Why the exodus from the state of Alabama?

[PartyLikeIts2016]

South Carolina has been growing much faster than Alabama for the past few decades. SC passed Alabama in population last decade. Nothing to do with industry all to do with retired ppl from the north and re-tread halfback retirees coming up from Florida flocking to SC coast. Alabama has nothing to compare to the great white (hair) migration to SC. Census data showed SC had highest percentage (not raw numbers) of ppl relocating from other states (internal migration) in growth. Sure Greenville and Charleston are staring to blossom into mid size business hubs and Columbia for all its downfalls is light years better than the Montgomery metro and continues to grow unlike the later. SC also has benefit of large suburban growth from Charlotte into York/Lancaster with nothing comparable to that in Bama.

 

[ladedade]

Property taxes here in TN are low too. I have 2x the house I had in Ohio and pay half the taxes with better schools to boot.

That’s one thing I can’t say about FL - my property taxes are pretty pricey, but better than a state with high property taxes AND state taxes

 

[clempzenbill]

Job creation
Quality of Life
Lower Taxes

These are the big reasons people move into a state and why Texas, Florida and Tennessee have been winning.

Bama not as high as others on job creation is my best guess.

SC is doing well on that front combined with great quality of life with mountains and coast. Great for retirement too.

If SC did away with state income tax like Texas, Tennessee and Florida and improved its airports and roadways we would win more corporate relocations.

The extremely high paying corporate HQ jobs headed to Austin, TX and Nashville are impressive.

I’d rather pay income tax than grow this State much more honestly. Sick of moving and having a nice place to live, then become overcrowded. Clemson was once a nice place to live, now it sucks so I moved last year. Same with Easley and Greenville.

 

[clemsonbama]

There are just too many people in California. Cost of homes is the top of the list for why people are leaving but the traffic, congestion, taxes--it all contributes.

Cali isn't hurting either--they have a world economy in a single state. They have had too much prosperity in places like San Fran.

Florida has always been a destination for retirees--that isn't anything new. Cost of housing is still relatively cheap and folks still buy two homes and make Florida the residence to avoid taxes.

Folks are leaving the midwest bc the weather and everything about those places are getting worse. A state like Iowa used to have a great public education system to attract people--it sucks to live in Iowa but the schools are great was a selling point--not anymore.

I don't know about Bama--short answer must be that white sauce is overrated.

As an Alabamian, I will attest, the white sauce is way overrated….nasty as Fido’s arse. Give me SC mustard sauce any day!

 

[Howard's Jock]

All i know is I'm excited to be getting out of Charleston and moving to the country




as soon as my 4th grader graduates high school

 

[76tiger]

I just recently saw a report of the top 10 states losing population and Louisiana was on the list, but not Alabama.

 

[12 - 0]

Yeah. Alabama sucks. Especially Fort Payne.

Stay away.

 

[Buzzards Roost]

Yikes I didn't know that! I know back in the day, there were places on the west side of town that you just didn't go to day or night. Things sure have changed and are still changing at a crazy pace. I used to work downtown and with the advent of work-from-home haven't been that way in a couple years. We went in to town for dinner over the holidays and I hardly recognize the place in just two years.

Still have to be a little careful in the old mill villages on the W side. But Gentrification is the name of the game. They are trying to stop it. Hope they don’t.

 

[diehardtiger1989]

I’d rather pay income tax than grow this State much more honestly. Sick of moving and having a nice place to live, then become overcrowded. Clemson was once a nice place to live, now it sucks so I moved last year. Same with Easley and Greenville.

Where did you move to?

 

[bucknell95]

I just recently saw a report of the top 10 states losing population and Louisiana was on the list, but not Alabama.

Actually, Alabama grew by 15,074 people - the 16th fastest growing state in the nation.

Facts don't mean much on this board.

Top 5 in year-over-year population growth (gross) are:

1. Texas - 310,288
2. Florida - 211,196
3. Arizona - 98,330
4. North Carolina - 93,985
5. Georgia - 73,766

Bottom 5 are:

1. New York - (319,020)
2. California - (261,902)
3. Illinois - (113,776)
4. Massachusetts - (37,497)
5. Louisiana - (27,156)

Idaho grew by the highest % YoY at 2.88%, with Utah 2nd at 1.72%.

