Is Birmingham the most underperforming city? (Montgomery, Mobile: real estate, insurance, home)

[Logicist027]

So I have been taking a cursory glance at cities and places that would seem to be a good place to live. Surprisingly Birmingham has:

Decent weather
Good higher education
UAB,
3 law schools,
dentistry school,
a liberal arts college
private & HBCU higher ed

The city is of decent size with a metro of a little over 1 million.

So here is the question -- What happened?

Bad leadership? (I'm sure this had to be present)
Couldn't overcome the racist past history?
Economic laws of the country don't fit the region? (Minimum wage? something else)
Lack of support from the federal govt?

[bosshawk]

The state of Alabama despises Birmingham, the business community is weak, Jefferson county has 38 municipalities in it which creates harmful competition and breeds local contempt, and yes, local politicians have a history of corruption and utter ineptitude.

[MinivanDriver]

Originally Posted by Logicist027

So I have been taking a cursory glance at cities and places that would seem to be a good place to live. Surprisingly Birmingham has:

Decent weather
Good higher education
UAB,
3 law schools,
dentistry school,
a liberal arts college
private & HBCU higher ed

The city is of decent size with a metro of a little over 1 million.

So here is the question -- What happened?

Bad leadership? (I'm sure this had to be present)
Couldn't overcome the racist past history?
Economic laws of the country don't fit the region? (Minimum wage? something else)
Lack of support from the federal govt?

Lots of factors that have hamstrung Birmingham in the past, some of which still do today.

1) The race thing. Not only did it mar our national image for decades, but it also led to the fracturing of our metro population into dozens of municipalities, all of which have operated in a posture of mutual suspicion and turf defense. Over the past few years, however, some signs have emerged that seem to be hopeful. First, the downtown area is seeing a surge of residents as old buildings are renovated and new multifamily are created. I think the old mossbacks are dying off, and hope the generation that follows seeing the wisdom of some kind of unified metropolitan approach. Not necessarily in government, for school systems are sacred cows, but in other fundamental ways. It's way better than it was before, but still needs improvement. There was a time when people in the outer suburbs spoke of Birmingham as if it were another planet.

2) The Alabama thing. Unfortunately, Birmingham is part of Alabama. Don't get me wrong. Love my state. But the power in this state resides in the rural counties, which zealously defend their prerogatives to weigh in on what happens in Birmingham. Home Rule simply cannot be forced through the legislature, which means every new tax, every new position, and every new bond issue that is enacted anywhere has to be voted on by every Alabama citizen as a constitutional amendment. It is absolutely ridiculous. Yet Birmingham's metro GDP is larger than Huntsville, Mobile, and Montgomery combined, with maybe a Gadsden or Tuscaloosa tossed in for good measure.

If you need a working example, Birmingham was the last major Alabama city to have its Interstate system completed by a span of decades. I've always joked that the best thing that could happen to Birmingham is if it seceded Alabama along with Huntsville and formed a new state. Heck. You could even put the capital in Cullman just to have it in a central location.

3) The US Steel thing. Birmingham was essentially a company town from its origins to the early 80s when USS shut down their plant. That meant that USS meddled continuously in the politics of Birmingham to keep the local population divided, and the city firmly committed to old-school industries. This is pretty well documented. The other thing? USS actually kept their Birmingham plants from outperforming their Pittsburg plants by slapping a tariff on any product delivered more than 300 miles from the city, while Pittsburg plants had no such restriction--one of the all-time business headscratchers. Even today, USS holds sway over thousands of acres and their subsequent development.

4) The Civic Government thing. People don't realize this, but Birmingham was about the same size as Atlanta in 1930, but was growing far more rapidly. The Depression hit, which had catastrophic consequences for Birmingham's economic growth. At one point during the Great Depression, only 3,200 people in the city had full-time employment. It says a great deal that not a single major building was erected in downtown Birmingham between 1930 and 1970. The city recovered and grew in the 1940s, but then the horrid civic government took over.

Aside from the racism of the 50s, the city leaders were myopic, to put it charitably. Not only did they invest full-tilt in segregation politics, but they dismantled what had been an excellent transit system and did not anticipate the effects of suburbanization. Whether or not Birmingham had a shot at the Delta Airlines hub remains a hotly debated topic, but it does seem to signify the short-sighted civic approach to economic development.

