Photo: Patrick Cain (CC)

•

Get more essays from more contributors in our free ebook.
Details at the end.

•

The Two Ms. Davises

Wander block by block
to meet residents held back
by artlessness, fear.

The schools drive away
people. The politics drive
away people, too.

Only the stubborn
and the impoverished stay
behind, fate be damned.

They need their city
to be more than it is, to
be kinder, safer.

They need some steady
income, and a way to get
around easily.

The townsfolk campaign
for new leaders, not the crooks
who line their pockets.

Let Ms. Davis take
charge, they say. She’ll stand up for
our community.

Reluctantly, Ms.
Davis agrees, though her job
and kids rule her days.

“Mayor Davis Wins!”
the headlines read. City Hall
welcomes its new chief.

She fixes potholes,
fields complaints, cuts taxes and
works past 11.

The voters keep tabs
on the mayor, who always
looks out for their needs.

Her teen daughters and
little boy see her only
on TV at night.

The eldest stays with
a friend for weeks. The middle
child’s grades soon plummet.

And the youngest gets
into fights at school, so the
principal calls Mom.

The municipal
house is in order, barely.
Her house is a wreck.

“Mayor Davis Quits!”
the headlines read. City Hall
loses its old boss.

She gathers her brood
into a sweeping hug and
holds on for dear life.

Madame Mayor goes
back to humble matriarch,
putting kids to bed.

Her civic progress
was quickly undone. All the
neighbors wailed and moaned.

Ms. Davis served out
her real term to her three-child
constituency.

• • •

Essays from other contributors are available in the free ebook, “The Future of Birmingham.”

All you need to do is fill out this simple form. We’ll email you a link to download the book. (And, at no extra charge, we’ll add you to the mailing list for the free Y’all Connect newsletter.)

• • •

Read more essays in our special 10th anniversary series, The Future of Birmingham.

Photo: Lee Burchfield (CC)

St. Paul and the Broken Bones is just one of the many
Birmingham bands of late to attract a national following.

•

Get the full version of this essay in our free ebook.
Details at the end.

•

By Kenn McCracken

The future is constantly changing, fluid and shifting with no guarantees.

Perspective changes your view of the future; your place and standing in the macrocosm, your priorities and interests and experiences — those will draw your focus of where we’re headed. As someone who has worn many hats over my four-plus decades, my perspective incorporates culture in Birmingham, both as creator and audience.

Had you asked me 5 or 10 years ago about the future of Birmingham’s music scene, I would have given you a different answer than I would today. Then, the city was less known for Verbena, Remy Zero or Azure Ray (all enjoying varying levels of success on the national scene) than for Ruben Studdard and Taylor Hicks. Local bands of all genres might draw audiences, but couldn’t draw the same level of support as cover bands like the Velcro Pygmies or the Cheesebrokers.

Even with venues like Five Points Music Hall and the Nick (not to mention the pre-corporate Oak Mountain Amphitheatre or Sloss Furnaces), seeing a rising national act required a trip to Nashville or Atlanta. The general consensus among my friends — both fans and musicians — was that Birmingham was a musical dead end.

Fast-forward to 2015, and the outlook as a city that supports music is much brighter. Venues like Iron City, Tin Roof and Saturn bring in many acts that I never would have imagined we’d see in Birmingham, and crowds come out to support those shows. (RIP Bottletree Cafe.) Birmingham Mountain Radio, which started as an Internet-only station in 2010, has expanded to the FM airwaves not only locally but also in Tuscaloosa.

I’ve lost count of local bands gone national, including Lee Bains III and the Glory Fires, Azure Ray, Duquette Johnson and A.A. Bondy (both previously in Verbena), the Great Book of John and St. Paul and the Broken Bones. This year saw the first SlossFest and the third Cask and Drum festival. And, speaking purely from someone who favors rock, Birmingham’s other genres — country, jazz and blues — all continue to thrive.

The entire time, we’ve had musicians who stayed in Birmingham despite better opportunities elsewhere. We’ve had venue managers who continued to support local music, and entrepreneurs who started venues and radio stations to provide sustenance to hungry listeners. Most importantly, we’ve had a shift in the audience, not just in tastes but also in willingness to support those bands and businesses.

