Birmingham (pronounced [ˈbɝmɪŋˌhæm]) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alabama and is the county
seat of Jefferson County. The population of the city is 242,820 as of
the 2000 census, but has declined to 229,424 according to the 2006
estimate.[1] The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, as of the 2006 census
estimates, has a population of 1,100,019. It also the largest city in the Birmingham-Hoover-Cullman Combined Statistical Area, colloquially
known as Greater Birmingham,which contains
roughly one quarter of the population in Alabama.
Birmingham was founded in 1871, just after the U.S. Civil War, as an industrial
enterprise. It was named after Birmingham, the major industrial city of England. Through the middle of the 20th
century, Birmingham was the primary industrial center of the Southern United
States. The astonishing pace of Birmingham's growth through the turn of the century, earned it the nicknames "The Magic
City" and "The Pittsburgh of the South". Much like Pittsburgh in the
north, Birmingham's major industries centered around iron and steel production.
Over the course of the 20th century, the city's economy diversified. Though the manufacturing industry maintains a strong
presence in Birmingham, other industries such as banking, insurance, medicine, publishing, and biotechnology have risen in
stature. Birmingham has been recognized as the top city for income growth in the United States with nearly a one-hundred percent
increase in per capita income since 1990.[2]
Today, Birmingham ranks as one of the most important business centers in the Southeastern United States and is also one of the largest banking centers in the U.S. In
addition, the Birmingham area serves as headquarters to one Fortune 500 company:
Regions Financial. Five Fortune 1000 companies
are headquartered in Birmingham. In recent years Birmingham has been named by various groups as one of the best U.S. cities in
which to live and raise a family.[3] [4]
History
Panorama of Birmingham, Alabama c.1916
Birmingham was founded on June 1, 1871 by real estate promoters
who sold lots near the planned crossing of the Alabama & Chattanooga and South & North railroads. The first business at that crossroads was the trading post and country store Yeilding's, run
by the still prominent Yeilding family. The site of the railroad crossing was notable for the nearby deposits of iron ore, coal, and limestone - the three
principal raw materials used in making steel. Birmingham is the only place worldwide where
significant amounts of all three minerals can be found in such close proximity. From the start the new city was planned as a
great center of industry. The founders borrowed the name of Birmingham, England's principal industrial city,
to advertise that point. Birmingham got off to a slow start: the city was impeded by an outbreak of cholera and a Wall Street crash in 1873. But
soon afterward began to grow.
The turn of the century brought the substantial growth that gave Birmingham the nickname "The Magic City" as the downtown area
developed from a low-rise commercial and residential district into a busy grid of neoclassical mid-rise and high-rise buildings
and busy streetcar lines. Between 1902 and 1912 four large office buildings were constructed at the intersection of 20th Street,
the central north-south spine of the city, and 1st Avenue North, which connected the warehouses and industrial facilities
stretching along the east-west railroad corridor. This impressive group of early skyscrapers was nicknamed "The Heaviest Corner on Earth".
The Great Depression hit Birmingham especially hard as sources
of capital that were fueling the city's growth rapidly dried up at the same time that farm laborers, driven off the land, made
their way to the city in search of work. New Deal programs made important contributions to the city's infrastructure and artistic
legacy, including such key improvements as Vulcan's tower and Oak Mountain State Park.
16th Street Baptist Church
The wartime demand for steel and the post-war building boom gave Birmingham a rapid return to prosperity. Manufacturing
diversified beyond the production of raw materials and several major cultural institutions, such as the Birmingham Museum of Art, were able to expand their scope.
In the 1950s and '60s Birmingham received national and
international attention as a center of the civil rights
struggle for African-Americans. The city was given the derisive nickname
Bombingham because of a string of racially motivated bombings that took place during this time. A watershed in the civil
rights movement occurred in 1963 when Martin Luther King,
Jr., imprisoned for having taken part in a nonviolent protest, wrote the now famous Letter from Birmingham Jail, a defining treatise in his cause against segregation.
