Huntsville is located in the north of Alabama in the United States. It initially grew because of its cotton and railroad industries, but today it is known for its military technology and aerospace industries. Here, scientists designed and tested the Saturn V rocket that would send men to the moon for the first time.
More and more people can call Huntsville home. Last year, Huntsville became the state's second-largest city with a U.S. Census estimate of 200,574 residents.
The City of Huntsville is an attractive destination for young employees, with an average age of 31. More than 15 percent of people living in Huntsville are age 18 or younger, compared to a statewide average of just 10.7 percent.
In addition to the large number of young people living in the city, Huntsville has a relatively large number of residents under the age of 18 who are enrolled in school.
For every 100 children that live in the city, there are 87 students enrolled in preschools or elementary schools, 58 students enrolled in middle schools, and 52 students enrolled in high schools.
With an average household size of 2.7 people, the city also has a much smaller percentage of children living in single-parent households than the rest of the state.
Huntsville's economy is supported by a diverse mix of industries, including aerospace, defense, and technology. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center is located in Huntsville and employs more than 3,000 people.
The center is home to the first team of human space flight engineers and scientists and has led the development of every U.S. human space flight program, including the Gemini missions, the Apollo missions, and the Space Shuttle program.
Huntsville has the largest concentration of engineers in the state, and it is home to the second-largest workforce of aerospace engineers in the nation.
Huntsville is a great place to live and work. The city has a lot to offer, and it is easy to see why so many people are migrating to the area.
Huntsville saw its inventory of single-family homes rise for the fourth time in the last five years, and the increase in 2019 was the most substantial jump in more than a decade. In 2019, the city added about 1,300 single-family homes, a bump from just over 1,000 homes in 2018.
A drastic rise from less than 200 in 2018 to more than 800 in 2019 has been seen in multi-family housing units. This is the second-most multi-family housing unit added since 2009 in one year, eclipsed in 2014 by almost 1,000 units only.
In total, in 2019, Huntsville saw a 2.1 increase in all housing units. Also, more housing is on the way. The city issued 2.407 housing unit permits in 2019, an increase of 35.2 percent over 2018.
The city issued 73.9 percent more multi-family unit building permits last year than the year before, as expressed in the drastic rise in multi-family housing units from 2018 to 2019.
In 2019, Huntsville residential projects' overall contract volume was more than $184 million, a change of 65.8 percent over 2018. In subdivision lot approvals, the only statistical downturn was a 2.1 percent decrease over 2018.
Still, in four of the past five years, Huntsville has approved an above-average number of subdivision lots. (See our guide on selling your house in Huntsville.)
If you are wondering where to live in Alabama, here are the best places to live, and here are the most affordable places to live.
The infrastructure in Huntsville has been a big concern for the city and it is making a lot of efforts to make it better.
Huntsville is a business-friendly city that is home to a number of Fortune 500 companies. There are also a number of Research Parks that are centered around the aerospace and defense industries.
Huntsville has been ranked as one of the top three best places in the U.S. to do business for a number of years and has a highly skilled workforce.
It has a number of high-tech companies that have their headquarters in the area. These companies include Airbus, Teledyne, and GE Aviation.
The city has a great transportation infrastructure. It is served by the Huntsville International Airport. There are a number of airlines that fly to this airport including Southwest Airlines, and Delta Air Lines. Huntsville is also served by a number of freight companies.
There are a number of trucking companies that serve the Huntsville area. These companies include the National Freight and Mary K Freight.
A number of rail companies serve Huntsville including CSX, and Norfolk Southern. Huntsville has a highly skilled workforce and is great for new businesses that profit from a diverse set of infrastructure.
As far as the internet, Google Fiber is the most popular choice in Huntsville.
The City of Huntsville's Master Plan calls for a significant increase in multi-modal infrastructure, particularly over the next decade: “multi-modal" approach means that the city is building a balanced transportation network that is not dependent on one mode of travel.
Instead, it is based on having a variety of transportation options so that people will have choices for how they get around.
