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Books: Excerpt from Tanner Latham’s ‘Know Thy Farmer’

Sunday, December 13th, 2015

Tanner Latham, Know Thy Farmer

The following chapter is an excerpt from San Francisco author Tanner Latham’s “Know Thy Farmer.” He is a Piedmont native and a content strategist, writer, editor, radio reporter and multimedia storyteller. Latham is also a former Southern Living colleague of mine.

His book profiles 30 Alabama farmers and the food they provide to chefs and restaurants.

In this excerpt, Latham recounts a farm-to-table dinner at Sanctuary Farms.

• • •

Farm Dinner

The guests rolled in slowly in near-idling cars and discovered the bright, mid-afternoon sun bathing warm light over the house, barn and a patchwork layout of heirloom fruits, vegetables, flowers and herbs anchoring this little farm. A freshly mown path welcomed them and led their steps through naturally wild lawn grasses. It served as an entre to the evening’s event — a first scent of a seven-course dinner, a true farm to farm table experience. And at the path’s end, awaiting each guest, was the first sip — Peach Cobbler Moonshine cocktails stirred and seasoned with locally made popsicles. There, too, was the first bite — skewers of hushpuppies and fried green Sun Gold tomatoes picked earlier that morning from the vines beside which they now mingled.

Garlic. That was what initially sparked chef Drew Terp’s interest in Milan Davis and Jeannine Freed of Sanctuary Farms. “It was some of the most incredible garlic I had ever seen,” says Drew, who first met the couple at their booth at the Market at Pepper Place. “They had some of the most beautiful produce I’ve ever seen in any restaurant I had ever worked for. I’ve used ginger imported from all over the world, and Sanctuary’s was the most gorgeous I can remember.”

The couple was fairly smitten with Drew as well. “He had this very positive and boisterous presence,” says Jeannine. “His passion for food was contagious, and his personality went along with it.”

The chef visited the farmers at the market each week, buying produce, chatting and slowly, strongly building a relationship. One Saturday morning, Drew offered to volunteer on the farm just to see what the couple was doing and learn more about their process. The farmers obliged, and throughout the summer, he and his girlfriend visited the farm in Etowah County, Ala., and helped clear brush, till, plant seed and harvest.

After working one day, Jeannine and Milan began talking to Drew about their idea of hosting a fall dining event similar to those held among their network of farmers. It was an opportunity for a chef to show off his or her culinary skills at a farm, sourcing most of the ingredients on site.

“We were reaching a point where we had enough food in our garden,” says Jeannine. “We envisioned it more as a celebration of accomplishments of the season and sharing them with those who come and experience it.”

Yet, the farmer couple had never done anything like that before and weren’t sure how to even begin, but they knew they wanted it to be right. Lucky for them, Drew had experience hosting such events, and he willfully partnered with them as an organizer.

“Drew’s obvious passion left us with no doubts that we were going to plan a wonderful experience for everyone who came,” says Jeannine.

The cocktail hour spilled seamlessly into supper, and the guests moved to the barn to seat themselves on wood-topped bales of hay at tables built by Milan from wood he had milled. Above them, string lights and herbs hung from rafters. Around them, used burlap fabrics draped doorways. Before them, flower centerpieces colored the tables. Overhead, the sun was just beginning to set.

As Chef Drew’s team brought out the first course, a charcuterie board with cured meats, local cheeses, a savory okra jam, radish pickles, pickled garlic and local honey, the guests’ eyes widened and lit up, a response repeated with each course presentation throughout the evening.

Then came wrinkled potatoes with Spanish tortillas, a small-bite dish Drew had learned about while traveling through the Canary Islands. After that, mixed greens with seared goat cheese, figs and honey vinaigrette followed by a sweet potato soup with sage farmer’s cheese and brown butter emulsion.

“Everything had a really nice balance. Each course allowed the vegetable to be what it was without covering it up,” says Jeannine.

For the main course, Drew presented a suckling pig with rosemary polenta, glazed baby carrots and wild persimmon pork jus. It had actually been supplied and cooked on site by Will and Liz Doonan of Heron Hollow Farms located in Lacon, Ala.

“We structured the menu so that we would have intricate courses followed by easier courses,” says Drew. “We wanted plenty of time to prepare the more difficult dishes.” With each course, servers poured wine and beer pairings provided by Grassroots Wine from Birmingham and Gadsden-based Back Forty Beer Company. As they placed the plates, the chef stood before the guests and guided them through the dishes, explaining the sources and answering questions.

