Young Black Professional Woman Relocating to Birmingham (Hoover, Homewood: 2015, home)

[cpg35223]

Excellent...here's some highlights.

Civil Rights Museum and the 16th Street Baptist Church.
Birmingham Art Museum.
Vulcan Park.
The Birmingham Botanical Gardens.
Barber Motorsports Museum. Just trust me on this.


Birmingham Travel: What To Do With 48 Hours In Alabama

Some more ideas:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/virginiaw5/5...irmingham-h3ws

One note. Fall Saturdays in Birmingham are all about college football, both Alabama and Auburn. So there will be plenty of people out of town at the respective games. That being said, Lakeview, Five Points, and other places have lots to do and meet people. I'm thinking some way hipper people than me can fill you in on that.

Hope that helps. Good luck and feel free to ask us more questions.

[wardamnbham]

Originally Posted by JackieO973

Thanks for the intel!

Interestingly, Newark was an area my parents would tell me to stay out of in high school lol – though it didn't work because Newark is a mega hub for commuters. Jersey has many great suburbs and Montclair is one of them. Good shopping and dining, mixed housing types and cultures, and close to everything (particularly NYC)... which can be a good or bad thing for many reasons. Gentrification continues in Newark (I've heard Birmingham also). Long-term bets are up but the transformation includes an extermination of a class..but that's for another blog.

I have enjoyed the slower pace living down south and huge thanks to the low cost of living Alabama!

Glad to hear there's a healthy black professional scene in Bham- can I call it that? It's difficult to find here in Miami.

I'm flying into Birmingham friday and looking forward to exploring the city and surrounding areas for a couple of days. I want to see as much as possible.

Any suggestions??

If it's not too cold, consider checking out Gip's Place (juke joint in the woods). But get good directions well ahead of time. Ona's for a nice night of jazz. Railroad Park should have some good spots for people watching if the weather cooperates. Oh, and hit up 17th Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues. Good live R&B music with a nice mix of young and older. Drive Highland Avenue and get a glimpse of one of helluva diverse and beautiful neighborhood. Go to Collins for good food and an amazing brewpub scene. You'll see all colors there. If you're into scenery, I'd even suggest a drive on Shades Crest Road. It offers a gorgeous view of the valley that many wouldn't expect in Birmingham (well, Hoover if we're being technical).

Welcome in advance and safe travels.

[raj kapoor]

Originally Posted by wardamnbham

If it's not too cold, consider checking out Gip's Place (juke joint in the woods). But get good directions well ahead of time. Ona's for a nice night of jazz. Railroad Park should have some good spots for people watching if the weather cooperates. Oh, and hit up 17th Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues. Good live R&B music with a nice mix of young and older. Drive Highland Avenue and get a glimpse of one of helluva diverse and beautiful neighborhood. Go to Collins for good food and an amazing brewpub scene. You'll see all colors there. If you're into scenery, I'd even suggest a drive on Shades Crest Road. It offers a gorgeous view of the valley that many wouldn't expect in Birmingham (well, Hoover if we're being technical).

Welcome in advance and safe travels.

I am extremely curious as to what is on 17TH BETWEEN 1ST AND 2ND. And is that north or south?

Thanks

[wardamnbham]

Live music place called Plum Bar and cigar bar called Dirty Ash's. On many nights, live bands setup outside and inside. Nice crowds. Mostly black audience but a very inviting atmosphere for all. Oh, and that's 17th North. Directly across from the police HQ.

[JackieO973]

Originally Posted by wardamnbham

If it's not too cold, consider checking out Gip's Place (juke joint in the woods). But get good directions well ahead of time. Ona's for a nice night of jazz. Railroad Park should have some good spots for people watching if the weather cooperates. Oh, and hit up 17th Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues. Good live R&B music with a nice mix of young and older. Drive Highland Avenue and get a glimpse of one of helluva diverse and beautiful neighborhood. Go to Collins for good food and an amazing brewpub scene. You'll see all colors there. If you're into scenery, I'd even suggest a drive on Shades Crest Road. It offers a gorgeous view of the valley that many wouldn't expect in Birmingham (well, Hoover if we're being technical).

Welcome in advance and safe travels.

This is right up my alley! I love live music especially if accompanied by a cocktail. I will have a rental and plan on driving around a little also.

Thank you!!

[White Wine]

Originally Posted by JackieO973

Thanks for the intel!

