156 Business View - November 2015
Auburn Alabama
Auburn’s division of watershed management has high aspirations
Auburn, Alabama’s unofficial nickname is the “The Loveli-
est Village on The Plains.” This city of 60,000 on the east-
ern border of the state, sits on the fall line at the juncture
of the Piedmont plateau and the coastal plain. A varied
topography lies within its 59 square miles: parts of the city
are marked by rolling transitional plains, covered in a mix
of hardwood and pine; others by thick forests of oak, gum,
and hickory on the high hills and ridges of the southern,
outer piedmont; and others, still, by the sandy soils of the
inner coastal plain and dense forest of predominantly lob-
lolly pine. Auburn is located near the divide between the
Chattahoochee and Tallapoosa River watersheds and is
drained by two main creek systems (each of which flow to
the Tallapoosa River): the Chewacla/Opintlocco Creek sys-
tem in the south, and in the north, by the Saugahatchee
Creek system.
The town is also home to Auburn University. Founded in
1856, it is one of Alabama’s largest colleges with a pop-
ulation of over 25,000 students and 1,400 faculty. The
school and the city are inextricably entwined for many rea-
sons, not the least of which is the fact that the university
employs roughly one quarter of the city’s total workforce.
The two Auburns also share an exuberant enthusiasm for
INFRASTRUCTURE