Birmingham is also known for a bombing which occurred later that year, in which four black girls were killed by a bomb planted at
the 16th Street Baptist Church. The event would inspire the
African-American poet Dudley Randall's opus,
The Ballad of Birmingham, as well as jazz musician John Coltrane's song, "Alabama."
Central Business District Skyline
In the 1970s urban renewal efforts focused around the development of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, which developed into a major medical and
research center. In 1971 Birmingham celebrated its centennial with a round of public works
improvements, including the upgrading of Vulcan Park. Birmingham's banking institutions
enjoyed considerable growth as well and new skyscrapers started to appear in the city center for the first time since the 1920s.
These projects helped the city's economy to diversify, but did not prevent the exodus of many of the city's residents to
independent suburbs. In 1979 Birmingham elected Dr. Richard
Arrington Jr. as its first African-American mayor.
The population inside Birmingham's city limits has fallen over the past few decades. From 340,887 in 1960, the population was
down to 242,820 in 2000, a loss of about 29 percent. However, the growth of Birmingham's suburbs over that same period has kept
the metropolitan population growing.
Today, Birmingham has begun to experience a bit of a rebirth. Currently there are around a billion dollars being invested in
reconstructing the downtown area into a 24-hour mixed-use district. The market for downtown lofts and condominiums has mushroomed
while restaurant, retail and cultural options are beginning to sprout up. In 2006 the visitors bureau selected "the diverse city"
as a new tag line for the city.[5]
Geography and climate
Geography
Birmingham is located at 33°31′29″N, 86°48′46″W (33.524755,
-86.812740)1.
Birmingham occupies Jones Valley, flanked by long parallel mountain ridges (the tailing ends of the Appalachian foothills) running from north-east to south-west. The valley is drained by small
creeks (Village Creek, Valley Creek) which flow into the Black Warrior River. More
importantly, the valley was bisected by the principal railroad corridor, along which most of the early manufacturing operations
began.
Red Mountain lies immediately south of downtown. Many of
Birmingham's television and radio broadcast towers are lined
up along this prominent ridge. The "Over the Mountain" area, including Shades Valley, Shades Mountain and beyond, was largely
shielded from the industrial smoke and rough streets of the industrial city. This is the setting for Birmingham's more affluent
suburbs of Mountain Brook, Vestavia
Hills, Homewood, and Hoover. South of
Shades Valley is the Cahaba River basin, one of the most diverse river ecosystems in
America.
Sand Mountain, a smaller ridge, flanks the city to the north and divides Jones Valley from much more rugged land to the north.
The Louisville and Nashville Railroad (now CSX Transportation) enters the valley through Boyles Gap, a prominent gap in the long low ridge.
Ruffner Mountain, located due east of the heart of the city, is home to Ruffner
Mountain Nature Center, one of the largest urban nature reserves in the United States.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 393.5
km² (151.9 mi²). 388.3 km² (149.9 mi²) of it is
land and 5.3 km² (2.0 mi²) of it (1.34%) is water.
Climate
Birmingham has a Humid subtropical climate, characterized by hot summers,
mild to chilly winters, and abundant rainfall. January sees average daily high temperatures of 53.0 °F (11.7 °C) and lows of 31.8
°F (−0.1 °C). In July the average daily high is 90.6 °F (32.6 °C) and the low is 69.7 °F (20.9°C). The average annual temperature
in Birmingham is 62 °F (17 °C). Snowfall averages only 0.5 inches (1 cm) but during the Great Blizzard of 1993, the city received over a foot (30CM) of snow. The average yearly
rainfall in Birmingham is about 52 inches (1330 mm), with March being the wettest month and October the driest.