 

[idohvac2]

Drive through Greenville sometime and you'll think the whole world has moved here. If there's a bare spot of dirt there's a housing developement or apt/condo units going up. And more cars than the roads allow during rush hours. Please, if you're thinking of moving this way, keep on going down to Fla.

Heck...i still remember riding horses down Heywood rd when I was a kid

 

[WJTiger]

Lived in Huntsville for a couple of years, ’79 & ‘80. Loved it and used to tell folks it wasn’t like the rest of the state. At a bar you would have a NASA Engineer on one side and a mill worker on the other.

True story about the Mercedes plant in Alabama. I was a Director at the SC Dept of Commerce during that recruitment and the advance Mercedes engineering team chose a site at the Jedburg exit on 26, I think where Volvo ended up. We were going to build a rail way from their manufacturing site to the port. Sweet deal. Marketing guys came over and said no way in hell we’re they following BMW. Alabama had the local National Guard completely clear their site - illegal as hell, and the state bought 2000 of the Mercedes SUV for their state vehicles. We were pissed to say the least.

 

[clempzenbill]

Where did you move to?

Seneca, south of Ram Cat Alley in the Adams neighborhood. Nicest older neighborhood there and a really tight knit community. Exactly what a grumpy old get off my yard guy needs lol.

 

[rabooze]

Tons of international transplants into Greenville. I moved from Charleston to Gville during the pandemic and we were dealing with a similar influx there due to the Mercedes and Volvo plants.

Michelin and BMW have their NA HQs in the Greenville area. Hence the international influence. It’s amazing if you ask me. Exposure to other cultures is never a bad thing.

 

[rabooze]

Lived in Huntsville for a couple of years, ’79 & ‘80. Loved it and used to tell folks it wasn’t like the rest of the state. At a bar you would have a NASA Engineer on one side and a mill worker on the other.

True story about the Mercedes plant in Alabama. I was a Director at the SC Dept of Commerce during that recruitment and the advance Mercedes engineering team chose a site at the Jedburg exit on 26, I think where Volvo ended up. We were going to build a rail way from their manufacturing site to the port. Sweet deal. Marketing guys came over and said no way in hell we’re they following BMW. Alabama had the local National Guard completely clear their site - illegal as hell, and the state bought 2000 of the Mercedes SUV for their state vehicles. We were pissed to say the least.

That’s interesting. I don’t know about Mercedes’ but Porsche and BMW share some 80+% of the same suppliers, which is a reason to be in the upstate of SC. Long been rumors that Porsche will put a plant here.

 

[rliner82]

Drive through Greenville sometime and you'll think the whole world has moved here. If there's a bare spot of dirt there's a housing developement or apt/condo units going up. And more cars than the roads allow during rush hours. Please, if you're thinking of moving this way, keep on going down to Fla.

My thoughts exactly. The roads cannot sustain the growth.

 

[appalachiatiger]

Too funny not to post

As a bartender that sees Californians moving every week to NC, I can attest that Gavin is the biggest problem in Cali.

I tell everyone of those transplants not to bring their pansy ass liberal politics with them.

 

[trebormil]

'cause we got damn tired of driving through freaking Atlanta on Friday afternoon trying to get back to God's country in SC to see Clemson play!! Seriously, I was raised in SC/graduated Clemson twice and was stationed in Alabama off and on for almost 15 years (only because we had a house on Lake Martin - second best lake in southeast with Hartwell being #1).

Avoiding that damn drive is worth a LOT of money.

 

[Cabotiger]

As a bartender that sees Californians moving every week to NC, I can attest that Gavin is the biggest problem in Cali.

I tell everyone of those transplants not to bring their pansy ass liberal politics with them.

Good luck with that! They’ll come with an arrogance you’ll be surprised with after fleeing the policies they’re running from.

