Today’s guest columnist is Christopher Tyler Burks.
It seems to me that David Sher has done us all a great service by publishing ComebackTown.com.
While there is excellent coverage of regional issues across our media, this site has become the de facto beat reporter for discussions of regional cooperation in Greater Birmingham.
Kudos to AL.com and the Birmingham Business Journal for picking it up and spreading the word.
What I appreciate about ComebackTown is that nearly every article begs the metropolitan question: What would a truly Greater Birmingham look like?
I am writing a book to answer that question. And I need your help.
I live in Birmingham, and I grew up in Homewood. I’ve seen how divided we can be by Red Mountain geography, by racism and its ongoing history, and by partisanship in the State of Alabama. And I’ve seen why many of your children, and my peers, have left our region, and our state, for opportunities elsewhere.
Without regional leadership to bring us together as a metropolitan community, we cannot compete in the globalized economy. On the global and national stage, our city-region will stand together or fall from fighting itself.
I commend the good faith contributions of many leaders across our government, business, and nonprofit organizations.
Yet regional cooperation that solely focuses on economic development is a hollow victory. We need to fill our economy with the soul of social equity and the spirit of sustainability. Only equitable and sustainable development will improve our collective quality of life.
The history of Jefferson County, and its 35 municipalities, shows us that anything less than equitable and sustainable development will hurt us through environmental pollution and socioeconomic exploitation.
That’s not just my opinion. I am interviewing leaders who have wasted no time in pointing out these problems and opportunities.
I am interviewing leaders, both past and present, across our public, private, and nonprofit organizations—people who have a stake in Greater Birmingham. And I want to hear from you!
I am a PhD candidate in public administration and policy at American University in Washington, D.C. I designed my dissertation to dig deep into the history of Birmingham, Jefferson County, and Alabama to understand how our public institutions have developed over time.
From this political and administrative context, I am studying what we can do in the present to improve our regional public goods and services like water, transportation, and education.
I am writing a deluge of emails requesting interviews with as many people as I can contact. Many of you have heard from me. And many more will hear from me in the months to come.
But I am just one man on a mission.
I need your help. Please contact me if you would like to be included in this research. I want to talk to you!
My e-mail address is cb0533a@american.edu.
I invite you to learn about my research at ctburks.com, and I hope to hear from you soon.
Christopher Tyler Burks is a researcher in public administration, public policy, and urban affairs. Learn about his metropolitan governance research at ctburks.com.
David Sher is the founder and publisher of ComebackTown. He’s past Chairman of the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce (BBA), Operation New Birmingham (REV Birmingham), and the City Action Partnership (CAP).
Click here to sign up for our newsletter. (Opt out at any time)
Invite David to speak for free to your group about how we can have a more prosperous metro Birmingham. dsher@amsher.com.
Christoper, I am all for a united Jefferson County Metro Area. But I live in Douglasville, GA – Douglas County and have experienced a total change over in my county in the past 15 years. Atlanta City and Fulton County is trying to split out new cities from this long time merger. Some cities have got enough votes and state backing to split away and establish new cities. Basically because of safety and no representation on the Atlanta City Council. How many people do you think voted Republican in the city of Birmingham? How many whites sit on the Birmingham City Council? How many white employees do you see at the court house ? Post Office? The IRS Office? Come to the city offices in Atlanta and observe the reverse discrimination. Racism works both ways. Homewood, Hoover, Mountain Brook know this. Apparently the city of Birmingham has not recognized this. Next time you fly into BHM , or out, count the whites, Hispanic, Oriental and Indian employees working at TSA, airline check in counters and ramps. 90% Black. I guess ALL the other citizens of Birmingham are too stupid to work these well paying jobs? Same in Atlanta and Douglasville and other major areas.
I wish you and David success in uniting Birmingham and Jefferson County. It’s a beautiful city and can be much more. You have many fine Black citizens as well as other colors. At least you guys are trying to solve problems and help unite the community. In fact, I wouldn’t mind coming home to Birmingham in the future. Traffic is a bitch here.! Keep at it guys…just look both ways!
I like your article pretty much spot on . Could have mentioned UAB hospital pretty much like government jobs in Birmingham and Jefferson county .
Birmingham has a black eye the news media and such , It is my view that the city of Birmingham be condensed to the size the civil rights district only .
A new name for the entire area of Jefferson county the MAJIC CITY this consolidation would effect at least half of the current cities to two thirds . Moving the cities with school systems to gobble up smaller cities . This cost cutting of city governments police fire mayors city halls and clerical staff that is duplicated time again by the county and state . Cities that have school systems get bigger yet . Jefferson county has been terrible over the last forty years managing education so let’s disband them from that duty .
Why the Magic city it is part of our history , the name MAJIC is marketable . The region we live in has been a hub for distribution servicing these larger faster growing cities at all points in all directions . Develop Birmingham port use Alabama water ways to bring bulk cargo up the river for distribution in the south east and south west and North .
On another matter I always though it would be useful to market some of the mines in the area for tourism. Most folks have never been in a mine , coal, iron ore or for that matter a quarry .
When I ponder the future what is unique about our region , let’s not compete with Nashville and the music city , or Atlanta , let the MAJIC CITY supply products and services and become the hub of the wheel In distributing . Best regards
Mr. Morton,
You seem to think the only important thing is economic development. The ability of individuals to make money. But people have to live together, too. You won’t be able to ship the people of Birmingham away to somewhere else in the world where you’ll never see them again. So living together is important. Something like good public transit makes life bearable for people who have less money. They can get to their jobs, churches, stores and doctors without bankrupting themselves. But it costs money to provide good transit. That means you have to care about more than what will bring the optimal economic growth.
