Cool News (Birmingham, Southside, Lincoln: apartment complex, rental, condo)

[preguntas]

Tourian; funny how some people are so sure their life experience is the definition of reality. Or that 'most' are looking for the 'up and up' as opposed to a good quality of life in which one contributes instead of always chasing latest fads.
'Most' people I know are not thrilled to be in the former next hottest cities, but have more or less become hostage to their economics.


Comparing cities is like comparing flowers. One can do it, but it sounds silly to argue over which flower is the one everybody wants.

[Tourian]

Absolutely. It is a good thing that this city is made up of a broad cross section of people of diverse backgrounds who aren't about fads and chasing after the new hotness.


This looks like a precursor to a full fledged Bart line:
http://www.bizjournals.com/birmingha...tor-fleet.html

[BamaDave]

I'm kind of surprised the Birmingham metro is still growing so slowly, but I'm also okay with the city being a well kept secret. My wife and I like the changes so much downtown, that we're actually thinking very seriously about moving INTO Birmingham when we retire in about ten years, rather than doing the reverse like so many. I think the city and surrounding neighborhoods like Lakeview and Avondale still have lots of potential, and I really hope it can be realized. I certainly think it can be an acquired taste, as so much of those areas still looks dilapidated and way too concrete. I know the old industrial look is "in" with the young, but how long will that last?

One thing that still puzzles me is why the old Southside neighborhood hasn't taken off more. Even when I lived there in 1988-1989 when I first started grad school at UAB, it seemed like an overlooked gem. Great old houses, great views of the city, great neighborhood feel. In some ways it almost feels like a small mountain town clinging to the sides of a slope.

[steveklein]

Originally Posted by BamaDave

I'm kind of surprised the Birmingham metro is still growing so slowly, but I'm also okay with the city being a well kept secret. My wife and I like the changes so much downtown, that we're actually thinking very seriously about moving INTO Birmingham when we retire in about ten years, rather than doing the reverse like so many. I think the city and surrounding neighborhoods like Lakeview and Avondale still have lots of potential, and I really hope it can be realized. I certainly think it can be an acquired taste, as so much of those areas still looks dilapidated and way too concrete. I know the old industrial look is "in" with the young, but how long will that last?

One thing that still puzzles me is why the old Southside neighborhood hasn't taken off more. Even when I lived there in 1988-1989 when I first started grad school at UAB, it seemed like an overlooked gem. Great old houses, great views of the city, great neighborhood feel. In some ways it almost feels like a small mountain town clinging to the sides of a slope.

Southside just seems to be where UAB students and some new graduates live. There are a lot of apartments... and many if not most of the single family homes that do exist there are probably lived in by renters.

When you say why hasn't it "taken off"... what exactly do you mean? The homes are reasonably full, and there is plenty to do in terms of shopping, bars, and restaurants within a few miles of the neighborhood when you consider the city itself and also Homewood.

[MinivanDriver]

Originally Posted by BamaDave

I'm kind of surprised the Birmingham metro is still growing so slowly, but I'm also okay with the city being a well kept secret. My wife and I like the changes so much downtown, that we're actually thinking very seriously about moving INTO Birmingham when we retire in about ten years, rather than doing the reverse like so many. I think the city and surrounding neighborhoods like Lakeview and Avondale still have lots of potential, and I really hope it can be realized. I certainly think it can be an acquired taste, as so much of those areas still looks dilapidated and way too concrete. I know the old industrial look is "in" with the young, but how long will that last?

One thing that still puzzles me is why the old Southside neighborhood hasn't taken off more. Even when I lived there in 1988-1989 when I first started grad school at UAB, it seemed like an overlooked gem. Great old houses, great views of the city, great neighborhood feel. In some ways it almost feels like a small mountain town clinging to the sides of a slope.

Well, between 1995 and 2010, Birmingham's MSA grew by 28%. It's important to note that, in 2005, Birmingham had the second lowest unemployment rate in the country, only bested by Orlando.

But the city really took it in the shorts during the financial meltdown. SouthTrust simply vanished into thin air, its personnel being rocked by two separate acquisitions, and AmSouth was taken over by Regions in 2006 with further elimination of redundant personnel. Add to that the meltdown of smaller banks such as NewSouth Federal, et al, and there were a lot of people in the financial industry out on the streets in what had been the third-largest banking center in the country. And, of course, Southern Progress saw wholesale slashes to its personnel as the publishing industry took its lumps at the same.

