Even if you are not moving here for a job on the Arsenal, it is of critical importance to us here in Huntsville and Madison. It is the absolute economic driver of our area.
Here are some of the details behind the talking points Megan and I cover in this episode.
The Economic Engine of North Alabama
Huntsville started off as a cotton and corn town. We still have that history, but the economic driver of our area today is Redstone Arsenal. Sometimes called the Pentagon of the South, the Arsenal sits on an incredible 38,000 acres. It is home to the Marshall Space Flight Center, the FBI, Missile Defense, and Space Command. With tens of thousands of people working there daily, it brings a massive economic impact to the state of Alabama. Because of the Arsenal, we also have Cummings Research Park right next door, which is the second largest research park in the nation.
Dealing with the Gates and Traffic
When you have that many people working on the Arsenal, traffic is a real consideration. Return to work orders recently caused backups at the gates, but they have added facial recognition scanning to help lines move much more quickly. Your commute will vary depending on where you live. Gate 9 is probably the busiest. You also have a gate in South Huntsville, but it is not open every day. The gate off Zierdt Road on the west side has gotten much easier to use since they built the overpass past the stadium. There is also funding for a new project to extend the entryway from Madison Boulevard, so in a year or two, drivers will not have to merge onto Research Park Boulevard to get to work.
Relocating to the Redstone Arsenal Area?
Navigate the gates, understand the school zones, and find the perfect neighborhood with our free Redstone Relocation & Commuter Guide.
Real Estate Realities and Security
A lot of people moving here do not realize how the security on the Arsenal impacts daily life. Many employees work in a SCIF or secure area where they are not allowed to have cell phones or Bluetooth devices. As real estate agents, we have to deal with the realities of the communication that comes along with this. If you want an offer on a house to expire at 5:00 p.m., that just does not work here. An Arsenal employee might not even see your offer until 8:00 at night after they pick up their kids and eat dinner. This delayed communication impacts everything from negotiating repairs to scheduling inspections and closing dates.
Culture and Community Life
The Arsenal brings a lot of highly educated, high income earners to our area. This has created some fascinating cultural shifts. Huntsville used to be known for barbecue. We still have that, but now we have a mix of barbecue and going to Mars. You might find yourself at a kid's birthday party talking to someone who designs a self expanding habitat for the moon or searches for black holes in the sky. Beyond the work, the Arsenal has a lot of community recreation. Civilians can access youth basketball leagues, campgrounds, a bowling alley, and bicycling groups that ride around the base on the weekends. You just have to go through the formal process to get a pass.
Surrounding Areas and BAH
The Arsenal is a source of continued economic growth that shields us from national economic downturns. While the rest of the country experienced a real estate slowdown over the past year, our area remained consistent. This impact reaches far beyond the Huntsville city limits. We have clients looking within a 45 minute radius, which covers four different counties and includes areas like Athens and Decatur. We also work with a lot of active duty military buyers who want to find a home where the mortgage payment matches their Basic Allowance for Housing. The entire region benefits from the existence of Redstone Arsenal.
📜 Read the Full Episode Transcript
Cameron Walker: Welcome back to another episode of the Boomtown podcast. I'm Cameron Walker, broker and owner of Cameron Walker Realty. Today with me, as always, my fantastic agent, Megan Hines.
Megan Hines: Hi. So, welcome guys. And today, we are going to ask two questions. We are going to ask what is Redstone Arsenal and why does it matter? You hear us talk about this all the time, but you may not be moving here for a job on the Arsenal or has anything to do with the Arsenal, but it is of critical importance to us here. So, we are going to talk about why and how it would impact you if you're moving here.
Cameron Walker: So, Megan, I'm going to kick it over to you. I know this is a topic you were really interested in covering. So, you take off.
Megan Hines: I would say that the Arsenal is the engine of growth around here and has been since it first came to the area. It is sometimes called the Pentagon of the South. It is the 38th largest arsenal in the country, but it's one of the most important because it's home to the Marshall Space Flight Center. It is also home to FBI headquarters, Space Command. It's central to multiple agencies and thousands of people work on the Arsenal.
Cameron Walker: Absolutely. I mean, it's a big chunk of land, too. Tens of thousands of people working on it daily. It's really the economic driver of our area. You know, Huntsville started off as like a cotton and corn town, and we still have that, but that is not the economic driver of our area any longer. It is the Arsenal. We also have Research Park, which is very nearby, and they all service the Arsenal.
Megan Hines: The reason we have the second largest Research Park in the nation is because of the Arsenal.
