Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Birmingham, AL is another candidate. In the first half of the 20th century, it was a peer to Atlanta; Atlanta decided to take a more progressive, business-friendly path and it has obviously reaped the benefits and left its former peer behind.
I know right. B-Ham should just make similar adjustments to their policy that Atlanta did. I think they'd do really well.
Gulf Coast cities like Houston, New Orleans, and Tampa have untapped/missed potential, albeit for various reasons. Same goes for areas of the South Atlantic, especially north of Florida.
I know right. B-Ham should just make similar adjustments to their policy that Atlanta did. I think they'd do really well.
Jackson, MS as well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sav858
Los Angeles but for different reasons being discussed so far. It has a great setting and climate but ruined it by catering to the automobile. The built environment is pretty ugly overall and doesn't take advantage of the climate.
Somewhat agree, but at least the lifestyle there takes great advantage of the climate. Beach, landscaping, agriculture, economy, etc.
I think it's St Louis.
It's flat and has huge area to develop on all directions.
On the river and so can be a big transportation hub.
In the geographic center of the country and so again can be a major transportation crossroads.
Was the 8th largest city in the country with almost 900,000 people , could have easily been a few millions by now but dropped to 60th place today with less than 400,000 people.
The city itself is flat, but right outside the city its hilly as heck.
...
Another interesting example of lost potential might be the Norfolk/Hampton Roads area of Virginia. Don't get me wrong, I know the area is today developed and growing but with its great harbor and central location you would think the area might have become much larger then it is now.
Yep. The main thing that has held Hampton Roads back is probably the region's balkanization, partially due to arcane state municipal law and largely attributed to poor local governance. The biggest culprit really is Virginia Beach itself, a "city" that has been boldly antagonistic toward regional cooperation. In the end, you have seven cities all fighting each other for dominance in a region that should really have a strong singular identity.
If only it were that simple. For starters, there's the state of Alabama to contend with.
I think Birmingham's Civil Rights past and other past issues are the reason behind it's missed potential. For some reason people seem to want to hold on to what happened in that city during that era. I don't think the state has anything to do with Birmingham's missed potential.
The same goes for Mobile. Mobile's missed potential was it's past short sighted leadership.Though Mobile has a large stock of it's historic pre 19th century : Creole, Italinate, Federal,Mission Revival, Spanish Revival, Gothic ,Egyptian Revival, and etc architecture. It still isn't enough to have our name mentioned along with Savannah and Charleston. Our city officials thought it was progressive to detrsoy many of them in the 60's and 70's for the sake of modernization. Preservation didn't take place until the 80's which was to late. Then you have untapped and undeveloped coast line in Mobile county that is being under utilized. Baldwin County is the fasted growing county in the state and will soon pass Montgomery County as the 4th largest in 2 years or sooner. It's growing off of 1) Mobile's economy and 2) It has more coast utilization so it is deemed as being more desirable. That has nothing to do with Alabama that is all Mobile's fault.Mobile has finally gotten it together and hopefully the city and county will live up to it's potential. There are other cities and counties in Alabama that are blazing and are reaching their potential. The state has nothing to with it.Their local leadership are responsible for that.
Folks in Birmingham love to blame the state and contend with Alabama about it but Birmingham's past enemy is within it's self.
Birmingham vs. Atlanta is a tale of two cities with diametric visions. They were essentially equal at the start of the 1960s. Birmingham fought against the future and Atlanta embraced it wholeheartedly. Had Birmingham had the visionary leadership of Atlanta in the mid-late 20th century, it'd be on another level.
I'll go with Tucson. Tucson is set in a beautiful beautiful setting, has a large university, has a climate that draws people to it but there doesn't seem to be the get up and go to organize, solve problems and build a job/economic base. It could be fantastic but it just flounders as a city.
I'll go with Tucson. Tucson is set in a beautiful beautiful setting, has a large university, has a climate that draws people to it but there doesn't seem to be the get up and go to organize, solve problems and build a job/economic base. It could be fantastic but it just flounders as a city.
I think much the same could be said of Albuquerque, which unlike Tucson is not in the shadow of a larger city. But New Mexico is not a well managed state and has a under-developed private sector economy. Albuquerque could be like a smaller Denver with a milder climate if it could get more aggressive about achieving good quality growth.
I noticed Birmingham mentioned in a few posts. I think that area seems to be on the right track these days, but the problem is they lost a lot of ground to their regional competitors more than a generation ago. Atlanta, Charlotte and Nashville just have a lot more to work with today and a momentum that keeps stimulating further development in those metro areas. Memphis seems to be the major Southern city that is falling short of its potential at the present time. While population growth there has kept pace with Birmingham, income growth has not, and Memphis is struggling with crime and social problems to a frustratingly large extent.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Albuquerque & Memphis thoughts
