Where are they?
At first I thought they had moved to surrounding counties—and some did, but that’s not the hole story.
It’s common knowledge that Jefferson County’s population is stagnant—but I got curious about the details.
According to the 2010 Census, Jefferson County lost .5% of its population from 2000-2010– 662,047 to 658,466.
Not a big deal –we only lost 3,581 people.
But then I found the hole. Continue reading The hole in Jefferson County no one seems to know about
ComebackTown is published by David Sher to begin a discussion on a better Birmingham.
Today’s guest blogger is Maury Shevin. If you’d like to be a guest blogger, please click here.
I recently attended a meeting of real estate professionals from the Birmingham area.
Dick Schmalz, President RGS Properties, spoke about his 20 Midtown development. 20 Midtown is the new Publix, Starbucks, retail and apartment buildings that are being developed between 3rd and 4th Avenues South on both sides of 20th Street. These are not pie-in-the-sky projects. They are real with building permits and bank financing. Dick said these three projects will cost more than $100 million.
I’ve given scores of speeches about a better Birmingham.
At the beginning of my talk I always ask the same question: “Who thinks Birmingham has reached its potential?”
No one has ever raised a hand. Not one hand out of thousands of people.
How’s that possible?
Birmingham’s beautiful; our people are smart and generous—and we’re located in the heart of the South—the fastest growing region in the United States.
Some blame our lack of progress on race—some on poor leadership…but The Washington Post has laid it out for us.
Continue reading The one solution that will propel Birmingham
A sharecropper is someone who raises crops for the owner of a piece of land and is paid a portion of the money from the sale of the crops.
We in Birmingham have always been controlled by outside landlords.
Birmingham is the city of iron and steel and historically U.S. Steel controlled every aspect of our lives-politics, business, and people. U.S. Steel is headquartered in Pittsburgh and was for much of Birmingham’s history our largest employer. Birmingham’s labor was first to be laid off and last to be rehired. All decisions favored Pittsburgh over Birmingham, and of course, all profits were sent up north.
Fortunately, U.S. Steel is no longer our largest employer, but unfortunately we are still being impacted. February 5th, U.S. Steel announced it could lay off up to 1,840 workers here.
But even though we are not now totally dependent on U.S. Steel, we are still controlled by outsiders. Continue reading Birmingham at mercy of outside interests
Unfortunately I didn’t attend the Martin Luther King Unity Breakfast January 19th, but immediately after Tanner Colby, the speaker, began his remarks, the texts and e-mails started coming—telling me I should have been there.
Since I did not hear the speech and have been unable to obtain a written transcript, I am basing my remarks on e-mails, texts, and comments from friends and from the article about the speech on al.com titled, “Tiny suburban kingdoms, desire for black power keep Birmingham from achieving MLK dream, author says.”
Tanner Colby, author of the book, “Some of my best friends are black,” spent five years living in Vestavia Hills before going off to college in 1993. Continue reading Rich folks & black politicians holding Birmingham down?
The above title is not my quote because I would be one of the “croakers,” but it’s something I hear from the younger generation regularly. Okay, they may not use the word, “croak,” but they say it’s time for our old leadership to step aside.
The next generation of Birmingham leaders does not understand our racial divide. They grew up in a different time and they see the possibilities and advantages of a common vision.
Steve Boswell, a young professional, in his guest blog characterized our older citizens and leaders as ‘doubters’—“a group who believe the racial divide has evolved into an immortal chasm that will not be bridged.” Continue reading Time for our old Birmingham leadership to croak
I wrote most of this piece about Commissioner Carrington a few months ago, but did not publish it for fear it would appear too political.
Now that the Jefferson County Commission election is over, I feel more comfortable making my comments. Commissioner Carrington has been reelected and Commissioner Jimmie Stephens has been elected President.
I’m not saying Commissioner Carrington is better or worse than any other commissioner–I just happen to know David better. I do feel strongly that our County Commission–though not perfect–did a credible job with the hand it was dealt. Continue reading David Carrington: “I don’t care!”
Every editorial I read about hiring a new superintendent for Birmingham City Schools says it’s critical we recruit the right candidate. The future of Birmingham Schools and possibly the City of Birmingham may be at stake.
Unfortunately, our next superintendent has virtually no chance of being successful.
Every time we employ a new superintendent we think he/she’s the one. Continue reading Our next Superintendent’s not going to save Birmingham Schools
In September of 2002 Dave Adkisson, the then President of our Birmingham Area Chamber of Commerce (now BBA), and I got up for an early morning jog. We were two of approximately one hundred Birmingham political and community leaders who had traveled to St. Louis to learn about the city and the Edward Jones Dome—home of the St. Louis Rams.
It was really dark and foggy that morning and we got lost. When we asked some local joggers for directions, they were curious as to why we were in St. Louis.
When we told them we came to learn about their city, they responded with an incredulous, “You want to learn about St. Louis?” Continue reading What Birmingham can learn from Ferguson Missouri
I’ve never seen anything like this Uber thing.
People regularly challenge me to write about specific topics relating to Birmingham, but the interest in Uber is beyond insane.
I’ve been bombarded by e-mails from folks supporting Uber and describing Birmingham City Councilor Kim Rafferty as the Evil Witch of the West.
I believe many folks have determined the Uber decision will define the future of Birmingham.
Under great pressure, I write about Uber knowing that many of you may be unhappy with my perspective.