All of them chose to stay, determined to change the future to suit themselves. And their efforts paid off: In the short span of 10 years, the future of Birmingham inverted itself in the musical sense.

As with so many songs, the future of Birmingham is unwritten. We the lifelong residents, we the childhood transplants, we the adult immigrants … we are the authors. If your inner musician is determined enough, positive enough and willing to smile in the face of failure, the future of Birmingham is yours to write, and to tell, and to play.

• • •

Kenn McCracken is the co-host and curator of the weekly show “(The Show With No Name)” on Birmingham Mountain Radio, bassist for the Exhibit(s) and master of his own liver.

• Website | Facebook | Twitter @insomniactive | LinkedIn | Instagram

• • •

The full version of this essay and many more are available in the free ebook, “The Future of Birmingham.”

All you need to do is fill out this simple form. We’ll email you a link to download the book. (And, at no extra charge, we’ll add you to the mailing list for the free Y’all Connect newsletter.)

• • •

Read more essays in our special 10th anniversary series, The Future of Birmingham.

Phones without backups
and stolen identities
and dead batteries.

• • •

Read more haiku.

Subscribe via RSS to Wade’s Daily Haiku. Or have it delivered daily by e-mail.

Photo: Curtis Fockele (CC)

The Drive-By Truckers perform at Iron City on Southside.
The venue has not only brought in bands from the South
but also from across the nation.

•

Get the full version of this essay in our free ebook.
Details at the end.

•

By Jackie Lo

Those of us who love Birmingham are slowly nurturing and hand-feeding this beautiful city with our passion and adoration. Naysayers have moved from and come back to a very different city. Outsiders have taken notice, written articles, shared our secrets. But, eventually the surprise will leave their tone and will be replaced with respect and their own adoration.

More traveling bands will put a pin in Birmingham on their tour maps. More people will attend local venues. Record shops will flourish, and underground radio will thrive and shake up the quality of music that hits our airwaves. Local bands playing at home will really mean something to everyone involved.

Women will make as much money as men do at the same job. They will be free to make their own choices about their bodies and not have to worry about what the politicians at the Capital have to say about it or if their rights or clinics will be shut down. Contraceptives will be affordable, and sex education will be available to everyone.

Gay marriage will be accepted in all counties in the state, and we will look back on that day outside the courthouse and realize we saw history happen in our city. A city that helped lead civil rights for race equality has now made strides for sexual equality. LGBT couples will be able to have all of the same rights that straight couples enjoy.

Drunk driving will be greatly reduced as ridesharing options such as Uber and Lyft will be available to our city. Waiting 45 minutes for a taxi will be a thing of the past. Public transportation will be easier and available in more places. Bike sharing will be a huge success as bike lanes and walking paths will spread throughout the city.

Marijuana will be legalized. We will be one of the last states to implement it, but when we do, we will realize it isn’t the terrible monster it’s made out to be. The war on drugs and violence within our city will have one less component, and our jails won’t stay at capacity because of it.

We will have a lottery that properly funds our education system to increase the quality of schools citywide. Our kids will be smarter than we ever were and “Alabama jokes” won’t hold the same weight they once did.

We will take pride in our amazing food and drinks, and more outstanding and award-winning restaurants and bars will open and be successful. We will have more places downtown that stay open at night and more late night options as well. “Locally Sourced” and “Locally Made” will be on every new menu.

Construction will continue to boom downtown, and we will keep moving into renovated old structures that once were abandoned and in shambles. New construction will continue to be thoughtful and add interest to our skyline, and everyone will see downtown as the place I’ve always loved.

Progress. That is what the future of Birmingham holds. We’ve seen it happening. It might be slow, but that’s our brand of progress, a slow and steady growth. We have pride, and we know how to fight. Wanting more and never being quite satisfied is what sets us apart. We always appreciate what we have to work for instead of what is simply given to us.

