New 2014 census estimates - Birmingham grows by 318 residents year over year (Hoover: metro area, cities)

[_OT]

Originally Posted by MagicCityMick

It's like how NYC's pop is considered - it's a city of over 8 million. Doesn't mean that 8 mil is Manhattan alone. It's all five boroughs, which create a cohesive urban pop of over 8 mil. Birmingham is heavily fragmented, abridged. Any consideration of Bham's true pop without factoring in Hoover, Vestavia, Mtn Brook, Homewood, Bessemer, Alabaster, Fairfield, Trussville, Center Point, Hueytown, Irondale, Pelham, etc etc is dubious.

Bham's urban pop in 2010 was ~750k. That was probably inflated then, so in 2015 I'd imagine that number to be pretty accurate. That is Birmingham's population. "But city limits, but city limits." No. In virtually all other American cities, that 750k would be contained within a single city limit. Few cities have the same breadth of patchwork, alienated municipalities as the Birmingham metro, and that 750k all reside within the appropriate parameters of proximity and density which render it the most accurate census of urban Birmingham.

I agree.

Miami has a population of 400,000+

But we all know that "Miami," is actually closer to 3 or 4 mil.

[southernnaturelover]

Originally Posted by ashpelham

This isn't just a trend with Birmingham. The state as a whole just isn't an attractive place to move to, unless a specific job has brought you here. It's just not a destination, as much as the state's leaders like to brag about our supposed low cost of living.

relative to average wages, it isn't that cheap to live here. Housing is basically free, but that's what happens when people are net leaving the state.

Very true, no matter what city or town you live in you still can't escape the fact that you're in ALABAMA. The only thing that could be worse maybe is living in Mississippi. Other Southern states like GA and NC have been able to shake off the stereotypes somewhat, but that won't happen in AL as long as we keep doing things like re-electing Roy Moore, which makes us the butt of jokes. Everytime we take a small step forward, it seems like something happens to make us take two steps back.

I live right at the AL-FL state line, but when I travel to other parts of the country I tell people I'm from Florida. I've learned if I say I'm "from Alabama" I'll get a look of disgust, or even pity.

[Tourian]

Originally Posted by SickOfAllThePC1983

Isn't it so very curious a thing that the bottom of the list are all Black majority cities???


But no, let's keep right on hating white people and letting political correctness allow black folks to destroy their cities and the long term future of said communities.


Alabama would be a magical, wondrous, prosperous state if not for this blight that is all too commonplace among the region of the deep south.


Crying shame.

That's the system working as intended. Take all the money, jobs and opportunity out - let the drugs in. Then sit back and act surprised how it all turns out. But is is changing.

[Mr Beco]

Originally Posted by J Lynch

I don't think anybody outside of Alabama even knows who Roy Moore is. I doubt most people are thinking aabout Alabama much if they don't live there. Most people aren't thinking about what happened back in the 1950s somewhere.

I don't know much about Alabama other than its college football team.....but I did read that there are some craft beer companies sprouting up

[WanderingImport]

Who the hell is Roy Moore?

Seriously. I had to look him up. Chief justice of Alabama. Yeah, unless you're just really in to politics, aside from actually living in or within very close proximity to Alabama, nobody's gonna know who that guy is.

Back to the original topic. Birmingham has to start somewhere as it was falling in numbers. As one or a few people mentioned earlier, the recent developments that have occurred and about to occur within the city limits will further help the City of Birmingham along in numbers.

True, you cannot look at merely the city numbers as it does not completely reflect the city's true size, but it is still wise to keep track of a city's core as it is not healthy to have an ever expanding healthy growing metropolis/suburbia and a shrinking inner core. Atlanta, again, is a good example of this. (They have fortunately turned the corner and are experiencing growth within their city limits)

[jero23]

Originally Posted by steveklein

Salt Lake City, Utah... Madison, Wisconsin

You might to add if you are a white because I don't know too many black people that would want to live in either one of those places...

[watchinthesunbake]

Originally Posted by sacdukeman

Just curious - what cities (or states) would you put as examples of "there are much more attractive places with the same living costs with higher standards of living"? I realize the "more attractive" part is subjective, but the last two criteria are mostly objective.

I'd offer Nashville as one of those places. I recently moved to Hoover from Nashville because I wanted to get back to Bham where my friends are. My husband still can't get over the fact it's more expensive for us to live here than in Nashville. The AL state income tax and our sewer bill are two examples of higher cost of living in AL. Sales tax is also slightly higher here, especially on groceries. Add to that that TN just made, or is about to make, community college free to residents and, well, it gets hard to justify the move home. We bought a house in Hoover and our taxes are within a few hundred bucks of what we would've paid for a house in a good school district in the Nashville area. The housing prices in Nashville are about 10% higher but that's the only downside I've seen with a side-by-side financial comparison. And we could make up for that by buying a slightly smaller home there.

I keep hoping someone can point out to me how it's cheaper to live in AL, but it hasn't happened so far.

My job opportunities are also far, far, far worse here than they were in Nashville. Far fewer and lower paying.

As for the quality of life comparison...I think most people would say Nashville wins that one.

Like I said, we moved back here to be nearer to friends and family. But I do sometimes question my decision.

[sacdukeman]

I appreciate your thoughts. As a wage earner, Tenn would indeed be better on income tax. But, for a retired person living on SSI and interest/dividends, the difference is little. And the income tax difference will be partially offset by the fact Alabama allows you to deduct your federal income tax paid from your state taxable income. God, I would love that! And from what I've seen, prop tax in Shelby County is much lower than in Nashville, perhaps by 50%, depending on the school and city tax.

As to sewer, I can't comment - most of the places I've looked at are on septic tanks. My bill in Sacramento is $50 a month for sewer (which does not include water, recycling, or trash).

[Keeper]

I live Northeast of Bham but I will tell you the differences as I see them. As of now. many pensions are also not taxed in the state of AL. I only have to pay state tax on my income from IRAs.

Property taxes are low compared to states that have no state income tax. Let's face it you are going to pay one way or another.

My utility bill runs around $200 a month, sometimes lower but that includes everything all year. My water bill runs around $45 a month and that include water, sewer, garbage and brush pickup.

I moved here from FL and I love it.

[Tourian]

Compared to Tennessee and Georgia, Alabama is going to offer some savings, but it just depends on particular transactions and services and even then I don't think it is going to result in a night and day difference. I don't think it is realistic to move from either of those states and expect to see a huge difference. Florida is high on property tax and insurance. Compared to the north, Alabama is very low - but the south in general is lower. Amongst southern states, Alabama is even lower in cost but marginal differences. A lot of times its going to even out. They are going to get you going or coming some how some way.

Brookings: Bham boosts primary city growth year-over-year - Birmingham Business Journal

The Brookings Institute recently released data showing that the Birmingham-Hoover metro area saw a 1 percent bump in primary city growth year-over-year.

Downtown has become a hotbed for activity, with new multifamily construction projects and businesses attracting new residents, and UAB students, to the city center.


Nearly 2,000 new units are expected to come online in the next two years, representing $100 million in projects.

According to the Birmingham Business Alliance, the region is trending in the right direction, with Birmingham creating 3,011 more jobs and seeing more capital investment–$370 million–than it did in 2013.
This is compared to the 1.7 percent primary city growth in Atlanta, and a 0.3 percent decrease for Memphis.
Birmingham suburbs grew by 0.4 percent, while Atlanta saw a 1.6 percent bump in suburban growth.
Memphis also saw growth in the suburbs, getting a 0.5 percent boost year-over-year.