So I’m at the other end of the state, on the Eastern Shore, in Baldwin County. We, along with Madison county, are the growing parts of the state nowadays.
I lived in North Alabama as a teenager, then to college and law school West Alabama (Tuscaloosa) and Birmingham, and been down here living for 23 years. Spent years before moving here visiting down here. The don’t refer to us as the Redneck Riviera for nothing.
I’ve seen a tremendous amount of change, more so than when I lived and worked in Birmingham (Hoover) and saw that explosion of growth through the 90s.
Alabama is changing. Words out, more folks are relocating here, but we’re not perfect either. We have a high sales tax rate and low property taxes. Infrastructure is still trying to catch up with the influx of transplants, and it may never catch up. Power costs are among the highest in the nation. Median income is lower than other areas of the country. So is the education level of our population.
Yes, we’re pro2A which is important to many, and we’d do well to keep more money in state to help with growth (ie, lottery), but like most places, we have our share of legislators who are bought and paid for and others that just aren’t too smart.
Something like 20 people a day move to this part of the state. I just cringe thinking about how they will react when we’re under a hurricane warning and facing the potential of a landfall.
