118 replies to this topic

[Southron]

For long-term sustainability, I think the B'ham metro needs a major investment in transit.  Elevated highways (280) or other bogus pavement schemes will have the same long-term effect as putting a band-aid over a melanoma.

Unfortunately, most of the metro residents don't seem to care.  MAPS was voted down in the 90's and tens of millions of federal dollars were left on the table recently when area leaders couldn't come up with matching money.  Senator Shelby was right to be livid over that one.

As the article posted previously clearly states, good leadership is desperately needed.  A good leader could sell some of these ideas to a skeptical public.

I sincerely hope that Birmingham can find that kind of leadership, and soon.

[Blazer85]

Well... alot of "sustainability" has to do with attitude.  And traditionally, it's been that of a negative one.

But some encouraging news came out today.  Jefferson County, by Census estimates, is no longer losing population.  That's a welcome shot of encouraging news that I've been trying to tell people all along.  You need only drive around a few minutes in this county to know that we're not losing folks at an alarming rate.  Moreover, ALL SEVEN COUNTIES in Greater Birmingham saw population gains.  From July 2005 to July 2006, Greater Birmingham grew by nearly 12,000.  Today, the population of Greater Birmingham MSA is 1,101,127.  The Greater Birmingham CSA is up around 1.2 million.

[kayman]

It is great to see that Greater Birmingham is growing, and if this trend continues there will additional 100,000-200,000 inhabitants added to the metro area population by the 2010 Census count.  That would bring that the region's population to 1.25-1.3M & 1.3-1.4M in the Birmingham-Hoover-Cullman CSA, and this is if Talladega and Tuscaloosa counties aren't added to the CSA.

[kayman]

ExpatBaman, on Mar 18 2007, 05:45 PM, said:

For long-term sustainability, I think the B'ham metro needs a major investment in transit.  Elevated highways (280) or other bogus pavement schemes will have the same long-term effect as putting a band-aid over a melanoma.

Unfortunately, most of the metro residents don't seem to care.  MAPS was voted down in the 90's and tens of millions of federal dollars were left on the table recently when area leaders couldn't come up with matching money.  Senator Shelby was right to be livid over that one.

As the article posted previously clearly states, good leadership is desperately needed.  A good leader could sell some of these ideas to a skeptical public.

I sincerely hope that Birmingham can find that kind of leadership, and soon.

I hope and pray that secure long-term local match to that $87 million is found, so that BJCTA can grow and evolve into a TRUE regional mass transit system.  I am still staying optimistic that the BJCTA will evolve into the BARTA (Birmingham Area Rapid Transit Authority) system that has been proposed by the RPC since the MAPS plan in '98.

[Blazer85]

I think there should be a "Take Pride in Birmingham" type of campaign kind of like there's the "Birmingham Pledge" against racism and prejudice where you get people to sign their name indicating their committment to taking pride in BIRMINGHAM.  Get people to take pride in BIRMINGHAM.  Put aside all the petty "I'm from Mtn Brook and they're from Vestavia" type of garbage that exists between just about every little suburb out there... you're all from Birmingham.  I think that's held up progress in this city more than any other thing out there... and yes, I'd say that's probably been more damaging than our history/reputation of racism.  I think people's inability to see the forest for the trees (ie, that we're all a part of the same greater city rather than a bunch of little independent municipalities fighting against each other for people, resources, and entertainment dollars) has really held back the kind of great potential this city has.  I'm all for suburbs wanting what's best for themselves, but in the end, what's best for them is if everyone in Greater Birmingham would cooperate to achieve larger goals rather than trying to alienate folks based on race, politics, religion, or any other criteria.

[kayman]

Blazer85, on Apr 2 2007, 10:57 AM, said:

I think there should be a "Take Pride in Birmingham" type of campaign kind of like there's the "Birmingham Pledge" against racism and prejudice where you get people to sign their name indicating their committment to taking pride in BIRMINGHAM.  Get people to take pride in BIRMINGHAM.  Put aside all the petty "I'm from Mtn Brook and they're from Vestavia" type of garbage that exists between just about every little suburb out there... you're all from Birmingham.  I think that's held up progress in this city more than any other thing out there... and yes, I'd say that's probably been more damaging than our history/reputation of racism.  I think people's inability to see the forest for the trees (ie, that we're all a part of the same greater city rather than a bunch of little independent municipalities fighting against each other for people, resources, and entertainment dollars) has really held back the kind of great potential this city has.  I'm all for suburbs wanting what's best for themselves, but in the end, what's best for them is if everyone in Greater Birmingham would cooperate to achieve larger goals rather than trying to alienate folks based on race, politics, religion, or any other criteria.