“It’s my passion,” says Drew. “If you take a plate, and you set it down in front of somebody, they can just taste it and decide if they like it or not. But when you can put something out in front of somebody and tell them a story about it, now they are eating through your eyes and looking at the food through the creator’s vision. They get the story behind the food. It’s so important when people are eating to know there is a background behind the food.”

A big, beautiful pecan tree stood next to the barn, its branches extending far enough that their ends sagged to the ground and created a natural canopy and seating area. With the supper courses finished — the fork-clinking silenced — the guests moved from the table to the tree to watch a bonfire grow into a cozy blaze that popped sparks upward to the dark sky.

Local musicians provided a post-dinner soundtrack, picking and singing folk and bluegrass songs. And for the final taste, the chef’s team served dessert, sea salt caramel popsicles from Gadsden-based Frios Gourmet Pops and Drew’s grandmommy’s recipe pecan pie made from nuts that had fallen from the large tree.

According to Jeannine, watching someone taste the produce she and Milan grows is akin to the moment you feel when you meet your soulmate. “It’s like, ‘Yes! That’s what I’m talking about!'” she says. “When someone gets the whole process, it’s kind of like a camaraderie. There’s a lot of passion in that moment. I think, ‘These are my people!’ Those moments contribute to making it all worth it. We can grow beautiful food, but there has to be someone there who truly enjoys it.”

She says that this event could not have occurred without their “farm community of friends” who willingly helped to make it happen in a passionate and selfless way. Those farmer friends and musicians sat and dined at the tables alongside the guests and added another depth and dimension to the atmosphere.

In a broad sense, Jeannine believes that events like this only occur when people care from where their food comes. Drew agrees, stating that a major problem today is that people lose track of their food sources. “You go to the store or drive-through and you buy food that is packaged, but that’s not real food,” he says. “The realness of an event like this is picking carrots that morning and serving them that night. You take the food right from the farm, make something beautiful and then share it with those around you. That is what is all about.”

These intimate dinners symbolize the best that has come from the farm-to-table movement and from literally knowing your farmer. They display a through-line that connects those who participate. Chefs respect and revere the live produce and even animals that grow just steps away from the diners. And the guests, a table full of strangers sitting elbow to elbow who quickly bond over their commonalities, can directly ask the farmers about their challenges or the chef about his vision for the dishes.

“This was not only the best of a beautiful harvest and a talented chef,” continues Jeannine. “But it was also a gathering where new friendships came together to show love and support among one another.”

Slowly, the guests peel away from the group and the bonfire’s warmth. With bellies full and smiles grand, they turn into the chill of the October evening and follow the same path, now lit by flickering, lighted bags, out to their cars. They occasionally steal a glance over their shoulders to view the glow of the barn and garden. But they have to return. Back to their homes. Back to their families. Back to their lives. Still, they now carry a memory that they’ll recount about a dinner that connected them to the land and to each other.

“This is how a community grows,” says Drew. “One person and story and experience at a time.”

• • •

“Know Thy Farmer” (November 2015, Friends of the Market)

Tanner Latham

To free UAB will require immense financial pressure

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2015

Ray Watts, UAB

UAB president Ray Watts shows where he had his soul
surgically removed. 

Author’s note: In the past, I have worked in my capacity as a communications consultant for the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Dear Free UAB,

Only 21 months till kickoff. Without you, we would have no 2017 season for Blazer football.

Of course, Dr. Ray Watts is still president of UAB, still collecting $853,464 annually for hiding from faculty and students and performing an inept job. It was 1 year ago today that Watts and his bosses in Tuscaloosa killed three sports teams, only to resurrect them 6 months later.

The good news is that you’ve met every athletics funding deadline so far, even the ones that have been moved up in a brazen attempt to discredit you. Now that the University of Alabama System board of trustees has shifted even more of the burden usually assumed by colleges to fans and donors, it can spend even more insane amounts of money on its preferred team in Tuscaloosa.

Speaking of preferred teams, it’s nice to see the rifle team with its 2015-16 schedule intact. Sadly for the bowling team, it has had to go dark till next season (or the season after, maybe). And the on-campus stadium plan may live someday as an off-campus stadium on the BJCC property, safe from the trustees’ spiteful actions.

It’s heartening to see the students and the faculty united in its official lack of confidence in Watts. But to pry him from his cushy expensive president’s chair will take more than chants of “Fire Ray Watts” at basketball games in Bartow Arena.

Much more.

