[Claimer: I lived in Huntsville for a few years in the early 80's.]
If you can stand the heat (I couldn't), Huntsville, and even more so Madison, have a lot going for them. I have family still in Madison, and living there, it's easy to forget you're in the Deep South. Madison is a lot like Cary, NC ("Containment Area for Relocated Yankees"). The cost of living is dirt cheap, the high school is one of the best public high schools in the country, UAH has very much come into its own since it was the handful of buildings I went to, and there are proportionally pretty much the same number of rednecks as you'll find anywhere in the US.
This is not an accident. The military built up Redstone Arsenal having been promised by the county and the state that there's be an ample, educated workforce. It took them awhile, but they delivered. But there's still a need to bring in people from the outside. The South has a bad rap, and it's tough to convince outsiders to move there despite its advantages, and that's on a good day. Add in the anti-choice, anti LGBTQ+, antebellum style legislation, and nobody's going to want to go there, and in turn, when the next BRAC round comes, a lot less will be brought to Redstone.
Just like the rest of New York doesn't want to be ruled by New York City, the rest of Alabama doesn't want to be ruled by Huntsville, so they're likely to not be too sympathetic to Huntsville's job losses due to the state government doing the Lord's work.