I've been saying this for the longest.  Birmingham isn't just the city of Birmingham, but rather all the cities in its urban area.  There has been some much strife and isolationism of this metro area that it is bascially stick in "neutral", it's not really growing nor is it shrinking.  That is what has turned off some many of our best educated and brightest in this region to leave either after college or when offered a job in their career field in another city.  There was a story in the Birmingham Business Journal how some many within the 18-34 demographic with the most potential to be successful have opted to leave the area for a smaller salary in places like Atlanta, Nashville, and Charlotte becuase of this.  We need to clean house and vote out every incumbent that shows that they don't care to change this status quo.  I don't want Greater Birmingham to be possess out of control growth, but I don't want this current trend to continue. Shelby County growth is good, but most of it is as John Archibald said (click here) we are basically just the reshruffling of the population from one area to another without any real out-of-state residents moving to the region like other cities including Huntsville.    It is embarrassing that we are the slowest growing metropolitan area in the entire Southern United States because of our region's poor leadership and lack of regional cooperation.

[convulso]

add me to the list of inconsequential voices who have been bleating this song for as long as i can remember. my early posts on the bham forum were all full of piss and vinegar about birmingham's balkanization, its silly and unnecessary identity crisis / image 'problem', and all-around greatness of potential (key word: potential) if it can organize its fiefdoms.

in short, i agree, blazer.

[kayman]

Unfortunately, the US Census Bureau has confirmed what we have all been suspecting.

Area's population growth trails

The numbers show that the Greater Birmingham area has only gain a net growth of 50K inhabitants in the past 6 years with 4.6% growth rate.  This is compared to Huntsville-Decatur, who has kept up with the South's other much larger cities in percentage of growth at <10%.  

Quote

"I think most of our leaders and residents understand that has probably been something 40 years in the making," Ball said. "We do need to work harder to be competitive. We have terrific assets. But we're not very good at getting the most out of them."

Ball said the metro area needs to develop public transportation, reduce the dropout rate and make other improvements in public schools. He said the state and region need to invest more in the University of Alabama at Birmingham in ways that foster jobs in technology and research.

"UAB has still not reached its potential."

--Charles Ball, Executive Director of the Greater Birmingham Regional Planning Commission

This type of news aggrevates me because people like the 3 Stooges on the Jeffco Commission are always trying to factionalize this region with their partisan BS.  In addition, Kincaid and a******s like Miriam Witherspoon, Steve Hoyt, Roderick Royal are in City Hall killing every progressive idea for this place because their ignorance and selfishness.  It bothers me how Birmingham is constantly missing out on so many good things because of its poor leadership.  

There is also one thing that I keep hearing conflicting reports on is the Jeffco population between 2000-06.  From the state estimates, Jeffco has grown, but from the US Census Bureau has lost ppl.

[Blazer85]

Leonard23, on Apr 5 2007, 10:20 AM, said:

Unfortunately, the US Census Bureau has confirmed what we have all been suspecting.

Area's population growth trails

The numbers show that the Greater Birmingham area has only gain a net growth of 50K inhabitants in the past 6 years with 4.6% growth rate.  This is compared to Huntsville-Decatur, who has kept up with the South's other much larger cities in percentage of growth at <10%.  
This type of news aggrevates me because people like the 3 Stooges on the Jeffco Commission are always trying to factionalize this region with their partisan BS.  In addition, Kincaid and a******s like Miriam Witherspoon, Steve Hoyt, Roderick Royal are in City Hall killing every progressive idea for this place because their ignorance and selfishness.  It bothers me how Birmingham is constantly missing out on so many good things because of its poor leadership.  

