By David Sher
One minute we are at the top of the world.
The next, we hit rock bottom.
Where is our confidence?
Where is our self-esteem?
Why do we think it’s okay to be judged by people who don’t know us and don’t care about us?
The Milken Institute — a respected nonpartisan economic think tank — ranks Birmingham 158th out of 200 large cities in their Best-Performing Cities index. We think we’re toast.
Then we see a headline like “Livability.com ranks Birmingham the 6th best place to live in America” and we feel proud and share the news everywhere. Social media lights up. Political and civic leaders quote it in speeches. Those of us who have lived here our whole lives are suddenly typing “Birmingham is great!”
Yes, we are okay. We can be proud.
Then RoadSnacks — armed with a Census spreadsheet and an algorithm — names Birmingham the single worst place to live in America. And just like that, the air goes out of the room again.
Then ADP Research crowns the Birmingham-Hoover metro #1 in the entire country for recent college graduates — best wages, best affordability, and best opportunity. We’re back. Share that one everywhere too.
You get the idea.
We’re on a permanent emotional roller coaster, and the people operating the ride don’t know us, most have never visited us, and they sure don’t care about us.
They care about page views. Every one of these platforms — the ones that make us feel great and the ones that make us feel terrible — is in the business of generating readers. The methodology in many cases is questionable and the rankings fiction. Move a few data points and Birmingham jumps from 40th to 1st, or falls from 6th to last. Nobody actually knows.
It makes no sense to take these rankings personally.
Birmingham is my home and here is what I do know.
We are a beautiful region with gorgeous autumns and springs. We have a world-class medical center that draws patients from across the Southeast, wonderful neighborhoods, and smart and generous people.
The mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina are just a short drive away. When you want the beach, the Gulf Coast is equally close. And when you crave a big-city experience, Atlanta is close by — without the burden of living in its overbearing everyday traffic.
We also have stubborn poverty, inadequate public transit, and some schools that many families are trying to escape. Both descriptions are true simultaneously, and no ranked list captures either one honestly.
Does this happen in Charlotte? Nashville? Austin? Probably not. Because people in those cities don’t need a website to validate where they live. They already know. The rankings wash over them like background noise.
Yes, celebrate the good news. Share it. Let it fuel civic pride and momentum. But let’s not collapse when the next negative ranking rolls in. These measurements don’t define us.
Birmingham is special. A place to be proud of — not because ADP Research said so, and not in spite of what the Milken Institute said.
Let’s not depend on the Internet to tell us who we are.
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
I like the Birmingham Metro.Birmingham proper not so much.Crime,& the inadequate response to it,drove me out years ago.I moved my business & sold my properties..Some people like to stick their head in the sand & pretend it wasn’t a problem.I was ostracized for merely commenting on the facts of it.
Tommy Ray
…Join the club…I was “ostracized” and censored for slamming a widget-selling “guest” who was clearly dealing a phony “economics package”…all in the name of “improving Birmingham”…
Moderator(s) cherry- pick and choose what they consider “nice language”…
Some here are clueless that “nice language” does not elevate Birmingham…It demoralizes it further.
Condescending means just that. Condescending…And “selling a bill-of-goods” means the same now since the advent of capitalism way back in Victorian Britain.
~ Ballard from Huntsville
Regarding “Birmingham on a permanent Roller Coaster,” our community needs a healthy, realistic self-image just as we do as individuals. We need to know who we are—our strengths and weaknesses, our accomplishments and our challenges, and our history and our potential. We need to build on our understanding of ourselves to strive for a better community.
Thought it interesting as to the comment “if you need a big city experience” was made as Birmingham was once considered a big city. But Charlotte, Atlanta, Nashville, Jacksonville and others have long passed The Magic City. No need to rehash why, but, as a past resident of the greater B’ham area, I had hoped that it might catch up. Not saying there has not been improvements as there have been more than a few. But until all of the surrounding communities start to realize they need each other to progress collectively, there will always be the question of “why” plus another of “what happened”.
The B’ham area is simply gorgeous & what a vibrant food scene! The shopping is extreme. There are sports, a very good airport, a nice zoo and botanical gardens. Breweries, wine bars, broadways shows, concerts.
We live in Vestavia Hills and if the school locations/no bus situation were ever worked out? And if we ever got a lottery? I’d claim this to be the greatest place in the South!
Strong piece. Outsourcing confidence to outsiders is a sure way for a city to ride an emotional roller coaster. It’s an insecure overclass mindset hung up on reputation versus a street-smart entrepreneurial one where problems/questions yield opportunities. Fortunately, younger Birmingham is secure in who we are. B’ham is amazing and the future is bright. Go Blazers!
Great column. I agree. The story of our city, history and present, is complex. Let’s embrace ALL of it, the good and bad. But funny how fully half of the comments so far insist on highlighting the failures and challenges, with no mention of the victories and beauties. This crises of self-esteem is exactly what you were talking about and the evidence here is how strong and persistent it is. Thankfully, I have noticed that as one here said, the younger generation has a much more positive view of this city, and the transplants. Let’s keep highlighting the positives and victories as well. This gives me hope as well.
i think Birmingham has potential. That is why I visit this site, to see the energy behind what’s going on in Birmingham.
I think the points you made are valid. But many things can be true at the same time. What I find here is a lot of hoping in the comments. Hope for more industry, hope the kids won’t leave after high school, hoping a city project will spur a renewal.
Mr. Sher, I assume you started this blog in hopes to start a conversation to benefit Birmingham’s “comeback”. If you are not willing to pay attention to the comments that make you uncomfortable to address or rankings that don’t align with your idea of how Birmingham should be seen by outsider, then what is the point? Nothing changes if nothing changes.
I definitely agree that no one needs validation from sites no one has ever heard of to direct them as to how they should perceive Birmingham. Does a city like Atlanta or Nashville need to know what “www.citypop.com” has to say or how “BizPerk” is going to rank them? Who honestly cares? Most of the people doing the ranking may not have ever heard of Birmingham prior to the rankings; it’s just a data point. The traffic being driven there could care less about Birmingham – they want to see where their own city is ranked. I do know that Memphis is in trouble as far as crime rates go (they’re not looking good in anyone’s rankings); Birmingham has done a great job turning around this albatross of a metric. Birmingham’s crime rate was at one time much worse than Memphis’, but to me it seems that the leaders of Memphis should be consulting with Birmingham regarding that.
I have lived in four large cities throughout my life and all of their mayors and chambers of commerce were consumed, disheartened and overjoyed by these “rankings”. They really did not yield economic development, they mostly either enraged leaders or were paraded around at civic leader lunches for weeks at a time.
Frankly I think they were watched out of the insecurity of a constant search of approval or validating their own choice to live there.
I would be more interested in resident sentiment studies conducted every other year to gauge local residents and civic leaders. It needs to be comprehensive in capturing myriad measurements that employers use when deciding where to expand or relocate. Happy residents, cost of living, education opportunities, ,recreational assets and quality medical institutions all matter more than some business magazine’s questionable survey.
This is an awesome place to live, I’m so glad that I married a Birmingham lady.