The simplest equation is to make it more expensive to keep Watts than to send him back to medicine full time with an unholy severance package. All across the South, calculators have been working overtime on cost-benefit analyses …

  • Cheaper to keep or fire Les Miles at LSU? Keep, since the PR damage alone was astronomical.
  • Cheaper to keep or fire Mark Richt at Georgia? Fire, though the numbers aren’t looking real solid.
  • Cheaper to keep or fire president Tim Wolfe at Missouri? Fire (technically, resign), because football TV cash.

Watts is an expensive hot mess, but he’s simply not costly enough (yet) to trustees. I had suggested a year ago that UAB supporters oust him and then wrest the university from the UA System for the good of the school and Birmingham.

(If it was always about football and only football, then I guess … mission accomplished? But don’t be surprised when the board takes it away again.)

What does a Ray Watts cost UAB?

  • His salary, $2,338.26 a day (and that’s if he hasn’t received a raise, oy).
  • All those pricey consultants and attorneys.
  • His security detail.
  • His president’s mansion.
  • The new secret biased report to kill football, which we’ll find out about in August 2017.
  • The $1 billion Campaign for UAB, which was on pace to reach the finish line now but has slowed so much, it may be as late as 2019 (or worse).
  • Lost tuition (plus future alumni donations) from plummeting enrollment, down 7.3 percent from fall 2014.

While all of these cost UAB money, the key to is to hit the board where it hurts most: the University of Alabama. The school is on track for another national championship, with the mountains of cash that come with it, so you must be clever and persistent in finding any financial weaknesses.

The Mizzou football team figured it out, using its leverage to force the school to act decisively and quickly on allegations of long-term racist harassment of students. Replacing Wolfe is far easier and cheaper than forfeiting to BYU.

Until you convince enough fans, football recruits, donors (individual and corporate), professors and politicians to abandon Tuscaloosa, you have no leverage. Until you steer away millions of dollars for buildings, players, coaches and research projects, you have no hope.

It may take years/election cycles. It may take scorched earth. It may take a beatdown of every board member’s company. But it can be done.

The fight has to be uglier and hit the trustees where it hurts most, right in the bank account.

Go Blazers,

Wade

The Future of Birmingham: Regaining our self-esteem

Tuesday, October 6th, 2015
Birmingham panorama

Photo: Patrick Cain (CC)

Birmingham (click to enlarge)

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

By James Spann

I have fond memories of Birmingham as a child.

The Future of BirminghamIn the 1960s, I lived in Greenville, but my mom’s folks were from St. Clair County. And when we visited them, a trip to Birmingham was almost always on the agenda. The city was truly magical. Listening to WSGN, the Big 610. Shopping for Christmas at the big stores downtown like Loveman’s. Hanging out at the brand new Eastwood Mall. Hopping on the rides at the Alabama State Fair at Five Points West. Watching Cousin Cliff on television.

Fast-forward to September 1979, when I started my Birmingham TV career at WAPI-13 (now WVTM). I was 23 and, somehow, Wendell Harris hired me to be their main weather guy at that incredibly young age.

A few months after I was hired, reporter Steve Sanders did a series called “Is the Magic Missing?” focusing on population loss, job market deterioration and a public education system that was faltering.

It seems like we have no self-esteem 36 years later, despite the wonderful things happening in this city.

I find it interesting that the same trolls who attack me during any winter forecast come out any time you say something positive about Birmingham. Ignore them; they aren’t worth my time, or yours.

People mocked Don Logan for moving the Birmingham Barons from Hoover back into the city a few years ago. It was a bold move, but it is paying rich dividends with record crowds.

When Trinity Medical Center moves this week to its incredible new Grandview Medical Center campus on U.S. 280, it is in the city limits. This is a huge positive for the city. [Editor’s note: James Spann has served as chair of Trinity’s board of trustees since 2005.]

Drive through downtown on a weekend, and it is buzzing with life. Loft living, new restaurants and stores, Railroad Park.

Is there crime? Of course. But crime exists in every Alabama municipality and county. Are there problems to solve? Yep. Biggest issues are fixing Birmingham schools and finding a good mass transit solution.

But the positives outweigh the negatives by far.

The future of Birmingham is:

  • People with a passion to make the city their home and a better place.
  • Focusing on the things that bring us together, not tear us apart.
  • Not being afraid of our past, but celebrating how far we have come.
  • The natural beauty in the foothills of the Appalachians.
  • Being the best place to raise a family.

And, most importantly, our future is regaining self-esteem.

I was honored to receive two major awards for a broadcast meteorologist. When I accepted the American Meteorological Society Award for Broadcast Meteorology at its 2013 meeting in Austin, I was proud to be associated with Birmingham at this international science gathering.

