This headline is not true.
It could have proclaimed, “Democratic National Convention to be held in Birmingham in 2016,” but for sure no one would have believed that one.
Of course most of you didn’t believe the headline anyway since, even though we are a Republican state, it seems so far fetched.
Yet, the national conventions this year were held in Tampa and Charlotte.
Fifty years ago Birmingham had a larger population than either city.
According to the 1960 census, Birmingham’s population was 340,887; Tampa was 274,970; Charlotte 201,564. Birmingham was 50% larger than Charlotte. Now we are not in the race.
Remember a couple of years ago when it was suggested that the City of Birmingham might go after the Summer Olympics?
It made headlines. Not because it was a great goal, but because it was so ridiculous. We all cringed in embarrassment.
For those of you who are regular readers of this blog, you know where I’m going. Our government structure is strangling us.
Jefferson County and our metro area are are not growing in population or jobs. Everyone’s passing us by.
Look what has happened to our community over the past 50 years as the most of the affluent population abandoned Birmingham.
Yes, we are the magic city.
Watch us disappear.
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David Sher is a partner in Buzz12 Marketing and co-CEO of AmSher Receivables Management. He’s past Chairman of the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce (BBA), Operation New Birmingham (ONB), and the City Action Partnership (CAP).
*Birmingham and Jefferson County have been their own worst enemy for as long as I can remember(I am 65)
*Interestingly, the guy who is the #1 person in charge every four years of the national Republican Convention for the past 20 years is Bill Harris, a guy who grew up in Birmingham and went to Phillips High School (who now lives in Alexandria, VA.) I’ve had many conversations with Bill on this subject over the years and, unfortunately, we’re many thousands of hotel rooms short of even warranting consideration at this time.
Tom, I had no idea about Bill Harris. You are a walking encyclopedia about Birmingham.
Looks like you and I are sharing similar brainwaves. I had to travel to Opp, AL last week to attend funeral of a friend. My timing took me through Montgomery well after dark, I was
amazed at how “bright” the city was on my I-65 trek through town. I found myself thinking
“Good grief, why can’t Birmingham/Jeffco/whoever/whatever figure out a way to light up our
darned city?” One of the darkest stretches of interstate is I-20/59 West just after the Airport. What a great impression this makes to visitors that land after dark….it’s pitch black. Add in
the autobahn driving factor and you really do feel like you’ve stepped into another land.
Welcome to our “fair city”! Bring a flashlight ya’ll!
That frustration gave way to more fuming as I drove down a well paved and passed new
businesses, large businesses, obviously built to support Hyundai who happened to be close by.
Nonetheless, it made me think of how Montgomery was recently recognized as nipping at
the heels of Birmingham’s rank as the largest city in the state with Huntsville following closely.
What do these cities possess that we don’t? Unified, intelligent, progressive, fiscally responsible LEADERSHIP with a voter base that hasn’t given in to ignorance or apathy.
It is truly a sad state of affairs when looking at the big picture. Were it not for UAB and a
couple visionary gambling men, we’d really be screwed as a city.
It’s such a shame and it makes me sad and angry at the same time. Those of us who do “get it”
must continue to spread the word and educate whenever and wherever possible to anyone who
will listen and take some form of action.
*Phyllis, what thought provoking observations and comments. You are right. Just because we’ve faltered in the past doesn’t mean we should give up. There’s a young generation behind us. Let’s begin a meaningful conversation that could start to turn things around.