The spring and fall months are pleasant but variable, but cold fronts frequently bring strong to severe thunderstorms and
occasional tornadoes to the region. The fall season features less rainfall and fewer storms, as well as lower humidity than the
spring, but it is also a secondary severe weather season. Birmingham is located on the heart of a tornado alley known as the Dixie Alley due to the frequency of tornadoes
in Central Alabama. The Greater Birmingham area was hit by two F5 tornadoes - in
1977 and 1998 occurring on its western (1998) and northern suburbs
(1977). In late summer and fall months, Birmingham experiences occasional tropical
storms and hurricanes due to its proximity to the Central Gulf Coast.
| Monthly Normal and Record High and Low Temperatures |
| Month |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
| Rec High °F |
81 |
83 |
89 |
92 |
99 |
102 |
106 |
103 |
100 |
94 |
85 |
80 |
| Norm High °F |
53.2 |
58.6 |
68.5 |
74.1 |
82.6 |
87.8 |
90.8 |
90.7 |
87.9 |
74.9 |
65.5 |
57 |
| Norm Low °F |
31.8 |
34.6 |
42.4 |
48.4 |
57.6 |
65.4 |
69.7 |
69.4 |
64.6 |
51.9 |
42.6 |
34.8 |
| Rec Low °F |
-6 |
3 |
2 |
26 |
35 |
42 |
51 |
51 |
37 |
27 |
5 |
1 |
| Precip (in) |
5.45 |
4.21 |
6.1 |
4.67 |
4.83 |
3.78 |
5.09 |
3.48 |
4.05 |
3.23 |
4.63 |
4.47 |
| Source: USTravelWeather.com [1] |
Government
Birmingham has a strong-mayor variant mayor-council form of government, led
by a mayor and a nine-member city council. The current system replaced the previous city commission government in 1962 (primarily as a way to remove Commissioner of Public
Safety Eugene "Bull" Connor from power).
By Alabama law, an issue before a city council must be approved by a two-thirds majority vote (Act No. 452, Ala. Acts 1955, as
supplemented by Act No. 294, Ala. Acts 1965.). Executive powers are held entirely by the mayor's office. The current mayor of
Birmingham is Bernard Kincaid, who was voted into office in 1999. Kincaid was defeated
for re-election on October 9, 2007 by Larry Langford, who will take office in
November.
- See also: List of Mayors of
Birmingham, Alabama
Current City Council Membership
| District |
Representative |
Position |
| 1 |
Joel Montgomery |
|
| 2 |
Carol Duncan |
|
| 3 |
Valerie A. Abbott |
|
| 4 |
Maxine Parker |
|
| 5 |
William A. Bell |
|
| 6 |
Carole Smitherman |
President |
| 7 |
Miriam Witherspoon |
President Pro-Tem |
| 8 |
Steven Hoyt |
|
| 9 |
Roderick Royal |
|
In 1974 Birmingham established a structured network of neighborhood associations and community advisory committees to insure
public participation in governmental issues that affect neighborhoods. Neighborhood associations are routinely consulted on
matters related to zoning changes, liquor licenses, economic development, policing and other city services. Neighborhoods are
also granted discretionary funds from the city's budget to use for capital improvements. Each neighborhood's officers meet with
their peers to form Community Advisory Committees which are granted broader powers over city departments. The presidents of these
committees, in turn, form the Citizen's Advisory Board, which meets regularly with the mayor, council, and department heads.
Birmingham is divided into a total of 23 communities, and again into a total of 99 individual neighborhoods with individual
neighborhood associations.
- See also: List of
Birmingham neighborhoods
Economy
From Birmingham's early days onward, the steel industry has always played a crucial role in the local economy. Though the
steel industry doesn't maintain the same level of prominence it once held in Birmingham, steel production and processing continue
to play a key role in the economy. Several of the nation's largest steelmakers including U.S.
Steel, McWane, and Nucor, all have a major presence in
Birmingham. In recent years, local steel companies have announced around $100-million in expansions and new plants in and around
Birmingham.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Birmingham's economy was transformed with investments in bio-technology and medical research at the
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and its adjacent hospital.
The UAB Hospital is a Level I trauma center
providing health care and breakthrough medical research. UAB is now the area's largest employer and the largest in Alabama with a
workforce of about 20,000. Health care services provider HealthSouth is also headquartered
in the city.
