I live an hour from Huntsville. Few outside of the area really know what a great place it is to live--and very affordable.
Where can you find a university with continuing education courses on advanced rocketry and planet inventory systems? And the town's not just supporting the Space Station and building rockets.
Huntsville's the think tank for armaments and missiles that will be used in future warfare.
All U.S. Army helicopter research and development has been moved there. The parts of IED's from all over the world are studied, fingerprinted and DNA from them put into data banks.
The U.S. Army's moved their operations there--bill paying.
Advanced night vision systems are designed and built in Huntsville.
And Redstone Arsenal's expecting employment to double in the next 10 years.
North Alabama is a place with a very high standard of living and incredibly low taxation. The highly educated population has demanded and received a great culture--theatre, music, etc.
It's a place of mountains and lakes, with 4 major impoundments on the Tennessee River. And due to the low cost of living, it's hard to find a better place to retire early.