Madison vs. Athens (Birmingham, Huntsville: high school, to live in, shop)

[SouthernBoy205]

Which city is going to be the fastest growing suburb of Huntsville?

[deesonic]

Athens is not a suburb. It's a city in its own right.

[SouthernBoy205]

Huntsville Metro consists of Limestone and Madison Counties. Athens is the county seat of Limestone!Why is it not a suburb?

[Charles]

Originally Posted by KE111691

Which city is going to be the fastest growing suburb of Huntsville?

If BRAC goes as planned, or nearly as planned, it would seem that Madison would grow faster - but that's a wild guess coming from someone who doesn't know too much about the region. It just seems that just about everyone I know at work is either from Madison or Huntsville.

[Southlander]

Originally Posted by KE111691

Huntsville Metro consists of Limestone and Madison Counties. Athens is the county seat of Limestone!Why is it not a suburb?

Why isn't Huntsville a suburb of Athens?
Why isn't Birmingham a suburb of Huntsville?

[harry chickpea]

Originally Posted by Southlander

Why isn't Huntsville a suburb of Athens?
Why isn't Birmingham a suburb of Huntsville?

LOL. Some truth to that. I've known people who lived in Bham and had a business presence in HSV.

Sometimes I'm reminded of 2YO kids who, when a question is answered, always ask "Why?"

[SouthernBoy205]

There is no truth in any of that! Athens and Huntsville are about 15-25 minutes. In between these 2 cities, there is Madison which is exploding, and there is also East Limestone which is exploding also! Some of East Limestone is considered Athens. Alot of people from the Athens and East Limestone ares travel to Huntsville for work! If this wasn't the case, then Limestone County and Athens wouldn't be apart of Huntsville Metro!

[HB2HSV]

Sounds like you answered your own question. We can close this thread down now

[SouthernBoy205]

Not really! I didn't specify which city was growing faster. Just because I said Madison was exploding doesn't mean that I meant that Madsion was growing faster than Athens.

Moderator cut: comment

[malbot]

year old data off Sperling's best places says....

Madison has population around 37,000 - grown at a rate of 25% last 5 yrs..housing appreciation is
-5.76

Athens has population around 22,000 - grown at a rate of 15% in last 5 yrs...housing appreciation is 5.87

Athens, I believe, has a deeper history as a city than Madison. That said, Madison has obviously grown at a faster rate due to it's proximity to Huntsville. The reputation of the school system also contributed to Madison's growth. Which will continue, although many see the current overcrowding of Bob Jones as a negative. With the new high school that may change. However, Athens has a lot more room(land) to grow on in the future. The proximity to Huntsville and the location off the interstate will continue to fuel Athen's growth. On the flip side, in the past I think many people who even worked, or went to school in Athens(Athens State) chose to live in Madison because it was more convenient to more things. I believe that is already starting to change as Athens starts to have many of the same stores/businesses coming locally. Yet, the proximity to Huntsville is usually no more than a 20 minute drive for the bigger events, shopping, etc. So, I guess that gives it a suburb feel.