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We'll just agree to disagree. You seem to mainly be talking about how ppl in suburban Birmingham view the city proper and vice versa... I'm talking about rural folk in places like Arab and Piedmont and Selma and Marion in the blackbelt. Rural folks, when they think/talk about "going to Birmingham," they don't mean "I'm going to Birmingham proper." If someone from rural Bama says they are going to the "mall" (Galleria/Summit, Leeds Outlets) or they are going to see a specialist at Grandview, they don't say "I'm going to Hoover or Leeds whatever suburb.." they say "I'm going to Birmingham for XX." People outside of metro Birmingham when they refer to Birmingham are usually referring to the entire area not just the city proper. But yeah... the rural/urban animosity has always existed. One reason why Alabama's laws are like they are is to give rural counties power over Alabama's one true historically urban county which is Jefferson.... and it worked. Birmingham doesn't enjoy the degree of self rule that other Southern cities like Nashville and Atlanta enjoy. Birmingham has to get permission from Montgomery for basically everything.
I think that this is a very sharp observation and I totally agree. Your point about Greater Birmingham and how it is referred within and outside of the region is what I have observed as well. The reality you are pointing out is that most cities are judged off of their metro metrics rather than their city proper metrics. Specifically for television/media market and GDP. Obviously the "city" functions with the residents within the city proper living and working there as well as people from the suburbs and exurbs commuting to the city on a daily basis for work and entertainment hence the metro metrics usually always being the most important when judging or measuring a city. I also agree about the urban/rural animosity as well and that dynamic although more intense in Birmingham/Alabama also exists in many cities and states around the country. Your point about the Alabama constitution and how it decidedly hurts urban areas and tries to choke home rule and how it has slowed Birmingham's growth compared to Nashville and Jacksonville is very accurate as well. I would add that despite that the Greater Birmingham area is seeing MUCH more regional cooperation with the city, county and the major suburbs and it is paying dividends, a welcome sight indeed.
Oh really? Attend a service at Sixth Avenue Baptist Church one Sunday when the pandemic is over. Lots of well to do black people in there on any given Sunday. Parking lot is filled with new or new-ish Beamers, Benz's and Cadillacs. Several of them I know live in the Greystone community or somewhere in Mountain Brook... plenty of doctors, lawyers and other high-income professions. I would know since I attend. That statement simply isn't true... we may not be Atlanta, but there is black wealth in this city. According to US News and World Report ... "a three-person family with an income between $100,000 and $350,000 is to be considered upper-middle-class" 100k a year? There are plenty of three person black families in Metro Birmingham who make 100k a year or more. Yours is the most ignorant comment I've seen on this site in a while.
One church? You'd say that's a lot? Anyone can buy a beemer, merc, or cadillac. You'll also see $60k pickups in trailer parks. I'm certainly not saying there are no well-to-do blacks in Bham. There are... But, by far, the black population of Bham is poorer than the black populations of other cities. There's simply not a strong upper-class black population in Birmingham.
I am from a suburb of Birmingham myself and have lived here my entire life.
1.) There is animosity towards Birmingham and yes race has a lot to do with it. It also has a lot to do with crime and percieved(real or not) black criminality and underperformance in school systems. So in a way you are right, but in my opinion for the wrong reasons.
2.)Metro Birmingham isn't a thing. Its only a thing on paper. When one goes to a doctor or mall(I'm assuming you mean Riverchase galleria)they aren't going to Birmingham. They are going to Hoover. No one in Hoover,Alabaster,Pelham,Etc. Claims Birmingham the way you are thinking. Maybe some posters on this board do...but the average person in "Metro Birmingham" doesn't associate things in Hoover or other suburbs with BHM. Its very city centric and fractured.
So you are correct again in one way. "Metro Birmingham" doesn't give a single fig about Birmingham
3.)The middle class of blacks in BHM exists, but not in any great number. Just like when white flight happened in the 60s and 70s there is an educated/middle class black flight that occurred in the 90s and 2000s of black people fleeing to the white suburbs. If they had the means to leave they did so.