• • •

Jackie Lo (a k a Jacklyn Loquidis Hamric) is editor in chief of the blog I Am the F-Bomb, DJ for the weekly “Jackie Lo Show” on Substrate Radio, interior designer at Cohen Carnaggio Reynolds and a musician.

• Website | Facebook | Twitter @TheJackieLoShow | LinkedIn | Instagram

• • •

The full version of this essay and many more are available in the free ebook, “The Future of Birmingham.”

All you need to do is fill out this simple form. We’ll email you a link to download the book. (And, at no extra charge, we’ll add you to the mailing list for the free Y’all Connect newsletter.)

• • •

Read more essays in our special 10th anniversary series, The Future of Birmingham.

A look at Birmingham in videos …

Visiting the African Village in America display in the Woodland Park neighborhood. From Komodosnow.

•

Flying to Birmingham for a fun outing. From David Granberry.

•

Taking the Tour de Hops brewery bike tour on Sept. 5. From Nathania Nhouyvanisvong.

•

A nighttime trip to Vulcan. From Spa Guy.

•

Basketball workout at Samford’s gym. From Derrick Jones.

•

Birmingham-Southern College cross country season opener in September. From Sharks Soccer.

•

Britain’s Oxford Pharmaceuticals breaks ground in Birmingham on its U.S. headquarters. From Alabama NewsCenter.

•

Chicago singer-songwriter Jennifer Hall sings “Baby, It’s You” in August at the Nick on Southside. From JennHallMusic.

•

California norteño band Los Tigres del Norte performs at Rancho el Centenario in Mt. Olive. From tdb313.

•

“What Do You Think of the Fountain?” asks people about Frank Fleming’s sculpture the Storyteller in Five Points South. From AlexanderSoundsLike.

•

Atlanta singer-songwriter Liz Brasher performs “Old Bones” at Renaissance Records in Five Points South (our vertical video of the week). From Liz Brasher.

•

Downtown dancing. From Wally Chung.

•

Hoop for Fitness holds a September Flow Fusion event at Veterans Park in Hoover. From Carron Bullard.

•

The first round of the Magic City Mega Bowl disc golf tournament in June at the Inverness Disc Golf Course in Hoover. From the Disc Golf Channel.

•

Chris Brown performs “Take You Down” in September at Oak Mountain Amphitheatre in Pelham. From Chris Brown.

•

Staring down Satchel Paige from the plate at the Negro Southern League Museum. From Alabama NewsCenter.

•

Nashville Americana band Runaway Home performs “Dreams” in August as part of the Small Stages concert series. From Runaway Home Band.

•

A 10-mile bike ride through downtown Birmingham. From Katie Boyd.

•

Welcome to fall, inside the car (our square video of the week). From Otis Bridges.

•

Cars and Coffee at Brookwood Village (our other vertical video of the week). From ZachPlaysPC.

•

Drone footage of Railroad Park. From Paul Cammarata.

•

The Brickyard: “Lester Kasai and Jim Gray were in town for a Gotcha street demo (in 1988) at a local mall, and we took them out to the ramp afterwards.” From Andrew Birdwell.

•

Birmingham city council member Steven Hoyt criticizes al.com community coverage. From citycouncilbham.

•

A look at the civil rights movement called “Battle for Birmingham.” From Christopher Carmody.

•

New York singer-songwriter Prince Royce opens for Ariana Grande last week at Legacy Arena. From Maria Avellaneda.

•

Chimney swifts downtown. From Ray Howze.

•

Promo for the Slay the Runway Total Look Competition fund-raiser for Pathways in November at Boutwell Auditorium. From Mimi Luvshair.

•

A slice of life, including a trip to the top of the Children’s of Alabama parking deck. From allGODbuddy LLC.

•

Birthday party, complete with DJ and dancing. From Bill Prince.

•

Hanging out at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. From Mindless Reviews.

•

Promo for Saturday’s Fiesta. From Orlando Rosa.

•

Music video for “Patient Time” from Birmingham alt-rock band Nat B. and the Boys. From Kilzo Films.

• • •

Send us links to your videos. | More videos on the Birmingham channel.

