By David Sher
I’m going to let you in on a little secret.
Not every idea presented by ComebackTown is viable or likely to happen.
ComebackTown’s goal is to make people aware of problems and opportunities with the intent to move our region forward.
Recently, ComebackTown published a piece that suggested that Birmingham and Hoover, the two major cities in Jefferson County, consider a merger to become the largest city in Alabama.
I clearly stated that the “chance of this happening is somewhere near zero.”
But the comments were swift and brutal.
Facebook comments exploded with fury. People called it “collective suicide” and warned against returning to “the hellscape that is Birmingham.”
The vitriol was stunning.
The Great Exodus Still Echoes
Some suburban animosity toward Birmingham is not unexpected, but is unsettling. It is rooted in decades of white flight that began in earnest during the 1960s. Families fled Birmingham for what they saw as better schools, safer streets, and newer infrastructure.
That exodus created a psychological divide that persists today.
The Irony of Dependence
Here’s what makes the suburban divide so ironic: these communities depend almost entirely on Birmingham for their economic vitality and quality of life.
Where do suburban residents work? Many commute into Birmingham’s downtown core, the UAB medical district, or other city-based employers.
Where do they fly out of? Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport—a city asset that connects the entire region to the world.
Where do they take their kids for weekend fun? The Birmingham Zoo, the McWane Science Center, or Railroad Park. All Birmingham amenities.
Where do they go for fun and sport? Regions Field, Top Golf, the BJCC, Protective Stadium, the new Coca-Cola Amphitheater, Red Mountain Theater, the Alys Stephens Center, or possibly Barber Motorsports Park—all in the City of Birmingham.
The Engine That Powers the Region
Birmingham isn’t just another municipality in Jefferson County. It’s the economic engine that makes suburban prosperity possible.
The city’s universities, hospitals, and businesses create the high-paying jobs that allow families to afford those Hoover and Vestavia Hills homes. UAB alone employs over 28,000 people in our region and generates billions in economic impact.
Remove Birmingham’s economic core, and the suburban tax base would crater. Property values would plummet. The entire regional economy would collapse.
A Vacant Heart Kills the Body
Imagine if Birmingham truly became the “hellscape” some suburbanites claim it already is. Picture downtown as a vacant wasteland, UAB shuttered, the airport closed, cultural amenities abandoned.
Would Hoover thrive? Would Mountain Brook remain desirable?
Of course not. You can’t have healthy suburbs surrounding a dead city center. The relationship is symbiotic, whether suburban residents acknowledge it or not.
Birmingham is getting better
Birmingham has problems, but is making progress.
Birmingham’s violent crime rate has dropped dramatically. Homicides fell over 50% in the first six months of this year.
Last year Birmingham City Schools gained enrollment for the first time in nearly three decades.
Birmingham High School graduates are offered millions in college scholarships through a program only available for Birmingham City School students. The Birmingham Promise guarantees high school graduates a full college scholarship to any two or four-year public college in Alabama, as long as they are accepted for admission.
Collaboration over Competition
The most successful metropolitan areas treat their urban core and suburbs as partners, not adversaries.
Nashville’s consolidated government demonstrates the power of regional thinking. Louisville’s merger created immediate economic benefits.
Merging our city governments is not likely, but we must choose collaboration over competition.
The Path Forward
Suburban residents don’t need to love Birmingham. They don’t need to move back into Birmingham or send their kids to city schools.
But they do need to recognize reality: their prosperity depends on Birmingham’s success.
A thriving Birmingham means higher suburban property values. It means better job opportunities for their children. It means essential amenities in their backyard.
The suburbs can continue nursing their grievances against Birmingham or they can acknowledge that their fates are intertwined.
The Choice is clear
Birmingham is the heart that pumps life through the entire metropolitan area. The suburbs can work to keep that heart healthy and strong, or they can watch it weaken and take their own communities down with it.
The recent toxic response to the merger suggestion shows how far we still have to go. But Birmingham’s continued improvement and the region’s growing challenges make collaboration not just beneficial—but essential.
The suburbs depend on Birmingham whether they admit it or not. It’s time to start acting like it.
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).