Same at the 2012 National Weather Association meeting when I accepted their Broadcaster of the Year award in Madison, Wisc. In fact, many asked me how they could break into our market and move here.

This is a special city with a bright future. I am proud to be from Birmingham and Alabama. You need to feel the same way. Let’s enjoy the ride back to being the Magic City.

• • •

James SpannJames Spann is chief meteorologist for Birmingham’s ABC 33/40, joining 1 month after the station signed on in 1996. In all, he has been a TV weather anchor for 36 years.

• • •

The Future of BirminghamThe 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.)

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• • •

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

The Future of Birmingham: DIY

Monday, October 5th, 2015

Stacey Ferguson

Entrepreneur and blogger Stacey Ferguson gives the opening
keynote at the Y’all Connect conference in Birmingham.
Technology is a ripe area for startups in the city.

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

By Jen Barnett

The future of Birmingham could be pretty much like its past: decided by the good citizens of Mountain Brook and officials from the City of Birmingham with little-to-no input from residents.

The Future of BirminghamOccasionally, these two disparate groups produce fabulous offspring, like the Sidewalk Film Festival, Railroad Park or Regions Field. More often than not, they lock horns and produce nothing. So, when considering the future of Birmingham, my first thought was “Who cares?”

But … I do. God help me, I fucking do.

If we’re smart, we can build our own future through entrepreneurship.

These are the lessons I’ve learned from having businesses here, the ones I keep in mind as I think about next steps:

1. Plant the acorn with the knowledge that you may never see (or own) the oak. We wouldn’t have a Saturn or an Iron City if Bottletree hadn’t arrived.

2. Build a business in the tech sector. It’s the city’s blind spot for regulation, it’s a foreign language to the good ol’ boy network, and it won’t shackle you to local economic factors. Plus, you could bring in much-needed dollars from outside Alabama.

3. Don’t take private investment. Instead …

4. Build your own capital from a business you don’t necessarily love before launching your passion project. Shipt chief executive officer Bill Smith created his wealth with Easy Money and Insight Card Services. Avondale Brewery founder Coby Lake bought rental properties. If you’re a specialist, and a damned good one, you’ll have better odds than generalists like me when bootstrapping a business you love.

5. Spend more of your energy building people up, or working on your own idea, than bitching about someone else’s efforts. Bitch a little (you’re only human) to keep yourself competitive. Keep it off social media.

6. Do it more for the struggle than for the outcome. Like I said in No. 1, you may never see the outcome, but the struggle can be a lot of fun, with the right attitude.

7. If you’re going to tilt at windmills, choose ones that matter. Education, transportation, income inequality, science, arts and medicine are good ones. (#FireRayWatts is a personal fave.) Your neighbors’ lawn ornaments or sex lives aren’t.

8. Find strength in numbers. You don’t need money or power to get started if you’ve got friends. Entrepreneur Rebecca Davis and filmmaker Jen West both conducted successful crowdfunding campaigns for their projects. To make crowdsourcing work for you, make lots and lots of friends. (Loners are easier to exploit and marginalize.)

9. Develop a thick skin. The harder you try, the more haters you’ll have. This is absolutely inevitable. You don’t have to be a flippant dick about them (“haters gon’ hate”), just learn to deal.

10. If you make it in Birmingham, stay in Birmingham. That’s not a mandate, just my personal plea. Mentor someone. Buy Quinlan Castle and build a moat around it. Whatever it takes to keep you engaged with the city.

If you follow these lessons and your heart, your life will be so full of passion and purpose that you’ll hardly notice what’s lacking in Birmingham.

• • •

Jen BarnettJen Barnett is a Birmingham-based entrepreneur and marketing strategy consultant.

• • •

The Future of BirminghamThe 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.)

  • I WANT A FREE BOOK!




• • •

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

The Future of Birmingham: Strong leadership

Sunday, October 4th, 2015
Larry Langford

Photo: Chris Denbow (CC)

Birmingham mayor Larry Langford once led a prayer rally to
fight crime, dressed in a sackcloth. The city’s prayers for
strong leadership have apparently gone unanswered.

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

Leadership is tough.

The Future of BirminghamA leader can do everything right and still fall off a cliff, taking everyone with him. I’ve dropped off that perch time and again, both as leader and follower.

The absence of strong leadership has left Birmingham listless, mired in potential and indecision. Few are willing to risk their own necks for the good of the city and the region.

Ironically, the influence of strong leadership has also damaged Birmingham. In politics, Larry Langford bullied his way through half-baked ideas and get-rich schemes as president of the Jefferson County Commission and mayor of Fairfield and Birmingham. In business, Richard Scrushy built national powerhouse HealthSouth and then let his greed nearly destroy the company.

