The MEGA Birmingham thread

[DallasTexan]

My new home town

Here we go!!!

The Skyline:

The skyline from my suite at the Scrumptious Sheraton Birmingham:

And the storms rolled in...

From beautiful Red Mountain:

Zoom zoom:

The BONES of the city:

Birmingham is really a nothern city that is hiding in the south

Mmm... Cleveland? Detroit? No! Birmingham!

Richard Arrington has a nice street named after him

Imagine this in 1913. Damn.

The backside of the 27 story City Federal Building. Not many cities had a 27 story building in 1913... Another reason why Birmingham is win!

I would live here:

Old & new blends well here:

Birmingham's architecture even influenced Nazi Germany

Skyscrapers:

Here are the Ham's Big Four:

The BEST 70s glass box, hands down:

Black and white. Or is it white and black? Let me consult Al Sharpton:

Taller than Taipei 101 and Jin Mao combined... the beautiful Southtrust:

Oh look - a skyscraper with a Parisian at the base. How... urban.

BONUS ROUND!!!

Since SSA is so great, I have decided to include a bonus.

Here is the beautiful and fashionable area of Birmingham, Five Points:

Art is good. Art on a Mediterranean fountain is even better:

Have a seat:

The Trendy Mill Restaurant. The blackened Tilapia is to die for! :drool:

Gothic.

Five Points skyline:

Vulcan is cool, but he would be cooler if he were 2,000 feet tall and had a big laser.

Skyline from Highland Avenue:

LSyd's apartment building:

More apartments in the Highland area:

Beautiful old building by 280. I like how there are no overheard powerlines lining the main roads. Definitely not Nashville-esque!!!!

More apartments:

Pretty:

A VERY old area:

The Junkyard Bar:

The skyline from the Tutwiler Hotel:

Finally, a gorgeous sunset from the Radisson Hotel Southside. I wish I could have been up on Vulcan Mountain to see it! It was gorgeous! (look at that Southside density, too!)

[Raleigh-NC]

OUTSTANDING... I said: O U T S T A N D I N G!!! I loved the Five Points area, too.

[DruidCity]

Cool photos !

Now they need to add in some electric trolleys, some new residential towers, the planned urban research park and improved greenspace connecting UAB and downtown proper, the dome and entertainment district, and so on.

There's tons of potential.

I'll call special attention to the photo entitled :

"And the storms rolled in..."

That's pretty close to the view of the CBD one would have from the proposed dome area.

The building in the lower left with the colored panels is the Birmingham Museum of Art, for those unfamiliar with the city.

As I usually see Birmingham coming in from the west, my most common view of downtown B'ham is similar to that of the 18-wheeler in the photo.

It's also nice to see the shots of Bellsouth, as I remember my father commuting there (and also Alabama Power) during summers to do consulting work about 20 years ago, back when it was South Central Bell.

[UK_D]

Excellant pics. Ive never even heard of Birmingham and it looks like an above average English city! But maybe thats because of the skyline. Whats the population of the city and metro?

[tocoto]

I agree, best thread I have ever seen of B'ham. Over the years on these forums it's been shown to be much more of a city than many of us realized, but this thread really does it justice.

[DallasTexan]

monsoon:

That area is known as Five Points. It's a collection of old shops and restaurants, plus tons of old apartment buildings.

Birmingham is boiling over with potential, Druid. It's great.

Thanks for the compliments, guys.

Birmingham has a population of 250,000 with a metro of 1.1 million.

[DruidCity]

It's worth noting that B'ham's city pop. is under 240k now, but in 1930,

it was 260k, the 36th largest in the country.

In 1950, Birmingham's city population was up to 326k, 34th largest in the country, and Atlanta at 331k was 33rd.

In 1960, Birmingham was up to 341k, and was holding on at 36th.

It fell sharply after that, but the above gives a pretty good idea of the city's former importance & the reason why there's so much older development.

The city has a very, very strong industrial/manufacturing heritage, as reflected in its signature Vulcan statue, Tannehill (halfway between Birmingham and Tuscaloosa) and Brierfield Ironworks parks, and the Sloss Furnace museum. Tannehill was the birthplace of Birmingham's iron industry that really gave rise to the city. It is because of that strong industrial heritage that Birmingham was hit so hard by nationwide "free trade" decisions to ship entire industrial sectors overseas.

Hopefully, the city is set to rebound & make some major waves again.

DallasTexan, I'm glad you chose to give Alabama a try.

I realize this is an odd suggestion, but be sure to check out some of Birmingham's poorer areas. There are some faint vestiges of what were once quality urban neighborhoods - Ensley, downtown Bessemer, East Lake , etc. There's a sort of urban funk in some of those old places that shines through, despite the lack of money there now.

[DallasTexan]

Hopefully, the city is set to rebound & make some major waves again.

DallasTexan, I'm glad you chose to give Alabama a try.

I realize this is an odd suggestion, but be sure to check out some of Birmingham's poorer areas. There are some faint vestiges of what were once quality urban neighborhoods - Ensley, downtown Bessemer, East Lake , etc. There's a sort of urban funk in some of those old places that shines through, despite the lack of money there now.

Druid,

I hope that Birmingham does make a rebound. Like I've said before, Birmingham just feels like home. Every time I arrived in the city, I've had this feeling. I know it isn't booming like Atlanta or Nashville - but it just has something the newer cities lack. I can't really describe it, either.

I know that when Birmingham makes a rebound, I want to be there. I feel like I can make a difference in making the city even better than it is now.

I will have to check out the poorer areas. I have a feeling that they are a lot like the poorer areas of Charleston, West Virigina. The areas are depressed, but are overflowing with character and soul.

If I stay in Birmingham, it will blossom again one day. I will work hard to make a difference

[DallasTexan]

Championing the underdog is a good thing

[Allan]

Awesome pics! definately the best B-ham thread I've ever seen! Thanks for the tour!!!!

[Brickhead]

Thanks for the great pictures, DT. It's seems like lately I have seen more and more fantastic photos of Birmingham. The first time I saw Birmingham (c.1970), I thought it was the armpit of the South - old, smelly, and filthy. Now I think it is truly one of the gems of our South. Congratulations on your move, I hope you find the contentment you are seeking.

[DallasTexan]

Well, the early 70s was the worst time for Birmingham. The steel mills were closing, racial tensions were still extremely high, and it was extremely polluted.

Faced with all of that, the city has still done a complete 180 turnaround. It's an amazing accomplishment