“If you are not growing, you are dying.”
And Huntsville is definitely growing.
The city has grown more than 3,011 acres in 2025, annexing more acres than in any year since 2008. The largest of these land acquisitions in July included more than 1,000 acres in Morgan and Marshall counties, as well as a 686.46-acre site north of Little Cove Road, east and west of U.S. 72 East.
Growth is nothing new for Huntsville. The 1980’s brought growth to South Huntsville, the 1990’s to Hampton Cove, and in 2000, growth occurred with the acquisition of Zierdt Road. It’s growth spurts like this that helped Huntsville eclipse Birmingham as Alabama's largest city.
“Every city has to grow. Over the years, we have always had growth quarters. And that is what annexation does for you,” Mayor Tommy Battle said. “It gives you growth quarters for the future. We grow for specific reasons of making sure that we can meet the needs of our population in the future.”
And that population is also growing.
Since 2020, the city’s population has grown by roughly 18 people per day. With the relocation of Space Command, Battle says the area expects to welcome 1,400 people over 5 years. But it is the recent announcement by the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly that will not only boost Huntsville’s population but also add another dimension to the city’s already high-tech portfolio.
Known as the Horton property, the land where the pharmaceutical facility will be built was acquired five years ago and has been held for a key development, such as Eli Lilly. Battle says several industries were interested in the property in Greenbrier and the 5-65 area, but those industries didn’t feel like they would reflect the essence of Huntsville.
“Eli Lilly gives you an idea that you are in a progressive city as a city that is made for high tech, a city that is made for education, a city that is made for growth,” Battle said.
Eli Lilly aligns perfectly with HudsonAlpha's mission and work, providing the city with a new skill set to recruit people for. Battle says the average pay at Eli Lilly is $138,000 a year.
“We already have a very good aerospace sector. We have a good space sector and missile defense sector. So this adds to the mix of what our jobs are here in Huntsville,” Battle said.
Battle sees this next step as being as successful as the Cyber Huntsville push that started 12 years ago. In this push, the city grew to 15,000 people working in the geospatial field. This led to AI Huntsville, where people began working in the field of artificial intelligence. Battle says the next step in following the biotech industry is quantum computing.
“If you put all of these specialties together, we have a really great group that pushes each of their areas, and helps each of us be able to grow a little bit, to have a competitive edge,” Battle said. “This competitive edge will keep Huntsville growing.”
The growth is undoubtedly changing Huntsville’s landscape and its once-small-town feel. Battle says that where we once knew everyone we met, today, there is always someone new to meet. This makes the once conversation of “we are a small, big city” a little different.
“The city is a very forward learning educational city. We moniker ourselves a smart place, more engineers and degree professionals than anywhere else in the U.S. We have the second largest research park in America,” Battle said. “When you put it all together, we have a very welcoming city. We have a quality of life that is second to none, and our cost of living is always in the bottom ten of where one wants to be in terms of cost of living.”
But Huntsville is not just about the technology; it also has a thriving art scene, which Battle says makes Huntsville very unique. In 2012, Huntsville became the first city in Alabama to enact a Public Art Master Plan, a collaboration with Arts Huntsville. The city hired the nation’s first-ever music officer, a role dedicated to enhancing and promoting the area’s music scene. And added new developments like the MidCity Arts Plus Innovation Subdistrict, a large mixed-use project featuring venues like The Orion Amphitheater, further underscore the city’s commitment to integrating arts into its identity. All of these projects add to the city's overall entertainment options.
But it is the changes made to the downtown between 2008 and now that have made Battle a fan of that area of the city. He cites that downtown no longer rolls up the streets at 5 p.m. It is now vibrant with people at all times.
“They are in the park, they are running on the streets, they are enjoying a leisurely walk and they are taking their dog out,” Battle said. “The idea that we have people who actually live in downtown Huntsville, and the apartments and the residential units we have been able to add. I think that is the thing that I am proudest of because we’ve been able to resuscitate an area and make it into something that is very, very special.”
For some Huntsvillians, the growth is not welcome. It brings the headache of traffic, overcrowded schools and restaurants, and changing ideas. Battle is aware of these feelings, and in fact has had frank conversations with those in the community who view growth as too much change, too quickly.
He recently spoke with a gentleman at a soccer match. The man looked at Mayor Battle and said, “Too many people, too much traffic.” Battle’s response was to engage the man in what he liked about the city–Trader Joe’s, Cheesecake Factory, and the fact that the man’s grandson recently landed a job that allowed him to move back to the area.
“I told this gentleman that you don’t have these things without growth. You don’t have the opportunity for your young people or others to move into your town and be part of our city. You don’t have Trader Joe’s, the Cheesecake Factory, an amphitheater, or Mars Music Hall without growth. You don’t have the Trash Pandas,” Battle said. “If he had stopped at 160,000 people back in 2008 and said, 'Hey, we are done. We are not going to grow anymore,' we would still be the same town we were in 2008, where the streets rolled up at night after 5 p.m. in the downtown area. Growth fuels that.”
With Battle at the helm since 2008 and the team he has put in place, decisions about land acquisitions, annexations, and overall growth have been made with the mentality that Huntsville doesn’t grow just to grow; it grows with purpose. This mantra will not change as the city moves into 2026.
“The fun thing about all of this development and all of this recruitment and everything else is making the announcement. And now that we have made the announcement, the real work begins.” Battle said. “We will be working with Redstone Arsenal on how to make Space Command move as quickly as possible and how to make sure that the folks in Colorado Springs know about our community so they can choose their lifestyle. Road plans have to be addressed. We will spend a good bit of time in Washington, D.C., and in Montgomery over the next year. But it's all going to be good.”
He is aware of the infrastructure issues that have come with growth, but urges citizens to be patient as the list is roughly $750 million worth of roads.
“Three-quarters of a billion dollars is a lot of money. But it is a necessity for a growing community. It will take 10, 12 or 15 years to get them all done,” Battle said. “But in the 10, 12 or 15 years, we will look back saying ‘wow, we have made some progress, but we still got more to do.’ You never end when it comes to your road systems.”
For Battle, who is in his fifth term as mayor, the thrill of being in the Mayor’s office is never dull, and these changes only fuel the passion he already possesses for making Huntsville one of the best places to live in the United States.
“Some days, the great thing about being mayor is you can look at some things and say, ‘Hey, maybe I had a hand in that.’ You can look them in the eye, where there is a vacant lot at one time, and now it is apartments, retail space, a hotel, offices, and everything. And you go again, “Wow, maybe I had a hand in that.’ And we’ve been able to make some real progress.”
"If you are not growing, you are dying.” And Huntsville is definitely growing.