In the next couple of years, the city plans to add a new multi-use pathway system, more sidewalks, and bicycle lanes.
The city has already added five miles of new shared-use pathways and five miles of new sidewalks in the last few years.
The city is also planning to add bike racks to most city-owned buildings. Huntsville's Master Plan calls for a network of approximately 70 miles of multi-modal trails by 2025.
The city built its first public bike path in the late 1990s and started building multi-use paths in the early 2000s. The city's current multi-use paths make it easy to get to the Von Braun Center and other popular tourist destinations.
That doesn't mean the city doesn't need more paths. It's just that it has a solid foundation to build on. Huntsville has a bike-share program and is planning to expand it next year.
The education level of Huntsville is higher than the average state education level. In Huntsville, 83% of adults have a high school diploma and 19% have a bachelor's degree. The Census also states that 83% of adults in Huntsville can read and write, but this is not very high.
Based on the statistics, the education level in Huntsville is good, and if you want to find a place with a good education level, this is the right place to live.
The school districts in Huntsville are Huntsville City Schools (Alabama) and Madison County Schools. This city has the highest number of school districts in Alabama.
There are also many public and private schools in Huntsville that provide education from preschool to high school.
The highest-ranked school of Huntsville is Huntsville High School, which is a public high school. There are also 20 private schools in that provide education for children.
There are two colleges and universities in Huntsville, the University of Alabama and Oakwood University. The University of Alabama in Huntsville is a public university with 4,088 students.
The tuition and fees are quite expensive, $9,220 for in-state students and $19,908 for out-of-state students. Oakwood University is a private university with 603 students.
The tuition and fees are $15,890 for in-state students and $17,000 for out-of-state students.
Huntsville also has many community colleges and technical schools that provide higher education. All in all, the city of Huntsville is a good place to get educated in since it is a city with a high education level and great schools.
Huntsville is one of the fastest-growing cities in the south. With the growth and development in its area, there are many opportunities available in the real estate market.
Compared to other cities in the south Huntsville, Alabama is a great place to invest in property since it is one of the fastest-growing cities.
Its economic growth is the result of both new and expanding industries, as well as the growth of existing businesses. Due to the growth and development in different areas, there is a good potential for increasing housing values in the city.
Huntsville has many popular neighborhoods to buy real estate. Some of the most popular include Hampton Cove, Four Mile, and many great areas in the Cummings Research Park.
The average price of an acre of land in Huntsville is $12,000. And the average price of a home in Huntsville, AL is $185,000.
The Rocket City is projected to eclipse Alabama's largest city in some years. The city saw its population grow by 10.8 percent since 2010 as the quickest-growing major city in the state.
Let's take a look at the crime rate in Huntsville Alabama. If you have Googled "Huntsville Alabama crime rate" and you are here then you are in the right place.
Huntsville is a relatively safe area to live in. In 2019, there were only 19 criminal homicides, the year before, there were 27.
Police say if you are concerned about crime, you shouldn't worry. Compared to Huntsville, Birmingham had 91 homicides in 2019.
Not including 2018, Huntsville's murder rate has stayed the same over the previous years. Out of the 19 homicides in 2019, an arrest was made in each case, and all but one were closed.
Huntsville Police has a good percentage of clearance rates, and they solve crimes more often than not. As Huntsville grows, so will the police department.
While homicides are relatively low other crimes are a bigger issue in the city. The violent crime rate in Huntsville is 8.83 per 1000 residents and 43.26 in property crime. This all is much higher than the national average. The biggest contributor of crime in the city is theft. The most effected parts of the city are in the center.
The safest parts of town are Monrovia / Vaughn Corners, Moontown / Dug Hill, Nick Davis Rd / Wall Triana Hwy, Chase / Mount Carmel, Mountain Brook.
Huntsville is known as the“Rocket City" because of its unparalleled history of space and missile development. However, its rich history precedes the 21st century.