Thanks for taking the time to read my article . It reminds me of what came first the chicken or the egg .
Economic development is the Engin that drives opportunity , better education and a transit system . Birmingham always want to spend money but forget how it is paid for . Jefferson county had to pay off world games . Has the horse tract been a money maker yet ?
The reason I use these examples it is a pattern of misused public funds . Time and time again over fifty years I hear about the disadvantage , there are so many programs from the state and federal government that know one should go hungry or without.
I think that Birmingham needs A audit . Declining population and yet spend more money . Go figure
Good points. But the only thing I would say is we earn money to live. We don’t live to earn money. Quite a few countries like Canada, Germany, and Denmark have shown you can have a successful capitalist economy and still mostly make sure people’s needs are met. This isn’t socialism. They have lots of rich people.
Useful comment. Canada and Denmark, I know quite well. Denmark along with it monarchy is as in all of Scandinavia perhaps the home of today’s idea of democracy. Everyone may have understood the Greek’s on this subject, but Scandinavia’s did not go away, it became the basis of social order, and what we see today.
Canada is quite well balance but has many of the same issues as the USA, in terms of social imbalances. There are social issues. Both governments are unlike ours, Denmark’s parliament is called the ‘People’s Thing.’ (Folketing), Canada’s is very similar to UK’ s and does have plenty of socialist thinkers involved.
It is very very hard to simplify these ideas.
I don’t look at cooperative government as a money making venture, but rather as a money SAVING issue. There is no reason to have so many repetitive services in such a small area. I know we are talking about Birmingham and comparing it with Nashville and Jacksonville, Charlotte is also consolidated with Mecklenberg County. There is one major area that would so greatly benefit from consolidation of governmental operations, and that is Atlanta, GA. While not as many different governments as Birmingham, there are still far too many in Atlanta. When consolidated, less money is spent while same services are available.
Mr.James those jobs or open to any one any person can work there an don’t Bham is no different from all large Metros in the Airport is dominate by AA employees because most whites consider them jobs beneath them how many white people cut grass but their own work at the carwash I can bet 90% of all businesses at all Southern Airports are white owned but you seem to be ok with that any take your kids to the Airport to get a job I bet you not smh
I am truly excited about the Civic dedication and work of a young person like Mr. Burks! It’s time for young citizens to be heard and push us to become ONE GREAT CITY! Many times the beginning of success requires ONLY MAKING THAT FIRST STEP! As I recall, in the 1940’s metro Nashville took that first step and MERGED ITS PUBLIC SERVICES…which opened the door to becoming ONE GREAT NASHVILLE. I’m sure Mr. Burks can identify many more
HUGE SUCCESS STORIES that began
with a SMALL STEP! ( wasn’t that mentioned by one of our Astronauts?).
Education Study Research Demography
Science Public Forums are essential….
BUT ,finally, there MUST BE ACTION!
Young Birmingham, don’t be afraid to SUCCEED!
Thank you for your encouragement, Jerome!
Chris, what is your response to this… Sounds good and all but what do you say about all the other very successful metros that are just as (if not more) fragmented than Birmingham? Look at Atlanta, 6.5 million people, but ATL proper is like 450k. So clearly the Atlanta metro is made up of many smaller townships/governments etc. This is similar to Dallas, Houston, and many many others.
Thanks for the comment, Brett. I say let’s learn from these case studies and bring back lessons for Greater Birmingham.
There are a variety of ways we can improve regional decision-making. The Together We Prosper (2017) report examines four successful metros to bring back lessons for Greater Birmingham regarding functional consolidation, modernizing county government, cooperation through regional entities, and political consolidation.
Context:
https://www.cfbham.org/together-we-prosper/
Full Report:
https://www.cfbham.org/assets/2019/07/Together-We-Can…Charting-a-Course-to-Regional-Cooperation-in-Birmingham.pdf
Old regionalist argued for metropolitan government through political consolidation of central cities with suburbs and their counties. New regionalists seek alternatives to political consolidation for improving regional decision-making. While there can be value in political consolidation, this route is often judged as infeasible and undesirable. So we need to strengthen other venues and mechanisms for regional collaboration. Hence, the title of this article refers to governance rather than government.
Governance is the art of bringing people together across multiple government, business, and nonprofit organizations to solve public problems. This coordination challenge is intensified by political fragmentation. Metro Birmingham has been measured as the most fragmented region in the South according to Davis Rusk’s Cities Without Suburbs (2013), and this conclusion was supported by Chris Goodman’s more recent (2021) assessment: https://www.cgoodman.com/blog/archives/2021/04/16/municipal-fragmentation-in-u.s.-metro-areas-in-3-maps/
I think you’ll enjoy the Together We Prosper report. I’ll be building on this report in my own work. Many thanks to Chris Nanni, Thomas Spencer, and the many others who brought that report to life. Their leadership inspires me.
Thanks for reading.
I wish you the best results for your excellent effort. This is an extremely complex matter, and we can already read that in previous responses. But this is quite a serious study you have undertaken. My one point for now, and I will try to keep following, is your correct emphasis, not just on getting bigger, but ‘greater.’ To me that is the proper goal.
