More to offer 20 something African American Male: Birmingham Vs. Pittsburgh

[Shakeesha]

Originally Posted by _OT

Most of Birmingham's peers within the Sunbelt seem to start from the ground up, brand new, and implement a sense of developing projects that complies with "new urbanism." Those core areas seem to be a bit more suburban, wider streets, modern highrise/midrise, more sterile, cleaner. Birmingham embraces its gritty culture while also doing a good job of incorporating the newer development, with the old.

Most Sunbelt cities are prioritizing on building more and more within its' core, especially when it means increasing foot traffic. Well Birmingham already has that model in place, it's only job is refurbishing those buildings and putting business within these buildings, or in other cases making them mixed-use. While also infilling nearby vacant lots or parking spaces, with much more newer development (apartments).

Example: Turning an old run down Motel in Avondale, into something that'll increase foot activity, and shed growth withing that particular area as a whole.

One thing I also noticed is that Birmingham would rather develop within its neighborhoods instead of focusing on one particular task that'll only benefit one area in the long run; the frequent adjustments are being distributed within the Central, East, South, and Western parts of the city. Keep in mind that Birmingham is a legacy city, and from one of the articles I read a few months ago, some of the key elements for revitalization are...

Rebuilding the central core
Sustaining viable neighborhoods
Repurposing vacant land for new activities
Re-establishing the central economic role of the city
Using economic growth to increase community and resident well-being
Building stronger local governance and partnerships
Building stronger ties between legacy cities and their regions

Something you don't see being applied to other Sunbelt peers.

I see. I would argue that Memphis and Knoxville are following a similar model as Birmingham. And although Chattanooga may not be a peer, and Louisville and Richmond not in the sunbelt, those cities have also long taken advantage of the existing infrastructure rather building solely from the ground up.