Link: To toot the hometown's horn a bit...

UAH

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Nov 27, 2017
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Lot of expansion up there. Pretty soon, the whole county will be paved... :(
A decade ago it was a 20 min. drive from Toney where we have a small farm to our house in Madison. Now it it is full of subdivisions and bumper to bumper traffic. It requires planning and commitment to make the trip. Nashville industry growth encroaches on Giles County, TN just 10-15 min. to the north. To borrow a line from Joni Mitchell, they paved paradise and put up a parking lot!
 

TIDE-HSV

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Oct 13, 1999
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Huntsville, AL,USA
Decatur and Huntsville now abut. I would have never imagined that.
Yet strangely, they have Decatur and Lawrence County in one met area and HSV and Athens in another. The fact of the matter is all three, minus Moulton, need to be in one met area. There's still a lot more more empty space between Decatur and Moulton than between the other three...
 

Chukker Veteran

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Feb 6, 2001
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The biggest factor in Huntsville’s number one rating was affordable housing. As we are currently seeing housing prices higher than many imagined had been possible in Decatur now, that tells me there is plenty of room for real estate appreciation in the next ten years.
Homeowners in the area are being compensated for the inconvenience of the growth In the value of their property.

565 is and will be a bottleneck between Decatur and Huntsville even after the widening is completed. It would be tough to make that commute everyday for work, but they are filling the area with more and more industry so we will see.

It seems like there is a wreck on the bridge into Decatur at rush time several times a week, that always really back up the traffic too.
 
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TIDE-HSV

Senior Administrator
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Oct 13, 1999
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Huntsville, AL,USA
The biggest factor in Huntsville’s number one rating was affordable housing. As we are currently seeing housing prices higher than many imagined had been possible in Decatur now, that tells me there is plenty of room for real estate appreciation in the next ten years.
Homeowners in the area are being compensated for the inconvenience of the growth In the value of their property.

565 is and will be a bottleneck between Decatur and Huntsville even after the widening is completed. It would be tough to make that commute everyday for work, but they are filling the area with more and more industry so we will see.

It seems like there is a wreck on the bridge into Decatur at rush time several times a week, that always really back up the traffic too.
That is a fact. It would be interesting to see how other "twin cities" have approached that problem - Raleigh-Durham, Greenville-Spartanburg, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Minneapolis-St. Paul, etc. IDK how many have a river in the way...
 

TexasBama

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That is a fact. It would be interesting to see how other "twin cities" have approached that problem - Raleigh-Durham, Greenville-Spartanburg, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Minneapolis-St. Paul, etc. IDK how many have a river in the way...
The Mississippi River runs between St Paul and Minneapolis, but it’s not a mile wide there.

ETA. The State Capitol building isn’t far from the river there.
 

Chukker Veteran

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The causeway directly north of the Decatur river bridge passes through the Quad Site Complex which is a world famous Paleo Indian hunting grounds that produced fantastic examples of ancient tools, perhaps as old as 12,000 years before present.

the Paleo Indians gravitated to that particular area as it was the easiest place to make a river crossing compared to the shoals to the west and higher steeper banks to the east.
 

TIDE-HSV

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Oct 13, 1999
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Huntsville, AL,USA
The odd thing to me is that these SMAs (Metropolitan Statistical Area) are supposed to be modified every ten years to reflect population changes, etc. I still wonder why ours hasn't been changed...
 

TexasBama

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Yet strangely, they have Decatur and Lawrence County in one met area and HSV and Athens in another. The fact of the matter is all three, minus Moulton, need to be in one met area. There's still a lot more more empty space between Decatur and Moulton than between the other three...
I looked up the Decatur MSA and it’s population is pretty close to Morgan + Lawrence counties population. But when two cities actually touch, I don’t know why you wouldn’t put them in the same MSA.
 

TIDE-HSV

Senior Administrator
Staff member
Oct 13, 1999
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Huntsville, AL,USA
I looked up the Decatur MSA and it’s population is pretty close to Morgan + Lawrence counties population. But when two cities actually touch, I don’t know why you wouldn’t put them in the same MSA.
Yes. They're about 20-30 years behind making the adjustment. IDK where you'd put Moulton. IDK what MSA lies to their west. They have strong historical and economic ties to Decatur...
 
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TIDE-HSV

Senior Administrator
Staff member
Oct 13, 1999
84,487
39,557
437
Huntsville, AL,USA
Really, they could just merge the MSAs. It's 43 miles from here to Moulton, but it's 33 between Greenville and Spartanburg...
 

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