By David Sher
Walk down 3rd Avenue North outside the Alabama Theatre.
Look down.
See those stars embedded in rose-colored marble?
Birmingham residents have walked past them a thousand times without a second glance. Continue reading The Idea that Could Bring Excitement Back to Downtown Birmingham
By Tony Tamburello
Birmingham has changed dramatically in my lifetime.
Downtown revitalization, mixed-use development, and reinvestment have turned stagnant areas into hubs of activity. Much of this progress comes not from flashy reinvention but from undoing past mistakes that pushed people away. Continue reading Your Parents Abandoned Birmingham. Will You?
By David Sher,
I have the deepest respect and admiration for people who are brave and unselfish enough to go out and make the world better.
Not people who talk about making the world better.
Not people who share articles about it on social media.
People who actually give something up — real comfort, real security, real stability — to go do the hard, unglamorous, sometimes thankless work that changes lives. Continue reading Birmingham Woman Walked Away from a Dream Job. Now Being Recognized for Oscar-Nominated Film
By David Sher
Quite frankly, I am stunned.
Year after year, Alabama has been a punching bag for the press.
What a breath of fresh air.
Canada’s Globe and Mail — widely regarded as Canada’s most influential national publication —sent a reporter to the Deep South to figure out how Alabama had become richer than their country. Continue reading Most prominent Newspaper in Canada Declares Canada is Poorer than Alabama
By David Sher
I couldn’t believe my eyes or ears.
It was like a scene from a science fiction movie. Continue reading Birmingham robs Hoover, and the winner is…
By Jacob Gordon
I’m so proud of Birmingham. And you should be too.
We often take our most positive attributes for granted. Year after year, Birmingham is recognized as one of the most generous cities in the U.S. Continue reading How Does Birmingham Do It? One of the Most Generous Cities in America
By Chip Reed
Bet you never expected to see a new 30,000-square-foot building rising downtown!
If you’ve driven west on 6th Ave North lately, you may have noticed a construction project at 6th and 22nd Street. Continue reading The new downtown building that will change how our kids think about Birmingham
By Austin Senseman
AI is going to be disruptive.
Be prepared for the disorder and churn.
No one really knows what’s going to happen.
But out of chaos comes opportunity.
That’s why this is such an important moment for Birmingham. Continue reading Birmingham, the disruption is coming whether we’re ready or not
By Reed Baskin, M.D.
Editor’s note: It’s often insightful to read what is published about Birmingham in media outside of Birmingham. This piece was published by Doug Martinson last month in Huntsville on al.com under the same title.
Doug Martinson: “I was in Birmingham recently, and when our Uber driver asked where we were from, she talked about all the jobs in Huntsville and how Huntsville kept gaining population while Birmingham was losing population. Continue reading Nashville’s gain was Memphis’ loss. What Birmingham and Huntsville can learn
By Blake Guthrie
Editor’s note: This column, authored by Blake Guthrie, appeared in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on November 9, 2025.
When he emailed permission to publish, he wrote this personal note to me…
“I have a lifelong love/hate relationship with Birmingham. Having grown up there, all I wanted to do was get the hell out as a young man. Now, I love coming back and seeing all the changes in the right direction.” Continue reading My love/hate relationship with Birmingham