My daughter, Melanie, and I finished lunch at Niki’s West and drove onto I-65 from Finley Avenue towards downtown.
Suddenly the car ahead started swerving side to side. Then it veered to the left, hit the concrete barricade, and reversed direction hitting us head on. By the time we made impact both cars were moving slowly and fortunately no one was hurt.
But what happened next was truly remarkable. Continue reading 4 Reasons Birmingham may be the Garden of Eden
ComebackTown is published by David Sher to begin a discussion on a better Birmingham.
Today’s guest blogger is Javacia Harris Bowser. If you’d like to be a guest blogger, please click here.
“I dwell in Possibility.” – Emily Dickinson
What made you want to come back to Birmingham?
A few months ago someone asked me that question and I realized I didn’t know how to answer it.
I’m a Birmingham native who first left the city just to travel about 45 minutes up the road to Tuscaloosa where I completed my undergraduate studies at the University of Alabama. But for graduate school I went nearly 3,000 miles away from home to the University of California at Berkeley. I spent a bit of time in Seattle, Washington, and then I got married and settled down in Louisville, Kentucky for several years.
But Birmingham always brings you back. Continue reading Did I make a mistake by moving back to Birmingham?
Have you ever heard someone say, “Birmingham’s limited because we don’t have the wealth of other cities?”
That’s just not true.
Many of us think of Birmingham as this impoverished town with low wages and a poor standard of living. But the facts and actions of our citizens tell another story.
I first got a hint of Birmingham’s wealth when the Birmingham Business Alliance (BBA) hired Market Street Services to prepare its strategic plan. One of the statistics presented was income per capita—a number I expected to be low–but I was wrong. Continue reading Birmingham: much richer than you think
ComebackTown is published by David Sher to begin a discussion on a better Birmingham.
Today’s guest blogger is Taylor Peake Wyatt . If you’d like to be a guest blogger, please click here.
When I recently read the guest blog on ComebackTown, A 4 letter word: Why young professionals leave Birmingham, I had to respond.
I’m eager to give Birmingham’s business community the credit it deserves and to explain why I enjoy growing my career here.
I would like to answer the question how a small but vibrant city is keeping talented young professionals inspired and growing.
Being a young professional has a lot of challenges and being a young female entrepreneur has even more. There’s a lot of pressure in being independent and starting your career – especially if you’re dealing with student loans, a lack of available jobs, and wanting to support a family of your own. It takes balance, passion, and perseverance. Continue reading Young professional: How to make it in Birmingham
ComebackTown is published by David Sher to begin a discussion on a better Birmingham.
Today’s guest blogger is SEC Commissioner Mike Slive. If you’d like to be a guest blogger, please click here.
When I became commissioner of the Southeastern Conference in 2002, I knew little about Birmingham and its surrounding communities. I was drawn to the position by the prestige of the conference, the commitment of the league’s institutions and the passion of its fans. I was aware of its proud history, impressed by its success and intrigued by its future.
But for the city I was going to call home, my knowledge was limited. That soon changed. Continue reading Mike Slive: Why the SEC and I call Birmingham our home
ComebackTown is published by David Sher to begin a discussion on a better Birmingham.
Today’s guest blogger is Jake McKenzie. If you’d like to be a guest blogger, please click here.
A little over a decade ago, the head of Nissan North America, Carlos Ghosn, made an announcement that shocked nearly everyone – Nissan was moving their headquarters from southern California to Nashville, Tennessee. When publicly questioned why, he cited savings in operational costs and large tax incentives.
But in private discussions, Ghosn began his answer rather differently. He shared how Nashville is simply Continue reading Birmingham’s real image
ComebackTown is published by David Sher to begin a discussion on a better Birmingham.
Today’s guest blogger/singer is Chris Wood. If you’d like to be a guest blogger, please click here.
Editor’s note: Never expected to hear a song about Birmingham’s civil rights struggle written and performed by a young white male from Helena. View & listen to Chris’ new song (below)–it will make you stomp your feet and be proud…
People often have conversations about what they love regarding different cities that they live in or have visited. “Oh, you’ve got to visit Chicago, the architecture is amazing!”… “Man, there’s so much history in Boston!”… “Seattle is just such a cool, hip place.”… You know, sometimes it’s hard to remember that the city we get to live in and be a part of is pretty awesome too. Continue reading Strong as Steel–a great new song for Birmingham
When I picked up Malcom Gladwell’s most recent book, I never expected to be reading about Birmingham.
David and Goliath—underdogs, misfits, and the art of battling giants features Birmingham as one of its primary stories.
I enjoy reading Birmingham history, but I chose David and Goliath only because I liked some of Gladwell’s other books–The tipping point, Outliers, and Blink.
As we’ve come to expect, however, when outsiders talk about the history of Birmingham, they almost always focus on Bull Conner, fire hoses, and dogs.
Gladwell’s description of Birmingham and Bull Conner is no different…
“People told jokes about Birmingham…’A black man in Chicago wakes up one morning and tells his wife that Jesus had come to him in a dream and told him to go to Birmingham. She is horrified: Did Jesus say He’d go with you? The husband replies: ‘He said he would go as far as Memphis.’
ComebackTown is published by David Sher to begin a discussion on a better Birmingham.
Today’s guest blogger is Teresa Thorne. If you’d like to be a guest blogger, please click here.
2,675 pieces of graffiti were splattered all over downtown Birmingham last year–but you didn’t see any of them. That’s because our CAP officers removed them almost instantaneously.
Can you imagine what downtown Birmingham would look like if we hadn’t been removing graffiti from walls, signs, and power boxes for the past 19 years?
I’ve spent most of my adult life in Birmingham, and I feel we rarely take the time to celebrate our successes. Continue reading Graffiti covers up Birmingham
It must be depressing to be a Birmingham hater.
You guys can’t seem to get a break.
You can bitch and moan about Birmingham all you want, but the tide has turned against you.
It looks like “doodoo Birmingham,” one of our regular al.com anti-Birmingham commenters is in doodoo–himself.
We have been overrun with so much good news about Birmingham, it’s difficult to keep track.
Even our crime numbers are in free fall.
Birmingham’s 2013 crime numbers lowest in 30 years
Yes, this is the “lowest (serious crime) number reported since the FBI started tracking the numbers in its Uniform Crime Reporting data almost 30 years ago.”
Birmingham haters click on the headlines below and weep: Continue reading It must SUCK to be a Birmingham hater