How does Atlanta view Birmingham? (Savannah, Macon: for sale, apartment complex, houses)

[waronxmas]

Originally Posted by Ray7000

If Atlanta was so greater than Birmingham, why would you show a close up picture of Bham less than a half a mile away and show the ATL a number of miles away? At least don't distort your photos.

Well, they weren't "distorting" anything. In order to get a full skyline shot of Atlanta you have to be pretty far away from it, and even in that picture it just caught Downtown/Midtown and only a sliver of Buckhead. To make things fair though as you insist, here are two aerial photographs from a similar vantage that tell the same story:

Birmingham:


Birmingham_downtownFromEast | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/techbirmingham/62508100/in/photostream/ - broken link)

Atlanta:

Downtown and Midtown


Some of Downtown and all of Midtown, Buckhead and surrounding districts

Originally Posted by MathmanMathman

And thinly populated with a cluster of buildings, then nothing, then another cluster, etc.

atlanta ga - Google Maps

A "thinly populated cluster of building then nothing"? What are you going on about?

That bridge you put the Google map view on is the first of four spanning the Connector, the nothingness you speak of is everythign on the right:

http://www.tumblr.com/photo/1280/13555359114/1/tumblr_lvehamunZB1qdhm1u (broken link)

Flickr: city_simmons (http://www.flickr.com/people/69740708@N03/ - broken link)


So much nothingness...

[Ray7000]

Okay, great aerial photographs!

[atltechdude]

Originally Posted by cqholt

removed.

I agree but I don't see any need for bitterness on either side.

If you want to live in a more traditional southern city (some want that) then Birmingham might be for you. If you want a more modern and progressive city, then Atlanta is probably a better fit.

[ATLTJL]

Those photos pretty much tell the entire story.

Atlanta is a much more urban and vibrant city. You can see it in all of the development of the downtown/midtown area.

Birmingham has more of a small downtown area that doesn't provide an urban experience at all because pretty much nobody lives there. What you can't really tell from the aerial photo, though, is how picturesque Birmingham is because it sits in a valley. The angle of the photo downplays the mountains that surround the city. If you really want picturesque, you've got to go up Red mountain and look down on the city from there. It's breathtaking at night.

Birmingham is not about the urban experience. It probably never has been, and it almost definitely never will be again if it ever was. It's about being in a place where you can hunker down, have kids, and hang out with friends (and for most people, go to church....but not necessarily for everyone.) It's a place where if you forget to lock your door at night, it's not that big of a deal and when you're out of town your neighbor is going to get your mail for you without you having to ask. This is assuming that you know where to live....Vestavia Hills, Hoover, or down 280 in Shelby county. If you live elsewhere, you'll just be dodging bullets.

My guess from the people who hated it is they had no idea where to go or where to live. It's still very much a "turn left down where Bob's chicken shack used to be" kind of town, and if you're not in the know, well, you're probably not going to have a great experience.

[Stars&StripesForever]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

Those photos pretty much tell the entire story.

Atlanta is a much more urban and vibrant city. You can see it in all of the development of the downtown/midtown area.

Birmingham has more of a small downtown area that doesn't provide an urban experience at all because pretty much nobody lives there. What you can't really tell from the aerial photo, though, is how picturesque Birmingham is because it sits in a valley. The angle of the photo downplays the mountains that surround the city. If you really want picturesque, you've got to go up Red mountain and look down on the city from there. It's breathtaking at night.

Birmingham is not about the urban experience. It probably never has been, and it almost definitely never will be again if it ever was. It's about being in a place where you can hunker down, have kids, and hang out with friends (and for most people, go to church....but not necessarily for everyone.) It's a place where if you forget to lock your door at night, it's not that big of a deal and when you're out of town your neighbor is going to get your mail for you without you having to ask. This is assuming that you know where to live....Vestavia Hills, Hoover, or down 280 in Shelby county. If you live elsewhere, you'll just be dodging bullets.

My guess from the people who hated it is they had no idea where to go or where to live. It's still very much a "turn left down where Bob's chicken shack used to be" kind of town, and if you're not in the know, well, you're probably not going to have a great experience.

Birmingham is a great place to live. Other great places in the Birmingham area include Mountain Brook, Helena, Alabaster, and Trussville.

The residential areas of Mountain Brook, Vestavia Hills, and Homewood are as nice or nicer than the best the Atlanta area has to offer, in my opinion.

[cqholt]

I did enjoy the mountains and valleys. The Vulcan statue was a great place to view Jones Valley and Downtown Birmingham.

[brownhornet]

Originally Posted by Stars&StripesForever

Birmingham is a great place to live. Other great places in the Birmingham area include Mountain Brook, Helena, Alabaster, and Trussville.

The residential areas of Mountain Brook, Vestavia Hills, and Homewood are as nice or nicer than the best the Atlanta area has to offer, in my opinion.

Yea but none of those are in Birmingham lol..they're suburbs. Mountain Brook, Vestavia Hills are nice yea... but thats all going towards Hoover..where basically the only development in that whole area occurs. And I lived in Homewood, it was a dump. There was a point when it DID used to be nice, but not anymore. The few nice areas are basically just the UAB doctors/nurses. But Birmingham itself... the actual CITY of Birmingham is a slum. It had to be the most depressing place i've ever lived especially on the weekends. The only time that city really comes to life since the Iron Bowl left is the Magic City Classic weekend.

[Stars&StripesForever]

Originally Posted by brownhornet

Yea but none of those are in Birmingham lol..they're suburbs. Mountain Brook, Vestavia Hills are nice yea... but thats all going towards Hoover..where basically the only development in that whole area occurs. And I lived in Homewood, it was a dump. There was a point when it DID used to be nice, but not anymore. The few nice areas are basically just the UAB doctors/nurses. But Birmingham itself... the actual CITY of Birmingham is a slum. It had to be the most depressing place i've ever lived especially on the weekends. The only time that city really comes to life since the Iron Bowl left is the Magic City Classic weekend.

Why do you say this? I've found Homewood to have nice neighborhoods and a quite attractive downtown with its new buildings.

Southside neighborhood of Birmingham is nice, and it is in the actual city.

Trussville is also fairly nice, and it's on the northeast side of town near I-459 and I-59. There's a lot of relatively new development in that area. Moody and Leeds are also not bad either. I once had a relative who live in Helena, and other than the traffic problems to get to I-65, the area was quite charming.

[brevij98]

a small city I've never really thought about, im thinking its really small and focused on culture and stuff. The name just makes me think that

[NorthDeKalb]

Originally Posted by brownhornet

Yea but none of those are in Birmingham lol..they're suburbs. Mountain Brook, Vestavia Hills are nice yea... but thats all going towards Hoover..where basically the only development in that whole area occurs. And I lived in Homewood, it was a dump. There was a point when it DID used to be nice, but not anymore. The few nice areas are basically just the UAB doctors/nurses. But Birmingham itself... the actual CITY of Birmingham is a slum. It had to be the most depressing place i've ever lived especially on the weekends. The only time that city really comes to life since the Iron Bowl left is the Magic City Classic weekend.

You lived on Valley Ave, yes?

Property values in Homewood are among the highest in the Birmingham area, schools are decent, and downtown HW offers walkable urban living options. DT Homewood is more lively than DT Bham, and has been for quite some time now... which is pretty sad.

Homewood has always been considered an exclusive area for homeowners. There's Valley Ave, then there's the rest of Homewood which is pretty marvelous IMO. HW flows into Mountain Brook actually...