Birmingham is also a leading banking center, serving as home to two major banks: Regions
Financial Corporation and Compass Bancshares. SouthTrust, another large bank headquartered in Birmingham, was acquired by Wachovia in 2004, which still maintains major operations in the city as one of
the regional headquarters of Wachovia. In November 2006, Regions Financial merged with
AmSouth Bancorporation which was also headquartered in Birmingham, forming the
8th Largest U. S. Bank (by total assets). Nearly a dozen smaller banks are also headquartered in the Magic City such as
Superior Bank and New South Federal Savings Bank.
Telecommunications provider AT&T, formerly BellSouth,
has a major presence with several large offices in the metropolitan area. Major insurance providers, Protective Life and ProAssurance among others, both are headquartered in Birmingham and employ a large
number of people in Greater Birmingham.
The city is also a powerhouse of construction and engineering companies. It started with Rust Engineering International and
has grown to many other construction and engineering companies such as BE&K, Brasfield & Gorrie(largest in the state), BL Harbert International, and Dunn Construction,
all of which are among the top engineering and construction companies in the world.
Metropolitan Birmingham has consistently been rated as one of America's best places to work and earn a living based on the
area's competitive salary rates and relatively low living expenses. One 2006 study published at Salary.com determined that Birmingham was 2nd in the nation for building personal net
worth based on local salary rates, living expenses, and unemployment rates.[6]
Another 2006 study by Bizjournals.com calculated Birmingham's "combined personal income" (the sum of all money earned by all
residents of an area in a year) at $48.1 Billion.[7]
- See also: List of corporations with a major presence in Birmingham,
Alabama
Infrastructure
Education
The city of Birmingham is served by the Birmingham City Schools system. It is
run by the Birmingham Board of Education with a current active enrollment of 30,500 in 67 schools: 11 high schools, 13 middle
schools, 34 elementary schools, and 9 K-8 secondary schools.
The Birmingham Public Library with 21 branches
serves the entire community to provide education and entertainment for all ages.
The Greater-Birmingham metropolitan area is home to numerous independent primary school systems. The area's largest are the
Jefferson County, Birmingham City, and Shelby County school systems.
The Birmingham area is home to some of America's best schools. In 2005, the Jefferson County International Baccalaureate
School in Irondale, an eastern suburb of Birmingham, was rated as the #1 high school in America
by Newsweek, a national publication. The school remains among the nation's Top 5 high schools.
Mountain Brook High School placed 250 on the list. Other local schools that
have been rated among America's best in various publications include Vestavia Hills
High School and the Alabama School of Fine Arts located downtown. The
metro area also has two highly regarded prep schools: The Altamont School, located in
Birmingham proper, and Indian Springs School in north Shelby County near
Pelham.
Institutions of higher education
Planning
Before the first structure was built in Birmingham, the plan of the city was laid out over a total of 1,160 acres (4.7 km²) by the directors of the Elyton Land Co. The streets were numbered from west to east, leaving
Twentieth Street to form the central spine of downtown, anchored on the north by Capital Park and stretching into the slopes of
Red Mountain to the south. A "railroad reservation" was granted
through the center of the city, running east to west and zoned solely for industrial uses. As the city grew, bridges and
underpasses separated the streets from the railroad bed, lending this central reservation some of the impact of a river (without
the pleasant associations of a waterfront). From the start, Birmingham's streets and avenues were unusually wide at 80 to 100
feet (24 to 30 m), purportedly to help evacuate unhealthy smoke.
In the early 20th century professional planners helped lay out many of the new
industrial settlements and company towns in the Birmingham District, including Corey (now
Fairfield) which was developed for the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company
(subsequently purchased by U. S. Steel). At the same time, a movement to consolidate several
neighboring cities gained momentum. Although local referendums indicated mixed feelings about annexation, the Alabama legislature
enacted an expansion of Birmingham's corporate limits that became effective on January 1
1910.
The Robert Jemison company developed many residential neighborhoods to the south and west of Birmingham which are still
renowned for their aesthetic quality.