You were wise too open at this site as it does connect many interested people.
Keep going! Good luck for you and Birmingham!
Thank you, Roy! Several readers have reached out already, and I look forward to hearing from more.
It appears that you have wasted your time on this research .
This subject has been discussed, debated, and evaluated for over 30 years. It is not going to happen.
B’ham was just voted as the 5th highest city in the USA in Misery Index.
Current Murder stats in B’ham are boarding on the highest
number of Murders in the history of the city.
Having worked in DC for years, I became aware of how many of us looked outside our DC fur lined ruts and concluded that we know the best solutions for the poor souls living in the real world.
I am willing to bet, you will not live long enough to see any part of your study to become implemented.
This is only hard because people are not willing to look outside their assumptions about what can happen. People on the right think it’s all about personal initiative. It’s pretty hard to take initiative if you don’t have the money to do anything. Much of life is just plain luck. People on the left too often think it is all about racism. I believe racism did create this ugly situation, but today that is somewhat in the past. Most people aren’t racist today. But are they willing to cooperate with people who are less lucky? That is the question. It may mean they make themselves a little more vulnerable than they have been comfortable being. They may lose a little bit of their accumulated fortune. But as a result, they will live in a society where everybody has a chance.
Please be encouraged and let the naysayers and haters do what they do! Take a deep dive into the gerrymandered local house and senate districts inside Jefferson County. There are white members who do not live in Jefferson County.
I think there are seven state Senators and seventeen state house Representatives. This is a total of twenty four combatants!! Solve that and economic development in Birmingham and Jefferson County will sky rocket!!
Also look at the Jefferson County Board of Education and the Jefferson County Commission. They are two regional examples of pragmatic elected officials who are working well together across race and class line!!!
Once place to start is with the creation of a Jefferson County Superintendents Association which will allow the 13 Scholar Superintendents to just around a table and talk and learn from each other!!! Just collaborate not consolidate!!
Glad to hear that Jefferson County Board of Education and the Jefferson County Commission do show good collaboration.
Regional government is the opposite of the white flight movement of the late 60’s thru the early 90’s. Without details regional government sounds great, but I think we would need to address the root causes of the white flight before ever moving forward with regional governance. If we don’t acknowledge and try to correct the causes/reasons people left the city of Birmingham we are setting ourselves up to fail again.
How would this affect differing tax structures in the region?
How would this affect school systems?
How would this affect representation on governing boards?
How would this affect safety and police/fire services?
The city of Birmingham and Jefferson County have each had terrible records in governing over the last 20-30 years. How about simply turning over the governance to cities from Over the Mountain since they have had success? That probably wouldn’t sit well with many folks in Birmingham, Fairfield, Bessemer, Hueytown, etc. But that’s exactly how many folks in Over the Mountain areas feel when they hear about Regional Government. There are reasons why those cities broke off and those reasons must be addressed before just throwing a plan out.
Our nation is very divided, just like this metro area. In an idealist world a regional government sounds great but in reality very few people want to have LESS power and representation for their communities and that’s what regionalism offers.
I am not sold of this idea of Regional Government. There seems to be a lot of talk but no firm plans.
Step one: form Regional Government
Step five: succeed as a metro area
Give us the steps to make the idea work and then we can consider it.
90% is whites never wants to live around Blacks every white person know that just tell the truth when Bull Conner was doing his whites was cool when Blacks got power they PERIOD!!
How did Washington, DC go from 75% black to under 50% in 20 years?
I think we can be sure it’s just because there is so much money there. That is where you can get the government to give you special deals. I remember in 1998, I visited both Washington, DC and Ottawa, Canada the first time. I was struck by how different they looked. You could tell Washington was an incredibly wealthy place. There were high rises all over. The buildings all looked well maintained. Ottawa actually looked a little run down. I can’t prove this, but I assume the difference is that the Canadians limited the power of money in their system. In fact, I remember an interview of Robert Reich about 2000 where he said he had worked in Washington since the 70’s, and it didn’t used to look so rich. He said it was with Reagan that the federal government opened themselves to an unlimited influence of money.
So it would be a mistake to think that Birmingham could easily follow Washington’s example.
This was definitely true inside the beltway. But DC was very black in 1998. My point is just I don’t think race per se matters as much as people think. Me? I always was living in majority non-white neighborhoods as I was cheap.
I’d happily live in a majority black neighborhood of Birmingham, but the houses are falling down. And they aren’t sturdy brick townhouses like in Capital Hill that are worth renovating.
Whether that’s a legacy of racism or some factor I don’t know about, I can’t say.
It is definitely a legacy of racism. But we need to see this as a historical thing. Racism is not really a living thing today. There is still racism, but it is mostly in small towns like Harrison, Arkansas. People actually move to small towns to escape people of color. In large cities you have to live with them. But people who are selfish are not necessarily racist. That is what we see in the Birmingham area. Selfish people.
It would be interesting to see what would happen if you offfered that to those “over the mountain” leaders. I would say close to zero chance they would accept. Of course things are easier when you have more money. I agree with Will. White flight happened because not enough whites wanted to follow Christ’s command to be “neighbors” to people unlike themselves. Making sure their property values stayed as high as possible was more important. And of course they just didn’t want to mingle with blacks. When Birmingham’s tax base went into decline eventually people had to start leaving because the schools and city services declined. But nobody had to in the 60’s.
