By Don Keith
We were at the quietest point of any commercial airline flight, the final approach to Shuttlesworth International, when the lady in the window seat on my row voiced an observation to no one in particular, one heard throughout our 737: “It’s so greeeeen!”
And she was right. Red Mountain to the south, the hills near Trussville, East Lake Park, even the quick peek down 20th Street, something I—a frequent traveler with platinum status on two different airlines and a veteran of many approaches into BHM—had never even noticed.
That got me thinking. What other trees had blocked my view of the forest?
One of my several careers required my helping our company put together a story to recruit executive talent to the Magic City. I suggested one of our first priorities should be determining prospects’ preconceived notions about Birmingham and Alabama. We expected fire hoses, police dogs, steel mill smoke, crime, bad schools, rednecks, and moonshine. And we were prepared to refute.
We were wrong. Mostly, we got, “I don’t really have any.” Or “It gets hot there in the summer, right?” And “You folks love your football, I know.”
We found that if we could get them to visit, and once they got a look at how greeeen it was here, not a one turned us down because we were asking them to move to Birmingham, Alabama.
I think we have one humongous inferiority complex. AI defines that as “a deep and persistent feeling of inadequacy.” Bingo! Not all of us, of course, but some of us. Especially those who grew up here when fire hoses, police dogs and steel mill smoke did at least partially define us. But that was literally a lifetime ago. And it doesn’t take much to show the positive side of what came from all that.
I did grow up here, but I have spent plenty of time in other places, from Los Angeles to New York City, from that other “Magic City,” Miami, to that place many crave to emulate, Atlanta. I owned a radio station in Mobile and lived a decade in a city that, as many would like to see here, merged all the municipalities in the county into a single government, Metro Nashville-Davidson County, Tennessee. I always tried to keep an open mind about each city, naturally comparing them with Birmingham.
And as I often say in semi-jest, I was always excited about visiting them but more excited about returning home. That was whether I was landing at Shuttlesworth International or following the moving van back down I-65.
We loved living in Nashville, but like all cities, it had its negatives, too. And still does. Try navigating I-40 or I-65 at 5 PM. Or getting from Lower Broad to Vanderbilt, a couple of miles, in less than an hour. Or attempting to do in-person business with Metro government offices if you live in the distant former incorporated towns of La Vergne or Joelton.
I know. Home is where the heart is. But I still ask the question: what do we need that we don’t have here already? Yes, let’s fix it if it’s broken or get it if we need it. But let’s also not lose sight of the good things by taking them for granted.
I think of the words of that great American poet and country music star Zac Brown: “I’ve got everything I need and nothing that I don’t.”
Let’s not forget to celebrate the greenness we tend to overlook.
Don Keith is a former broadcaster and marketing executive turned best-selling, award-winning author. His novel, Hunter Killer, was the basis for a major motion picture starring Gerard Butler and Gary Oldman. His biography of Birmingham artist Steve Skipper, Dream On, was also adapted as a theatrical documentary film. A documentary based on his novel, The Kaboom Boys, will air on PBS stations nationwide on Memorial Day 2027. He and his wife, Charlene, live in Indian Springs Village. His website is: www.donkeith.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).
Care about Birmingham’s future, subscribe to ComebackTown newsletter
Invite David to speak for free to your group about how we can have a more prosperous metro Birmingham. dsher@comebacktown.com
