Is Birmingham a "major city"? (Gadsden, Anniston: agricultural, transportation)

[cpg35223]

Originally Posted by annypzt

Today Birmingham is a major international commercial centre, ranked as a beta-world city by the Globalization and world cities research network, and an important transport, retail, events and conference hub, With a GDP of $90bn (2008 estimate, PPP), the economy of the urban area in the second largest center of higher education in the United Kingdom outside London, and its major cultural institutions, including the city of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Birmingham Royal Ballet and the Barber Institution of Fine Arts, enjoy international reputations. The Big City Plan is a large redevelopment plan currently underway in the city center with the aim of making Birmingham one fd the top 20 most liveable cities in the world with in 20 years.

That's nice, but we're discussing your sister city in Alabama.

[Strangejelly]

Originally Posted by Hamtonfordbury

CSAs and sectional populations do work that way. The official CSA includes Cullman and Talladega, but you could just as easily include Tuscaloosa and Gadsden. Birmingham has a sizeable number of satellite cities accessible by interstates. 60 miles at 70-80 MPH is less than an hour. They are all in the same TV market. Gadsden arose up along side Birmingham in Alabama's industrial boom, and Tuscaloosa grew because of the University of Alabama, which gets many of its students from the Birmingham area. Tuscaloosa is closer to Birmingham than Athens is to Atlanta - about 50 crow-fly miles.

Lol, including cities more than 60 miles out as part of the CSA is hilarious. That doesn't make the area bigger or more vibrant.

[Tourian]

The CSA already includes Jasper, Talladega, Cullman and Clanton. It is not a stretch of the imagination to think adding Tuscaloosa, Gadsden and Anniston-Oxford are just around the corner.

If a major sports franchise or Fortune 500 company looks at that data and decides to move based on that data then yes it would make the are both bigger and more vibrant.

I'm guessing this phenomenon only works positively for homers own cities and doesn't matter for haters posting negative thoughts in a Birmingham thread.

[sleepless in Bham]

Listen, who give two sh**s about who is and who isnt in the MSA/CSA and why, etc. All that looks nice on paper but will it bring in new, high paying jobs?, improve education?, improve mass transit?, bring in new retail?. The answer is NO.

No fortune 500 company will not take a look at this area when there is a lack of an educated work force, potential employees cant get to work because of poor mass transit. How would upper management get from places like New York, when they have to change.planes one or two times just to get here.

Im just saying yall if we want Birmingham to be a major city, expanding the MSA/CSA wont get us there.

[Tourian]

Why so angry?

I can't expand the CSA no more then any citizen can. But the fact remains that bigger cities with growth get the attention of employers and sports franchises.

Execs from Germany, Japan and Korea fly in here all the time for the auto plants. They'll find a way.

I don't get why that is such a difficult concept. A bigger CSA is a symptom or side affect of a growing more vibrant city.

No one is suggesting using some sort of sleight of hand to lasso in distant towns just to fluff up Birmingham's numbers. Like it or not it is the only population specific metric available to compare cities.

If you don't give a pile of asterisks about it, why spend time on the place specific sections of C-D at all?

[Strangejelly]

Originally Posted by Tourian

The CSA already includes Jasper, Talladega, Cullman and Clanton. It is not a stretch of the imagination to think adding Tuscaloosa, Gadsden and Anniston-Oxford are just around the corner.

If a major sports franchise or Fortune 500 company looks at that data and decides to move based on that data then yes it would make the are both bigger and more vibrant.

I'm guessing this phenomenon only works positively for homers own cities and doesn't matter for haters posting negative thoughts in a Birmingham thread.

I guess you meant "look" bigger. Why not stretch it to Montgomery and Huntsville and draw tons of companies?

[Tourian]

Originally Posted by Strangejelly

I guess you meant "look" bigger. Why not stretch it to Montgomery and Huntsville and draw tons of companies?

Your comedy is weak and your purpose here is clear. Just skip over my comments from now on.

[Strangejelly]

Originally Posted by Tourian

I don't get why that is such a difficult concept. A bigger CSA is a symptom or side affect of a growing more vibrant city.

Bigger because the areas population grew or because the CSA was expanded to include areas it didn't before?

The later is just fluff and doesn't make the city more vibrant.

[sleepless in Bham]

Im not angry, I just dont see the need for all the attention on expanding something thats gonna expand anyway if we get our other priorities in order.

If we want more people to drive from other parts of Central Alabama to Birmingham for work, etc we have to attract the companies people would be willing to drive from that far out or maybe even relocate to Birmingham for.

[Tourian]

Originally Posted by sleepless in Bham

Im not angry, I just dont see the need for all the attention on expanding something thats gonna expand anyway if we get our other priorities in order.

If we want more people to drive from other parts of Central Alabama to Birmingham for work, etc we have to attract the companies people would be willing to drive from that far out or maybe even relocate to Birmingham for.

You are still putting the cart before the horse. No one is going to expand the cSA but the census bureau. They'll do it when work patterns change as you say. That'll happen as the core gets stronger and employs more people. If somebody on c-D says, "Hey what if..." Then so be it. It's just typical C-D banter this board is full of it. A Birmingham area of 1.6 million looks more tantilizing then one of 1.3 million and might catch the eye of a sports team that seems to be the all important make or break factor for "majorness". We're already a major intersection in rail and interstate and the airport is a lot better. Two intermodal facilities are being built one for cargo and one for passengers. So a lot is being done to improve infrastructure.