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Invite David to speak for free to your group about how we can have a more prosperous metro Birmingham. dsher@comebacktown.com
David, then why on earth are you suggesting things that you yourself know are not realistic? That’s not going to help anything or anyone.
Here’s a smaller scale idea as an example: we have all seen those giant ladder trucks that fire departments have right? I have no idea but they probably cost multiple millions each and plenty to operate. They are probably not used that often but when you need one you need it. Why not have a county wide entity that operates just stuff like that.
Good idea, Mark! We have 35 fire departments in Jefferson County. Why can’t they collaborate? What other ideas do you have?
A lot of the problems of Birmingham are really the fault of the state government in Montgomery. The best example is the minimum wage. The cost of living in Birmingham is fairly high. We should have a minimum wage above $7.25 an hour, but the state wouldn’t let us. If the minimum wage were higher, poor neighborhoods in Birmingham would have more money to maintain their houses and other things.
Also, if Alabama funded public transit like nearly all other states do, low income people would have other options for getting to work, shopping, and other things. As a result of lack of funding, Birmingham’s transit system ranked 90th out of 100 large transit systems in the country a few years ago.
Ted, You are absolutely ‘Spot on’ I would add that there are two big growth states, north and south of Alabama. They grow more because of that stupid state income tax!
Absolutely true, Ted. And that is just the tip of the iceberg.
Does the Jefferson County Mayors Association still exist ? Why not create a new organization comprised of the 5 largest municipalities including Birmingham, Hoover, Vestavia, Homewood and Mountain Brook called “Birmingham Forward”. Leaders from their respective City Councils plus selected members of Rotary, Kiwanis and Leadership Birmingham could serve as candidates for starting a dialogue for new ways of thinking and forging our future but, without useless noise from social media. Keep discussions quiet until creative , reasonable and workable ideas emerge. Then, move ahead with regards to positive marketing and action.
Dave, I have been noting much of this many times. When I was Growing up, in my teens I witnessed the horror of racism. It is so sad to see it still exists in the suburbs. Once after a party several of my Mountain Brook- Crestline friends decided to go out at night and raid a black neighborhood. I thought that was a horrible idea. On another occasion as I was riding in the family car going up to the top of Shades Mountain, We witnessed the burning of a cross, placed where it could be seen over Shades Valley. Recently I have read that there are now your political radicals living in Vestavia Hills. All of this must stop. It simply must. Is is a sin. it is anti Christian. The Second commandment says ‘ Love your neighbor as yourself.’ I am sure a majority of African Americans a very devout Christians. Now days, I think there must be too many whites as atheists, and ‘Fake’ Christians. The Affirmative Act law, it is illegal. Racism is inhuman and idiotic!
But regard putting the far too many separate suburbs together, that must continue to be pushed to get together. This little silos are just broadly anti social, in essence.
How do I know this? I am an expert in urban design. Did you know that master plans for Birmingham and Vancouver British Columbia were created by the same Professional Planner? He was Harland Bartholomew whose office was based in St. Louis MO. That city is suffering the same fate as Birmingham and contains separate African American communities It is just as messy as Birmingham but much larger. As Vancouver expands outward (I am actually there while writing this.) here are things Birmingham now does NOT wants to copy, such as cost of living. But absolutely Birmingham should its totally remarkable transit system, and it layout. It includes bus service on main streets arriving a each stop every 5 minutes because of high density internal development, that seriously reduces automobile traffic. In spite of that, overgrowth is push people out eastward for miles where they can get commuter trains and the fast Skytrain that goes both above and below ground. And cost of living is less. There are several somewhat segregated communities but because of the ‘birds of a feather’ effect: East Indian, ‘First Nations’ (Canadian Indians) who have kept bits of their original land, Sieks (East Indians) East Indian Buddhists, China town based on Chinese who back in the time of building the trans Canada railway stem, still very much in use. recent Chinese arrivals from Hong Kong after it became are all over the place in expensive homes as they were all quite wealth. So Chinese has now become another B.C. Canadian is even more multilingual than just the legally required French and English language. The ‘Birds of a feather’ effect is found just about everywhere. But that is no excuse for Birmingham’s Racism GET RID OF IT.
If anyone wants an apology for the length of my response you have it!
Thanks for you attention!