Huntsville Alabama is located in the Tennessee Valley, which has long been a center of human habitation and civilization. Through the years, the area has been occupied by Cherokee, Chickasaw, Creek, and Choctaw Indians.
The first European settlers arrived in the late 18th century. Huntsville is named after John Hunt, who opened a trading post in the area.
The city itself was founded in 1805 at the intersection of two Indian trails. The city was incorporated in 1811, and it became Alabama's first capital when Alabama was admitted to the Union.
For nearly a century, the city thrived. But when the railroad bypassed the city in the mid-1800s, so began a long period of decline. The Civil War was devastating to the city, and it was further set back in the 1870s with the arrival of the yellow fever epidemic.
The name “Rocket City" was coined by a local writer in who was describing the then-futuristic-sounding rocket developed by Huntsville-native Dr. Robert Goddard. However, the nickname “Rocket City" has been around for years before that.
From the 1940s through the 1960s, the Army's Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville became the center of the nation's missile development. The city itself grew as a result of the burgeoning missile industry.
With the advent of the Space Race, Huntsville became a center of space development as well. It was here that Dr. Wernher von Braun, who had developed the V-2 rocket that helped Germany defeat France and England in World War II, continued his work with the United States.
From the 1950s through the 1970s, von Braun's team worked on the Redstone and Pershing missiles. In the late 1950s, von Braun began working on the Saturn V rocket that would eventually send astronauts to the Moon.
Not only did von Braun and his team work on the development of the rockets, but in 1968 the Marshall Space Flight Center was established in Huntsville.
In 1969, the Saturn V rocket sent the Apollo 11 astronauts to the Moon. In the 1970s, the Army's Redstone Arsenal became the heart of the nation's missile development.
The Arsenal would be renamed in the 1980s as the United States Army Missile and Space Command. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the Army's arsenal was the center of the nation's missile development.
It would eventually become the center of development for the Pershing II missile.
In the 1970s, the Space and Missile Defense Command began developing a series of programs for missile defense. In the 1980s, the command deployed a new system for missile defense. At the time, it was the first integrated defense system for ballistic missile defense.
The system would later become the basis for the Strategic Defense Initiative program. The Ballistic Missile Defense Organization, which was established in 1982, was the organization responsible for developing the systems for missile defense. The Ballistic Missile Organization was renamed in the 1990s as the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization.
In the early 2000s, the United States Army Space and Missile Defense Command established a missile defense command and control system and a missile defense network.
Huntsville Alabama has continued to be a center of space and missile development in recent years. The city has become a center for Boeing's space operations, and it is one of the top three cities in the United States for high-tech jobs.
If you are interested in history you should visit the Earlyworks Museum Complex. It's a set of three history-related museums: the Alabama Constitution Village, Historic Huntsville Depot and Museum and EarlyWorks Children's History Museum.
The EarlyWorks Museum Complex hosts many events. It is home to the famous annual Santa Village each December, a local holiday tradition.
The Huntsville Depot is a 15-minute walk from the Alabama Constitution Village and Children's History Museum.
On December 14th, 1819, Alabama became the 22nd state. From 1819 to 1820, Huntsville served as the temporary state capital until it moved to Cahaba and finally to Montgomery. The site is now Constitution Hall Park, also known as the Constitution Village of Alabama. It is a historical open-air museum that brings the early nineteenth century back.
The buildings, which are mainly historical replicas, include a print shop, post office, law office, confectionary shop, etc. Within site, guides and actors in period costumes enact 19th-century daily life, including demonstrations of a printing press, blacksmithing, baking and woodworking, sewing.
The picnic area and historical park are free, but you have to join a 90-minute guided tour to see the historical buildings' interior. The tours are for adults and children above 12 and up.
The EarlyWorks Children's History Museum is an excellent place for families and young children. It has several interactive areas, sports, play areas, and even has a talking tree that provides children with history stories. There are a replica General Store and an area for children to dress up in clothes from the 1800s.
