A Tale of Two Cities

A book could be written about Alabama with the title being the same as the famous novel by Charles Dickens, “A Tale of Two Cities.”

The City of Huntsville and its burgeoning suburbs would be the shining beacon upon the hill of Alabama, whereas our capital City of Montgomery is a decaying, dangerous murder capital that mirrors a third world country. People have been fleeing there for years. It is an unsafe place to live, work, or visit.

When you look back at the annals of Alabama history around the time that our state constitution was enacted in 1901, the archives reveal the opposite. Montgomery was one of the gems of Alabama. It not only was the center of government, it was one of the most flourishing economic and socially prominent cities in the state.

In 1901, history books describe Huntsville as a sleepy cotton town of around 10,000 inhabitants. Upon the arrival of the Redstone Arsenal around 75 years ago, it has grown to be Alabama’s largest and most prominent region by far. Huntsville is now the state’s largest city, and when you combine all the spill over suburban growth of cities like Athens and Madison, and Marshall and Limestone Counties, it is now the greatest growth metro area of Alabama. Its sister city of Decatur has grown exponentially because of the Huntsville explosion and the population expansion has affected the Cullman, Marshall, Jackson County areas and entire Tennessee Valley.

The Huntsville growth is like nothing ever seen in Alabama history. The average Alabamian cannot grasp or comprehend our Huntsville miracle. It is like a portion of the Silicon Valley of California and the Research Triangle of North Carolina was plucked up and placed in the beautiful Tennessee Valley of North Alabama.

Not only is the Huntsville area the crown jewel of Alabama, it is destined to be one of the crown jewels of the south. It currently has one of the largest numbers of PHDs and rocket scientists per capita in the nation. It has already become the premier, high-tech defense research center in the south. If you think it has grown exponentially in the last three decades, you ain’t seen nothing yet. It is poised to be one of the most prosperous and dynamic cities/regions in the country. Demographers project its main rival in the south to be the Nashville metropolitan area.

Senator Richard Shelby was instrumental in the growth and prosperity of the Huntsville/Redstone Arsenal area. As Chairman of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee and Chairman of Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, he shepherded billions of dollars into the defense oriented high-tech Redstone/Huntsville mecca. Shelby moved the FBI cyber security future to Huntsville with over 10,000 high paying federal jobs. He was the author of the Space Command project which should generate around 20,000 extremely high paying federal jobs.

Space Command was designed and placed in Huntsville by Shelby, originally. However, the Democratic Biden Administration moved it to the blue Democratic state of Colorado in a brazen political move. President Donald Trump deserves accolades for moving Space Command back to its home in Huntsville. Our current congressional delegation deserves credit for hounding Trump to move it back home to Alabama, especially the efforts of Senators Katie Britt and Tommy Tuberville, and Congressmen Robert Aderholt and Dale Strong.

Huntsville was once the capital of Alabama. I am sure that if our founding fathers were making that decision today, they would choose to make Huntsville the capital, again, instead of Montgomery. The City of Montgomery has become a war zone that resembles a third world country. Many people who live there are scared to come out of their homes for fear of being shot. It is probably too late to save the crime ridden, gang-controlled City of Montgomery. However, what makes it a serious problem for the state is the Capitol is there.

Most legislators and political figures are afraid to come to the Capitol. The last gunfight episode that happened in crowded downtown Montgomery in October, which killed two and wounded 14 more, was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Ultimately, Governor Ivey, or her successor, will have to marshal troops to cordon off and protect and fortify the entire Capitol area as well as a good portion of Dexter Avenue and all around the Renaissance, and leave troopers and guardsmen on every corner in that area so that state government can function, and state officials and statewide organizations can safely come to the Capitol.

See you next week.

Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state legislature. Steve may be reached at steve@steveflowers.us.

THE VIEWS OF SUBMITTED EDITORIALS MAY NOT BE THE EXPRESS VIEWS OF THE ALABAMA GAZETTE.