[Share on Twitter]

1. rehearsals, day 17
   He would speak into
   the remote for hours. The
   dog was not impressed.
2. just another day in the walmart parking lot
   Wrong-way Willie went
   barreling up the one-way
   lane dodging shoppers.
3. the reset button
   Push it and start all
   over. Push it and wipe those
   cares away. Push it.
4. the alpha and the part that comes after alpha
   That half of the year
   went by so quickly that this
   half will surely drag.
5. after solving the artist royalties problem
   Taylor Swift fixed my
   iPhone at the Genius Bar
   while singing “Bad Blood.”
6. driving to fun park usa
   Junior and Little
   Miss stare at the streaming flick
   while Mom stays alert.
7. magic in the library
   Each shelf held the key
   to worlds unexplored and dreams
   and nightmares and frogs.
8. missing mutt
   He felt a dog-sized
   hole in his life with an ache
   for a wagging tail.
9. l-o-v-e in the u-s-a
   No court, no law can
   stop the force of love as it
   spreads from heart to heart.
10. dear brutus
    The fault lies not in
    our stars but in ourselves, that
    we are underlings.
11. the middle is always chaos
    The start looks like fun,
    and the end looks perfect but
    far off. Keep going.
12. this is going to be the best half-year ever
    Lose 10 pounds, join a
    book club, eat healthier, watch
    “Game of Thrones,” try meth.
13. the prison explosion
    Time to figure out
    who we’re mad at and who we’re
    really afraid of.
14. firecracker follies
    Bang! Pop! Rat-a-tat-
    tat! Up and down the street boom
    the sounds of freedom.
15. this land is our land
    America smokes
    pot, marries anyone and
    plays so much soccer.
16. littlest victories
    Odometer rolls
    and the 12th free sandwich and
    palindromic times.
17. flying fingers
    The violinist
    practiced to make performing
    look so effortless.
18. from cradle to bigger cradle
    Helicopter mom
    and dad kept Junior tethered
    long past puberty.
19. back of the industrial park
    Freight slipped onto docks
    unnoticed, cargo bound for
    here or overseas.
20. lost in the grind
    I can crunch numbers
    or test theories, but my best
    side is creative.
21. the stash
    Frozen balls of dough
    turn any sad day into
    fresh-baked cookie time.
22. a state of limbo
    A life that is full
    and empty, blessed with friends but
    without constant love.
23. melt into the sidewalk
    The dog just ambles
    and pants, dragging the leash and
    human in the heat.
24. the power of nerds
    Postmodern culture,
    a mashup of comic books
    and highbrow humor.
25. box office heroes of summer 2015
    Dinosaurs, Mad Max,
    the Avengers, Minions and
    a girl’s emotions.
26. less comprehension in less time
    Words flash faster and
    faster, books and novels speed
    by the keen reader.
27. writer’s blech
    What is the term for
    trying to write but held back
    by lack of talent?
28. even majorities are minorities
    Everyone’s a vic-
    tim, everyone else is to
    blame, martyrs for life.
29. the anxious mind
    A churn of worries
    that never comes to pass in
    a state of alarm.
30. follicle frolic
    Hair grows so subtly
    you can barely feel it ooze
    out of your scalp holes.
31. armed with popcorn and candy
    The kids scrambled to
    their seats to escape the heat
    with movie magic.
32. citations no extra charge
    Inspiration comes
    from the unlikeliest spots,
    like term paper sites.
33. make room for hashtags, too
    The Library of
    Congress must build shelves to store
    tweets and emoji.
34. not hot enough for that
    The gluten-free ice
    cream truck circled round the block
    with zero takers.
35. fast asleep in the urban jungle
    Car alarm at 2
    a.m.: Let me sing you the
    song of my people.
36. little girl lost
    A voice, distinct and
    true, silenced too soon by a
    misguided lifestyle.
37. friday evening downpour
    Skies darken, thunder
    erupts and sheets of rain wash
    the earth thoroughly.
38. among the charlatans
    A sense of purpose
    may never ring true yet can
    guide us to safety.
39. the neighborhood crank
    A loner with an
    agenda finds almost no
    support for changes.
40. concrete rain
    Bits of freeway fell
    in storms of debris as cars
    shook the bridges loose.
41. the pizza accords
    First party agrees
    to extra cheese, while second
    party requests ham.
42. the meltening
    The molecular
    structure of all things breaks down
    in this goddamn heat.
43. shuffle off this mortal coil? check.
    The to-do list will
    never be done. The good news
    is we’ll all be dead.
44. the longest con
    Living a robust
    perpetual denial
    about growing old.
45. annual assigned reading 3-day cram session
    IfIhurryI-
    canreadallmysummerbooks-
    beforeschoolstartsback.
46. a town without a watchdog
    Graft flowed to outstretched
    hands, while the downtrodden fought
    for their measly crumbs.
47. early onset adulthood
    When spouses become
    singles. When daughters become
    caretakers. And on.
48. beyond needs fulfilled
    What gives you pleasure?
    Is it intellectual,
    physical or more?
49. settling in by the pool
    A tall iced tea and
    a glossy magazine was
    all she required.
50. as seen on body cams everywhere
    The thin blue line is
    spattered with blood red streaks and
    black-and-blue lesions.
51. the poison of nostalgia
