By Jane Bennett Clark, From Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine, July 2009

Population: 378,057
Income Growth: 9.7%
Cost of Living Index: 91
Median Household Income: $51,275
Percentage of Workforce in Creative Class: 40%

Talk about a bulletproof economy. This northern Alabama city represents critical mass for the nation’s missile-defense and aerospace industries. The medical and life-sciences industries are thriving, too. Thousands of new jobs are pouring into town. With a few exceptions, business in Huntsville is so healthy that Mayor Tommy Battle has a pleasant problem: “We have more jobs than we can fill.”

Huntsville owes much of its red-blooded vitality to the U.S. Army, which employs more than 14,000 people, mostly civilians, at the 38,000-acre Redstone Arsenal. “If a soldier drives it, eats it or shoots it, we’re involved — beans to bullets,” says Dan O’Boyle, arsenal spokesman.

As part of an ongoing consolidation of army bases and personnel — known as BRAC, the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure process — the arsenal will hire 5,000 more people over the next few years, and another 5,000 jobs will be added indirectly to the area.

As for aerospace, Huntsville isn’t called Rocket City for nothing. The giant rocket replica that pierces the Huntsville skyline not only makes a handy reference point for out-of-towners but also represents Huntsville’s storied — and still strong — role in space exploration. The site of the historic test launch of the Saturn V rocket, which put the U.S. space mission one step closer to the moon, Huntsville houses an original Saturn V at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center and hosts thousands of students each year at the center’s Space Camp. The Marshall Space Flight Center, part of NASA, employs 2,500 scientists, many of whom are working on the next moon launch.

All those scientists and engineers create a bubbling brew of brainpower that attracts other intellectuals. Says Rick Davis, director of Cummings Research Park, “Smart people come here.” Huntsville encourages the influx by offering companies below-market real estate prices and room to grow at Cummings, which encompasses 3,800 acres. The HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, a recent arrival, represents Huntsville’s foray into the next frontier. HudsonAlpha translates the results of the Human Genome Project into the development of new, targeted medicines. Says director Richard Myers, “In five years, we will all be taking our genomic sequence with us to the doctor’s office.”

Not every sector in Huntsville is booming. Car sales have plummeted in recent months, and home sales have slowed, especially for houses priced at $300,000 and up. Still, Huntsville’s otherwise strong economy, combined with a scenic, mountain-view setting, a historical downtown, top-quality museums and a 110-acre botanical garden, encourages residents to stay put and newcomers to stream in. Says Battle: “This place never misses a beat.”

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Reported by Danny Sullivan Owner Exit Realty at the Cove

HUNTSVILLE has been so fortunate to have not so affected by the Real Estate Crash that we have seen around the country. We currently have more jobs here than we have people to fill them. The Base Realignment and Closure or BRAC was scheduled to bring an influx of people here from the Virginia and DC area. Unfortunately their housing market there is really bad and they can’t sell their homes there to move to Huntsville. THE GOOD NEWS IS SOMEONE WILL FILL THESE JOBS AND THEY WILL NEED A PLACE TO LIVE!

HUNTSVILLE is currently experiencing activity with buyers searching for deals and sometimes making really low offers. Unfortunately for the buyers our market is still steady. Although we haven’t seen any real gains in the past couple of years, we also have not really seen any drops in values. I feel we are at the bottom of our market, so buyers it’s time to buy! Really good deals are out there in new construction with some awesome buyer incentives.

HUNTSVILLE home sales were up 20% for February compared to last month. 294 homes sold compared to 245. Average sales price ($195,464) and Median prices ($165,000) were off -6.1% and -5.2%, respectively. Compared to Feb 2008 the number of home sales was down 31.6%. Average home pricing was up 1.4% and Median price was up 5.8%.

For 46 years, Joe Steele helped Huntsville families find homes

For nearly 50 years, Joe Steele worked as a Realtor and builder, constructing some 1,600 homes, commercial properties and, at one point, owned five building companies - four in Huntsville and one in Rainbow City. His developments include Fox Run, Stallion Run, Ashley Estates, Cottonwood Estates and Northeast Chase Estates.

He laughs when talking about his career, from which he retired about seven years ago.

“I don’t know when I slept,” Steele said.

Steele, 84, has seen growth and change, from the 1960s, when $10-per-square-foot could buy you a house in Haysland Estates, to today’s homes costing nearly $300 per square foot in The Ledges. He and Alvin Blackwell, former Realtor and chairman of Huntsville Hospital, worked to develop education for Realtors that helped give credibility to the industry. Steele was also instrumental in launching the Huntsville market’s multiple-listing service.

Not all of his ventures were real-estate related: With three business partners, Steele opened the first Kwik Oil Change franchise in Huntsville.

He has been active in numerous local community organizations: The first Rocket City Marathon was the Joe Steele Rocket City Marathon, which Steele sponsored in the event’s early years. Steele has also been active with the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, Muscular Dystrophy Association and the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce.

A World War II veteran and former Hall of Fame Builder, Steele was recently awarded the Realtor Ameritas award from the National Association of Realtors.

Steele and his wife, Willena, operated Century 21 Steele & Associates before selling it to Willena’s son, Steve Cawthon, who serves on the state real estate board and is a former Alabama Realtor of the Year. Joe Steele’s son, Steve Steele, owns Steve Steele Custom Homes and has been named a Builder of the Year by the Huntsville/Madison County Builders Association.

The Steeles recently sat for an interview with Times Business Writer Gina Hannah. The interview has been edited for space and cla