The Huntsville Depot and Museum is a railway museum at the Huntsville railroad depot, the oldest surviving depot in Alabama. It was built in 1860, and it was captured and used by the Union Army as a temporary prison during the Civil War.
It was in active use until 1968. The train depot offers outdoor exhibits as well as exhibits about train travel and local transport.
The museum has vehicles, including a fire engine, a steam engine, a train caboose, and antique cars. Tour guides are many times available for taking visitors on a guided tour. The gift shop has train and Civil War-related memorabilia.
Huntsville has three historic districts Old Town, Twickenham, and Five Points. These are great areas for people who enjoy historic homes and are interested in architecture.
The style of the buildings varies in these areas. The majority of the homes are closed to the public and can be seen only from the sidewalks, but the Twickenham District's Thomas Weeden House is open for the public to see.
The Weeden House is built in 1819 in the Federal style and is one of Huntsville's most notable historic homes. However, there are more than just homes.
The Harrison Brothers Hardware is on the Twickenham Historic District's edge. It sells all kinds of goods, art, local food items, gifts, like homeware, toys, crafts.
Harrison can also be seen, the store's animatronic cat, who has been guarding the store since 1985. It is one of Alabama's oldest businesses since it first opened in 1879.
There is the Episcopal Church of the Nativity, built-in 1859 and designed by architect Frank Wills. It was built in the Gothic Revival style and is one of the best Gothic structures of this sort in the Southeastern United States. It is now a National Historic Landmark.
The three historic districts are adjacent to one another, so it's easy to put together your own self-guided walking tour using this excellent detailed audio guide and map.
You can also join one of the free guided history walking tours offered each month through the convention bureau. There are also seasonal trolley tours, and you can purchase tickets for these from the EarlyWorks Museum.
In addition to regular history walking tours in the months of September and October, there are also guided evening ghost walking tours of these historical areas and haunted trolley rides for those who prefer a touch of the supernatural.
The first area that was designated as a historic district in Huntsville was Twickenham. Twickenham is the original name of Huntsville and was given the name by LeRoy Pope. Later on, it got renamed after the Revolutionary War hero and first settler John Hunt.
Twickenham has many of the most extensive and most upscale homes in the city. Most of the houses date from the 19th century, particularly from the antebellum period, and include many dominant architectural styles from this period, including Federal, Queen Anne, Gothic Revival, Greek Revival, Italianate, and Bungalow.
The Old Town was built in 1974 as a historic district. Most of the buildings are dating from the late 19th century to 1930.
The homes there are Victorian, Federal, Bungalow, American Craftsman, Colonial Revival, and Prairie School. You'll also find the Providence Classical School in this area, which is one of the remaining examples of Art Deco architecture in Huntsville.
More than 30 historic military vehicles, artifacts, and other memorabilia from the Revolutionary War are displayed in the U.S. Veterans Memorial Museum. The museum is dedicated to helping American military men and women achieve their accomplishments.
In a place called Chase, east of Huntsville, the North Alabama Railroad Museum is located. It is about preserving the railroad's previous history.
If you're lucky enough to come on the day the train goes, have a wonderful trip, or you can see the stuff inside.
Since it was founded in 1822, Maple Hill Cemetery is the oldest one in Huntsville. It has more than 80,000 grave markers now, and it is also the largest. The cemetery belongs to the National Register of Historic Places.
Big Spring International Park in downtown Huntsville's most famous park, and its history is older than the town itself. The town will develop slowly from here outward.
The Big Spring is a vast source of water, and even canals have been built here.
The Big Spring would serve as the primary source of water supply for the city until the 1960s. The park has evolved to cover more areas.
The park is a popular spot for walkers, joggers, and families today. It includes a lagoon and canal sections, which are home to ducks and geese. The park also features gifts from foreign nationals given to the city, including a Norwegian light beacon and fog bell and a Japanese red bridge, and cherry trees.