    Living in the past
    seems to be the drug of choice
    among lost people.
52. the skim
    Each dawn brings a fresh
    opportunity to fleece
    everybody else.
53. liquid butter cut-off
    Summer ends when we
    run out of blockbuster flicks
    to watch with popcorn.
54. not quite ready for the bell
    Reluctant pupils
    enter the classroom with heads
    full of fireflies.
55. long after graduation
    The gossip girls shared
    conspiratorial laughs
    in the locker room.
56. stillness along the ocean
    She looked out onto
    the gulf one last time, ready
    for the next voyage.
57. a good mom
    Nothing would keep her
    from scolding, feeding, reading
    to, raising her girls.
58. the festival of fall approaches
    A carnival of
    colorful trees and hazy
    nights heads for our block.
59. every saturday over coffee and carburetors
    The parking lot filled
    with classic hot rods, gearheads
    and fans of sweet rides.
60. sensation of singing
    The lyrics rolled by
    on monitors for us to
    belt out tipsily.
61. fourth wave feminism
    Ladies choose to be
    objectors, objectified,
    their bodies their selves.
62. emoji nation
    We started out with
    Shakespeare and ended with a
    suggestive eggplant.
63. chores, then domination
    I’ll be ready to
    conquer the world as soon as
    I wash the dishes.
64. the most awkward sales pitch ever
    It comes with something …
    let me ask my manager
    and not call you back.
65. a reasonable exit strategy
    Put down the empty
    glass and slip out the back door
    with hoarded brownies.
66. the cost of fame
    He made a deal with
    the devil, then acted shocked
    at the devil’s scam.
67. misanthropic awakening
    The more you get to
    know people, the more you want
    to crawl back in bed.
68. jersey sore
    The coach yells at the
    team. The players run their drills.
    Practice never ends.
69. dare defend
    Fields of cotton, lush
    forests, manmade lakes, kind hearts
    in Alabama.
70. shop and chop
    The big dinner needs
    sliced and diced vegetables and
    meats at the ready.
71. proration 2015
    It’s the second week
    of school, and they’re already
    out of chalk and milk.
72. dinner party achievement unlocked
    The satisfaction
    from a well-cooked gourmet meal,
    but mostly fullness.
73. scattered but not forgotten
    Refugees from the
    storm found new homes far from the
    shores of destruction.
74. the wandering governor
    He flew across the
    land with his wife sometimes and
    his mistress sometimes.
75. twisted mobility
    The scooter helped her
    up and down the hall, if not
    back on her own feet.
76. harvest of shame
    The biggest garden
    foe was not cat nor bunny
    but incompetence.
77. electoral collage
    They rigged the ballot
    so only predetermined
    elites could win votes.
78. the farm’s last stand
    The last jar of peach
    preserves and basket of plump
    tomatoes has sold.
79. and don’t forget thursdays
    Friday night is for
    football, as is Saturday,
    Sunday and Monday.
80. work-life balance
    First comes work, then comes
    life, and bringing up the rear
    is balance. Then … death.
81. shells
    The exterior
    hides everything — joy, sadness,
    pain — within ourselves.
82. mired in perceptions
    Paranoia bears
    a strong resemblance to a
    nonstop awareness.
83. left to our own devices
    We can do almost
    anything we put our minds
    to, except focus.
84. a post-9/11 world
    More patriotic,
    more alert, more fearful, more
    wary, more grateful.
85. smiles for meters
    Is happiness a
    constant? A pool that slowly
    drains? A deep, deep font?
86. the strain of babysitting pupils
    Fights stopped: Around 5.
    Phones confiscated: 13.
    Lessons taught: 0.
87. before you know it it’s mlk day
    It’s time for Hallo
    weenThanksgivingVeterans
    DayChristmasNewYear’s.
88. the sweetest orchard
    Harvesting from the
    candied apple tree, wearing
    gloves and sneaking bites.
89. digital scrapbooking
    My jukebox: YouTube.
    My photo album: Facebook.
    My memory: Shot.
90. golden ghouls
    The grandmas on the
    block like to dress scarily
    for shakes and giggles.
91. the real bogeymen
    We act out of fear
    to protect ourselves and our
    kin, which breeds more fear.
92. sidewalk campaigning
    Cleanup and paving
    crews show up every 4 years
    before elections.
93. a time of falling leaves and pumpkin spice and christmas sales
    When does fall start? Ask
    a weather forecaster, a
    poet and a child.
94. introvert’s paradise
    Coffee and good books,
    jazz and blueberry pancakes.
    Not a soul for miles.
95. the funniest person online is a pickpocket
    Authorship is dead.
    Digital miscreants take
    anything for fun.
96. strength in numbness
    My superpowers
    are procrastination and
    working on deadline.
97. stork 2.0
    A drone came to my
    front door to deliver a
    newborn and cigars.
98. the decimal decimation
    If we scrimp and save
    and hold off on paying some
    bills, we can eat soon.
99. a crowded field
    Fall TV endures
    as a launch point and graveyard
    of few sparks, quick ends.
100. it’s a quiet afternoon at the taco truck
     The cook preps his stuff,
     while another fixes the
     awning. A third drinks.
101. desperate men call for desperate measures
     The mass of men lead
     lives of quiet despera-
     tion, As they deserve.