Perhaps we shy away from such alpha types because we’ve been burned again and again. Perhaps we feel stuck with the limited choices before us.

The progress Birmingham has made has been in spite of, not because of, its leadership. We’ve made baby steps, but when compared to other Southern cities of similar size, we’re falling behind.

That lack of progress stems, in part, from Birmingham’s conservative nature. Not in the sense of big-blue-dot-in-a-red-state politics, but in the taking-chances-on-even-middle-of-the-road-ideas-is-scary sense. A determined leader would have at least a couple of options, either sell everyone on the idea or barrel through regardless of buy-in.

I’ve done both. I understand that great reward is almost always worth the tiny risk, though the perception may be that the risk is enormous and the reward is negligible. The real equation for me is that the fear of regret is much bigger than the fear of failure.

The leadership vacuum isn’t merely holding Birmingham back, but actively demolishing it from within. One of the city’s crown jewels, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, is in the middle of a crisis.

President Ray Watts has transformed from harmless nobody into Public Enemy No. 1. The governing bodies for the faculty, the undergrads and the grad students have voted no confidence in him. And yet, he still stands, a tolerable mess, it appears.

We not only tolerate awful leaders, we promote them. The corporate citizenry has made its priorities clear: As long as their egos and their bank accounts are well served, any lackey will do.

What distresses me most in dealing with Birmingham’s leaders is lack of humility, this overwhelming sense of entitlement to power and money. A little chutzpah is necessary in any accomplished person, but too much poisons the spirit.

An antidote does exist. I first heard about servant leadership from meteorologist James Spann during one of his talks. What stuck with me was not only the concept, but also how he embodies it. James will admit his weaknesses and mistakes, and then apologize for them. He’s trying, and he’s willing to fail.

That is impressive. That, sadly, is all too rare.

The best future for Birmingham is strong leadership. We must insist upon it, though our options are few. We must support it and hold it accountable.

And, at times, we must take it upon ourselves. Tough as it may be, we cannot wait forever.

• • •

The Future of BirminghamThe 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.)

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• • •

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

The Future of Birmingham: Cultural mining

Friday, October 2nd, 2015
Pete's Famous Hot Dogs

Photo: bg5000 (CC)

While Birmingham landmark Pete’s Famous Hot Dogs no longer
operates, the Birmingham hot dog lives on at other
Greek-established restaurants. City history offers many
opportunities to attract outsiders.

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

By Charles Buchanan

The future of Birmingham is in its past.

The Future of BirminghamBirmingham has a lot riding on its ability to cultivate — and capitalize on — the people, places and history that give the metro area its unique personality. Developers and city planners would be wise to take a look around them. Often, those who figure out ways to incorporate elements of our local DNA are rewarded with an enthusiastic response.

Take Regions Field. Parts of its design echo the metal-casting sheds of Sloss Furnaces and the light towers of Rickwood Field. Visitors can relax in rocking chairs while eating Dreamland ribs. Since the Birmingham Barons moved to Regions Field, the team has experienced a boom in attendance.

It’s not nostalgia that’s powering such reactions from the public. Instead, I chalk it up to a growing feeling of pride in Birmingham from the people who live here, which dovetails nicely with the larger cultural emphasis on “local” in everything from vegetables to beer to art.

This homegrown enthusiasm also has the potential to help redefine Birmingham’s image across the country. I once met someone who traveled to Birmingham because he was a fan of native son Sun Ra, an innovative musician who took jazz into outer space and back. I don’t think he found much to memorialize the sonic pioneer, unfortunately. But it would be easy for Birmingham to create a music trail — along the lines of the Civil Rights Heritage Trail or even in the form of a smartphone app — to guide visitors to sites associated with the city’s rich history in jazz, R&B, rock, country, gospel and other genres.

Likewise, Birmingham could become a center for ecotourism — a sort of Asheville of the Deep South — capitalizing on its close proximity to scenic places such as the Sipsey Wilderness and the Cahaba River. Closer into town, Red Mountain Park, Ruffner Mountain, Oak Mountain and the emerging Red Rock trail system offer easy access to outdoor adventures.

In addition, no other place can lay claim to the Birmingham hot dog, the secret-sauce slathered staple invented by Greek immigrants and made famous by dozens of tiny lunch stands, including Pete’s Famous. Few of those stands remain today, but we can still champion the dog that once fueled the workers who powered Birmingham’s industries that, in turn, made America hum.