A 1924 plan for a system of parks, commissioned from the Olmsted Brothers is seeing
renewed interest with several significant new parks and greenways under development. Birmingham officials have approved a City
Center Master Plan developed by Urban Design Associates of Pittsburgh, which
advocates strongly for more residential development in the downtown area and includes a major park over several blocks of the
central railroad reservation to be called the Railroad Reservation Park. Along with Ruffner Mountain Park, and the proposed Red
Mountain Park, Birmingham would rank first in the United States for public green space per resident.
Notable buildings
Tallest buildings
| Name |
Stories |
Height |
| Wachovia Tower |
34 |
454 ft (138 m) |
| Regions-Harbert Plaza |
32 |
437 ft (133 m) |
| AT&T City Center |
30 |
390 ft (119 m) |
| Regions Center |
30 |
390 ft (119 m) |
| City Federal Building |
27 |
325 ft (99 m) |
| Leer Tower |
20 |
287 ft (87 m) |
| John Hand Building |
20 |
284 ft (87 m) |
| Daniel Building |
20 |
283 ft (86 m) |
Transportation
Birmingham has one of the most extensive networks of highways and roadways in the Southeast. The city is served by three
Interstate Highways, Interstate 20,
Interstate 65, and Interstate 59, as well as a
southern beltway Interstate 459 and the Elton B. Stephens (Red Mountain) Expressway
(U.S. Highway 31 & U.S. Highway 280). There
have been some recent developments with the regional interstate system, including the construction of Corridor X (Future
Interstate 22), and the planned future construction of a Northern Beltline corresponding
to the existing Interstate 459. Birmingham is served by the Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority through the Metro Area Express (MAX) bus system.
Birmingham is served by Birmingham International Airport
(there is another airport of the same name in
Birmingham, England) which serves
more than 3 million passengers every year. With more than 160 flights daily, the Birmingham International Airport offers flights
to 37 cities across the United States.
Amtrak's Crescent train connects Birmingham with
the cities of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Charlotte, Atlanta and New Orleans. The Birmingham Amtrak Station is situated at 1819 Morris Avenue.
Utilities
The water services for Birmingham and the intermediate urbanized area is served by the Birmingham Water Works Authority
(BWWB). A public authority that was established in 1951, the BWWB serves all of Jefferson, northern Shelby, western St. Clair
counties. The largest reservoir for BWWB is Lake Purdy, which is located on the Jefferson and Shelby County line, but has several
other reservoirs including Bayview Lake in western Jefferson County. There are plans to pipeline water from Inland Lake in Blount
County and Lake Logan Martin, but those plans are on hold indefinitely. Jefferson County Environmental Services serves the
Birmingham metro area with sanitary sewer service. Sewer rates have increased in recent years after citizens concerned with
pollution in area waterways filed a lawsuit that resulted in a federal consent decree to repair an aging sewer system. Because
the estimated cost of the consent decree was approximately three times more than the original estimate, many blame the increased
rates on corruption within the Jefferson County Environmental Services Department. One major reason for the higher cost was that
Jefferson County had to buy the sewers from the many smaller municipalities in the area to insure that these sewers were being
maintained in a fashion that would meet E.P.A. approval to avoid massive fines for failure to comply with the consent decree.
This continues to be a controversial topic in the region.
Electric power is provided primarily by Southern Company-subsidiary,
Alabama Power. However, some of the surrounding area such as Bessemer and Cullman are provided by TVA. Bessemer also operates its own water and
sewer system[2]. Natural
gas is provided by Alagasco, although some metro area cities operate their own natural gas
services. The local telecommunications are provided by AT&T. Cable television service is
provided by Bright House Networks within the cities of Birmingham and Irondale,
and Charter Communications in the rest of metro area.
People and culture
Demographics
As of the census2 of 2000, there were 242,820 people, 98,782 households, and 59,269 families
residing in the city. The population density was 625.4/km² (1,619.7/mi²). There were
111,927 housing units at an average density of 288.3/km² (746.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 73.46% Black or African American, 24.07% White, 0.17% Native American, 0.80% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.62% from other races, and 0.83% from two or more races. 1.55% of the population
were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 98,782 households out of which 27.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 31.1% were married couples living together, 24.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.0% were
non-families. 34.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or
older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 3.09.
