Why Alabama’s biggest city keeps winning

Doug Martinson
Doug Martinson

Today’s guest columnist is Doug Martinson.

Editor’s note: This column appeared last week in the Huntsville Real-Time News . I thought people in Birmingham might be interested in what leaders in Huntsville are saying  about their city and ours.

Huntsville rocketed past Birmingham in 2020 to become the largest city in Alabama. And then the city just kept on growing. Continue reading Why Alabama’s biggest city keeps winning

Birmingham punched in gut by IKEA, but exotic dancers are happy

IKEA
IKEA

By David Sher

On August 12, IKEA announced its first Alabama store—in Huntsville, opening in early 2026.

That means one of the worlds most respected and disciplined retailers evaluated Birmingham and Huntsville and chose Huntsville—even though Birmingham’s metro population is roughly twice as large. Continue reading Birmingham punched in gut by IKEA, but exotic dancers are happy

A jail for every Jefferson County politician

Jefferson County Jail (FILE, Tamika Moore, The Birmingham News, AL.com) Tamika Moore
Jefferson County Jail (FILE), Tamika Moore, The Birmingham News, AL.com) Tamika Moore

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

To begin a conversation about a better Birmingham