Birmingham

[kayman]

I want to know how you outsiders view Birmingham. How do feel about the place? What you think the place should do to improve itself? Would you move there? What do see for the city and its large metro area's future?

[jamieh]

I voted haven't been there, but my view of Birmingham is that it is a progressive city, based on what I have heard. I probably wouldn't move there, only because I like living in Mississippi where my family and friends are.

[Newnan]

I think of it as Atlanta's young sibling

[sonofaque86]

When I hear Birmingham I think of the 60's...Don't know why. lol

[CapeFearRiver10]

Birmingham is the city that Atlanta gave sleeping pills to for the past 30 yrs.

Plus I think city is in a better location to it the heart of the South. Well in my opinion.

[Jerseyman4]

Its a city in Alabama, thats about it

[krazeeboi]

A great city in Alabama that has seemingly made peace with its past and is attempting to embrace the future. An underrated city in many areas.

[teshadoh]

I think of it as Atlanta's young sibling

Atlanta is older - but Birmingham was larger once.

But your comparison is still a good one, maybe a younger sibling that outgrew the older sibling - but has since stopped growing...

[jmanhsv]

I think Birmingham has a lot of potential... and would have a lot more if people would stop having this mentality about the city.....

When I hear Birmingham I think of the 60's...Don't know why. lol

[krazeeboi]

^Well, whose fault is that? Honestly speaking, and this is no slight against Birmingham because I like the city, the 60's was probably the last time Birmingham got regular national press on a widespread basis. But as I also stated, the city is not shying from its prejudiced past, but is rather making peace with it and seems to be trying to use it to its advantage.

[Jerseyman4]

Kudos for the University of Alabama/Birmingham as the leader from there, along with international researchers, have confirmed the origin of HIV in Cameroon. More from the article

[dimebag1980]

I've never been there, but it's on my list. Being just down I-20 from me, only a few hundred miles, it's on my way to Atlanta and North Carolina if I ever actually drive over that way. I would love to visit Birmingham, and I do view it as a very progressive, growing city. If I were to ever relocate to that general area, I'd probably want to live in Atlanta, but that's nothing personal against Birmingham... just my love for the larger city.

[codyg1985]

^Well, whose fault is that?

No one points to the fact that Birmingham is home to two of the six American Idols. No one points to the fact that Birmingham is home to one of the leading medical research facilities in the United States. No one points to the fact that Birmingham is surrounded by two auto plants (Mercedes, Honda) and one more down the road (Hyundai).

Instead, on the national scene Birmingham gets attention only when someone gets convicted of bombing something, or when something else bad happens. A lot of the work to paint Birmingham, and Alabama for that matter, as a backwards, stone-age place is thanks to the media. I admit there are a lot of things that should addressed, but it is quite difficult to get people to move to Birmingham and the surrounding area when it has such a bad rap nationally.

[Jerseyman4]

^Glad you take pride in your home state. I enjoyed my trip to NE Alabama back in early 2005, it was really nice out there.

[where_am_I]

I know that maybe I wouldn't be considered an outsider because I was born and raised in Birmingham, but when I think of Birmingham, all I could think of is the screwed-up leadership (mayor, city council, county commission, etc...) that runs the city and how they don't work very well with each other and not properly serving the citizens that live in the area. The leadership of Birmingham has apparently held back the city for a while now in my opinion. Maybe there are other core cities that have similar experiences with leadership fighting among each other, but leadership in Birmingham was pretty bad when I moved from there 2 years ago. I believe that if the leadership were to get their acts together and the Birmingham-Hoover MSA cities work together, the area could really unlock the potential that is there.

[Charlotteman]

Unfortunately I've never been to Alabama. But I've known three people from Birmingham who had nothing but positive things to say about the city:)

As far as I can tell the racial problems of the 1950s-1960s are all forgotten by the rest of the country.

