Just got back from Birmingham (not impressed)

[PortCity]

So jokes about Alabama being stuck in the past led you to believe that modern architecture and infrastructure does not exist in the state?

[Riggshall]

yes i expected it to be kind of rundown and lacking in stuff that other places have.

[notoriouskelly]

It's good we don't all wanna live in the same place, otherwise the world would tip over.

[raj kapoor]

Originally Posted by Riggshall

yes i expected it to be kind of rundown and lacking in stuff that other places have.

That seems like a by-product of poor education. There are many places that I have never been but I know as much about them as many locals.

I certainly would not spend a lot of money traveling without knowing what purpose it serves to go to a certain place.

Most people from the north have expressed to me their biggest surprise is that Birmingham is not flat. Yet on my first trips to the north I already knew the areas that would be flat as opposed to those with rolling terrain.

I just don't understand how we can live in America and believe that any city with over a million people could be so different from the rest of the American cities when it comes to infrastructures and the man made environment. We are all driven by the same culture and marketing. We are all targeted by the same companies.

It seems incumbent upon us all to be self educated about these things in life.

For instance; I know that New Mexico is one of the poorest states in the country, but due to my own desire to know and through experience, I also know that it has some of the wealthiest residents in the nation. There is no excuse to be CLUELESS. I don't have to go to their homes to know they are there.

Hopefully, you will take your experience as an incentive to learn about places you might travel. It could make all the difference in your personal experience and even benefit you in unexpected ways.

raj

[raj kapoor]

Originally Posted by notoriouskelly

It's good we don't all wanna live in the same place, otherwise the world would tip over.

I HATE IT WHEN THAT HAPPENS........

raj

[jpk1292000]

Originally Posted by raj kapoor

That seems like a by-product of poor education. There are many places that I have never been but I know as much about them as many locals.

I certainly would not spend a lot of money traveling without knowing what purpose it serves to go to a certain place.

Most people from the north have expressed to me their biggest surprise is that Birmingham is not flat. Yet on my first trips to the north I already knew the areas that would be flat as opposed to those with rolling terrain.

I just don't understand how we can live in America and believe that any city with over a million people could be so different from the rest of the American cities when it comes to infrastructures and the man made environment. We are all driven by the same culture and marketing. We are all targeted by the same companies.

It seems incumbent upon us all to be self educated about these things in life.

For instance; I know that New Mexico is one of the poorest states in the country, but due to my own desire to know and through experience, I also know that it has some of the wealthiest residents in the nation. There is no excuse to be CLUELESS. I don't have to go to their homes to know they are there.

Hopefully, you will take your experience as an incentive to learn about places you might travel. It could make all the difference in your personal experience and even benefit you in unexpected ways.

raj

I live in Atlanta but grew up in Pennsylvania. The ignorance of some people in PA about the South is amazing. People with college degrees who actually thought that everyone in the South drives a beat up pickup truck and smokes. I had one guy tell me he didn't think that high speed internet would be available in Atlanta in 2005!

[raj kapoor]

Originally Posted by jpk1292000

I live in Atlanta but grew up in Pennsylvania. The ignorance of some people in PA about the South is amazing. People with college degrees who actually thought that everyone in the South drives a beat up pickup truck and smokes. I had one guy tell me he didn't think that high speed internet would be available in Atlanta in 2005!

lol

My experience is that northerners really don't know too much about the south. (not to suggest that southerners know much about the north)

I suppose they think the whole south is flat because cotton was growing in the streets and everywhere else. We have no winter at all. (wow this week might have dispelled that somewhat)

I'm just not sure why stereotypes thrive in the twenty-first century. We all see and hear the same media. The same companies seek our patronage. How could we not be more alike.

It might be a hold over from a time in the Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries when times were harder and people felt better about themselves by thinking lower of others. (that is fairly age old and it is VERY prevalent on these forums)

raj

[Riggshall]

Originally Posted by raj kapoor

That seems like a by-product of poor education. There are many places that I have never been but I know as much about them as many locals.

I certainly would not spend a lot of money traveling without knowing what purpose it serves to go to a certain place.

Most people from the north have expressed to me their biggest surprise is that Birmingham is not flat. Yet on my first trips to the north I already knew the areas that would be flat as opposed to those with rolling terrain.

I just don't understand how we can live in America and believe that any city with over a million people could be so different from the rest of the American cities when it comes to infrastructures and the man made environment. We are all driven by the same culture and marketing. We are all targeted by the same companies.

It seems incumbent upon us all to be self educated about these things in life.

For instance; I know that New Mexico is one of the poorest states in the country, but due to my own desire to know and through experience, I also know that it has some of the wealthiest residents in the nation. There is no excuse to be CLUELESS. I don't have to go to their homes to know they are there.

Hopefully, you will take your experience as an incentive to learn about places you might travel. It could make all the difference in your personal experience and even benefit you in unexpected ways.

raj

I went to Birmingham to visit the Optometry School at UAB. I wasn't particularly interested in is Birmingham flat or not or does it have newer stuff, etc. I would be going to UAB or another optometry school in Memphis given only those 2 offered in state tuition for my state. I obviously did know my my purpose to go to Birmingham. lol You talk about education but you appear to be making a lot of presumptions about me.

Get off the soapbox dude. You are like Dr. Phil or something. If you want to talk to your kids like this that is cool but I am a grown man.

I basically said I thought B'ham is a nice town with a lot of new stuff and somehow this seems to have offended people. It was a compliment. My impression was Birmingham had kind of stagnated after the steel industry died and it was similar to towns in the midwest that are losing people. I never had any reason to research the town and I would have moved there regardless of the condition of the city if I went through with the optometry school thing but I went in another direction.

[Southlander]

And you seem to have made a number of presumptions about Alabama.

It's OK. We're used to it. Bless your heart. Glad you came for a visit!