There is also one thing that I keep hearing conflicting reports on is the Jeffco population between 2000-06.  From the state estimates, Jeffco has grown, but from the US Census Bureau has lost ppl.

Are you certain?  What I thought was that they said we've still lost population from 2000 to 2006... but that from 2005 to 2006, we've gained.  No matter the case, there are a LOT of signs that the area is really beginning to grow... in spite of incompetent leadership.

[kayman]

Blazer85, on Apr 5 2007, 12:18 PM, said:

Are you certain?  What I thought was that they said we've still lost population from 2000 to 2006... but that from 2005 to 2006, we've gained.  No matter the case, there are a LOT of signs that the area is really beginning to grow... in spite of incompetent leadership.

Blazer85, so you are saying that Jeffco gain between '05-'06, then that is good.

The articles of the lost of population for Jeffco was both in this article and an article in the Birmingham Business Journal in the past 2 weeks.  

Back to the topic, I am just concerned about how Greater Birmingham is growing so slow that if it were growing any slower then it would be shrinking.  We are almost in the same situation that the Hampton Roads (in Virginia) was in where there was practically zero growth just more births than deaths occuring in the region.

[Blazer85]

It's just absolutely pathetic.  A great start in "sustaining" Birmingham would be in getting our voters to wake the heck up.  Our county commission is a joke, the mayor is a joke, the city council is a joke... who in our local leadership is NOT a joke?  A report today has surfaced that a financial advisor is reporting that the county commission wasted $80-100M.  

If we can do what we've done with pathetic leadership, who knows what kind of growth could be in store if we had just remotely intelligent leaders in our local government.

[Blazer85]

There was a big ceremony today sort of marking the opening of the new Jimmie Hale Mission (site where homeless can gather for meals, a place to sleep, life skills, etc.)

I think this is a fairly significant development in terms of the overall process of converting downtown into a more family-friendly environment.  Officials hope that by moving the Jimmie Hale Mission out of the central downtown area that fewer homeless people will make be hanging around the central downtown area.  

I'm all for trying to rehabilitate folks and think the Jimmie Hale Mission is a great service to our community, but I'm glad they've moved it out of the central downtown area.  While many homeless people are fairly helpless and just looking to get by, homeless folks frighten off a lot of downtown visitors... particuarly if they're not used to interacting with the homeless.

[kayman]

What do you guys think is holding Birmingham back from becoming like other large Southern cities that are booming?  Let's discuss.

[Blazer85]

Honestly, though it's hard to pin down just one thing, I think alot of it is already happening.  I think Birmingham isn't garnering regional headlines, however, because we're not building any true skyscrapers.  So that's really one of the bigger things we're missing right now.  We've got a couple 15-19 story buildings proposed, but none under construction.  

Skyscrapers aren't the be-all, end-all, but it's all about perception.  Skyscrapers, right or wrong, are considered a gauge of a downtown's health.  We all know that doesn't have to be the case.  But this is why alot of folks not familiar with Birmingham may think Birmingham is stagnant or sinking further.  This is because skyscrapers are the most visible signs of progress, and really, not much has changed in years.  It's only when you look at all the loft/condo conversions, new restaurants, new hotels, etc. that you really see what's going on downtown.  

All that to say this...

1) We're missing a 30+ story skyscraper

2) We're missing a significant expansion of the BJCC

3) We're missing a significant committment to expanding mass transit (downtown especially)

4) We're missing the Railroad Reservation Park

Any or all of these will really help signal us being over the tipping point.  Personally I think we're kind of already at that point or just over, but any of those 4 would be REALLY significant in helping solidly push us over that tipping point.

[Alabadrock]

Blazer85, on Apr 24 2007, 10:57 PM, said:

1) We're missing a 30+ story skyscraper

2) We're missing a significant expansion of the BJCC

3) We're missing a significant committment to expanding mass transit (downtown especially)

4) We're missing the Railroad Reservation Park

Any or all of these will really help signal us being over the tipping point. Personally I think we're kind of already at that point or just over, but any of those 4 would be REALLY significant in helping solidly push us over that tipping point.

Not gonna comment on the first two, cause the city council is the one holding that back.  They could get it done if they really wanted it.  But, whatever happened to the Railroad Reservation Park??