• • •

Read more Wade’s 101.

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Photo: Steve Johnson (CC)

Photos: Hugh Hunter. Reprinted with permission.

Regions Field shows how big ideas in Birmingham come to life
through civic partnership and determination.

•

Get the full version of this photo essay in our free ebook.
Details at the end.

•

By Hugh Hunter

Birmingham has had big ideas in its past, from the original Vulcan statue created in 1903 and its recent renovation, through the rise of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, to Railroad Park and Regions Field.

Our recent success is driven more by individual entrepreneurial vision and passion. What we lack is a community partnership of business and government that seizes on visionary opportunities like the rerouting of I-20/59 through downtown, below, and makes it happen.

Or as David Sher blows against the coarse wind of naysayers by lobbying for some sort of regional government in his blog, ComebackTown.

Roald Hazelhoff, director of the Southern Environmental Center at Birmingham-Southern College, started the Darter Festival at Railroad Park and wanted to reposition us as the Gateway to Nature, dropping the old dated Magic City moniker. [Editor’s note: Hugh Hunter served on the center’s board of trustees since 1995.]

The Southern Environmental Center is a co-manager of
the Turkey Creek Nature Preserve.

And my friend and Mr. Birmingham Tom Cosby, below, is championing one of my favorite big ideas: extending the Appalachian Trail to Alabama. He has shown me where the trailhead will start at Flagg Mountain, about 20 miles south of Sylacauga.

So, let’s think big, Birmingham!

• • •

Hugh Hunter is owner of Hunter Photography and partner in Hunter Films, both based in Birmingham.

• Website | Facebook | Twitter @hughbudhunter | LinkedIn

• • •

The full version of this photo essay and many more are available in the free ebook, “The Future of Birmingham.”

