Is Birmingham the most underperforming city? (Valley, Jacksonville: crime, gated, transportation)

[Peter1948]

https://www.bizjournals.com/birmingham/maps/crane-watch


https://www.bizjournals.com/louisvil...re/crane-watch


https://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/maps/crane-watch



Can we compare crane watch lists please? If Birmingham can compete, why does Louisville have substantially bigger and better projects at every level? Is anyone bored enough to count the listings in the map? Not only are Louisville's bigger pound for pound, but there are more.

[shinestx]

Yawn! I'm going to let you watch all the cranes you want. I'll prefer to rely on permits issued and census data. They don't have the TBD/TBA or pending status project. Have fun.

[TimCity2000]

Originally Posted by Xi Chi Ping

It'a apparent that you're wasting your effort and time. You simply asked WHY is Birmingham lagging behind other good to great Regional cities. You plainly couldn't get a cogent explanation. Give it a rest I suppose. It doesn't matter.

literally the first two responses on page 1 give pretty good explanations / reasons for why Birmingham might be lagging in job/population growth.

what else are y'all looking for?

we get it, Louisville is doing great.

[Peter1948]

Originally Posted by TimCity2000

literally the first two responses on page 1 give pretty good explanations / reasons for why Birmingham might be lagging in job/population growth.

what else are y'all looking for?

we get it, Louisville is doing great.

It all has to do with race and Alabama per the first two pages of this thread....I cannot believe that being in AL and race is the reason the Ham is behind? And steel decline and conservatism? There must be something more? Birmingham has so much unrealized potential, a very gritty but historically charming city.

[TimCity2000]

Originally Posted by Peter1948

It all has to do with race and Alabama per the first two pages of this thread....I cannot believe that being in AL and race is the reason the Ham is behind? And steel decline and conservatism? There must be something more?

both of those posts also mentioned: ineffective (and often corrupt) city and business leadership, infighting and protectionism among the many cities/suburbs within the metro area, lack of consolidated government, a recession which hurt a primary industry (banking), etc.

are we reading the same posts?

[TimCity2000]

Originally Posted by Xi Chi Ping

Perhaps, but the knee-jerk defensiveness was over-arching, that is what is telling it seems to me as a reader of some of the posts. It smacks of: "if you don't live in Birmingham, you have no right to some on OUR forum and question anything". I rarely read that sort of expressed bad attitude on other forums populated by locals, say, on the Nashville, Orlando, Louisville or Charlotte forums. That's my observation.

Show me a post in a Nashville, Orlando, Louisville or Charlotte forum where someone comes in and asks "Why is your city underperforming?" and then show me the responses. I imagine there would be some defensiveness there.

Not sure where you live, but when you live in Alabama and Birmingham, you get used to hearing how inferior you are from all sides. I think most of us here understand EXACTLY where Birmingham sits in the national conversation. I also think most of us would contend that our national image doesn't accurately portray the type of city we live in.

Yes, job growth and population growth are slower than nearly all of our peer cities (and I'm sorry, Louisville is a peer city.) But we're not exactly withering away either. I don't know what the dollar amount of development is, but compared to 5 or 10 years ago, there has absolutely been a change in the city, and for the better. As a development nerd, I'd love for things to happen faster. I'm curious to hear what the threshold is for "adequately performing" and "overperforming"?

[cherokee48]

Originally Posted by _OT

I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about lol.

All I know is, Louisville, Richmond and New Orleans all have lackluster suburbs. When you compare the “old south” cities together, that’s a game changer in my personal opinion. The Birmingham Metro Area seems much more expansive...

I agree with this sentiment and when comparing metro's I don't see where any of these metros are head and shoulders above B'ham's metro area. It does seem fairly vast in comparison, from Bessemer to Moody or Shelby County to Cullman it's a sizable footprint and it feels like it more so than the old south cities you mentioned.

[steveklein]

I'm not sure if poorly planned sprawl development (granted, partially due to terrain) should really be checking a box for Birmingham's metro area.

I think most people in the inner ring of Birmingham would rather the extensive growth that happened in Shelby County from the late 1980s through now to have concentrated closer to the city center. We would probably have more walkable districts that feel like cities unto themselves. Public transportation would be more viable. And hell, there might even be less fragmentation than we have now across the metro area.

[Peter1948]

Originally Posted by steveklein

I'm not sure if poorly planned sprawl development (granted, partially due to terrain) should really be checking a box for Birmingham's metro area.

I think most people in the inner ring of Birmingham would rather the extensive growth that happened in Shelby County from the late 1980s through now to have concentrated closer to the city center. We would probably have more walkable districts that feel like cities unto themselves. Public transportation would be more viable. And hell, there might even be less fragmentation than we have now across the metro area.

Exactly...I am not sure how celebrating sprawl down interstates in a metro that is SMALLER than every peer I listed by a substantial percentage is a good thing. Birmingham in no way feels bigger than Richmond, Louisville, Memphis or New Orleans. In fact, it feels way smaller...because it is....particularly in the city limits.

[sleepless in Bham]

Originally Posted by Peter1948

Exactly...I am not sure how celebrating sprawl down interstates in a metro that is SMALLER than every peer I listed by a substantial percentage is a good thing. Birmingham in no way feels bigger than Richmond, Louisville, Memphis or New Orleans. In fact, it feels way smaller...because it is....particularly in the city limits.

This post is beyond funny. Ive been to all four cities you mentioned and Birmingham feels and IS the same size as all those cities you mentioned, maybe except New Orleans.

This is the main reason I dont post much on this site. The boosterism by some is borderline pathetic. Yes, Birmingham has its issues that have been LONG ignored by those in power and citizens in general. But just like in other cities things are slowly starting to improve.

It seems like these out of town posters and trolls are so focused on this areas problems, yet if you go on their particular city's thread, surprise surprise they have the same issues.

Let's talk about Louisville's issues with crime, or how its a slow growing metro in a state with the same image problems as Alabama's, or why it hasn't kept up with other metros in the region, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, etc.