 

[FallsChurchTiger]

Not sure where the article got their data from but the state grew in population about 6% from the 2010 census to the 2020 census. Huntsville is growing like crazy. The Birmingham area is growing too (the city of Birmingham itself is losing population to the suburbs). Tuscaloosa, Auburn/Opelika, and Baldwin County are all growing. The blackbelt areas and rural towns are drying up as mentioned above, but for the first time in my lifetime, things are looking up here.

This. B'ham proper and rural areas are losing but Huntsville, B'ham burbs, T-town and A/O and Fairhope are blowing up.

 

[JoeBidenSniffsKids]

Job creation
Quality of Life
Lower Taxes

These are the big reasons people move into a state and why Texas, Florida and Tennessee have been winning.

Bama not as high as others on job creation is my best guess.

SC is doing well on that front combined with great quality of life with mountains and coast. Great for retirement too.

If SC did away with state income tax like Texas, Tennessee and Florida and improved its airports and roadways we would win more corporate relocations.

The extremely high paying corporate HQ jobs headed to Austin, TX and Nashville are impressive.

No thanks

 

[FallsChurchTiger]

Huntsville and Greenville basically same town
Huntsville came to Greenville to inquire about revitalization of downtown and Greenville went to Huntsville for diversification of industry
Huntsville hard to get to but great town

One big difference between Huntsville and Greenville is that a lot of Huntsville is built on government and military - Redstone, Cummings and Marshall, NASA and Army rocket labs. But engineering, like Greenville, is very important and biotech has also come in strong there. The biggest companies are space and defense contractors for the most part. Greenville is built more around private sector construction and automotive engineering.

 

[WJTiger]

That’s interesting. I don’t know about Mercedes’ but Porsche and BMW share some 80+% of the same suppliers, which is a reason to be in the upstate of SC. Long been rumors that Porsche will put a plant here.

The goal in SC has always been to locate a car plant in the Charleston area, and then fill up I26 with suppliers. Porsche is owned by VW, who also owns Audi, so not sure Porsche will go near BMW. I used to get a call every year from Audi looking around. They never got serious. My favorite project was recruiting titleist for South Carolina. I’ll tell that story another day.

 

[FallsChurchTiger]

The goal in SC has always been to locate a car plant in the Charleston area, and then fill up I26 with suppliers. Porsche is owned by VW, who also owns Audi, so not sure Porsche will go near BMW. I used to get a call every year from Audi looking around. They never got serious. My favorite project was recruiting titleist for South Carolina. I’ll tell that story another day.

Back in the 90s I did a lot of work on Project Rosewood too- SC effort to get the Mercedes plant that eventually ended up in Vance AL. I didn't think Mercedes was ever following BMW anywhere but we put together a great bid. I remember having to be in the state house on Memorial Day I think it was when the state house was closed so they could have a secret tour and meet privately with Governor Campbell with no one seeing them.

 

[tigerrecon]

Maybe with all the growth in the Greenville area, Clemson will get real competitive in the NIL game...

 

[CUFam98]

Why the exodus from the state of Alabama?​

Because Georgia sucks?

 

[EastCooper]

The goal in SC has always been to locate a car plant in the Charleston area, and then fill up I26 with suppliers. Porsche is owned by VW, who also owns Audi, so not sure Porsche will go near BMW. I used to get a call every year from Audi looking around. They never got serious. My favorite project was recruiting titleist for South Carolina. I’ll tell that story another day.

Today is another day.

 

[Toasted712]

Similarly, all these automotive manufacturers booming in AL and SC are why East TN have automotive companies moving or opening a plant here in droves, so it isn't just Nashville taking off.

My guess is a couple of things as to why Bama vs SC specifically is Mobile and Birmingham are behind Columbia as far as desirable places to live for me, a non-native of the SE. Huntsville is their only redeeming city where as Charleston and Greenville's arrows couldn't be going up higher.

 

[ClemsonGentleman]

I took a friend, who's a 67 year old Mt. Pleasant native, to McCormick on back roads through rural SC. He was shocked at the lack of development and decline of small towns in SC. He basically road the interstate highways between Charleston, Columbia, Greenville and Clemson. He said Mt. Pleasant had less than 3,000 people when he was born and now over 100,000.