Or how about Birmingham’s Batman, Willie Perry? The good Samaritan who once rescued stranded motorists from his souped-up Batmobile is back in the civic spotlight. His car is slated for restoration, a documentary about him is in the works, and his life has inspired Willie Perry Day, a day of service to the community each Aug. 3. You won’t find many real-life superheroes out there, but we have one who remains a force for good.

These unique stories have the power to surprise people across the country who think they know all there is to know about Birmingham and Alabama. By mining our own history and culture, we can mold fresh, colorful images of the city, new symbols for an emerging metropolis.

• • •

Charles BuchananCharles Buchanan is editor of UAB Magazine, author of “Fading Ads of Birmingham” [aff. link] and an artist.

• • •

The Future of BirminghamThe 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.)

  • I WANT A FREE BOOK!




• • •

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

The Future of Birmingham: Slow and steady

Monday, September 28th, 2015
Drive-By Truckers

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.

The Future of BirminghamMore 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 LoJackie 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.

• • •

The Future of BirminghamThe 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.)

  • I WANT A FREE BOOK!




• • •

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

The Future of Birmingham: Ambitious

Friday, September 25th, 2015
Sloss Arts and Music Festival

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.

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.

The Future of BirminghamIt’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 GillettCaperton Gillett is a senior copywriter at o2 ideas and a freelance writer.

• • •

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The Future of Birmingham: A media wasteland

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2015
Birmingham News

Photo: Ralph Daily (CC)

Local media outlets have seen big changes in their news
operations. But not all the changes have been for the better
for the audience.

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Close to a year ago, I gave a talk at a conference here in town about the state of the media. It’s one of the most depressing presentations I’ve ever given.

The Future of BirminghamThe talk has become badly out of date: The news has gotten much worse.

Birmingham, once a small haven for media, is a smoking crater. With each passing year, the crater grows a little wider, a little deeper.

That’s not to slight some of the fine folks left to hold down the fort. The decisions that got us to this ruination were made largely out of state, without regard to subscribers, advertisers, journalists or citizens.

I find that painful to accept as a media consumer, producer, observer and fan.

Local media outlets, whether broadcast, print or Web, have embraced a common playbook: Get eyeballs any way possible. No headline too outrageous, no teaser too wild, no rumor too preposterous. Let us click and bait, for tomorrow we die.

The tyranny of the popular dictates coverage, meaning complete annihilation of watchdog reports on government at every level. Tin-pot mayors from Tarrant to Fairfield, rejoice: Absolutely no one is guarding the henhouse, and better than that, no one cares.

I live in Birmingham proper, but even the city hall coverage here is superficial. While I may know what happens in council meetings, I lack the proper context to understand how it affects me, my wallet, my neighborhood and our future.

We’ve been on this path in Birmingham for a decade or so.

Ten years ago today, on Sept. 23, 2005, my newspaper closed for good. The Birmingham Post-Herald’s death provided a preview of the mass layoffs to come for hundreds upon hundreds of reporters, editors, photographers, copy editors, producers, designers and more.

We see a steady stream of new faces as replacements, cheap disposable labor with no ties to the community. We’re told they’re good at generating content and engaging the audience.

What have we lost in this clumsy transition to all-out digital one-upmanship? That’s the most difficult category to measure, the absence of reportage.

We are completely on our own. And it’s only going to get worse.

I couldn’t do any better. Invest a million dollars into a fantasy news operation I lead, and it would either barely break even or steadily bleed money, even with talented reporters on the cheap. It would gain a small but loyal audience with above-average income, featuring stories that win accolades and awards.

And sooner rather than later, it would fold.

The future of Birmingham is year-round coverage of Alabama and Auburn football, with breaks for viral memes and copy-paste media releases. It’s more airtime for newscasts with lucrative commercials. It’s Sunday-only print editions with 6-day-old news.

It’s the manufacture of outrage and delight to provide dwindling profits for outsider owners, at the expense of an informed citizenry and service as fearless guardians against corrupt government and business.

No one is coming to save us — not newspaper publishers, not partisan bloggers, not seasoned journalists, not Facebook gossipmongers — from our crater of ignorance.

• • •

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The Future of Birmingham: Brighter than ever

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2015
construction crane

Photo: Elizabeth Swift (CC)

A giant crane is a sign of progress along Birmingham’s skyline.
More than 30 projects are under way in or near downtown.

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By Rod Walker

After several decades of decline, the people of Birmingham are finally starting to shed the inferiority complex that so many have felt for so long. We’re seeing cranes on the skyline, the old, long empty buildings being restored with new eateries, music venues, spaces for the arts, for recreation and for residence. We may be on the threshold of living up to the “potential” talked about for so many years.