Just put together every little opportunity to ‘gather together’ and go for merging them, ultimately resulting in the entire metropolitan city, at least Jefferson and Shelby Counties
“The suburbs can continue nursing their grievances against Birmingham or they can acknowledge that their fates are intertwined.”
Remind us again where you raised your children and where most the guilt ridden over 60 crowd that decided property taxes are too high in the suburbs, and real estate was on the cheaper side when you “mass migrated” back to BHM?
Birmingham is required to provide services to the outsiders who work within its borders. Place an occupational tax on those individuals commuting to Birmingham for work to cover the cost of maintaining police and infrastructure.
There is already 1% occupational tax for the city of Birmingham.
You must be totally ignorant of the fact that the City of Birmingham has a 1% occupational tax. And the County of Jefferson has a 1/2% tax. We have 11% sales tax on everything in the City of Birmingham. Sales taxes hurt retirees on fixed incomes.
There already is one. I paid it for about 35 years.
As a Birmingham business owner I approached you,an old family friend,about my problems with Birmingham crime.They included employees & customers being assaulted,burglaries,vandalism,& being threatened by a criminal gang.Your response was to chastise me for complaining.This was years ago,the criminal problem continued to grow & you continued to deny it.It grew to the point that Birmingham became a national leader in many forms of crime-including homicide.After years,I gave up,sold my property,& moved my business to the suburbs.In spite of all this,I never viewed Birmingham as a rival of some sort.I cheered the recent improvement in the crime situation.Birminghams problem isn’t the suburbs.In fact,quality suburbs benefit Birmingham by giving the folks that work there access to quality schools & safety.
David Sher, this article is spot-on and much needed. When I lived in Birmingham in the ’90s, I was involved in a planning session for an event that was taking place at the BJCC in conjunction with the old Birmingham Festival of Arts. A Mountain Brook lady on the committee assured us that “People from Over the Mountain won’t come to downtown.” She seemed proud to say it.
I assured her that if people from over the mountain didn’t want to come, there were plenty of people on the other side of the mountain that we could happily welcome and embrace and that it was her side of the mountain’s loss if they didn’t care to participate.
I’m back in Birmingham now and sorry to see that many suburbanites still persist in being frightened of the “big city” that provides the sole reason for their suburb’s isolated existence.
I am old enough to remember the “One Great City” movement in the 1970s which was allowed to peter out — you guessed it — in the Alabama State Legislature. We missed a great opportunity there. Look at some of our sister cities in the region to understand the missed opportunity.
“I’m back in Birmingham now and sorry to see that many suburbanites still persist in being frightened of the “big city” that provides the sole reason for their suburb’s isolated existence.”
Curious, then all the restaurants that are filled with the OTM crowds from Wednesday-Saturday nights are all from downtown?
You want to know why suburbanites do not come downtown for anything other than the food, and perhaps the museum?
Snarky comments from people like you, so let’s run down some recent events.
Aug 9th – 1 dead, 1 injured in a shooting close to Railroad Park
July 24 – I dead in a shooting at Railroad Park
June 17th – 3 Juveniles shot at Railroad Park
Now tell me again how you are going to convince a mother with kids to come to downtown BHM where there is a greater chance of being shot at than opposed to a park in Vestavia, Mt. Brook, or Homewood. I’ll wait.
I noticed you listed some incidents that you claimed to show how deadly and violent the city of Birmingham is and why OTM people don’t visit Birmingham…….
[this is false by the way, I live North of Birmingham and I have so many friends who live South of Birmingham and we congregate for events and activities downtown often].
“Snarky comments from people like you, so let’s run down some recent events.
Aug 9th – 1 dead, 1 injured in a shooting close to Railroad Park
July 24 – I dead in a shooting at Railroad Park
June 17th – 3 Juveniles shot at Railroad Park”
These are some very alarming recent stats that you claim have happened over a roughly 4 week period that I hadn’t heard about.
Especially since violent crime is said to be down about 50% in Birmingham.
I don’t read the news as much as I used to because of all the negativity so I was sure that I missed some things according to your facts.
Well a quick Google search revealed that the Aug. 9th incident that you claimed happened near Railroad Park actually happened on 14th St. and 2nd Ave. N near the Church of the Reconciler.