If the one man one vote principle had been practiced in equity drawn districts inside Jefferson County since 1901 the issue of white flight would have been minimized! Too late so let us deal with what is in place now and try to eliminate the vestiges of gerrymandering and have equity in the local delegation! Look at the rate of poverty and crime in each of the 32 cities in Jefferson County! Lower rates of poverty equals lower rates crime. This is not rocket science as this is raw economic and business capital at work.! Make race and education and economic development work as a positive reminder of the American dream.
I remember back in the 1970s, an effort to consolidate government in Birmingham was launched. it failed. However, it was a very badly ran campaign. Despite further efforts to consolidate, Birmingham Metro went the opposite direction, forming close to 35 different governments. Of course, chaos ensued. 35 mayor’s, each with the ego that comes with the politician, 35 police departments, some more aggressive than others. with almost all of which are the financial rainmakers for their city, the money from traffic tickets. 35 Fire Departments, 35 public works, and most but not all having their own school system. Results are what you would think they would be. Birmingham carries them all in its back, but doesn’t get reimbursed. Take a look at Nashville, Miami, and Jacksonville. All three are Consolidated Governments, all three have grown exponentially in past 15 years. And Jacksonville, with their consolidation approval vote, became the largest city by land area in the USA. Nashville and Jacksonville today have thriving NFL teams, that were only a dream before they consolidated governments. Birmingham has so much potential, but it’s burbs and seen as a liability bot an asset. United We Stand, Divided We Fall are much more than catchy song lyrics. These really are words to be taken seriously. If you don’t, forget real growth.
And, also important and effective is that Florida and Tennessee have no state income tax. Furthermore, what about Birminghams occupational tax? How is that helping?
i had forgotten all about that pain in the neck tax. That is something I think would need to be repealed for other Jeffco cities to even think of consolidating.
Yes! That is BIG trouble that needs to be repealed, all of it. If replacement revenue is needed, first see if there is any real need, then find something helpful that provides what is needed for improvement of conditions for entire Metro Birmingham and the state.
I thought the occupational tax was already repealed maybe 12 years ago. I have thought for a long time that Birmingham deserved to have that, given that so many people earn their livings in Birmingham and don’t take responsibility for its problems. But I suppose it only makes sense on the assumption that there is no regional integration of government.
The Occupational tax might have been repealed, I am not able to confirm one way or the other. But it must have had a negative effect on the city of Birmingham. If you wanted a job, and commuting to Downtown is difficult and expensive while you have to pay an extra tax, why would you want one there? Businesses and commercial retail moved out and the jobs followed, Hoover and the Riverchase Mall being outstanding examples So why is Pizits’ no longer the grand department store, or Loveman’s. I would say that is why. Fortunately they do have great new uses thanks to the tax credit subsidies.
This is just my guess. I don’t think the Galleria developed because of the occupational tax. It was just because Americans chose a car-based lifestyle, and once you have that lifestyle, free and easy parking is the most important thing. Suburban sprawl promoted people living further and further out, so eventually the Galleria was a profitable thing. Some of the other suburban malls like Brookwood have now died because they can’t compete with Amazon and Wal Mart. The end of the occupational tax didn’t save them.
In my opinion, there is a good chance you will have a job in downtown Birmingham whether the occupational tax exists or not. That is just the nature of any metropolitan area. Businesses like banks and big law firms locate in the center. I suppose because they need to be close to other similar businesses.
I doubt the occupational tax was ever such a burdensome thing that it drove anyone into the poor house.
If Bham repealed the Occ Tax that would be awesome. As for Pizitz and Lovemans, I used to shop there all the time. I( especially loved the 75% off of the Pink Ticket Price sale at Pititz. Happened 3 times a year and I would go rack up. Lovemans was where I bought my mother’s first Christmas present entirely with money I earned. I was 11 years old taking bus from Idlewild to Downtown alone.If a kid did that today, DHR would be called. I still say that the clerk added the few cents I was off between money and price, though she said I had exact amount. I bought am Eight Place Set of International Stainless Flatware. Add in Parisians, Vaughn Weil, Burger Phillips, New Ideal, Goldbro,
What fine days we did live back then! As a boy, shopping with my mother, no malls anywhere, I would be dressed up, not casual at all! She took me into those stores to buy clothes for me. The ‘credit card’ was a boldly stamped small plaque of iron. It worked for her account.
In addition there was Yielding’s, a fine place to buy groceries downtown as well as clothing. If I recall correctly, I believe they would also deliver groceries.
I do not expect any of that to come back, and yet as downtown population increases, there may be more stores following.
I was born in Jefferson county when education had some quality. We have lived in other area s while working on our education and degrees , our careers as well and moved out of state and returned some years later . Our children were educated in the Jefferson county school system during that era .
To day it is a different story . Why have cities with school systems flourished ? Quality of education in their community . Why have people and families left Birmingham ? Better way of life , and better education for their children .
Jefferson county has worn out their education system with busing and lowering the quality of education ask any one who goes to a Jefferson county school . Especially parents and grand parents.
If you want to see the region grow allow the other areas to build there on school systems in the county and consuming smaller cities for the tax base to support education , cut busing across the county and let Jefferson county get out of education . Return to the hard work and effort of education by educators and parents and families . Just look at the success of smaller towns not just around Birmingham but all over the state and country .
Birmingham should be side lined to the civil rights district and a new name for the region like Magic cities .
This process leads to regional metroplex because of the funding need to sustain services . Big fish eat little fish every day .
