little bit like a cop-out answer, but when I came to Huntsville to interview for this job and my wife and I brought our kids up here and just kind of checked everything out, we were just blown away with downtown. I mean, it’s just so picturesque. It’s vibrant.

There are great food and beverage and retail options here. Big Spring Park is beautiful. We have got a great art museum, a music hall. And as we’ve become Huntsville residents – and we live close to downtown and I’m working here every day – you would think we would want to go check out other parts of the city, but we’re so drawn to downtown, which I think is a tribute to how great of a place it is. It’s kind of our go-to place when my wife and I have a date night. So that’s probably the thing I love most about it.

Big Spring Park in downtown Huntsville. (Bob Gathany)

TIA: What’s one restaurant you recommend when people visit Huntsville – and can you do Birmingham too?

Buddo: So, in Huntsville, I’m gonna throw out two. I would say Domaine South and Purveyor. Those are my two absolute favorites. They are similar, but they’re different. So it just depends on what kind of mood I’m in.

In Birmingham, our absolute favorite is Chez Fonfon. We love French food and French culture, and every time we go in there it just feels like being in a Paris bistro. So, that was our favorite. And the food’s incredible.

This story was previously published by This is Alabama. Want to read more good news about Alabama? Sign up for the This is Alabama newsletter here.