I forgive you for not knowing where that is, being that you don’t come downtown all that often gut that is not near Railroad park unless you are using the term very loosely.
Also there was plenty of video surveillance and the suspect was quickly apprehended and is in custody.
The other 2 incidents, were similar, one near Railroad Park, the other not so much, and they both happened in 2023, two years ago.
I’m sure that was a slight omission on your part, but it did give the impression that violent crime is up and not down as is being reported.
Just adding tome balance and context to the narrative with all the fake news going around these days.
Downtown Birmingham is not a bad place, people from all over the region visit often, violence does occur everywhere(most of the time it is between individuals who know each other), and the sky is not falling.
There I fixed your stats. You be blessed and have a wonderful day.
I bet you clap a lot when you talk, and I forgive you for being blessed with living in BHM.
Albeit that you were so quick to be offended, I am sorry and bless you for being offended. I was merely pointing out that to convince a suburban mother with small children to come to RR Park when there are plenty of other options is going to be a tough road to hoe.
Bless you, and may your cup runneth over.
Awwww….look who got their feelings hurt because their ‘facts” were corrected.
Does it make you feel big to throw ‘slants” at me because I corrected you?
Bless your heart Joey. I have no problem with you being scared to come downtown.
I promise you, we are not missing you. Last thing we need is a supposedly full grown man, needing someone to walk with him and take him to the bathroom ,because he is scared to be at Railroad Park alone(you have admit, this is funny. Somewhat sad, but still funny)
Don’t put it on a mother with 2 kids because of your irrational fear.
Lastly, I will always call a lie out when it is spread, without care whether it offends the person spreading it.
Just do your research a little better next time. And don’t omit important details, to fit your narrative.
Have a blessed day, brethren.
That’s OK, I will have a lovely Bourbon Dinner at Bistro 218 on the 13th, then head over to Bocca for the weekend Saturday night.
Wow, you absolute hatred for anyone that does not fit your narrative is truly what is wrong with BHM, I feel sorry for you, and I will say a prayer at the Advent when Iam down there Sunday.
Joe J, it’s OK (and quite admirable, actually) to simply admit that your so-called “facts” were wrong. The deflection about having “a lovely Bourbon dinner at Bistro 218” is not a good look. ET, thank you for pointing out the inaccuracies in his initial response since I took it at “face value” (ashamed to now say), as I thought it was an earnest reply vs. propaganda.
You made me laugh at this. They took it to a whole new level when and I quote
“I promise you, we are not missing you. Last thing we need is a supposedly full grown man, needing someone to walk with him and take him to the bathroom ,because he is scared to be at Railroad Park alone(you have admit, this is funny. Somewhat sad, but still funny)”
Fact is there were three shot, why does it matter as to the year, it was and still will always be a fact.
Furthermore, if ET would have engaged in some dialogue as to what would draw OTM mothers with small children, I would have gladly listened, but like all of his ilk, they get easily offended with facts and simple resort to personal attacks. Have a nice day.
Ceila Shorts you are most certainly welcome. I am glad someone understands the difference between an earnest reply and just spreading false propaganda.
I must say though I did really strike a nerve with Joe because he is still venting, after I pointed out his discrepancies.
I can’t help but laugh at his silliness as I type this, but I do pray that he gets it together. Joe your hatred is starting to show. Calm down Bud, before you really say something you might regret.
What might I regret, simply putting facts on a website seems to create a bit of a quandary for you. I will be at 218 this evening with my wife and child, where will you be?
You must be totally ignorant of the fact that the City of Birmingham has a 1% occupational tax. And the County of Jefferson has a 1/2% tax. We have 11% sales tax on everything in the City of Birmingham. Sales taxes hurt retirees on fixed incomes.
Mr. Bowles, I totally agree that sales tax hurts retirees. It hurts everyone. The sales tax in the city of Birmingham is 10%. It’s 10% for most of the municipalities in Jefferson County. Mtn. Brook has a 9% sales tax & Hoover is 9.5%. If you are retired, you don’t pay an occupational tax unless you are paid by a Birmingham employer. The City of Birmingham has a 1% occupational tax. The JeffCo occupational tax was discontinued many years ago. Birmingham Water Works Board members don’t make a $45,000 a month salary. However, the new CEO will probably make that or more. It is no longer the Birmingham Water Works. It is the Central Alabama Water Works and Birmingham no longer controls it. Please continue to give your feedback. I hope this information is helpful.