From 1950 to 1980, the civic leadership of the metro area was comprised chiefly of boobs. The downtown area, still a viable retail center until the mid-70s, was wrecked by ill-conceived redevelopment efforts. I am personally amazed that UAB managed to take root and thrive during this time period. Otherwise, I think we would today be the South's answer to Flint, Michigan.

So what has happened since then? To me, the closing of USS forced the metro area to change the economy. UAB was instrumental in terms of biomedical. Several banks (Regions, SouthTrust, Compass, and AmSouth) grew exponentially into superregionals. Other industries have arisen, allowing the city to have a more diverse economic base. The pollution issue was addressed. And the interstates were finally completed.

The city took another hit in the Great Recession of 2008, chiefly because so much of the regional economy ran off banking. When two of the four superregionals went on the auction block, along with some smaller players, that can't help but send the city for a loop. But the effects were not nearly as severe as the Great Depression because there was a much broader economy.

5) The Conservative thing. I encounter this in my own biz. The investment dollars in Birmingham have long been centered on the sure things of banking, real estate, and insurance. For years, it was next to impossible to see any investment dollars go to tech or anything else for that matter. Fortunately, that seems to be changing quickly as, once again, the Old Guard goes to the Country Club In The Sky.


Okay. Probably more than you asked for, but it's a complex question. Today, I'm much more optimistic than I was ten years ago. The economy continues to diversify. There is far to do with an explosion of the restaurant scene that garners national attention. Income growth per household compares very favorably with the rest of the country. The downtown is undergoing a renaissance that is nothing short of miraculous. And there's a growing awareness that the economic fates of Birmingham, Hoover, Hueytown, Leeds, and all the other various suburbs are interwoven.

In other words, it's a city that has dragged itself out of the crater, dusted itself off, and seems to be in the process of turning itself into a great place to live. It's not Atlanta or Charlotte to be sure but, then again, we have had far deal more to overcome both in terms of economic disadvantage and good old-fashioned shooting ourselves in the foot.

[TimCity2000]

great answers, both of you.

[bosshawk]

And I will add to my above - while racism played a part historically, there are plenty of cities that experienced severe racism, and even more recently than Birmingham, that are thriving - Atlanta, Los Angeles, Nashville, Memphis(Although it is very comparable to Birmingham in terms of lost stature and economic activity), Boston, and others.

[Reactionary]

Minivan = "the best thing that could happen to Birmingham is if it seceded Alabama along with Huntsville and formed a new state."

Huntsville says no thanks.

[mcalumni01]

Originally Posted by Reactionary

Minivan = "the best thing that could happen to Birmingham is if it seceded Alabama along with Huntsville and formed a new state."

Huntsville says no thanks.

Knew that response was coming as soon as that "h" word was mention. They should have known not to mention bham along with that "h" word. Come on mini....!!!!! You know how they feel about that little city down i-65.....

[MinivanDriver]

Originally Posted by mcalumni01

Knew that response was coming as soon as that "h" word was mention. They should have known not to mention bham along with that "h" word. Come on mini....!!!!! You know how they feel about that little city down i-65.....

Not sure I understand the antipathy.

[Mississippi Alabama Line]

It's all economy, man. We can talk about race/government fragmentation/poor leadership until we are blue in the face, but the economy is what put Birmingham in the position it is in currently. MinivanDriver detailed it well above. I honestly think Atlanta was able to grow so much probably because it was a transportation hub. Bottom line. Birmingham's growth is going to be limited by that. Just is what it is.

Don't get me wrong. Those things above can help steer the ship, but they aren't the engine.

At this point, Birmingham is in that 'too big to fail' category, and is established, so there is potential to do some things. It seems to me now that things like this Amazon deal, and all the other competition for companies based on tax rebates, are driving the economy. Who knows what the future holds, and what cities will benefit. I do know this....if you're trying to get into the current 'hot thing' or whatever, like tech, you're probably late to the party. Cities like Seattle, Denver and Austin were in on this stuff long before it was popular.

It's like trying to predict the weather.

[mcalumni01]

Originally Posted by MinivanDriver

Not sure I understand the antipathy.

For bham?......oh it serious