The overall grade would be high for downtown Huntsville, according to an analysis study presented to Downtown Huntsville Inc. on Wednesday morning.

Huntsville is "super well-prepared for the future," David Downey, the CEO of International Downtown Association, said in his presentation. "I think the study really vets that out."

Downtown Huntsville Inc. commissioned the study by IDA – which also held a branding and placemaking summit in Huntsville last year – to follow up on a similar study conducted 8 years ago.

"Keep doing what you're doing and go," Downey said in his conclusion. "Huntsville's great. I love it."

Indeed, the ongoing revitalization of downtown Huntsville has been a source of civic pride for the fast-growing city on pace to soon be Alabama’s largest. Business has blossomed in the area and the sidewalks, businesses and parks stay active well into the night.

And the study, as Downey said, revealed that new downtown prosperity – citing rising employment and income in the area as well as developments under construction or soon to begin.

A look at needed improvements amid that typical revelry, though, was also an objective of the study that Downtown Huntsville Inc. CEO Chad Emerson described as a "deep dive."

In his study, Downey placed Huntsville in a group of "emerging" downtowns – an establishment of a sort of peer cities at similar stages of their downtown development. Other "emerging" downtowns, Downey said, included Durham, N.C., Tucson, Ariz., Oklahoma City, San Antonio and Tampa.

"Emerging" downtowns are not as far along in their development as two other groups identified by Downey: "Growing" downtowns (Atlanta, Dallas, Charlotte, Austin) and "Established" downtowns (Seattle, Miami, Baltimore, Pittsburgh).

In comparing Huntsville to other "emerging" downtowns, Huntsville was above the average in employment growth as well as residents holding a college degree. Huntsville also had more than twice the average of residents living downtown.

Reports like this, of course, are most revealing for what needs to change. Downey said that Huntsville lagged behind peer emerging downtowns in transportation, spending and diversity.

The report broke transportation into three categories: Walk, bike and transit scores. In all three, Huntsville was behind the emerging downtown average. Downey said only about 5 percent of people who live in downtown do not commute in a single-occupant vehicle.

"A transit score at 28 (compared to a score of 44 for emerging downtowns) is significantly below most emerging downtowns," Downey said. "So it raises a little bit of a red flag of a strategic area we want to be thinking about."

Mayor Tommy Battle, who attended the presentation, said that's already happening.

"The interesting thing is right now, we're working on long-term plans on transportation," Battle said. "And he's not talking about the next 10 years or the next 15 years. It's 'let's get the corridors in place so we can do high-speed rail or we can do HOV (high-occupancy vehicle) lanes.'

"We need to reserve the corridors today we'll use 20 years from now."

Emerson said that the startup rideshare industry by companies such as Lyft and Uber are starting to make an impact in downtown Huntsville as a transportation alternative for residents. And carpooling will be a growing option for commuters as roads become more congested, Battle said.

On diversity, Downey said Huntsville compiled an index score of 31 – far below peer downtowns.

"Diversity index is something that did jump out to us," he said. "Downtown Huntsville does not score very high compared to most emerging downtowns. Downtowns often get their strength from the mix of people from all walks of life. On average, an index score of 64 is still not enormously high but it's pretty good for emerging downtowns. Downtown Huntsville is 31.

"So thinking about diversity inclusion is probably something that is part of the long-term play that's going to be important to really attract and grow a diverse and inclusive community."

Battle said that detail was a surprise to him.

"Some of those numbers seemed a little bit low to me," the mayor said. "But that's something to watch, something to make sure we continue to work on."

The spending deficit was also a curious detail given that the study revealed Huntsville to have an above average income among those living downtown. But those residents don't seem to be spending their money downtown, Downey said.

Retail sales in emerging downtowns, Downey said, are about $130 million per year but Huntsville was at $61.2 million. That's crucial given that about half of the city of Huntsville's revenue comes from sales tax.

“The spend is low,” Downey said. “And to be honest, I would take a look into that and try to understand it a little bit more – especially since retail sales tax is an important of your overall revenue model.”