Huntsville grows fastest in state

UA says city gained 18,429 since 2000; BRAC to rev it up

MONTGOMERY - Riding the wave of an economy tied to the military and its entrepreneurial offspring, Huntsville far outpaced Alabama’s three other major cities in population growth the past eight years, according to a new report.

The University of Alabama’s State Data Center reported Thursday that Huntsville’s population jumped from 158,216 in 2000 to an estimated 176,645, a gain of 18,429.

Huntsville’s growth is expected to ramp up even further once BRAC is fully implemented and an additional 17,000 people move into the area over the next three years, Mayor Tommy Battle said.

Birmingham and Mobile lost population, while Montgomery had modest growth, according to the estimates released Thursday by the U.S. Census.

Although Birmingham remains Alabama’s largest city, it lost 14,022 residents to drop to a population of 241,820. Montgomery gained 1,120 to hold second place at 202,696, while Mobile lost 7,893 residents to drop to 191,022.

Dr. Keivan Deravi, an economist at Auburn University Montgomery, said it’s no surprise that Huntsville is running away from the rest of the state in population.

“If you took Huntsville and looked at it as a state, it would be one of the best states in the U.S.,” he said. “They’ve done a fantastic job with Cummings Research Park, a fantastic job with their airport, a fantastic job with the Space & Rocket Center, and its education system is far better than average.”

And Deravi said Huntsville has created momentum for the future with BRAC, short for the Base Realignment and Closure Commission, which recommended moving several military commands and nearly 5,000 defense jobs here by 2011. Thousands of contractor jobs are expected to follow.

Battle said Thursday that Huntsville’s economy has also diversified beyond Redstone Arsenal and NASA to include the HudsonAlpha Center for Biotechnology, Toyota’s engine plant and numerous health care offerings that make Huntsville the regional medical center for North Alabama.

We’ve been very fortunate in our growth pattern and our diversification,” he said.

Joe Vallely, Huntsville’s director of economic development, said the study didn’t surprise him because the city has led the state in job creation in 15 of the past 18 years.

Vallely said Huntsville has seen its population grow in years when job growth was down. He speculated that people moved from surrounding counties to be closer to their jobs in Huntsville, or were “probably chasing the best school systems.”

The city of Madison gained 9,385 new residents to increase its population from 29,329 to 38,714.

Annette Watters, manager of UA’s State Data Center, said the estimates from 2000 to July 1, 2008, do not take into account the severe downtown in the economy that began affecting the nation and the state later in 2008.

But she said the statistics show that many Alabamians seem to be returning to smaller towns.

For example, Auburn, which was recently selected by U.S. News & World Report as one of the nation’s 10 Best Places to Live, gained 13,101 residents since 2000 and now has an estimated population of 56,088.

Deravi said people generally view larger cities as places to work, not to live.

“You have that situation here in Montgomery County where Autauga County is one of the fastest growing counties in the state,” he said. “It’s not because there’s something really good in Autauga County, it’s because something’s really not going right in Montgomery.”

Deravi said people are drawn to suburbs or smaller cities because major cities are failing to provide safety and quality education.

“For us to shop in Birmingham, we don’t have to live in Birmingham,” he said. “Huntsville is different because it’s the magnet.”

Over the decade, Watters said, the state has grown 4.8 percent.

“The past is not always a predictor of the future,” she said. “Growth can bring entirely new sets of problems, and not every town aspires to be Huntsville.”