The Big Spring is the site for events throughout the year, including one of the Southeast's largest arts events, the Panoply Arts Festival. There are also concerts, plays, and holiday events held here. During the winter months, a seasonal outdoor ice skating rink is set up next to the park. Big Spring Park is situated next to the Museum of Art in Huntsville, making it a perfect place to take a walk before or after visiting the museum.
The Botanical Garden of Huntsville is a gorgeous garden. Seasonal festivals, botanical shows, and educational programs for various age groups can be expected from this one.
Please go and see for yourself the beautiful gardens; the largest open-air butterfly house and waterfalls help wildlife.
The Madison County Nature Trail is at the top of Green Mountain. This 72-acre park features spectacular landscapes, walking paths, picnic tables, a covered bridge, and the state's oldest and largest Champion Winged Elm Tree. This magnificent park is sure to please nature lovers of all ages, no matter the season.
Monte Sano State Park opened in 1938 and was added in 1996 to Alabama's Landmarks and Heritage Register. The park features rustic cottages and 1930s hiking trails with breathtaking beauty and picnic areas on the slopes of Monte Sano Mountain. For any outdoor enthusiast, modern campsites are also accessible and make for a great experience.
The Land Trust of North Alabama welcomes visitors to enjoy nature's beauty through its appreciation of preserving property for the public.
One of Huntsville's most extensive and most undeveloped, pristine parklands is Hays Nature Preserve. Ten miles of trails allow visitors to enjoy varied and unique landscapes, including trees, fields, and wetlands. Biking, hiking, or riding some of the trails on horseback. Enjoy the trails' natural beauty and keep your eyes open to spot the many different species of wildlife that call the area home.
Harmony Park Safari features endangered species as a nature preserve that is licensed. You can take a tour in your vehicle. You might be lucky enough to spot one of the zebras, buffalos, camels, rams, or alligators in the area. Incredible waterfalls and old buildings are also included.
Dog Spot Dog Park is open from sunrise until sunset every day of the year. The first dog park in Huntsville invites you and its owners to meet some other dogs. The park is free and a great place to do some exercise for your dog. It also has separate fenced areas for both small and big dogs.
With a primary emphasis on American art of the 19th and 20th centuries, the Huntsville Museum of Art is a must-see spot for art and culture lovers. In their permanent collection, they have over 3,000 objects and host regular rotating temporary exhibits as well.
The main collection focuses predominantly on American art from the 19th and 20th centuries and includes artwork from Europe, Asia, and Africa. Paintings and artwork made of wood, glass, metal, clay, and fiber are part of the collection.
It has a large number of items made of glass and silver. This being Huntsville, some of the things that the museum has collected over the years also have a space and science vibe.
The museum also has a collection of watercolors by Renato Mancini. In the Apollo program, Mancini worked as an illustrator for NASA, and his watercolors portray scenes from both the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and Huntsville itself.
In addition, the museum has a gift shop and a restaurant.
There is an entrance fee for entering the museum. Free audio tours for mobile phones are available, and it is possible to schedule private and group-guided tours in advance.
Huntsville also has you covered when you like your art outdoors rather than indoors. Public art fills the city, and new public artworks frequently pop up in the downtown area. Some pieces are permanent, and others are temporary.
The SPACES Sculpture Trail, which runs across the city and includes over 35 sculptures by over 20 artists from across the United States, is one of Huntsville's most significant public art projects.
The city organizes local guided trail walks regularly, but you can easily see the sculptures on your own. There are great street art murals for you to see across town if interested in street art.
The Clinton Row Color Walk and the murals around Big Spring Park are very nice places to find street art in Huntsville. If you keep your eyes open, you will probably spot art all over Huntsville. Some examples include:
The Art Museum is located in downtown Huntsville and is surrounded by the Internal Park of Big Spring. The museum also provides children and adults with art lessons and shopping and dining, including seven galleries displaying a range of exhibits throughout the year.
With unique programs and presentations as well as traveling exhibits, the museum is an exciting location to visit.
