By David Sher
Jefferson County has more jails per capita than any other county in the U.S.
Twenty jails. TWENTY.
That’s not a typo.
To put this in perspective, New York City with nearly 15 times our population operates just 14 jail facilities.. Continue reading A jail for every Jefferson County politician
By David Sher
A good friend sent me a link to a column published by Idolator.com with the headline, “Once powerful cities that now struggle to get by.” Continue reading Birmingham slammed, but should be applauded
By David Sher
I know I’m going to take some flak.
When I publish columns about how our region would prosper with local government consolidation or collaboration, I brace myself for negative comments from folks who think their suburb is superior to Birmingham and imply we’d all be better off if Birmingham didn’t exist. Continue reading Without Birmingham there is no Homewood
By David Sher
I don’t get the logic.
I read the headlines and excuses, but they make no sense.
Read this recent headline.
“Pelham raises sales tax for the first time since 2013” Continue reading Pelham, Vestavia Hills, Mountain Brook flimsy excuse to raise taxes
Today’s guest columnist is Jeffrey Bayer.
Last week, after a successful annexation vote, Mayor Sandy Stimson of Mobile proudly proclaimed, “We’re bigger than Birmingham!”
Up until recently Birmingham was concerned about falling behind Huntsville.
Now we’ve fallen behind, not only Huntsville, but also Montgomery and Mobile. Continue reading Birmingham doesn’t need Mtn. Brook, Vestavia, or Hoover to grow
Today’s guest columnist is Dick Pizitz.
In 1969, a future mayor of Birmingham, David Vann, recruited a few people to initiate a quiet campaign to consolidate all of the municipalities and unincorporated areas of Jefferson County into a single combined metropolitan government. Continue reading How Birmingham came within one vote of becoming a major U.S. city
By David Sher
According to Birmingham Lede “Jefferson County lost nearly 4,600 people between 2021-2022.
Even the Birmingham Hoover Metropolitan area lost population.
How’s it possible to be located in the center of the Sunbelt, the fastest growing region in the U.S. and be shrinking? Continue reading The next logical step for our Birmingham region
By David Sher
It’s really frustrating.
I feel like I’m continually hitting my head against a wall.
Internet companies keep publishing negative city rankings with Birmingham at or near the top. Continue reading If you listen to online rankings Birmingham, its suburbs are lonely, fat, and unhappy
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. Continue reading Is metro Birmingham ready for regional governance?
By David Sher
On November 18, Donald Watkins published a column on his website entitled, “Birmingham is Dying.”
I immediately began getting e-mails from ComebackTown readers looking for my reaction. Continue reading Birmingham is dying—a rebuttal to an editorial attacking black elected officials