Cameron Walker: Yeah. So, when we talk about the Arsenal, originally it was a munitions testing ground. It still does that. Missile defense is here now, so there's a lot of testing for that. As you mentioned, the FBI, they've been bringing more and more resources here over the last several years. My wife's there. And then, of course, Space Command's on its way. They're already laying groundwork for that... So, what this brings is a lot of highly educated, high-income earners to our area.
Megan Hines: Absolutely. I think that this is one of the most educated cities in the nation and that is because of what the Arsenal brings. It's a source of continued economic growth even in economic downturns. While the rest of the country over the past year has experienced a downturn in the real estate market, this area has remained consistent and continued to grow. We can credit that to the Arsenal.
Cameron Walker: 100%. Right. And it's really interesting the knock-on effects of the type of people who live here and their education and their interest. Huntsville at one point in time, its culture was barbecue. We still have that, but now we have this mix of barbecue and going to Mars, right?
Megan Hines: Yeah. And solar arrays and I mean just, you name it... It's like we live next door to the people that conceptualize that, design it, build it, that run through all the problems. And so, it's interesting what those people do out in their daily lives outside of work, too, and what that has brought to Huntsville from a cultural perspective.
Cameron Walker: Let's talk a little bit about kind of like daily life and what impacts are. So, like a constant complaint I see online right now about the Arsenal and this really started with the return to work orders, are backups at the gates.
Megan Hines: Yeah. And that's because everybody pretty much had to come... for years and years, a lot of the people on the Arsenal were working from home. And within like a few days, everybody was called back to work and we had the situation where the traffic was very backed up.
Cameron Walker: Yeah. So, they have done things to mitigate some of that. They've added facial recognition scanning which has allowed the lines to move much more quickly. But also, there's been kind of a mix-up with the gates, right? So, not every gate is open like it used to be. Depending on where you're coming from to get to the Arsenal determines what gate is easiest for you to get to. Gate 9 is probably the busiest gate and the one that most people use.
Megan Hines: Yeah. There's also a gate in South Huntsville, but it is not always open. So, if you are buying in South Huntsville and just assuming that that gate is going to be your commute, you need to check that.
Cameron Walker: For sure. And then you have on the west side of Huntsville over there, you have one coming in off of Zierdt Road... The Arsenal is kind of spread out and people don't realize how big it is and how it's pockets of things. Like you could be in the NASA pocket, you could be in the FBI pocket, or you could be in the military pocket. That's going to also determine how long it takes you to get to work.
Megan Hines: And I am a civilian who does not have a family member on the Arsenal. So, I've only been to the Arsenal for events and a lot of people don't know that there are events on the Arsenal that civilians can go to. There's even youth basketball leagues... sports that can be played by community kids on the Arsenal.
Cameron Walker: Something else that catches a lot of people by surprise... is cell phone signal and availability on the Arsenal. My wife does work on the Arsenal and even though she's allowed to have a cell phone where she is, a lot of times she doesn't have signal. She can't have anything Bluetooth on. And then a lot of people that work on the Arsenal can't have their phone or they work in a SCIF where they're not allowed to have them. We as real estate agents, we'll have somebody that wants to make an offer on a house and be like "offer expires at 5:00 p.m."... here, they may not even see your article till 7 or 8 at night.
Megan Hines: Yeah. And this impacts not just offers but scheduling inspections, negotiations for repairs, setting up closing dates, things like that. Depending on where you are in the hierarchy of whatever your organization is, you may or may not have the opportunity to determine your own closing date.
Cameron Walker: For sure. Now, when we talk about living close to it too, like we have a lot of active duty military there, right? And a lot of them have BAH housing allowance... that's something else we work with people on is kind of like what area surrounding the Arsenal would you be able to get a house with a payment that matched that budget?
Megan Hines: It's not just Huntsville. When we look at the area as a whole, Athens, Decatur, anywhere within, I would say an hour of Redstone Arsenal is benefiting from its existence here. It has been both the economic and cultural driver of this area. It's what differentiates us.
Cameron Walker: Absolutely... The most fascinating conversations if you're a nerd happen at like kids' birthday parties. I've had people talk about how you shoot down satellites... there was a client you helped a couple years ago, and she searches black holes. You do meet some really interesting, cool individuals, cool jobs, neat conversations here because the Arsenal is here, too.
Megan Hines: Well, Cameron, I think that we have covered most of what we need to talk about about the Arsenal today.
Cameron Walker: Yeah, absolutely... Thanks for watching or listening. You can always catch us on audio on wherever you get your podcast, be it Spotify, Apple, or you can watch our video on YouTube. Really appreciate you guys being here. Ask that you subscribe so we can keep you informed of everything going on here in Huntsville.