Cullman Teenage Crusiers (Birmingham, Huntsville, Gadsden: houses, movies, minimum wage)

[Eastexpat]

I grew up in Alabama but have lived in Asia for several years now. I remember about 8-10 years ago Cullman used to be one of my favorite hangouts. I can remember cruising up and down HWY 31, souped up cars, general fun and carefree times. I remember on Friday-Sat nights Cullman was full of energy.
Last year I visited the area again for a few weeks for the first time in years. Im a bit older now, way past the cruising age, but I thought id ride up one night just to see if the tradition was still alive.
In a way, I was almost disappointment when I ended up on HWY 31 on a Saturday night to find it completely empty and lifeless. What happened to all the cruisers? Did it just become unpopular?

[Tourian]

Kids can't afford the gas and most of the little jobs they used to work are gone.

Cullman is in the Birmingham area, BTW.

[dijkstra]

It isn't gas prices. We thought gas was high back then when it got up to $1.69 to $1.99 and we still found a way to come up with the gas money.

To cruise they would take the money that they use for other things now such as the gas they burn going to/from the movies and the $40 they spend for the tickets, popcorn and drink for themselves and a date or the money they spend on beer, liquor and pizza for a party at an older friends house or off in a remote area outside. They are still spending the money, just using it differently.

Actually what happened as did with other popular cruising spots such as Boaz and Gadsden main streets and the downtown square at Scottsborro, people kept complaining and so the police started harassing the teens. Some towns passed cruising ordinances. I can't remember for sure but I believe Cullman, Boaz and Gadsden all passed some type of cruising ordinances. They set up check points and if you crossed that check point so many times in a length of time they would pull you over. I remember talk of Cullman doing something similar to stop the cruising. In Huntsville they used to cruise the parking lot of the old mall where Books A Million and Toys R Us are and they did the same thing there, sent the police to harass until the cruising stopped.


It sucks that teens can't cruise anymore. We used to visit the various different spots and we had a lot of fun meeting people from all over the area. I have a lot of good memories from cruising.

[zenjenn]

Teenagers used to *cruise* 8-10 years ago? Huh, that is news to me. I think of that as something from the 50's and 60's. I'm 35 and when I was a teenager (in California) no one to my knowledge *cruised*. The idea would have just been bizarre? When I was a teen, I spent most of my weekends hanging out at coffee houses socializing with friends, or going to movies or just hanging out at a friend's house.

[friday13]

Originally Posted by Eastexpat

In a way, I was almost disappointment when I ended up on HWY 31 on a Saturday night to find it completely empty and lifeless. What happened to all the cruisers? Did it just become unpopular?

The Internet killed it.
They're cyber cruising nowadays.

[Tourian]

Originally Posted by dijkstra

It isn't gas prices. We thought gas was high back then when it got up to $1.69 to $1.99 and we still found a way to come up with the gas money.

To cruise they would take the money that they use for other things now such as the gas they burn going to/from the movies and the $40 they spend for the tickets, popcorn and drink for themselves and a date or the money they spend on beer, liquor and pizza for a party at an older friends house or off in a remote area outside. They are still spending the money, just using it differently.

So you're saying its not the price of gas, but they'd rather not waste gas/money cruising when they could go to the movies, drink beer, or party at a friends house. Got it.

[Eastexpat]

Originally Posted by dijkstra

It isn't gas prices. We thought gas was high back then when it got up to $1.69 to $1.99 and we still found a way to come up with the gas money.


Actually what happened as did with other popular cruising spots such as Boaz and Gadsden main streets and the downtown square at Scottsborro, people kept complaining and so the police started harassing the teens. Some towns passed cruising ordinances. I can't remember for sure but I believe Cullman, Boaz and Gadsden all passed some type of cruising .