In a way, it was very much like the economic convulsions of the city when it was so dependent on the steel industry. Not nearly as bad, but the effects were largely the same. Add to that the JeffCo bankruptcy, and it's quite frankly a miracle that the town did as well as it did over the past eight years.

Yet, at the same time, if you ask most people in Birmingham you get a sense of optimism about things. I think that's because there's a sense that we're collectively laying of the foundation for future growth. Downtown is an utterly different place than it was in 2008, both in terms of construction and acting as a coherent economic center. The Innovation Depot continues to spawn promising new businesses. Banking is staging a nice comeback. And the completion of I-22 and the McCalla facility continue to help make the city's case as a distribution center.

Public parks, gleaming new apartment buildings, entertainment venues, and microbreweries are not signs of economic progress per se, but they create the environment that the creative class needs, part and parcel of the metro's continuing shift away from reliance on one or two industries. Add to that, the addition of several new hotels in the downtown area, both over the past few years and the ones nearing competition, and you get a sense that things are coming together. After all, Hilton, Marriott, and Westin don't spend untold millions build nice hotels unless they anticipate future demand.

What's really missing at this point are two things: a) regulatory policies that make domestic manufacturing easier and b) a half-decent state government. While not a Trump fan (In fact, I think he's a dangerous buffoon), I think lowering of corporate taxes and slashing regulations will be a boon to the city. And, let us hope that the bonehead in Montgomery is expelled from the Governor's Mansion -- and soon.

[BamaDave]

Originally Posted by steveklein

Southside just seems to be where UAB students and some new graduates live. There are a lot of apartments... and many if not most of the single family homes that do exist there are probably lived in by renters.

When you say why hasn't it "taken off"... what exactly do you mean? The homes are reasonably full, and there is plenty to do in terms of shopping, bars, and restaurants within a few miles of the neighborhood when you consider the city itself and also Homewood.

It still seems kind of run down and seedy to me.

[BamaDave]

Originally Posted by MinivanDriver

Well, between 1995 and 2010, Birmingham's MSA grew by 28%. It's important to note that, in 2005, Birmingham had the second lowest unemployment rate in the country, only bested by Orlando.

Was that primarily due to actual migration into the metro, or is it due to adding additional counties to the MSA?

What's really missing at this point are two things: a) regulatory policies that make domestic manufacturing easier and b) a half-decent state government. While not a Trump fan (In fact, I think he's a dangerous buffoon), I think lowering of corporate taxes and slashing regulations will be a boon to the city. And, let us hope that the bonehead in Montgomery is expelled from the Governor's Mansion -- and soon.

Unfortunately, Alabama will probably just elect the next freakshow to the Governor's office. Maybe Roy Moore can finally win.

Education is a huge problem in this state. I teach in the 2 year college system, and it is a failure and an embarrassment how underprepared Alabama's high school graduates are. And I know I'm not teaching in the Ivy League, nor do I want to teach there. I mean an average high school graduate from Alabama can't do basic math, follow written instructions, or communicate in anything close to proper English. Until Alabamians realize that education should be a top priority, we will have trouble attracting many businesses. In fact, I've been in a session where the Superintendent of K12 and Chancellor of the 2 year system flat out said that big businesses want to move to Alabama but can't because the work force is so poorly educated.

[_OT]

For Birmingham's sake, I hope the Southside never "takes off." I haven't seen another neighborhood in the South that's similar, it very much reminds of a Pacific Northwestern neighborhood.

[Tourian]

Originally Posted by BamaDave

It still seems kind of run down and seedy to me.

Maybe that has a lot to do with it being a "college town" with a lot of rentals. So many people probably moved out of there to greener pastures but held on to their homes to rent out to college kids. Such high demand with very little need to keep it "up" so to speak because there is always another slew of potentials every quarter or semester or whatever they are doing these days. That's probably what I would do, anyway.


Once you get on up into Highland and Redmont Park and so on, it gets a lot nicer and you have more people that are long term residents I think.

[steveklein]

Originally Posted by _OT

For Birmingham's sake, I hope the Southside never "takes off." I haven't seen another neighborhood in the South that's similar, it very much reminds of a Pacific Northwestern neighborhood.

Um, I think if 15 years from now Southside looked like The Gulch today or Buckhead 15 years ago, everyone here would be talking about it as a huge success story (and rightfully so).