Huntsville and the greater Tennessee Valley have been spending thousands trying to woo BRAC transferees from the northern Virginia area.  Area leaders recently held their third town hall meetings/trade fair last week in the D.C. area.  The results?  Not so good.

But the number of federal employees who came to hear the Tennessee Valley message this time wasn’t as large as in past trips.

Was the trip worth the price?

“We would’ve liked a larger audience, but almost everyone we did talk to seemed excited about the prospects,” Ritch said. “Nearly every one of them said they were moving. They didn’t necessarily know which community they wanted to live in, but they said they were following their jobs.

“We’re content to get them one at a time.”

One at a time indeed.  Ritch, ever the optimist, says their goal is 100%, despite the approximately 15% who are coming with MDA and SMDC.

If you’re a prospective BRAC transferee, here is the scoop from a native Alabamian who moved just north of Baltimore after college and has since come back to Alabama.

Huntsville is a great place to come if you have a family.  If you’re single or a young married person who enjoys going out, well your options would be limited.  The biggest qualm my wife and I have about Huntsville is the limited quantity of things to do.  Living midway between Baltimore and Philly spoiled us because there were tons of places to go to within a couple of hours drive.  Huntsville seems more like an island, with virtually nothing within less than two hours.

The major upshot to the Huntsville region is low cost housing.  Most people could move from a townhome in the D.C. area into a nice 2,500+ square foot single family home here with money to spare.

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This entry was posted by Brian on Monday, April 16th, 2007 at 8:04 pm and is filed under Huntsville. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Please note the copyright policy.