If you really think people living in cities surrounding Birmingham want to live in Birmingham just not going to happen ever.
Why y’all keep fighting it when population loss is continuing and cities like Huntsville and Mobile , Hoover ,Trussville , Vestavia , Mountain Brook , Home wood . Let’s get on board with more cities with school systems in Jefferson county .
Mr. Morton,
You seem to think the only important thing is economic development. The ability of individuals to make money. But people have to live together, too. You won’t be able to ship the people of Birmingham away to somewhere else in the world where you’ll never see them again. So living together is important. Something like good public transit makes life bearable for people who have less money. They can get to their jobs, churches, stores and doctors without bankrupting themselves. But it costs money to provide good transit. That means you have to care about more than what will bring the optimal economic growth.
bravo!!!
Christopher, thank you for doing this important work. I see from your web site that you are working on issues of regional cooperation within the context of racism in America. I hope you will pursue this in a nuanced way. I definitely believe that racism played a part in the fragmentation of metro areas like Detroit, St. Louis, and Birmingham. But I think maybe the wisest thing is to treat that as somewhat in the past. Yes, people who went over the mountain in the 50’s and 60’s rather than live with African Americans were racist. But I’m not sure it is helpful to “foreground” that today. Today the issue is more whether we want a cooperative society. (Cont. I have to do this on my phone, so I may have to break it into parts in case it crashes somehow!)
So why do I think cooperation is more helpful than anti-racism? Frankly I just think the new racism is something like libertarianism. The idea that everyone is to tally responsible for their own fate. We depend on each other a lot.
We have been a car-centered society for about 70 years. A lot of people assume that car drivers totally pay their own way, but the reality is that driving is highly subsidized by the taxpayers in America. I remember when the Northern Beltline was being debated maybe 8 years ago, one man said it was a great idea because without 459, our “Southern Beltline,” his neighborhood in Vestavia wouldn’t exist. But that begs the question whether his neighborhood SHOULD have existed. I would say no. He should be living in Birmingham today. That 459 played a role in how he could say, “Though I earn my living in Birmingham, I don’t have to live there because there’s a freeway that will make it easy to commute, I-459. So my housing real estate value would be higher than it would be in Birmingham. You never know, after my house value is computed, I might be a millionaire!” He might not be racist. In fact he might have good friends who are black. But he contributes to a system where black people are disadvantaged. (Cont.)
The real crying need in Birmingham, and indeed all of Alabama, is better public transit. Alabama is just one of four states that don’t fund it at all. It is actually prohibited to spend money on transit from gas tax money, one of the major ways transit is funded in most states. This is Amendment 93 to the Alabama Constitution.
When I worked at UAB, I served on a committee that gave financial aid to employees having financial problems. We had quite a few employees that were only making about $1,200 a month and were trying to spend $300-400 of that on a car. Unaffordable. If they tried to use our transit system, they would be late to work frequently. Birmingham’s transit is ranked 90th among the 100 largest systems in America.
I have often had people say to me, “why do we have buses when they are almost always empty when I see them?” I always tell them if the buses ran more often, they wouldn’t be empty. Why take a bus when it only runs once an hour, and you can’t be sure it will even come? But more frequent service costs money.
I wanted to do one more installment of my comments. Thanks for your patience in considering these things. I ran into this article on efforts to achieve transportation equity in Portland, Oregon. It talks a lot about the role of racism in the way Portland developed, through things like redlining. I am not an expert on Portland, never having lived there. But I did grow up in the Seattle area, just a little north of there. There has definitely been racism in that part of the country. I saw it first hand when I was growing up. In my hometown, Tacoma, Washington, black people were concentrated in a particular part of town. I am sure that redlining played a role in that.
The article talks about how people in disadvantaged areas of Portland, often populated by African Americans, worry that gentrification will drive them out by raising housing costs. This is a worry in Birmingham, too. But I am pretty sure there is a contrast between the situation in Portland and the one in Birmingham. In the West, even if an area is considered “blighted,” it still has some value. Someone will want to move into the houses or at least develop the land if the building is demolished. In Eastern cities like Birmingham with large black populations, property is often completely abandoned. You could not give the land away free! This creates the really amazing contrast between an apartment building in North Birmingham being offered for $10,000 and one on the South Side offered for $1,500,000! The after effects of past racism are far more severe than they are in Portland. If Birmingham had a $15 an hour minimum wage a lot of those neighborhoods would be in better shape. The owners would be able to maintain their homes. Living in large cities is expensive today. You cannot live on $7.25 an hour.
https://www.fastcompany.com/90825907/the-inside-story-of-how-portland-oregon-tried-to-address-decades-of-racist-transit-policies?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=7e6a584d-e8af-4b6a-8baa-68e1f8a763b5
Would it not make more sense to implement regional governance incrementally? Unifying public schools will be the most difficult by a large margin. Transportation and utilities seem to be more pressing anyway, and easier to implement.
The biggest problems Birmingham faces seem to be crime and incentivizing new development. The city has huge swaths of underdeveloped or vacant land, yet where is the development despite unusually high residential prices and limited inventory?
Education has little to nothing to do with this.
I personally lived in Birmingham for about 6 months and left for reasons unrelated to the city itself, which I think has much potential. I would like to come back, but when $500K doesn’t get you much… it is very hard to pull the trigger.