In Huntsville's historic Twickenham Neighborhood, the Weeden House Museum is located. The Weeden House was built in 1819, making it the oldest house in Alabama that is open to the public. Discover in the museum the life of the famous poet and watercolorist, Mrs. Weeden, known as Howard. She won international recognition for her portraits of freed slaves and her poems that captured their stories.
A great place to shop or see some unusual antiques is the Railroad Station Antique Mall. You're going to spend hours looking at all three floors. There are goods, from furniture and books to jewelry and clothing.
Merrimack Hall, the Performing Arts Center, is located in Merrimack Mill Village's historic neighborhood and was founded in 2006 as a gift to Huntsville.
Since its founding, the center has played an integral part in the revitalization of the area. In eight years, over $200,000 was reinvested back into the community by the theatre.
Take part in one of the many events and professional touring shows that will surely thrill you.
The U.S. Space and Rocket Center is a center of education dedicated to space. It is the world's biggest spaceflight museum and is the world's best place to learn about the history of rocketry as it sits next door to the NASA facility that tests and designs rockets.
This is Huntsville's most-visited attraction and is one of Alabama's main perks. The U.S. Space and Rocket Center has three main parts which are: the Space Exploration Davidson Center, the main display area, and the areas of Rocket Park and Shuttle Park outdoors.
The newest significant addition to the museum is the Davidson Center for Space Exploration, and its key attraction is its display of one of the existing Saturn V rockets.
The Saturn V is the tallest and most powerful rocket ever used in operation. When you visit all the other attractions and exhibits here, you can walk under this giant rocket.
The primary atrium exhibit features information on space flights' local history, a collection of space memorabilia, and temporary exhibitions. To get a feel of what it is like to live and work on the ISS, there is even an International Space Station module mock-up to walk through.
You'll find an impressive collection of rockets and shuttles outside, including 27 rockets and missiles. The outdoor Saturn V is a full-scale replica, but all the rest are original. There are also several outdoor rides and simulators, including the G-Force Simulator, a Mars climbing wall, and Moon Shot.
The U.S. Space & Rocket Center also has a gift shop, a cafeteria, and a domed theatre and planetarium that plays daily space-themed films. General Admission to the U.S. Space & Rocket Center gives access to historic Shuttle Park, Rocket Park, and all the indoor exhibit areas.
Tickets can be purchased on-site or booked in advance. There is an additional cost to watch films. There is also the option to go on a bus tour of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, where guests get a behind-the-scenes look at the NASA campus.
Marshall Space Flight Center is NASA's lead center for the development of rocket propulsion systems and technologies.
For example, NASA Marshall was responsible for developing the Apollo launch vehicles that sent the first astronauts to the moon and some International Space Station modules.
The center is highly involved in developing space vehicles and scientific research for all major space missions.
Tours vary based on operations, but usually, tours include seeing the Historic Test Stands, including the Redstone Test Stand, where static tests of the Juno I and Mercury Redstone Launch Vehicles were performed from 1953 to 1961.
Also, Tours usually include the Propulsion Research and Development Laboratory and Payload Operations Integration Center.
The Marshall Space Flight Center tours are only available to United States citizens with proper photo identification because of security precautions.
The tours cost $20 extra and last for 2 to 2.5 hours. It is possible to book tours in advance by phone or at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center ticket desk.
Huntsville is a great place to live, work, and visit. The region is home to multiple Fortune 500 companies, a growing technology sector, vibrant arts and culture, and a strong economy. It has a great quality of life and an affordable cost of living.
Huntsville's STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) expertise is a big part of what makes us a great place to live.
The City of Huntsville is committed to the growth of its technology sector and to the continued expansion of an entrepreneurial ecosystem.
It is one of the fastest-growing and jet affordable cities in the south. Making it a prime target for real estate investors and homeowners alike.
The City has also made a concerted effort to diversify its economy, making it a leader in the growing life sciences sector. Visitors can experience the thriving cultural scene.
And it has become a popular destination for U.S. travelers and opportunity seekers alike.
I hope our article has helped answer the questions:
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