All you need to do is fill out this simple form. We’ll email you a link to download the book. (And, at no extra charge, we’ll add you to the mailing list for the free Y’all Connect newsletter.)

• • •

Read more essays in our special 10th anniversary series, The Future of Birmingham.

Photo: Ze’ev Barkan (CC)

My picks for #sundayread for Sept. 27, 2015:

• The Future of Birmingham: Big ideas, photo essay by @hughbudhunter #futureofbham #bham
• A Humble Pope @Pontifex, Challenging the World, by @JimBYardley (via @aneebsharif)
• How Are Great-Grandkids of Richest Gilded-Age Americans Faring? By @shorterstory (RT @vsisson13)
• Y’all Connect: Laura Creekmore on building better content
• Interview with a founder of Bottletree & artist Merrilee Challiss, by @BDMccarley1
• Stop and seize: Aggressive police take hundreds of millions from motorists not charged w/ crimes
• The Future of Birmingham: A media wasteland #futureofbham #bham
• The Myth of Authentic Travel, by David Sze @Davadin (RT @AfrikaReads)
• Flashback: From 3 years ago, review of the biography “Steve Jobs”
• What your future employees need to know about blogging
• Network TV’s Ultimate Survivor Les Moonves, by Joe Adalian @TVMoJoe
• From 2010, Blueprint Birmingham: A look at the City of 2015
• 12 cognitive biases preventing you from being rational by George @Dvorsky (RT @SMTuffy)
• I love the Victorian era. So I decided to live in it. By Sarah A. Chrisman (RT ‏@pinxy)

•

Don’t miss our new 26-part series:
★ The Future of Birmingham ★

•

More posts from Wade this week:

• The Birmingham channel: Small lives matter

The latest #sundayread tweets

#sundayread Tweets

• More #sundayread recommendations from me

The cook preps his stuff,
while another fixes the
awning. A third drinks.

• • •

Read more haiku.

Subscribe via RSS to Wade’s Daily Haiku. Or have it delivered daily by e-mail.

• • •

Essays from other contributors are available in the free ebook, “The Future of Birmingham.”

All you need to do is fill out this simple form. We’ll email you a link to download the book. (And, at no extra charge, we’ll add you to the mailing list for the free Y’all Connect newsletter.)

• • •

Read more essays in our special 10th anniversary series, The Future of Birmingham.

Fall TV endures
as a launch point and graveyard
of few sparks, quick ends.

• • •

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Photo: Shannon (CC)

The Sloss Music and Arts Festival launched earlier this year.
While new events can enrich city life, many residents continue
to lack basic services and help.

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Get the full version of this essay in our free ebook.
Details at the end.

•

By Caperton Gillett

I’d never really considered the future of Birmingham. In my inherent cynicism, I figured that the future of this city would be more or less identical to the present.

It’s not something one likes to discover about oneself.

And I recognize that it’s neither entirely accurate nor entirely founded. Things in Birmingham are changing dramatically for the better. It’s a place to be on purpose. We’re on lists that start with “The Top 10 Places” — and good ones, not like “The Top 10 Places for Competitive Tulip Growers.” A metropolitan area once known for largely for racial tension, record-breaking bankruptcy and obesity (we’re Top 3!) is now a city worth bragging about, and more so seemingly every day.

Birmingham has a legitimate downtown loft district, complete with actual entertainment, culture and nightlife in an area that used to roll up its sidewalks at 9 p.m. Downtown and surrounding areas are filling up with homegrown stores and restaurants, keeping money in the local economy and just giving us a reason to get out and meet our neighbors.

We have parks — nice ones. We have a baseball stadium — a really nice one. The hops? Free as a bird. Landmarks and cultural touchpoints are being restored with an eye to preserving our history instead of ignoring it; our sidewalks are literally teeming with filmmakers and walkers and crawlers of art. We have festivals the way rural towns have agricultural fairs (are we going to start crowning a Miss Cask and Drum? please?), and they’re well attended.

Just as notable as the positive changes are the changes that haven’t been happening. And the people to whom they haven’t been happening.