Yea, I remember 1.50$ for gas was expensive haha. People complained? You're kidding me right? Who on earth would complain about kids having fun?
I do know me, and several other out-of-towners spend a lot money every weekend at local gas stations, restaurants and businesses. Did they complain about that too?
I do not recall much criminal activity, no gang banging or shootings. The worst thing I remember was a little street racing (which also often put money into the local government).
I know some older idiots seem to have a prejudices against teenagers and consider them doing anything except attending a Church meeting harmful.... I just wonder, what did these people do as teenagers? I will never become one of these morons.

[Eastexpat]

Originally Posted by Tourian

So you're saying its not the price of gas, but they'd rather not waste gas/money cruising when they could go to the movies, drink beer, or party at a friends house. Got it.

Thats all good, but sometimes its nice to get out and meet new people. Cruising was a fun way to do it. I have many fond memories and my best friend met his wife .

[dijkstra]

Originally Posted by Tourian

So you're saying its not the price of gas, but they'd rather not waste gas/money cruising when they could go to the movies, drink beer, or party at a friends house. Got it.

No you misinterpreted what I was saying. The price of gas now has nothing to do with why they do not cruise anymore. Back then minimum wage was about half what it is now and gas was about half what it is now. We thought the gas was too expensive then but still bought it and cruised anyway. Now they just use that money on the other things teens do if they are not occupied with something.

Since the older community had nothing better to do but complain about the cruising at the time, ordinances were passed and the police stopped the cruising. They would even put up barricades in the parking lots or on the blocks where we circled to go back the other way. In Gadsden they had a check point at each end and if you passed it I believe 3 times within an hour they pulled you over and you got a ticket. We tried to work around the laws and continue cruising but they were determined to end it and won.

I think the street racing had a lot to do with it. There were a lot of mustangs and z28's at the time and there would be burn outs and revving engines but the races were always held at a different remote locations, not on the strip. I remember news stories about it and local residents complaining along with city board members but the things they were stating were simply untrue for the cruisers. They would mention the racing but as I said, that was held at different locations. If their goal was to ultimately stop street racing, well that plan failed miserably. Street racing is just as alive and popular today as ever.

Originally Posted by zenjenn

Teenagers used to *cruise* 8-10 years ago? Huh, that is news to me. I think of that as something from the 50's and 60's. I'm 35 and when I was a teenager (in California) no one to my knowledge *cruised*. The idea would have just been bizarre? When I was a teen, I spent most of my weekends hanging out at coffee houses socializing with friends, or going to movies or just hanging out at a friend's house.

You may have been in a different circle. I remember a few people moving here from California and they had really cool customized cars and trucks that were lowered and had really nice paint jobs. They talked about cruising and how many more people there were and the cars they have. I remember one guy showing us pictures of a bunch of customized cars parked together on the side of the strip and you could see brake lights forever in the background of the picture. I can't remember what park of Cali he was from though.

I can't imagine hanging out in a coffee house as a teen or early 20's. That is just simply something that our circle would never have done. As a matter of fact a lot of us are still friends and we still don't do that, we meet at bars like Humphreys, Masons or Mickeys downtown. lol

[Eastexpat]

I have to admit I was, and still am, a gearhead (over here in China gas is still 1.99usd/gal) and was one of those performance car pilots. However, me and my buddies considered it stupidly risky to race in downtown--akin to doing donuts in the police station parking lot. We would usually hit Bama Dragway over in Walker County for that.
I sincerely hope some people would get together and hit these cities with a large lawsuit for restricting freedom of movement. Im in China, and with laws that allow stopping/ticketing people for driving on public roads, I think these cities are more communist than here...

Originally Posted by dijkstra

I think the street racing had a lot to do with it. There were a lot of mustangs and z28's at the time and there would be burn outs and revving engines but the races were always held at a different remote locations, not on the strip. I remember news stories about it and local residents complaining along with city board members but the things they were stating were simply untrue for the cruisers. They would mention the racing but as I said, that was held at different locations. If their goal was to ultimately stop street racing, well that plan failed miserably. Street racing is just as alive and popular today as ever.