[mrh3]

I met a girl from Birmingham last year and she was commenting that since she had moved to Orlando she was surprised at the number of people that thought everyone there lived in trailer parks. I can understand that misconception. Birmingham still has horrible scars in the national consciousness as an epicenter of the civil rights movement. (Those water hoses still tear me up). And I'd say that that killed tourism for a while. Regarding your poll, the fact that you would state: "How do you outsiders view it?" kind up sums up a lot. If you use language that emphasizes an 'us vs. them' 'outsiders v. insiders' mentality then that lets me know already that I wouldn't really want to spent much time there. I know the history is different that other southern cities because it was essentially colonized by northerners and was industrial rather than agricultural.It also has a decent financial services sector and a fairly diversified economy and a strong arts scene where people actually buy art. Until I get a compelling reason I won't be booking any flights anytime soon.

[Greens!]

I go through Birmingham every time I go to school. I prefer it to Atlanta because it has better geography and a great urban core. It (along with Greenville SC) is the best kept secret in the south. I love it and always wish I had more time to stay there and get some pictures.

[Claws]

I've often said that if I were to live in any city in Alabama, I'd live in Birmingham. Although not knowing much about it, I have a slight obsession with it and am eager to take a day trip down one day. The most experience I've had with B'ham comes from driving past the impressive skyline on I-65.

[Aporkalypse]

I don't compare Birmingham to Atlanta, I compare it to Nashville. It's doing well, better than most cities ion the region including Memphis. It's just that Nashville has benefitted from some great corporate sponsorship and entrepreneurship and this led to growth which let Nashville pass Birmingham by. 40 years ago it would have been preposterous to think that Nashville would have two major sports teams (including the NFL) and B'ham wouldn't.

It's a nice city with a lot of urban amenities, a nice university and medical complex, entertainment district(s), etc. It just seems to keep reaching for "major city" status and coming up a little short.

[Greens!]

Birmingham is not really comprable to Atlanta. Birmingham does have some beautiful scenery though. In my opinion, the city would be much more dynamic if the state of Alabama was not as harsh on big business.

[kayman]

Birmingham is not really comprable to Atlanta. Birmingham does have some beautiful scenery though. In my opinion, the city would be much more dynamic if the state of Alabama was not as harsh on big business.

I agree Birmingham does not want to be compared to Atlanta at all. It is more comparable to Memphis, New Orleans, Nashville, Louisville, Jacksonville, Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill, Charlotte, Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point, and Greenville/Spartanburg/Anderson. Birmingham is pose to have a later population boom than the other major Southern cities like Nashville, Jacksonville, and Charlotte, but that's because Alabama prefers a more controlled approached to its growth.

[jmanhsv]

Birmingham is not really comprable to Atlanta. Birmingham does have some beautiful scenery though. In my opinion, the city would be much more dynamic if the state of Alabama was not as harsh on big business.

Harsh? Our state is run by big business!

[kayman]

Harsh? Our state is run by big business!

I agree Alabama is run by big business and their lobbists. Birmingham's problem has little to do with big business, but rather Montgomery inhibition to allow the region to prosper into a self-ran major metropolitan area with all the amenities.

[tecmsu06]

I love Birmingham! It's got everything right there. You can live in one of the many beautiful towns that surrounds the urban core (homewood, vestavia, mtn brook) and be five minutes from great shopping and dining. Birmingham is the souths best kept secret. The scenery and hospitality make it one of the best places to live. Trailer parks?? Birmingham is home to Mountain Brook and Vestavia Hills,some of the souths most elegant and beautiful places to live, houses there are breathtaking!

also.. birmingham is very much comparable to atlanta. For starters, neither atl or birmingham are waterfront or riverfront cities. Atlanta has Georgia Tech downtown and Birmingham has UAB downtown. Also, both cities share similar topography and have ample amounts of trees in the older parts of their respective cities. Also, they both have very nice upperclass neighborhoods relatively close to downtown (atl-buckhead, bham-vestavia) and ATL has Stone Mountain, while BHAM has Oak Mountain. size cast aside, these cities are similar.