The ZIP code encompassing the loft district, many civic buildings and much of the new culture and entertainment happens to be the second-poorest ZIP code in Alabama, the seventh-poorest state in the country. The poverty rate surrounding all of those gorgeous luxury lofts is 50 percent; citywide, the rate is just above 30 percent.

Increasingly trendy neighborhoods like Avondale are pushing out crime and unpleasantness to make way for art, quirky bars, home renovation and rising property values. But caught in the tide are some longtime residents who can’t afford to hang with increasingly affluent newcomers. Often, infrastructural issues long unaddressed by the city finally see action once the neighborhood is nice enough to be deemed worth fixing.

The growth and revitalization of these de-vitalized parts of the city isn’t a bad trend. Residents have organized, worked hard and worked consciously to make their neighborhood a better place by reviving dilapidated houses, bringing in local businesses and supporting schools. Avondale is unquestionably a cleaner, safer and livelier neighborhood, thanks to its proponents.

But many neighbors who benefit from it aren’t the ones who made their homes there before it got fancy. “Improving neighborhoods” and “improving life for current residents” aren’t always simultaneous goals.

Issues like poverty must be addressed head-on. If an area is improved by pushing out the impoverished, they aren’t any better off. They’re just … elsewhere.

• • •

Caperton Gillett is a senior copywriter at o2 ideas and a freelance writer.

• Website | Facebook | Twitter @capertong | LinkedIn

• • •

The full version of this essay and many more are available in the free ebook, “The Future of Birmingham.”

All you need to do is fill out this simple form. We’ll email you a link to download the book. (And, at no extra charge, we’ll add you to the mailing list for the free Y’all Connect newsletter.)

• • •

Read more essays in our special 10th anniversary series, The Future of Birmingham.

If we scrimp and save
and hold off on paying some
bills, we can eat soon.

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Video: Ike Pigott reflects on the food movement in Birmingham.

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Details at the end.

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By Ike Pigott

[Note: video transcript]

The future of Birmingham is food.

So what do I mean by that?

We’re not going to become this agrarian paradise. We’re not going to have urban farming everywhere.

But food is going to be the thing that changes Birmingham and alters its future for the better.

If you think about it, that simple picture I took at the food truck has represented something, for me anyway. It’s one of the areas of the city where you are inclined to see about a third laborers, a third hipsters and a third businesspeople. It’s one of the most egalitarian areas that you’re going to come across in the city.

Every little food truck is like its own little Railroad Park in Birmingham, having just the right mix of people, having a good diverse group of people and having a group of people getting along and communing around something.

It’s been that way for a long time.

And I’m going to take that from the present, and I’m going to go back to the past.

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More on the Taqueria Guzman Taco Truck.

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The images of segregation in Birmingham, the images of segregation in the city, often very violent. But the ones that stand out are the ones that seem so innocuous: the restrooms, the lunch counters, where people could be eating together but were prevented from doing so. And that in and of itself was part of the abomination.

But then you look to the future, and I see a future for downtown, I see a downtown that has been trying to grow and trying to build its culture and try to bring people for a very long time.

And what’s the piece that is the linchpin that is really going to spur a renaissance in downtown Birmingham in bringing people in? It’s the Publix — it’s the grocery store, it’s food. You put the kind of food in there that brings people together, and people can’t help but be together.

So there’s your answer: It’s food.

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Ike Pigott is a veteran communicator based in Birmingham who got out of television news and back into life. Now working for Alabama Power, he specializes in corporate communications, but has interests that are all over the place.

• Website | Facebook | Twitter @IkePigott | LinkedIn | Instagram

• • •

Essays from other contributors are available in the free ebook, “The Future of Birmingham.”

All you need to do is fill out this simple form. We’ll email you a link to download the book. (And, at no extra charge, we’ll add you to the mailing list for the free Y’all Connect newsletter.)

• • •

Read more essays in our special 10th anniversary series, The Future of Birmingham.

Photo: Ike Pigott (reprinted with permission)

The First Avenue North gas station lot is a gathering place for
fans of the Taqueria Guzman taco truck. Food can be the basis
of a coming together in a city long divided.

A drone came to my
front door to deliver a
newborn and cigars.

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