@Michael S. Thank you. I actually saw your comment on another thread and did my research. You are absolutely right, Decatur has seen downward curve from 2014 to 2019. However, it's seen an upward trajectory (around 1.1%) in past 2 years based on online Census data. So, I was wondering the significant growth of Huntsville and Madison in general is kind of getting the Decatur economy grow as well.
As an investor, Athens is a great option but most of the properties have priced in the future appreciation. It's statistically hard for me imagine a city/town 15 to 20 mins from Madison would continue to see a downward trend when the growth in Huntsville is phenomenal.
After I made this post, I have been talking to several investors in Huntsville market. There has been mixed opinions. Some say they don't prefer Decatur while others think assets in Decatur are currently on discount due to negative talk. One guy told me they talked to City administration and developer incharge recently and City is encouraging huge apartments build out while working on problems caused by the bad leadership over past decade.
Just sharing the info I got over past 2 days. I may be wrong.