The one thing Birmingham has is a historical grid layout that could easily be a city of 500,000 or more. Many cities, such as Washington, DC where American is located, were majority black just 10 years ago and overwhelmingly black 20 years ago. Contrary to what some are posting here, people don’t really care about race that much if the city has the urban amenities they want. Public schools in Washington, DC are still terrible.
Education should be a long-term plan as I don’t think it could be remotely touched unless there was a solid urban core already in place.
Robert,
Really good points. How do you promote development in Birmingham? To be honest, if $500,000 is too much for someone, I doubt you can do anything about that. I rent and may have to move into subsidized senior housing since renting in a nice area has now become too expensive for me, too. But the really important question is how to help the depressed neighborhoods that have become depopulated. As I said, if we had a $15 minimum wage, those areas would be doing better. People would have the resources to maintain and upgrade their property. And decent public transportation would mean people with lower incomes could get around the metro area without bankrupting themselves with a car.
There is no question Birmingham and Alabama would benefits greatly from strong labor oriented policies, but those are at the federal level. I personally don’t think state minimum wages do that much to alleviate poverty.
The problem we have today is housing is impossibly expensive everywhere for most people, and that isn’t something that will change easily very soon.
I’ve thought about moving back to Birmingham and I have a $500,000 to $600,000 budget. There really isn’t a lot available where I really want to live.
At the same time, Birmingham and Huntsville are among the most affordable cities in the country.
Birmingham is one of the last cities in America with skycrapers surrounded by parking lots. If property owners won’t develop land that is in high demand, the city should condemn as part of an urban renewal project.
But why doesn’t this happen? Incompetence? Are developers afraid of corruption?
I don’t know.
More really good points. That is interesting about Birmingham being “one of the last cities with skyscrapers surrounded by parking lots.” I do think the city could be more aggressive in property matters. For example, the building I mentioned that was offered for $1.5 million on the South Side had homeless squatters. There was even at least one fire in it. In my opinion it was outrageous. The owners–don’t think I’ll mention their name right now, though they are one of the major real estate companies in Birmingham–refused to make the effort to secure the building. I said on NextDoor that I thought the city should seize the property. But the question is, could they do that in the face of wealthy developers? They would be probably be sued for big bucks. Essentially a huge problem in Alabama is the lack of home rule and the power that money has to stop things and determine priorities.
Eventually they tore the building down. I bet they want $1 million just for the property since it’s in Five Points South.
I don’t know the political reasons. But this anecdote doesn’t surprise me in the slightest. The whole downtown urban core is filled with vacant or underutilized commercial/retail buildings.
I remember being very impressed with 2nd Avenue North. But then you go a few blocks away and it is beyond dead.
Are you saying Birmingham doesn’t have the political right to condemn properties that are blighting the city? How about imposing punitive property taxes on underutilized or blighted properties?
Before New York City took off 20 years ago, there was talk about assessing parking lots in Manhattan based on their highest and best use, not as parking lots. At the time, property owners speculating on land would run the parking lot just so it would pay the real estate taxes.
One major factor that needs to be kept in mind is that before any form of Cooperative vote can be considered, the Alabama Legislature must pass it and governor must sign it. Y’all remember the Alabama Legislature??? That group of true Do-Nothings that prove daily that the name Goat Hill is still appropriate. They were anti Birmingham 15 years ago and they are even more anti Birmingham today. This will not change as long as RepubliCANTs have supermajority. When I e party is allowed to achieve a supermajority in the Legislative Branch, that government is no longer a Democracy. In Alabama, so many drank the MAGA Kool Ade, it will take decades to straighten out. By then, it likely will be too late for the Birmingham Metro Area to factor. The responsibility for this sets fully at the feet of the voters. They have been so blindsided by an Orange, Deranged Creature and his not Magic Beans that there’s little hope left. This is what people around the country are saying about Alabama and Birmingham. Birmingham will remain small and fractured as long as the Legislature has a hand in anything that could bring positive growth for Birmingham. The darlings of the Legislature are Huntsville and Mobile. if either came to the Legislature with a cooperative government bill, it would win hands down. Why won’t it win in Birmingham??? Who makes up Birmingham?? Who makes up Huntsville and Mobile??? There’s your answer to why the current Legislature will never let Birmingham have a win and that’s incredibly sad.
I mentioned this on another article comment board. Republicans aren’t necessarily unanimous. I remember in 2017 during the special senatorial election the Republican Establishment (I assume) ran ads that said Mo Brooks and Roy Moore were not real supporters of president Trump and wouldn’t build the Mexico wall. That infuriated me. I thought “that’s a lie. They’d be more likely to build it than Luther Strange.” But I suppose the Establishment knew Brooks and Moore might not win. Strange was the smooth-talking candidate who would beat Doug Jones. So though I am a Democrat, I actually contributed to Brooks and Moore. I was so happy when they stopped Strange.
Later I asked Brooks and Moore “why do you think the Establishment wanted to stop you?” Only Moore wrote back. He said “I’m sure they did, but at least I got to take the Democrats to court for defamation (related to the sex abuse case).
Thing about Mo Brooks is he’s probably the last or one of the last Dixiecrats still alive. Saddest thing though is he spews negativity in all he does I say this all the while here in Georgia, we have Marjorie Traitor Greede, who on January 1, 2023, rather than wish her constituents a Happy and Prosperous New Year, she suggested that the USA bomb Mexico. She has yet to release a positive statement yet. Every day she bellyaches and complains and threatens some group of not exactly like her people. Yeah, so Mo Brooks definitely has a boatload of flaws, but even he’s not as bad as Marjorie Traitor Greede. I’m simply grateful I don’t live in her district. Its humiliating enough she’s from GA. Diplomacy cries in sheer pain and angst every time that woman opens her filthy mouth.