In the city, the population is spread out, with 25.0% under the age of 18, 11.1% from 18 to 24, 30.0% from 25 to 44, 20.4%
from 45 to 64, and 13.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 85.7
males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.4 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $26,735, and the median income for a family was $31,851. Males had a median
income of $28,184 versus $23,641 for females. The city's per capita income was
$15,663. About 20.9% of families and 24.7% of the population were below the poverty
line, including 35.4% of those under age 18 and 18.5% of those age 65 or over.
Surrounding cities and suburbs
Cities and suburbs are listed in order of population.
- Hoover: Pop. 68,707
- Vestavia Hills: Pop. 31,051
- Bessemer: Pop. 28,641
- Alabaster: Pop. 27,517
- Homewood: Pop. 23,963
- Mountain Brook: Pop. 20,821
- Pelham: Pop. 20,120
- Trussville: Pop. 17,796
- Cullman: Pop. 16,675
- Hueytown: Pop. 15,364
- Center Point: Pop. 15,130
|
- Jasper: Pop. 14,117
- Gardendale: Pop. 13,042
- Fairfield: Pop. 11,547
- Forestdale: Pop. 10,509
- Leeds: Pop. 10,455
- Moody: Pop. 10,300
- Helena: Pop. 10,296
- Pleasant Grove: Pop. 9,983
- Irondale: Pop. 9,813
- Pell City: Pop. 9,565
|
|
Crime
In 2006, the Morgan Quitno press ranked Birmingham as the sixth most dangerous city of
371 surveyed. [3] Birmingham
mayor Bernard Kincaid disputed the report's methodology, noting that the FBI cautions
against using their uniform crime statistics to make comparisons between cities.
The Morgan Quitno methodology has been disputed by a number of cities as well because
it looks only at crime within city boundaries rather than the metropolitan area as a whole. The City of Birmingham only makes up
a little more than 20% of the entire metropolitan population. When taking into account crime throughout the metropolitan area,
Birmingham is not even among the Top 25. [4]
The majority of Birmingham's violent crimes occur in outlying neighborhoods. The crime rate in the downtown city center is
very low, comparing favorably to affluent suburbs.[8]
In 2006, Birmingham recorded 109 homicides, an increase from the 105 homicides in 2005. (Compare with the record of 141 in
1994 and the recent low of 64 in 2004).
Culture
Birmingham is the cultural and entertainment capital of Alabama with its numerous art galleries in the area and home to
Birmingham Museum of Art, the largest art museum in the state. Birmingham is also home to the state's major ballet, opera, and
symphony orchestra companies such the [Alabama
Ballet], Alabama Symphony Orchestra, Birmingham Ballet, Birmingham
Concert Chorale, Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival and Opera Birmingham.
Inside the Alabama Theatre in 1996 before its extensive renovation.
- The historic Alabama Theatre hosts film screenings, concerts and performances.
- The Alys Stephens Center for the Performing Arts is
home to Alabama Symphony Orchestra and Opera Birmingham as well as several series of concerts and lectures. It is located on the
UAB campus in the Southside community.
- The Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex (BJCC), houses a
theater, concert hall, exhibition halls, and a sports and concert arena. The BJCC is home to the Alabama Ballet and hosts major
concert tours and sporting events. Adjacent to the BJCC is the Sheraton Birmingham,
the largest hotel in the state.
Other entertainment venues in the area include:
- Fair Park Arena, on the west side of town, hosts sporting events, local concerts and
community programs.
- WorkPlay, located in Southside, is a multi-purpose
facility with offices, audio and film production space, a lounge, and a theater and concert stage for visiting artists and film
screenings.
- Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival, a celebration of new independent
cinema in downtown Birmingham, was named one of TIME magazines "Film Festivals for the Rest of Us" in their June 5, 2006
issue.
- The Wright Center Concert Hall at Samford University
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