The WW Board is a good example of u productive attitudes. This one on Bham. The City of Bham is the minority of WW customers (maybe 30% or so?) Yet Bham thinks they should control it and are literally suing the State over it. You talk a lot about regional cooperation but that includes Bham cooperating and giving up control of things. And yes I worked in Bham for 30-35 years and paid their occupational tax for use of their roads etc.
Now that the Birmingham Water Works Board has been removed from the City of Birmingham, we demand a forensic accounting of everything.
How did the Board Members vote themselves a $45,000 a month salary for the next 5 years?
Say what it is … the region’s structure of cities and education systems created during integration-era politics incentivize good people to maintain a system of segregation (once race, now income). It does that via money incentives and best-for-my-child incentives.
For money, suburbia’s #1 motivator is maintaining their artificially high housing prices. Being land-locked, houses in Homewood + Mountain Brook are effectively equity purchases into outstanding school systems that can be sold after all the kids leave for college. Compare them to all other cities that tried their own dedicated education system and crumbled: Tarrant City, Fairfield, Bessemer, Midfield. All of those tried to run the playbook, but white flight eventually took over.
Anyone with the funds to leave a poor school system does. That means the haves get the education they can, and the have-nots run the cycle again.
OTM residents aren’t better when the struggling school systems graduate 6,000 underprepared students every year.
Would love to see City of Birmingham consolidate a lot of the smaller, more financially strapped and struggling municipalities in Jefferson County first. This combined, larger city could eliminate a lot of expensive duplication of effort, making things far more efficient throughout the county (as a whole).
This isn’t the consolidation folks dream about, but it would certainly be a step in the right direction.
I am just going to leave this little bit of reality and them exit, as I know little about individual areas there.
IKEA just chose Huntsville for its first Alabama store.
If you all don’t put the health of your city before your 1950’s attitudes toward one another, Birmingham is over.
You want to do something about crime, Birmingham and elsewhere? Get the damned guns off the street. There are more guns than people in Alabama, but I’m still waiting for a Good Guy With a Gun to stop something Godawful. Background checks, a return to pistol permits, arresting paents of armed teens would be small steps in the right direction.
David, you’ve been pushing this idea for several years now. I’ve asked repeatedly to put a plan together not just an idea. Ideas are great but they mean nothing unless there is a plan which can be executed.
Step One:
Put a plan together to annex the suburbs.
Step Two:
Publish your plan here and take constructive criticism to improve upon the plan.
Step Three:
Take the final plan to your own suburb’s city council meeting for presentation.
Step Four:
Report back to Comeback Town on how the plan was received by your neighbors.
Politics talk and promise with no real plans. Don’t be a politician.
I personally can not support something as radically as Birmingham annexing suburbs without a concrete plan, and honestly I would probably want to see a few other suburbs go first to see if it can work before I would support it.
John, I strongly feel that Birmingham merging with its suburbs is not going to happen in my lifetime. But I strongly feel that collaboration would be a big step forward for our region. The Jefferson County mayors signed a non-poaching agreement not to steal businesses from one another and that has worked great saving tax payers millions of dollars. But we need to take the next step. AS I wrote in column: In Jefferson County 35 fire departments; 27 police departments plus the sheriff’s department; 14 separate 911 call centers; 20 jails. We could save millions and millions of dollars and have a better outcome if we did some of these.
David, thanks for allowing Joe J and ET to express their freedom of speech. I was going to watch Monday Night Football but my fellow Alabamians offer better entertainment. My guess is one Bama and one Tiger. Please don’t open the gun status , yet!
As for high tax status . Arab ties with Birmingham @ 10%. But they didn’t know of the 1% work tax. They’ll get around to it!
Get the high speed trains between Birmingham -Hotlanta and speed over. Groceries are taxed @2%. First $80k per couple is 0.
Add enough cars to the train and bring the cars over from Bama,
We have tons of Krogers and Publix ‘s. Zip back to BHM with cheap groceries. Stay here and pocket the the tax on $80K!