Interestingly, Newark was an area my parents would tell me to stay out of in high school lol – though it didn't work because Newark is a mega hub for commuters. Jersey has many great suburbs and Montclair is one of them. Good shopping and dining, mixed housing types and cultures, and close to everything (particularly NYC)... which can be a good or bad thing for many reasons. Gentrification continues in Newark (I've heard Birmingham also). Long-term bets are up but the transformation includes an extermination of a class..but that's for another blog.

I have enjoyed the slower pace living down south and huge thanks to the low cost of living Alabama!

Glad to hear there's a healthy black professional scene in Bham- can I call it that? It's difficult to find here in Miami.

I'm flying into Birmingham friday and looking forward to exploring the city and surrounding areas for a couple of days. I want to see as much as possible.

Any suggestions??

Yes, Montclair is nice - too bad I can't afford it. Ha!

Again, I wouldn't expect Birmingham's black professional population to be on the level of Atlanta, D.C., Charlotte, etc., but it's there and it's decent size. I think it's healthy, but others may disagree. It's probably a matter of what you're used to.

I don't know where you're staying, but check out downtown, 5 Points South, Highland Park, maybe a couple of places over the mountain like Homewood or Mountain Brook if you want to see something really fancy. Also, go just east of downtown to the Avondale neighborhood (make sure you stay south of the railroad tracks though - north of the tracks is not a place you want to be after dark. In that area you'll know if you're north or south based on the street names - for example, 3rd Avenue South is south of the tracks, 3rd Avenue North is north of the tracks).

Since you're new to the city, you can also go visit the more touristy stuff - the statue of Vulcan on top of Red Mountain (the unofficial symbol of the city - it's what the Statue of Liberty is to NYC). There's also the Civil Rights Museum and adjacent Kelly Ingram Park. Downtown, there's the new Railroad Park, the baseball stadium across the street and the Good People Brewing Company on 14th Street South.

The other suggestions I've seen here are good as well. You're also picking the best time to come to Birmingham. October and November is usually pleasant and mild (maybe a bit cool, maybe a bit warm, depending on the day), and bright and sunny. Winter, although not as stormy or severe as New Jersey, is certainly no Miami. Expect temps in the 40s and 50s during the day and 20s and 30s at night, with a lot of rainy days. Spring is tornado season and summer is just hell hot. So honestly October and November are the best times to visit.

[prbeck]

One thing nobody has brought up is that we have UAB here ([url=http://www.uab.edu]UAB - The University of Alabama at Birmingham - Home[/url]) which is a large University. We have people from 122 countries that work and study there. With over 20,000 students and somewhere around 40,000 employees (we are the largest employer in the state) you could meet people from around the globe. One good place to meet people would be the UAB Art's center ([url=http://www.alysstephens.org/]Home - Alys Stephens Performing Center[/url]). If you would like to learn a new language there are language tables in many languages which are another place to talk to young people. Most of the condos on Southside will put you on the edge of UAB's campus.

There are some really beautiful loft apartments in old buildings downtown, but they may cost more than you want to spend. The condos on 1st to 4th Street South are within walking distance of UAB, Southside and downtown.

[TheBlackAmerican]

If you get the chance, you may want to check out Forestdale, AL, which is a majority black middle-class town. Forestdale sits on the Northwest side of the Birmingham area. The town's median household income for black people is $57,705 and the median income for a family is $65,476.

//www.city-data.com/city/Forestdale-Alabama.html

[Breeon_RM]

Are the Blue Monkey Lounge and Foreign Exchange Experience still around? If you like live music, I highly recommend checking them out, also, re:the nightlife scene. Oh - and Iron City :-)

Anyway, Birmingham's not the greatest, but it's far from the worst, for sure. I grew up east of town, and am pretty happy to have been raised there. I loved my time spent on the Southside after hightailing it from Vestavia Hills - it was just too quiet - though I ended up going back over the mountain pretty much every day because my job, friends, and family were all there, lol.

OP, are you still in Birmingham or have you gone back to NJ?

[verve57]

Good to see that B'ham is drawing people from other cities who may discover the positive things the city has to offer that don't always get the attention that negative things do. Great to hear about the different neighborhoods and social attractions offered to the OP to help her get settled in. As a native Mobilian living in Tallahassee, I'm happy to read about things happening in my home state. I hope the OP finds the things that will make her happy with her move to Birmingham.