The Future of BirminghamWhen state laws changed in 2009 making small breweries possible, a new art form arrived: craft beer. Avondale Brewing Company was the first building block for the renovation of the neighborhood, which now includes several eateries, art galleries and a new music venue, Saturn.

Railroad Park seems to have been the beginning. Then came the Barons’ new stadium. Then more new projects: the Uptown restaurant district; the Westin; the living spaces, restaurants, arts and entertainment in the loft district.

The change now seems to be happening exponentially with more than 30 projects under way in or near downtown, either new construction or renovation. They include the Thomas Jefferson Hotel, the Pizitz building, the Booker T. Washington Insurance building, the Lyric Theatre, the Powell steam plant, the Merita Bread building and the Publix supermarket.

I’m very excited about what Birmingham is becoming. The magic is back, only without the choking pollution and the barbaric racial segregation laws. We should be happy about all the good things without losing sight of lingering challenges.

The first challenge is jobs. What it takes to get new Birminghamians to stay are good-paying, stable careers. For cities like Austin that have experienced rapid growth, many jobs have been in technology. If we could add high-tech jobs to our health care and banking sectors, we would have an easier time attracting transplants.

The second challenge is old perceptions. Many people around the world have a negative perception of this city for several reasons:

  • The resistance to the 1960s civil rights movement;
  • The horrid air pollution for most of the city’s history;
  • The crime wave of the 1990s;
  • The fact that it’s located in Alabama, perceived by many to be backward.

The best way to overcome negative stereotypes is to create a new positive image that overshadows the old images. If we try, we can do that.

The last challenge is inequality. Birmingham is much more than just downtown or Avondale or Southside. Neighborhoods such as Ensley, Titusville, North Birmingham, Fountain Heights and Collegeville are just as much a part of this city. We should use our newfound prosperity to improve the lives of all citizens. By upgrading the infrastructure everywhere. By improving public transportation.

People from more prosperous areas of the city should reach out to those in less prosperous areas to help those neighborhoods improve themselves. We should invest in new businesses that provide goods, services and jobs in areas that need them most.

If we keep our heads up, if we never give in to the negativity spouted by some, and if we never forget our neighbors in all parts of the city, the future of Birmingham is brighter than ever!

• • •

Rod WalkerRod Walker is a driver for Yellow Cab and a blogger at Birmingcabbie.

• • •

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The Future of Birmingham: In Technicolor

Monday, September 21st, 2015
Alabama Theatre

Photo: Bahman Farzad (CC)

The historic Alabama Theatre has been home to many color
films over the years. It anchors a growing cultural scene
in Birmingham.

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By Candie A. Price

I may be showing my age, but when I was younger, I remember watching old movies that boasted a color process called Technicolor. Upon further research, I found the words “candy-colored,” “boisterous” and “lush” used to describe its various effects, moods and sensations.

The Future of BirminghamThis process monopolized cinema’s first half-century, accurately producing the full spectrum with amazing results. Although it’s not used nearly as much in today’s filmmaking, the idea of something being in Technicolor intrigues me still.

How do I relate this to Birmingham? As a Philly girl in the South, I am fully aware of Birmingham’s history and need to shed her ugly images, specifically the ruthless acts of domestic terrorism during the civil rights movement. However, 13 years here, I see a Birmingham that is learning, growing and attempting to move forward from her stigma of 1963.

Our city is moving from the black-and-white photos of segregation, hate and racial disunity toward a more welcoming collage in Technicolor. Of course, we have room for improvement in many areas — socio-economic disparity, racial relationships and other issues — that also exist in many cities. Birmingham has a unique opportunity to show the rest of our country, especially in such volatile times, that change, forgiveness, resiliency and vibrancy can happen everywhere, especially in a place formerly dubbed “Bombingham”!

The future of Birmingham is candy-colored, boisterous, lush: a vibrant city wherein people of all walks of life can enjoy the city center; Railroad Park; Uptown; CityFest; a growing foodie scene; neighborhood revitalization via REV Birmingham; museums; top-notch medical research and educational facilities; countless conferences and events for small businesses and entrepreneurs; one of the most philanthropic cities in the country; affordable cost of living; impressive banking center; and a growing diverse cultural climate. Just a few of the strides made in the last five decades.

