Alabama seems on pace to lose a house seat in the next decade or two.
Yeah, I think its barely holding onto 7 districts. The upper part of the state around Huntsville is starting to grow pretty decently though.
Really?
I find that kind of surprising as I thought that the growth and regentrification seen in other Southern states like VA, NC, SC, and GA was starting to go into full force effect in Alabama?
Virginia has the benefit of DC-oriented companies doing business there because of the favorable tax/regulatory environment relative to DC and Maryland.
North Carolina has the Research Triangle, an indigenous banking industry (Wachovia, etc) that benefited from the growth of the financial sector from the 1980s to the present, an indigenous airline industry that has benefited from various mergers (Piedmont Airlines growing into US Airways), and excellent universities (UNC, Duke, Wake Forest).
South Carolina has coastal areas excellent for tourism and retirees and growth of Charlotte suburbs on their side of the state line.
Georgia has Atlanta and all that Atlanta entails. They were smart enough in the '70s to put all their "history/heritage/tradition" foolishness behind them after they realized no one invests in a state perceived to be racist and backwards.
Alabama doesn't have any major native industries, its public universities are nothing to write home about, tourism is confined to the Gulf Shores area where the beaches give you a great view of a bunch of offshore oil platforms in murky water, and their recent "Let's get rid of all the Mex'kins" legislation has only reinforced every negative perception the rest of the country has about them. The only good thing that ever came out of Alabama was the band Alabama.