Yes I think Greene is a national embarrassment. I think what got Brooks in trouble is sometime in 2016 or 2017 he said, “I don’t necessarily agree with everything Trump says.”
When Brooks said that he was instantly cancelled by Alabama MAGA Cult.
It seems to me that the general poverty of the region is such that the state legislature definitely is responsible. But why is the Birmingham urban core so expensive now? If a 2-bedroom condo in a 1920s skyscraper is selling for $500,000, isn’t that a good enough price to warrant building decent new high rise apartment towers?
What about neighborhoods that are very close to gentrified ones? Sure, the housing stock often is not very good. Why not bulldoze it and make townhouses?
There are actually townhouses coming to the city that are offering for $1.6 MILLION.
You could buy a house and live comfortably anywhere in America if you had $1.6 million in your pocket. If I had that much money, I’d be in Los Angeles tomorrow.
There is something more to this story that I just can’t quite grasp.
One thing I have observed is that African Americans in single-family neighborhoods are suspicious of development. I went to a meeting of the North Titusville neighborhood a frw years ago. The residents said they didn’t want apartments to be built in the area. Apparently their past experience of apartments is they become blighted and drove down their property values. They are proud to have kept their houses in good shape and afraid higher-density development will undermine that. I wish we could have higher density in that area because our new Bus Rapid Transit line goes through there.
I believe that. Middle class people of all ethnicities are like that in NYC, but you can’t find a house anywhere in the city for less than $600,000. The NIMBY factor is hard to overcome because they aren’t rich people.
I haven’t spent much time in Birmingham outside of the city proper and some time in Homewood. I was thinking of someplace I thought had potential – Norwood. I was very interested in renovating a house there. But now, it’s just too expensive. Some flippers have even taken to the place and are pushing for a lot of money.
I feel like the best bet for Birmingham is vertical development in the urban core. That alone could easily accommodate 100,000 people in 10 years or less and wouldn’t require any new infrastructure. Bus service would be easier to implement in a small geographic area, and most new residents wouldn’t place any demands on the public school system in the short term.
Let’s say 20 new high rise developments are constructed and Birmingham becomes a gleaming new city. Would regional governance be easier to implement if this kind of development existed?
I suspect the answer is yes.
You are completely correct about the Legislature. I also don’t recall what the origins of the almost unbridled disgust the Legislature has against Birmingham. Surely the Legislature has at least enough smarts to know that without Birmingham, Alabama immediately goes to the bottom of every list known. Then again, Alabama Legislature does have a bad habit of cutting off it’s nose despite its face. I know this, unless and until the State drops their rock and shows true common sense both are going to end up suffering the consequences.
I’ve tried to back away from politics seeing as how nothing gets done of significance. I haven’t actually thought of it, but you’re absolutely right about the significance of Birmingham. Huntsville may be cheap and safe, but it’s not a real city and 100 miles from anything that matters. Mobile may be charming but hasn’t been a city of much significance probably since the roaring 1920s.
Birmingham really is the only reason that Alabama is not completely forgotten.
The politics of the state don’t make much sense to me. I have driven through the northern half, and poverty and deprivation are endemic. Even Huntsville seemed at best middle class in the nicest parts.
After 50+ years of right-wing politics, do people really think MORE right-wing politics will provide for them a basic standard of living? Does it really all boil down to abortion? Racism?
Funniest thing of all is fact that given the population of Jefferson County outside of Birmingham very well could add up to a GOP majority, though I think it will be close. I completely agree with what you said. Alabama and Birmingham need each other to be able to survive. However, likely the day will never come that any of the powers that be from the county and the state that this fact will never be admitted. Gotta love that False Pride playing a role too.
I remember when George Wallace was governor . The city of Birmingham area was republican . The interstate system was slowed to a stop during this era .
It was not until Alabama had a two party governing system of checks and balances then the interstate system moved forward .
Interstate commerce is vital to the growth of the entire area we live in. It is not complete till this day especially the Northern beltway . However my point is this , Birmingham seems to be on the opposite end of state politics . Birmingham crime what we read about in the news is just the outer filter of crime . I think the city needs an audit just so the public can see where all tax payer dollars are being spent . Declining population and spending more tax dollars is not adding up . There are many examples of reverse discrimination in Birmingham a white owned business gets squeezed so as to sell out . Who will you sell your business to ? Who benefits ? Birmingham is not an example we need to follow in making this a metro area . Birmingham need to be a district supported by tourism and civil rights history . Let the cities that are well run take over parts of Birmingham and put theses cities responsible for education divide it up into more efficiently run governments . The accumulative effect could be more rewarding than one government entity controlling the entire region like Birmingham .
