Tag Archives: Birmingham

Guest blogger, What's great about Birmingham

Why we escaped the Mountain Brook bubble

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Maury Shevin & Joyce Spielberger
Maury Shevin & Joyce Spielberger

ComebackTown is published by David Sher to begin a discussion on a better Birmingham.

Today’s guest bloggers are husband and wife Maury Shevin & Joyce Spielberger.  If you’d like to be a guest blogger, please click here.

Having lived much of our lives outside of the City, why move into the City?

We’ve made our livings in the City of Birmingham, but so do many other non-residents.

So, what compelled us to want to make the City our home?

First, and foremost, we were done being in the suburban bubble.  Continue reading Why we escaped the Mountain Brook bubble →

David Sher posts, Government structure

The letter everyone in Homewood & Mountain Brook should read

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Letter to Homewood & Mountain BrookBirmingham and Atlanta were about the same size in 1950.

Have you ever wondered why Atlanta grew and Birmingham stagnated?

In 1959, the Mayor of Atlanta sent us a letter spelling out how Birmingham could be a great city.

We paid no attention.

Continue reading The letter everyone in Homewood & Mountain Brook should read →

Guest blogger, What's great about Birmingham

What Birmingham can learn from Ruben Studdard

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Willie Chriesman
Willie Chriesman

ComebackTown is published by David Sher to begin a discussion on a better Birmingham.

Today’s guest blogger is Willie Chriesman.  If you’d like to be a guest blogger, please click here.

It’s hard to believe but it’s been 14 years since Ruben Studdard beat Clay Aiken to win Season 2 of American Idol.

Studdard, known as the ‘Velvet Teddy Bear,’ was memorable for his ‘205’ printed t-shirts.

Yes, a charismatic young man who grew up singing in church choirs around Birmingham and played football for Huffman High was singing the praises of Birmingham on national TV…and we loved him for it. Continue reading What Birmingham can learn from Ruben Studdard →

David Sher posts, Government structure, What's great about Birmingham

Mountain Brook builds wall—demands Vestavia pay for it!

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Bridge along Jemison Trail in Mountain Brook
Bridge along Jemison Trail in Mountain Brook

A good friend and I walk the Jemison Trail every week.

The Jemison Trail is a quiet peaceful path that winds along Shades Creek in Mountain Brook.

Recently we noticed a new walking bridge had been constructed along the trail.

I remarked that the bridge must have cost a lot of money. Continue reading Mountain Brook builds wall—demands Vestavia pay for it! →

Guest blogger, What's great about Birmingham

Was it worth spending $200 million on Birmingham’s airport?

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Al Denson, President and CEO of the Birmingham Airport Authority
Al Denson, President and CEO of the Birmingham Airport Authority

ComebackTown is published by David Sher to begin a discussion on a better Birmingham.

Today’s guest blogger is Al Denson.  If you’d like to be a guest blogger, please click here.

You probably don’t remember how dilapidated our airport was.

The infrastructure was no longer able to accommodate what we needed in order to offer the public and our stakeholders a first class facility.

We desperately needed to beef up security.

And visitors to Birmingham probably thought they were arriving in a third world country.

Continue reading Was it worth spending $200 million on Birmingham’s airport? →

Guest blogger, What's great about Birmingham

Is it okay for Chattanooga to beat us too?

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Scott Crawford
Scott Crawford

ComebackTown is published by David Sher to begin a discussion on a better Birmingham.

Today’s guest blogger is Scott Crawford .  If you’d like to be a guest blogger, please click here.

Chattanooga used to be a sleepy, smelly, backward southern industrial town.

Not anymore.

Chattanooga has made one shrewd decision after another.

Chattanooga built a great Riverwalk, an amazing Aquarium, and it saved its historic train station.  (Chattanooga Choo Choo) Continue reading Is it okay for Chattanooga to beat us too? →

Birmingham School System, Guest blogger, What's great about Birmingham

Am I mad for buying Century Plaza?

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Thomas Beavers, Senior Pastor of the New Rising Star Church
Thomas Beavers, Senior Pastor of the New Rising Star Church

ComebackTown is published by David Sher to begin a discussion on a better Birmingham.

Today’s guest blogger is Pastor Thomas Beavers .  If you’d like to be a guest blogger, please click here.

Am I mad for buying Century Plaza?

Yes, THAT Century Plaza– the abandoned mall in east Birmingham.

And that’s not even the mad part.

We’re buying a rundown behemoth of a property and converting it into a church and a school.

743,000 square feet of retail space; 62 acres; 1,400 parking spaces, and 1.3 miles around. Continue reading Am I mad for buying Century Plaza? →

Guest blogger, What's great about Birmingham

Mountain Brook gal: Continued adventures in Birmingham

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Mimi Shannon
Mimi Shannon

ComebackTown is published by David Sher to begin a discussion on a better Birmingham.

Today’s guest blogger is Mimi Shannon.  If you’d like to be a guest blogger, please click here.

Last year you may have read my piece on how I moved from Mountain Brook to downtown Birmingham—Mountain Brook gal: Achieving my dreams in downtown Birmingham.

In that piece I wrote that in 2012 I was living in my hometown of Birmingham in Mountain Brook and I was desperate to leave. I felt I needed to reach outside to accomplish my goals and achieve my dreams.

Continue reading Mountain Brook gal: Continued adventures in Birmingham →