4.) The resurgence of BHM is being led demographically by whites(particularly younger) through gentrification and "revitilization". The people who are going into these rough areas(primarily low income high crime largely black neighborhood's) and being pioneers(east lake,Woodlawn,Avondale,etc)by buying up property and living there are white people. Mayor Woodfin is the front man that will get a lot of credit for the things happening in Birmingham, but the people moving in and doing the ground work in this city are younger whites.
Don't believe me? Walk through these revitalizing neighborhoods. White people and more white people. Maybe a black face every now and again. Thats the truth. Who do y'all think is gonna be buying up all that property up in Norwood when that Carraway development takes off? Young white folks.
Make of that what you will....but a lot of black folks APPARENTLY aren't happy a out it. They say the city is changing to much to their liking.
1. We are in agreement here about the traditional animosity towards the city although I think the reasons listed by the previous poster are accurate/
2. Greater Birmingham/Metro Birmingham is definitely a thing and not just on paper. Most if not all cities are judged off of their metro metrics rather than their city proper metrics specifically for television/media market and GDP. The "city" functions with the residents within the city proper living and working there as well as people from the suburbs and exurbs commuting to the city on a daily basis for work and entertainment hence the metro metrics usually always being the most important when judging or measuring a city. Birmingham city/metro functions in the same way, when a new company moves to Hoover or Bessemer like Amazon has done recently they are coming to the Birmingham area as they too recognize the existence of the metro area structure. I would add that the traditionally fractured nature of the metro is not really an accurate view of the current nature of the metro. That was certainly the case 20 years ago however there have been major strides by the city, county and major suburbs towards working together to better the economic outlook for the region and it has been making good progress,
3. I can't buy this one either, even in the cities with the largest black middle classes (D.C. & Atlanta) a lot if not most of the middle class and upper middle class population reside in the suburban areas as well. Despite a portion or even a large portion of the black middle class not living in the DC or Atlanta proper those cities are still viewed as having a large black middle class. This dynamic of a lot of the middle class not living in the city proper is not uncommon or disqualifying and Birmingham is no different.
4. What should not be lost here is that young people black and white are leading the resurgence in Birmingham. The people that are going into these rough areas and buying property are white and the people that have been living there have been paying property taxes and buying property as well are black and both are doing good work, that should not be overlooked or discounted. I have not gotten much negative energy from black residents about revitalization the vast majority welcome it. Gentrification on the other hand is where I see a lot of resistance and quite frankly anger and to the city's credit I have not seen an exodus of black residents from East Lake, Woodlawn or from the Northside Carraway area nor have I seen the character of these areas be lost. I do think the narrative of black residents being against revitalization is very overblown.
The Ensley Renaissance: How residents are reviving a once-thriving community
I am from a suburb of Birmingham myself and have lived here my entire life.
1.) There is animosity towards Birmingham and yes race has a lot to do with it. It also has a lot to do with crime and percieved(real or not) black criminality and underperformance in school systems. So in a way you are right, but in my opinion for the wrong reasons.
While race is absolutely a factor, it's not the only factor. It's important to consider what made Birmingham at odds with the rest of the state.
2. Birmingham began as an industrial city in an almost purely agricultural state.
3. As an industrial city, it drew a lot of immigrants that would never have come to any other part of a rural state recovering from the Civil War. Greeks, Lebanese, Italians, and Jews were just a few of the groups that made their way to the city. There was, interestingly enough a significant Jewish population in West Alabama in places such as Demopolis and Tuscaloosa. But on the whole the city had a population mix that was significantly different than the rest of the state.
4. Birmingham grew meteorically from 1870 to 1929. Lots of resentment at the carpetbaggers. Plus the fact that the city quickly eclipsed a lot of older, more established cities. After all, Mobile had been around 170 years before Birmingham was founded.
5. Birmingham especially in its early years was a pretty wild place. It was called Bad, Bad Birmingham for a reason. Lots of saloons, bordellos, and other attractions that would have driven the fire & brimstone people nuts.
6. Birmingham had a great deal more wealth, which constituted a threat to more established, rural counties.
[quote=MinivanDriver;59753177]While race is absolutely a factor, it's not the only factor. It's important to consider what made Birmingham at odds with the rest of the state.
3. As an industrial city, it drew a lot of immigrants that would never have come to any other part of a rural state recovering from the Civil War. Greeks, Lebanese, Italians, and Jews were just a few of the groups that made their way to the city. There was, interestingly enough a significant Jewish population in West Alabama in places such as Demopolis and Tuscaloosa. But on the whole the city had a population mix that was significantly different than the rest of the state.
