
What’s going on in America?
Everyone seems to be divided.
Republican/ Democrat
White/Black
Conservative/Liberal
Rich/Poor
No one seems to want to cooperate to achieve common goals. Continue reading Pinch me! Is this really Birmingham?

What’s going on in America?
Everyone seems to be divided.
Republican/ Democrat
White/Black
Conservative/Liberal
Rich/Poor
No one seems to want to cooperate to achieve common goals. Continue reading Pinch me! Is this really Birmingham?

ComebackTown is published by David Sher to begin a discussion on a more prosperous Birmingham.
Today’s guest blogger is Karim Tarabein. If you’d like to be a guest blogger, please click here.
Before we start, this is going to be a sharp critique and I want to make sure we don’t get any wires crossed.
While I am critical about Birmingham, and in turn UAB, I want to point out I harbor no ill will toward either. Continue reading Why I’m building my career in Boston rather than Birmingham
I live in two different worlds.
The world of my contemporaries—folks 50, 60, 70 years old who are generally happy with the status quo.
And the world of 20, 30, and 40 year olds—who are desperate for change.
I make some of my contemporary friends nervous. Continue reading Look out divided Birmingham: Here come the Millennials!

ComebackTown is published by David Sher to begin a discussion on a more prosperous Birmingham.
Today’s guest blogger is Hoover City Councilor John Lyda. If you’d like to be a guest blogger, please click here.
Editor’s note: This piece was originally published on October 23rd. Three days later the proposal to move UAB Medical West to Hoover fell through and the hospital administration decided to build in McCalla on property it previously purchased.
The conversation of regional cooperation has been commonplace in the Birmingham metro area for decades, its roots traced back to the beginning of the urban sprawl that flourished in the 50’s, 60’s, and continuously since then.
Regrettably, the phrase “regional cooperation” has most often been rhetoric used in political campaigns, master planning processes, and feel good speeches. Continue reading Hoover can be a bold leader or greedy neighbor
My wife and I are a Costco family
We shop Costco every week, eat free snacks, and look forward to chance meetings with friends—many we haven’t seen in years. Continue reading Oh no! Homewood, Vestavia, & now Hoover

ComebackTown is published by David Sher to begin a discussion on a more prosperous Birmingham.
Today’s guest blogger is David Fleming. If you’d like to be a guest blogger, please click here.
If you were standing on the corner of 1st Avenue North and 20th Street in 1871, you would be standing in a forest. A few miles to the west would be the small county seat town of Elyton. You’d see a few pioneer homes scattered throughout the valley. Continue reading Birmingham once headed for greatness–We can do it again!

It’s been a wild ride publishing ComebackTown.
I never dreamed publishing a weekly blog about how to create a more prosperous Birmingham could be so challenging—but so DARN interesting!
I’ve learned so much about human nature, Birmingham, and our suburban neighbors. Continue reading What I’ve learned about Birmingham, Mtn. Brook, & people

ComebackTown is published by David Sher to begin a discussion on a more prosperous Birmingham.
Today’s guest blogger is Natalie Pickett. If you’d like to be a guest blogger, please click here.
I am a proud native of the Birmingham area. I grew up in Hoover until I moved out of state for college.
I live in North Carolina now, but I visit Birmingham frequently to see my parents and siblings. Continue reading Birmingham could be the Southern city that gets it right
You work downtown and make plans to meet a friend at the Summit for lunch.
You drive onto the 3rd Avenue North entrance ramp of the Red Mountain Expressway. Continue reading 13 Jeffco cities wasting your money–risking your life

ComebackTown is published by David Sher to begin a discussion on a more prosperous Birmingham.
Today’s guest blogger is Graham Boettcher. If you’d like to be a guest blogger, please click here.
The Birmingham Museum of Art is proud to serve the people of our city.
Through the generosity of our community, we’ve built an exceptional collection of more than 27,000 works of art, and last year, welcomed 123,000 visitors through our doors.
It wasn’t so long ago, however, when we failed many of our citizens, writing a shameful chapter in the Museum’s history that we are still striving to overcome. Continue reading Director reckons with Art Museum’s ugly past