[Blazer85]

Alabadrock, on Apr 24 2007, 10:08 PM, said:

Not gonna comment on the first two, cause the city council is the one holding that back.  They could get it done if they really wanted it.  But, whatever happened to the Railroad Reservation Park??

It's still a go... ground has already been broken, in fact.  Real site work, however, is not expected to begin until very late this summer or maybe early fall.  At least that's the last I heard.

[Alabadrock]

Blazer85, on Apr 24 2007, 11:13 PM, said:

It's still a go... ground has already been broken, in fact. Real site work, however, is not expected to begin until very late this summer or maybe early fall. At least that's the last I heard.

Gooood.  I was just wondering, cause, I hadn't heard ANYTHING in a long long time.  And being soo far north, news about stuff like that doesn't come our way much.  Thanx for the info!

[rolltider]

Leonard23, on Apr 24 2007, 09:26 PM, said:

What do you guys think is holding Birmingham back from becoming like other large Southern cities that are booming?  Let's discuss.

Things that are needed or need to change:

Leadership in the mayor's office.  Rather than wasting his time micro-managing the city's affairs the mayor needs competent people around so he can spend more time promoting the city and recruiting business and development.

Integrity and honesty in city hall.  There is very little.

Cooperation between the mayor, city council and Jefferson County Commission.  As I said in a previous post I believe the Jefferson County Commission and maybe some smaller city governments in this area want the city of Birmingham government to continue to fail.

Cooperation between the many municipalities in the area and especially their cooperation with the city of Birmingham.  And yes, I believe much of the reason for the lack of cooperation from the county and suburbs with Birmingham is racially motivated and it needs to stop.

A stronger commitment by the cities, counties and state governments to the Birmingham International Airport.

Committment by the local governments to a real metro transit system.

[Alabadrock]

rolltider, on Apr 24 2007, 11:52 PM, said:

Things that are needed or need to change:

Leadership in the mayor's office. Rather than wasting his time micro-managing the city's affairs the mayor needs competent people around so he can spend more time promoting the city and recruiting business and development.

Integrity and honesty in city hall. There is very little.

Cooperation between the mayor, city council and Jefferson County Commission. As I said in a previous post I believe the Jefferson County Commission and maybe some smaller city governments in this area want the city of Birmingham government to continue to fail.

Cooperation between the many municipalities in the area and especially their cooperation with the city of Birmingham. And yes, I believe much of the reason for the lack of cooperation from the county and suburbs with Birmingham is racially motivated and it needs to stop.

A stronger commitment by the cities, counties and state governments to the Birmingham International Airport.

Committment by the local governments to a real metro transit system.

As I said in another thread, I'm getting sick and tired of watching this city rot to pieces, because their officials like doing what's best for themselves.  The mayors and leaders of the cities of Atlanta, LA, NYC, Chic, and others, did NOT get to where they are without taking risks.  

Good lord, don't be so safe! We like safe to a certain extent, but, improving the quality of life in your area and actually helping your people out, that takes something that safety CANNOT provide.  

If I were in the government down there, I don't care, I'd do what's best for the city, not myself.  I've never lived in Birmingham, but, I would love for it to be the most AMAZING city on earth, but, the leadership is stabbing the city in it's back by not allowing economic expansion to get a foothold.

[convulso]

i'm with you, blazer. things seem to be happening down in the city. things just feel different. i've been away since the first of the year, and having come back, there's just more excitement about the level of activity going on in bham. the new residential project in highland is nearly done; bessemer is sorta coming to life; the restaurant scene continues to expand; there are some moderately-sized projects filling in some under-utilized areas downtown; UAB keeps on a' building - all of these things have to happen before any 'next level' of highly visible development that everyone seems to thirst after.

i'm happy with bham's current 'feel' - more impressive to the pedestrian than to the tower-gawkers on the interstate - and i think the wet dreams of scraper enthusiasts are decades away, if not longer, from being realized here - but there are signs that the stage is being set for growth on a larger scale. nothing bad about that, if it happens in the right way.

Edited by convulso, 27 April 2007 - 12:35 AM.