244 replies to this topic

[Memphis10]

Sooo....condos and a new airport?......Almost every city in the south....   If the big 4 were gone.....i still say Memphis, Charlotte, Nashville, New Orleans (no particular order) would be the top dogs. Orlando is kool but i dont think it could compete with 4 of the 5 cities mention. Almost every southern city is experiencing a condo boom so you can not base your answer solely on that...If u take away the "Big 4" today and leave everything as is...then the cities mention above would be the souths top dogs..

[AmandaHugginkiss]

I think either of these could have a solid shot in being the South's largest.

My lady is from Memphis and I like it there so call me biased.  

Nashville is looking very impressive too and should be considered.

[reednavy05]

Orlando is growing and in leaps and bounds, but you gotta take into the scope of things, shear economic base. Close to 75% of Orlando's economy revolves around tourism or tourism themed/serviced industries. Take away Disney and Universal, and Orlando will almost die off, granted it is starting to widen its economic base, it can't compete at this time with Nashville, Charlotte, Birmingham, and New Orleans. Nashville is probably like number 7 in the South as a whole, with such a broad range of economic industries, ranging from music, automobiles, finance/banking, real estate, construction, large medical industry, and so forth. Orlando is great and all, but it's overall economic base is not that great, yet budget wise, it is better off than many American cities.

[tombarnes]

It's odd to consider economic bases in some places.  Fort Lauderdale, for instance, has a relatively small economic base outside of snowbirds, tourism and some banking and financial institutions.  Maybe this explains why the city is always at the ready to raise property taxes!

[fortyniner]

Hankster, on Jul 2 2006, 04:00 PM, said:

I think Birmingham, AL has suffered more from Atlanta's tremendous growth than any other city.  About 1950, Birmingham was about the same size as Atlanta and poised to possibly become the leading city in Dixie.  At that time both Nashville and Charlotte were considerably smaller than Birmingham.  Had Birmingham been aggressive and built the leading airport in the southeast, it's possible that the tremendous growth would have been in Birmingham, rather than Atlanta and Birmingham might have become the leading city in the Southeast.

In 1950, Birmingham had a 300,000+ population, compared to 134,000 for Charlotte.  
Today, Charlotte is by far the larger, more cosmopolitan city, and poised to turn on its afterburners!
I grew up in Charlotte; my job took me to B'ham for 5 years (1999-2004).  I was stricken by how petty and even corrupt Birmingham's leaders appeared to be. (Kind of like the idiots on today's school board in Charlotte).  I learned of the "pledge" that Birmingham students take in school regarding respecting rights (white v. black).  In Charlotte, a nationally famous Jewish author, Harry Golden" proposed in the 60's "vertical integration" which was a concept that whites and African Americans could start the end of racial segregation by eating together standing up, versus sitting down.  I think the civil rights movement of the 60's met with much more white opposition in Birmingham, Selma, and Alabama in general.  Perception becoming reality, I believe that poor reputation is only now fading.  Meanwhile, Birmingham is hampered by being boxed in on several sides by smaller communities.  I think Birmingham lost out by being so close (less than 2 hours) to Hartsville and the Delta hub.  Plus, Atlanta's physical location at the "base" of the Appalachians established it early as a transportation hub for roads and rail.  I believe Charlotte has to work harder than Atlanta to receive equitable funds from the state for it's pet projects.  Birmingham has the same kind of situation, as it's not the state capital, either.  The topography of Birmingham is superior to most southern cities, and the view from Red Mountain of the large downtown grid is really impressive.  280 and I-65 are nightmares, but so are I-75/85 and I-285 in Atlanta and I-485 and I-77 in Charlotte.  Birmingham is behind on light rail, heavy rail and buses.  UAB is probably the city's greatest asset, but the general population cares more about the Tuscaloosca school's football program than anything else.  It drove me crazy to hear sports radio talking about Bama football 365 days a year!  Birmingham has a very large downtown grid system, and lots of potential.
Atlanta has a "scary" downtown, Centennial Park, a vibrant Mid-Town, and the new Atlantic Station.  It's just not connected.  Charlotte has a CBD where everything is an easy walk.  Just needs to get a lot more street level retail.  The Queen City's airport is building a 4th runway (ATL Hartsville is building its 5th runway).  Birmingham is still wrangling to get a domed stadium using the guise that it's for conventions.  In my opinion, they just want the Iron Bowl to return to the city so the locals can see their beloved Bama play their less-beloved Auburn.  ATL has the Braves, which until a couple of years ago, thanks to TV, was America's Team, at least in the SE.  I don't think the average American wants to go to Montgomery to see the "Old South" but would prefer a more rounded experience in Atlanta.  Charlotte should emphasize it's Revolutionary War history more. Birmingham's history mainly is the fact that the "Magic City" arose so quickly near the ore that made it the center of the South's industry in the late 1800's.
I'm rambling, but let me emphasize that Birmingham is going to grow, but past perceptions and bad government/leadership, as well as proximity to Atlanta hurt it.  Every week it seems the Birmingham newspaper has an article that moans it's lagging of Nashville, Jacksonville, or Charlotte.
I agree with your contention that Atlanta's growth has been at Birmingham's expense.  Clark Howard, the financial guy with the syndicated radio show even calls Birmingham's airport Atlanta's "other airport" when touting Southwest fares and the airports nearness to Atlanta.
I think that 50 years from now, Charlotte and Atlanta will be on the same par, while Birmingham will have to go some to even come close.