 

[ClemsonGentleman]

The goal in SC has always been to locate a car plant in the Charleston area, and then fill up I26 with suppliers. Porsche is owned by VW, who also owns Audi, so not sure Porsche will go near BMW. I used to get a call every year from Audi looking around. They never got serious. My favorite project was recruiting titleist for South Carolina. I’ll tell that story another day.

Doesn't Mercedes have a Sprinter van plant in North Charleston?

 

[ClemsonGentleman]

There are rumors of a bill being filed to cut SC State income tax by 50%. A long way to go, but there's an effort. Tennessee does have much higher sales tax. Funds have to come from somewhere to operate the state. SC also has low gas taxes and our roads show it.

 

[blizzard]

Drive through Greenville sometime and you'll think the whole world has moved here. If there's a bare spot of dirt there's a housing developement or apt/condo units going up. And more cars than the roads allow during rush hours. Please, if you're thinking of moving this way, keep on going down to Fla.

And if you were driving through Greenville and stop at a red light, when it turns green you better look before you pull into the intersection. I see people run red lights every day

 

[madchad]

And if you were driving through Greenville and stop at a red light, when it turns green you better look before you pull into the intersection. I see people run red lights every day

Yep. I know of at least 4 people that have been killed at the intersection of Mitchell Rd/ East North St here in Greenville. I see it(running the light) all the time leaving the neighborhood

 

[StSimonsIslandTiger]

Alabama is growing in population. Gotta look for the source I was reading last night.

From 2020 to 2021, Alabama had the nation's 5th largest increase in population. Georgia was #1.

Cali, NY, Ilinois, and Mass are the biggest population bleeding states.

 

[CUFam98]

Alabama is a little strange from a population standpoint in that they have significant populations near the borders. Lots of people in eastern Alabama actually work in Georgia (Phenix City/Columbus, slightly east of Auburn/LaGrange, Centre and Fort Payne/Rome or Chattanooga). Throw in the fact that most of those population areas actually cross a time zone and I can see why people from Alabama would move to Georgia.

Its hard to call that "out migration" though since it is just a happenstance of geography. They relocate only a few miles and change states.

 

[housess1]

As a bartender that sees Californians moving every week to NC, I can attest that Gavin is the biggest problem in Cali.

I tell everyone of those transplants not to bring their pansy ass liberal politics with them.

Wokeness is a mental disease in my book. A total disconnect with reality. Those with the disease literally cannot see the connection between reducing prison populations and increase in crime. Facts about voter participation and identification laws don't faze their opinions that red states are trying to reduce minority voter.

 

[ChucktownK]

A lot of folks who work in HSV also live across the state line in TN, cheaper and more plentiful land if you want space, and low property tax on it.

Also if you like bourbon, much easier to find good stuff across the line in TN.

 

[appalachiatiger]

Wokeness is a mental disease in my book. A total disconnect with reality. Those with the disease literally cannot see the connection between reducing prison populations and increase in crime. Facts about voter participation and identification laws don't faze their opinions that red states are trying to reduce minority voter.

that is one of the biggest lies in politics that red states are trying to reduce minority voting.

thats horseshyt.

humans that ARE NOT AMERICANS with skin in the game are the ones that RED states are trying to keep off the voting rolls.

doesnt have a thing to do with skin color.

that is a black democrats made up bullshyt.

 

[Cabotiger]

I took a friend, who's a 67 year old Mt. Pleasant native, to McCormick on back roads through rural SC. He was shocked at the lack of development and decline of small towns in SC. He basically road the interstate highways between Charleston, Columbia, Greenville and Clemson. He said Mt. Pleasant had less than 3,000 people when he was born and now over 100,000.

My grandparents were from McCormick and dad grew up there. They've done everything they can to bring life to that little town from Hickory Knob to Savannah Lakes Village but it just never seems to work. Other than having an small Milliken plant there and the prison I'm not sure what people do.

 

[okclem]

Yeah. Alabama sucks. Especially Fort Payne.

Stay away.

Oh, uh, yeah. Greenville too, don't believe the hype. Columbia and Charleston are much better options. Don't come here it sucks and stuff.