Actually when Uncle Corley was governor – first two terms, along with Lurleen’s term – Birmingham was about as Dixiecrat as George was. In today’s world, Im sorry to say if Bull Connor were alive, he would be full on MAGAett. An aside, Alabama really needs to get its act together and figure our a way to progress and have positive growth FAST. Kari Lake is taking a sickening look at what her chances might be if she moved to Alabama and ran for governor in 2026. If that does not send chills through you nothing will. It was during David Vann’s term that population shifted to the Black majority that it is today. Atlanta actually made the transition a few years before; however, the current population makeup is almost 50/50 here. I make no secret that it took 40+ years for Birmingham to finally get a mayor that was worth his salt. If all there know what’s good for themselves, they will not ruin him away, instead, hug the man and thank God he has a real vision for the future. It’s also a very real change of pace to have both mayor and council on the same page. In the past 6 to 8 years, Birmingham has come further than in the 35 years prior to that. Over those bad years, Birmingham gained the title of the Tragic Town, and the City Too- Scared To- Grow. Of course, it is not all the city’s fault. The state has literally gone out of its way to make very sure that Birmingham never grows, for it is Huntsville and Mobile the state wants to prosper.
Birmingham does not pave roads especially east side bordering Irondale / Trussville . Why did Birmingham leap frog around the county at that time to swallow up a land grab .
Birmingham has not serviced many areas of the city with roads , if they are that stretched financially maybe it is time for citizens and business to look at options to leave Birmingham . Birmingham is the worst example of a city in our region with its on school system . I have followed this forum come back town for about five years , many good comments during this time and trying to look at this in a positive way as Birmingham is the mother city. But the realty is consolidation with Birmingham being the hub for the region is never going to happen in our life time . If any thing more people and business are leaving Birmingham . 2023 will be a period of time where all the money that has been spent to improve tax base needs to come home for tax payers , pave the roads the city owns or let these areas De – Annex from Birmingham .
I remember when George Wallace was governor . The city of Birmingham area was republican . The interstate system was slowed to a stop during this era .
It was not until Alabama had a two party governing system of checks and balances then the interstate system moved forward .
Interstate commerce is vital to the growth of the entire area we live in. It is not complete till this day especially the Northern beltway . However my point is this , Birmingham seems to be on the opposite end of state politics . Birmingham crime what we read about in the news is just the outer filter of crime . Declining population and spending more tax dollars is not adding up . There are many examples of reverse discrimination in Birmingham a white owned business gets squeezed so as to sell out . Who will you sell your business to ? Who benefits ? Birmingham is not an example we need to follow in making this a metro area . Birmingham need to be a district supported by tourism and civil rights history . Let the cities that are well run take over parts of Birmingham and put theses cities responsible for education divide it up into more efficiently run governments . The accumulative effect could be more rewarding than one government entity controlling the entire region like Birmingham .
“Birmingham was Republican”? Do you really think there is any significant difference between the Democratic Party of that time and the Republicans of today?
Actually during that time, Democrats in the South were known as Dixiecrats. Republicans were anti tax and spend, which Dixiecrats were enamoured with. Today it’s GOP that spends like it’s water and Democrats that fix the damage caused by their careless acts.
A southern democrat was the same as a national republican . But the one party run state gave way to a two party system . One party looking over the shoulders of the other . The state of Alabama seems to be about seventy % republican today . They are issues in The Republican Party and the legislature that give way for pause , that is to lengthy to discuss on this forum and it effects all of Alabama . Balanced government is the answer weather it is national state or local . Working through differences is easier said than done . Birmingham got a new interstate through down town , so quit squeaking about Huntsville and Mobile and there growth . The northern by pass will basically by pass down town Birmingham except for Interstate 65 . Interstate commerce is part of the solution to the future of this region of the country . Jobs and manufacturing is a hub for supplying other cities in a wide offering of products and services , automotive ,space , food , energy , medicine higher education , sports, entertainment . It may be time for Birmingham and Jefferson county to move over to a new and more forward thinking cities grouping together to achieve success with equal opportunity for all . Birmingham is to spread out to a come back town , the mining for ore and steel of the past is in part over . But new steel and.
New manufacturing as we see in the western part of the state is world class . Stainless steel German owned In South Alabama . Alabama has made strides , Space city fast place to live on the move . But Birmingham has been left in the dust . I ask my self why ? Leader ship that is still living in the past and like many democrat run cities like keeping the population as economic slaves . Now ask your self why are people leaving Birmingham ?
Ray thanks for laying out all those points. I agree interstate commerce is necessary. We are part of the United States. The interstates are a big part of what connects us.
I think Birmingham is probably also too spread out, as you say. But why is it spread out? I think to some extent cities spread out just because they can. For example, Miami can’t because it’s caught between the Atlantic and the Everglades. San Francisco can’t because it’s caught between the Pacific and the Bay. There is also a large mountain on part of the Southern border of San Francisco.
Wichita, Kansas is a city I have lived in that seems like its sprawl is a good thing. If you like low-density, sprawling living move to Wichita. It has plenty of freeways to handle its traffic. It is not nearly as large a city as metro Birmingham, so generally traffic isn’t that bad. It has some black population, but only maybe about 10%, so racial tension, while present, is not too high. Wichita has few suburbs. Almost all the population is in the city itself.
Birmingham is quite a contrast to Wichita. The population is almost all black in the city and almost all white in the suburbs. I know that’s an exaggeration, but it’s close to true. There are parts of Birmingham that are super depressed. As I said in another comment, there was a whole apartment complex in north Birmingham for sale for $10,000, and one on the South Side for $1,500,000! So what do you do for that area where the $10,000 place was? The people who live in that area have trouble living on their incomes. They have trouble maintaining their houses, so sometimes they just abandon them. One thing that would help would be a higher minimum wage. Another would be better public transit so that they don’t have to depend on buying a car they can’t afford to get to work.
Thank you for considering this.