Why is HSV the top spot for young people and families?

One of the key drivers to Huntsville’s recent success in being named the best city to live in the US has been attracting young people to relocate to Huntsville. Huntsville has historically made the list of best places to raise a family, but to continue to grow as a city, it had to find ways to attract more young people, and so far it’s working.

Huntsville has always offered great job opportunities and high average salaries with its government jobs on Redstone Arsenal and supporting contractors. The city has also done a great job diversifying and attracting additional employers such as Hudson Alpha Biotech, Blue Origin, Mazda Toyota, and a Facebook data center.

The Tennessee Valley went from very few entertainment options to exploding with opportunities over a short period with the development of MidCity with its Orion Amphitheater, Town Madison, Campus 805 & Stovehouse, and the growth of the Providence area.

We’ve also added the Rocket City Trash Pandas baseball team and Huntsville City Football Club to complement our Huntsville Havoc Hockey Team. There’s also been an abundance of new eating opportunities across these entertainment districts.

Our area has always been attractive to outdoor enthusiasts with access to boating and lakes with Lake Guntersville and Smith Lake. We also have high-quality hiking, camping, and mountain biking opportunities at Monte Sano State Park. Kayaking is also available in the local Flint River.

Affordability has been a huge driver in attracting young people to the city, as we’re much more affordable than other big cities.

However, our affordability has taken a significant hit over the last few years as the affordability index has dropped from scores north of 170 to below 100 for the first time. This has been a product of inflation and also a natural result of increasing the quality of life in the Tennessee Valley.

To continue to attract young people to the area, we’ll need to focus on building additional affordable housing options. We’ve overbuilt expensive apartment complexes that are robbing the future savings of our young people to save towards home ownership and financial wealth.