[BamaDave]

Originally Posted by OldBankhead

Growing up, IIRC Nashville was on there for the most part. It seemed like Decatur was there for a few minutes but they still had Nashville on the smaller signs at entrance ramps. Then they changed them all to Huntsville.

I moved to Birmingham in 1988, and the signs said Nashville at that point. So if the I-65 signs said Decatur, it was well over 30 years ago.

[harry chickpea]

I remember around 1984 when the instructions to Huntsville from B'ham were "Go north. Its up there somewhere." The route to Bear Bryant's grave was better known. (I-65 was still not complete)

[preguntas]

Originally Posted by BamaDave

I moved to Birmingham in 1988, and the signs said Nashville at that point. So if the I-65 signs said Decatur, it was well over 30 years ago.

Quite a few years ago US 31 was moved to join US 280 running along the RME to junction with I 20 / 59. At that time Decatur was added to the directional signs on the RME because it was the next city of consequence through which US 31 traveled. It was never signed on one of the other expressways downtown because it was not served with a spur, like Tuscaloosa and Gadsden which still have their signage due to the spurs.

A couple of years after the spur in Madison county was finished into Huntsville then its name replaced Nashville as the next city that had an I 65 junction.

The interstates must pass through a city or have a spur, as with Tuscaloosa, Gadsden and Huntsville to have such signage as a control point.

I can see where someone would easily take the sweeping ramp from the RME and having seen Decatur remember it being there when it never was.

[mcalumni01]

The Decatur overhead sign is still up on RME. It's up with the University Blvd overhead sign next to St. Vincent's head north.

[preguntas]

Originally Posted by mcalumni01

The Decatur overhead sign is still up on RME. It's up with the University Blvd overhead sign next to St. Vincent's head north.

That was my point. RME is not an interstate, it is a combo of US 31 / 280, therefore Decatur is listed as the next city on US 31. Decatur was never a destination on I 65 until one was out of the city.

[k7baixo]

Originally Posted by Zachadoo92

I see Montgomery having moderate growth within the city limits. I just wish there was better leadership of that city. With a more robust vision. The downtown has experienced a good amount of investment since 2015. There will be a white water park built just outside of downtown(walking distance) which is awesome,but we need more construction and more projects besides 1-2 every decade. This is the states capital for gods sake.

I’m not sure if the data support you. Per this site, Montgomery is losing people.

Population, percent change - April 1, 2010 (estimates base) to July 1, 2019, (V2019) -3.4%

Montgomery’s loss is Auburn/Opelika’s gain. That’s why we’re building in Chamber’s County.

[Truth Traveler]

I lived in Indian Springs and VH, we took a road trip from Tampa Bay to look at some acreage just outside of Circle City and it still has lots of potential without being congested...103 acres. Then we continued up to just outside Montevallo and Moody. I can see the push continuing south of of the City of Bham for a variety of good reasons. Then we drove the next day over to Gadsden near the Coosa, close to Southside and RBC - wow, I found the Gadsden area strangely stagnant, sort of like a "company town".

[Justin Scott]

It’ll definitely be Birmingham…and it won’t be close, in my opinion. If the state legalizes gambling, you can throw Mobile in there as well because multiple developers will be at the door. But as of now, Birmingham, Huntsville, Mobile, and Tuscaloosa.

[MinivanDriver]

Montgomery is an incredibly dysfunctional and insular place. It's a government town addicted to government pork, so it really hasn't had much motivation to change that much. And I say that as someone who spent two days a week in Montgomery for years on business. It was as if I drove through a wormhole to 1971 every time I entered the city limits. If I heard, "Well, we don't do it that way here" once, I must have heard it dozens of times.



As an offshoot of that, there's a strange reverse snobbery about the place that I've never managed to figure out. For example, everyone in Montgomery talks about Huntsville as if it's a wide spot in the road, even though Huntsville has long ago left Montgomery in its rear view mirror. Even Birmingham, which has a metro GDP higher than Montgomery, Mobile, Huntsville, and Tuscaloosa combined, is someone a notch lower in their estimation.



I can't tell you how many times I was dragged to a biz dinner such as Sinclair's or some such and be told, "Restaurants in Montgomery are waaaayyyyy better than anything you'll find in Birmingham." And I would have to be neutral about matters to be polite. I get boosterism and all and typically respect it, but let's remain tethered to reality, please.

[MinivanDriver]

Originally Posted by Justin Scott

It’ll definitely be Birmingham…and it won’t be close, in my opinion. If the state legalizes gambling, you can throw Mobile in there as well because multiple developers will be at the door. But as of now, Birmingham, Huntsville, Mobile, and Tuscaloosa.

I'm not sure gambling is the panacea it once was, chiefly because there is now so much of it. When casinos started opening up around the region 20-25 years ago, those were the ones who made bank. Now? Not so sure what the new ones provide aside from playing keep away for locals not willing to make the drive to Mississippi.