Next county to be added to MSA/CSA

[jmanhsv]

Which county will be added to the Huntsville-Decatur CSA next? The existing counties are: Madison, Limestone, Morgan and Lawrence, AL.

My choice- Lincoln County, TN. 20% of the county's workforce commuted to Madison County in 2000, more than any other county outside of the CSA. A large number of BRAC families are expected to move there, giving it enough people to make it part of the Huntsville MSA by 2010.

Source: Huntsville Area Workforce Migration

[AlabamaGuy2007]

I think it'd be Marshall County. Though a majority of the counties population still works inside the county, I think that'll change within the next decade.

[Rocket256]

seems like jackson county could have been added by now.. i coted from lincoln county tn due to the heavy traffic coming into the huntsville from north parkway..

[kayman]

Most likely in the next Census all 3 of those counties (Jackson, Marshall, and Lincoln) could be added to the metropolitan area of Hunstville-Decatur. If the numbers of those counties reflect a major shift in the commuting patterns of those counties (>25%) towards either Madison or Morgan then and only then will they by added. However, I would prefer the core counties of Madison and Morgan (preferrably Madison) to gain a significant more residents within their boundaries before they start to sprawl out in all directions like Greater Birmingham. I would really like one of the core counties of Huntsville-Decatur reach at least 500,000 before these occurs.

[AlabamaGuy2007]

Most likely in the next Census all 3 of those counties (Jackson, Marshall, and Lincoln) could be added to the metropolitan area of Hunstville-Decatur. If the numbers of those counties reflect a major shift in the commuting patterns of those counties (>25%) towards either Madison or Morgan then and only then will they by added. However, I would prefer the core counties of Madison and Morgan (preferrably Madison) to gain a significant more residents within their boundaries before they start to sprawl out in all directions like Greater Birmingham. I would really like one of the core counties of Huntsville-Decatur reach at least 500,000 before these occurs.

I don't think it'd be a problem for Madison County to reach 500,000. But, I think that the Huntsville-Decatur area will turn out like a smaller Dallas-Fort Worth eventually. Morgan County'll probably hit 300,000 sometime in this century and level out.

[AlabamaGuy2007]

I was reading the Daily today and read that only 486 people in Morgan County actually work at the arsenal. That really put it into perspective for me. Only I think 140 somethin from Decatur work at the arsenal. So, not as many singular people commute to Huntsville as I thought. I guess that's why Decatur's always been its on little separate metro area.

[AlabamaGuy2007]

Anyone got any new updates on figures for how many people commute to each area for work?

[codyg1985]

I was reading the Daily today and read that only 486 people in Morgan County actually work at the arsenal. That really put it into perspective for me. Only I think 140 somethin from Decatur work at the arsenal. So, not as many singular people commute to Huntsville as I thought. I guess that's why Decatur's always been its on little separate metro area.

[Rocket256]

Hmm, that's a shock to me, considering I see quite a few Morgan County tags on the arsenal. Most are from Madison County, but I see some Lincoln, Limestone, and Jackson County tags there too.

I think Lincoln would probably be the next county to be added, most particularly because Jackson sends a few commuters to Chattanooga and Marshall sends some commuters to Gadsden (although probably a majority commute into Huntsville; I don't have the data on my hands to back that up right now).

[jmanhsv]

If you want updated commuter information, I found this: http://lehdmap.dsd.census.gov/

Try playing around with it; to get data, zoom in on North Alabama, click on "Create Overlay" and then "Create Travel Sheds". Then follow the directions afterwards.

Unfortunately, the site does not have Tennessee info yet. But there are 6,137 "out of state" commuters. I'd say about 6,000 of them are from Giles, Franklin or Lincoln County.

@ AlabamaGuy's comment about 437 Morgan County residents working at the arsenal: In 2003, 7,232 Morgan County residents commuted to Madison County, or about 20% percent of the workforce. 3,164 came from Decatur (about 20% again).

[Huntsville_secede]

I was reading the Daily today and read that only 486 people in Morgan County actually work at the arsenal. That really put it into perspective for me. Only I think 140 somethin from Decatur work at the arsenal. So, not as many singular people commute to Huntsville as I thought. I guess that's why Decatur's always been its on little separate metro area.

[AlabamaGuy2007]

Thats just that actually work ON the arsenal, thats not including the people who work for contractors in research park, in the industrial complexes by the airport. I'm sure its a much larger number than 486 when you take in to account every job in huntsville not just located on the arsenal. I see enough 52 tags everyday to make me blind.

[Alabadrock]

I'm sure it will be Lincoln County. All the times I've traveled from Ardmore to Huntsville, the traffic's been pretty bad. Of course that could also be because the road is overcapacity, but, Huntsville's got a pretty big impact up there.

[Huntsville_secede]

I'm sure it will be Lincoln County. All the times I've traveled from Ardmore to Huntsville, the traffic's been pretty bad. Of course that could also be because the road is overcapacity, but, Huntsville's got a pretty big impact up there.