Demopolis is my hometown and it is still very unique in character and makeup from pretty much every other Blackbelt town.... spend some time there and then spend some time in the more run of the mill Blackbelt towns such as Selma, Marion, Camden, Eutaw etc... you'll quickly see/feel the difference. It seems like an out of place town that should be in some other area in the state to be honest. I'd guess the more diverse history, like you mentioned, played a part in this. I would add that Demopolis has a strong black middle class as well, but I'd better not since I may be corrected... despite the fact that I grew up there.
One church? You'd say that's a lot? Anyone can buy a beemer, merc, or cadillac. You'll also see $60k pickups in trailer parks. I'm certainly not saying there are no well-to-do blacks in Bham. There are... But, by far, the black population of Bham is poorer than the black populations of other cities. There's simply not a strong upper-class black population in Birmingham.
You are wrong. And I said middle to upper middle class in my original comment. That's anywhere between $75,000 and $350,000 a year for a three person black family in Birmingham. Anyone with a masters degree or higher wouldn't have a hard time finding a job/career that would put them firmly in that income range. And yes, I'm referring to one church with 3k members and an insane amount of cash flow that could probably rival Dawson, Shades Mountain and several other well established white Birmingham area churches... one that has its own fully staffed credit union and is about to start on a multi million dollar expansion. Anyone who is familiar with Birmingham knows that Sixth Avenue is the business class black church in the city proper. I've come across a hell of a lot of well to do black folks in Metro Birmingham. Nice subdivisions that seem to be becoming blacker by the year where the lowest home in the neighborhood is 200k and up. I'll tell you what.. once this pandemic is over... you should hang with me sometime and I can take you around and show you just how many well off black people live in this area.
Construction on a new bus system in the city of Birmingham is due to begin in December.
The design phase for the $40 million Bus Rapid Transit project began in 2017, and construction was originally expected to be underway in August 2019. The BRT, to be called Birmingham Xpress, will connect 25 neighborhoods and travel from Woodlawn Transit Center on First Avenue North between 56th and 57th streets to the Crossplex Transit Center at the intersection of Avenue W and 47th Street Ensley.
Charlotte Shaw, deputy director of the Office of Capital Projects Management at the city of Birmingham, said construction is now expected to start at West Transit Station in early December with stops and roadway work expected to be complete by the end of 2021.
The project is currently in the final design phase. Shaw said the final construction phase will be completed at the East Transit Station by the end of April 2022.
The full project is projected to be completed by May 2022.
The system will operate in conjunction with MAX Transit.
The new system will include 15 low-floor compressed natural gas buses equipped with wheelchair parking areas, bicycle racks and seating and standing room for 40 to 60 people. The project also calls for bus stations with raised passenger boarding platforms for faster access and new technology, including transit signal priority, which allows buses to change traffic lights to green, among other things, to improve travel times.
Construction on a new bus system in the city of Birmingham is due to begin in December.
The design phase for the $40 million Bus Rapid Transit project began in 2017, and construction was originally expected to be underway in August 2019. The BRT, to be called Birmingham Xpress, will connect 25 neighborhoods and travel from Woodlawn Transit Center on First Avenue North between 56th and 57th streets to the Crossplex Transit Center at the intersection of Avenue W and 47th Street Ensley.
Charlotte Shaw, deputy director of the Office of Capital Projects Management at the city of Birmingham, said construction is now expected to start at West Transit Station in early December with stops and roadway work expected to be complete by the end of 2021.
The project is currently in the final design phase. Shaw said the final construction phase will be completed at the East Transit Station by the end of April 2022.
The full project is projected to be completed by May 2022.
The system will operate in conjunction with MAX Transit.
The new system will include 15 low-floor compressed natural gas buses equipped with wheelchair parking areas, bicycle racks and seating and standing room for 40 to 60 people. The project also calls for bus stations with raised passenger boarding platforms for faster access and new technology, including transit signal priority, which allows buses to change traffic lights to green, among other things, to improve travel times.
It's a shame this won't be done in time for the World Games, even with it being pushed back a year.
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