We still have much work to do, but we are no longer seeing life in Birmingham in terms of black and white. The colors, representing all of our citizens working together and in tandem, can produce a more accurate depiction of what a community should look like. A diverse spectrum, resulting in a dazzlingly rich quality of life for all … in full Technicolor! Our future depends on it, and just like 50 years ago, the world is still watching.

• • •

Candie A. PriceCandie A. Price provides public relations and marketing services to Christian authors, entrepreneurs, ministries and businesses. Her blogs include Your PR Diva and Philly Girl in the South.

• • •

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The Future of Birmingham: Of passing concern

Tuesday, September 15th, 2015
UAB campus on Southside

Photo: Max Wolfe (CC)

The UAB campus is likely to grow in the coming years,
becoming even more prominent on Birmingham’s Southside.

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By Chris Mitchell

Is there a more intimidating prospect than predicting the future?

The Future of BirminghamIf I had been asked 5 years ago, I would have written a scathing missive about how Birmingham would continue to slowly crumble, the pieces doled out among ever increasingly bloated suburbs. Despite the positivity I have today, that is still happening. But much less so now.

It’s not the same city it was. Or I’m not the same man. I’m 40 and have an 8-month-old daughter.

Enough of this, Chris. Tell us what’s going to happen.

Here are some things I believe will occur:

Prediction No. 1: UAB will continue to swallow more of Southside. The footprint of the school from which I graduated in 1999 has probably doubled. I expect this growth to continue, mainly because they print money in one of those labs.

Prediction No. 2: The completion of I-459 with the Northern Beltline will be a success. It will be ridiculously expensive and probably destroy something beautiful, but it will create commerce and jobs … and more sprawl.

Prediction No. 3: We will never have a decent newspaper again. No one is mad about it any more, unfortunately. Whatever goes on in our city that the 10 people who work for al.com don’t see is now lost. I worked in local TV news for 12 years. Every morning, the newsroom would open the paper and decide what to cover that day. A weak paper means weak TV news.

Prediction No. 4: Hoover will eventually be as big as Birmingham by gobbling up the countryside. Its population sits at 80,000, while Birmingham is at 212,000. Hoover is not a defined thing; it’s a confederation of neighborhoods, which is incredibly attractive to a lot of people. As my daughter gets to an age where I have to worry about schools and such, I’ll probably be one of them.

Prediction No. 5: Someone amazing will come from here. I don’t know how, but it will.

Prediction No. 6: Birmingham will never outlive its reputation of racism and bigotry. Before we were born, some very bad men made us look awful, and the world will never forget.

Prediction No. 7: Birmingham will be overrun with murderous robots sometime after the second Civil War. It will be a real bummer. I wrote this in my first novel, “Independent Now and Forever,” which you can buy it on your Kindle [aff. link]. I kind of hope this invasion doesn’t happen, but I feel like it’s worth warning you about.

I don’t know what the hell is going to happen to Birmingham, though I have this “wind of positivity.” Will the next generation continue to fall in love with lofts and the rougher edges, seeing the challenge and aspirations they represent? I certainly hope so.

My time of taking those risks is over. All I think about now is how to put my daughter in an environment of safety and happiness.

The future of Birmingham is not my biggest concern any more. Good luck.

• • •

Chris MitchellChris Mitchell is managing editor of Bassmaster.com and is co-founder of the music blog BhamFM.com.

• • •

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The Future of Birmingham: Pride

Sunday, September 13th, 2015
Photo: Alabama Department of Transportation

Photo: Alabama Department of Transportation

An excavator loads Caterpillar 777 dump trucks along the
Northern Beltline. The project has a projected $2 billion impact
on the metro Birmingham area.

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By Johnathan F. Austin

You can see the future of Birmingham by the growing number of buildings and lofts emerging from the downtown skyline, and you can see it by the community revitalization projects.

The Future of BirminghamBut what is the blueprint for this remarkable city? Expansion in all areas of development and revitalization of the city’s neighborhoods, all sparked by the establishment of relationships at home and across the globe.

These relationships spawn innumerous opportunities. Just look at the lineup: the U.S. women’s national soccer team match; the Southeast U.S./Japan and Japan-U.S. Conference this fall; the Neighborhoods USA Conference in 2018; and the World Games in 2021.

These events change people’s long-held perceptions by letting them experience it first-hand and spread the gospel. That publicity is getting the attention of many companies. With the coming $530 million expansion of Kamtek, the potential growth for the aerospace industry at the Kaiser Aircraft Industries hangar complex at the airport, and the continuous development downtown, it is clear that Birmingham’s growth is expanding across all areas of business.

According to a University of Alabama study, the Northern Beltline will generate $2 billion in economic impact, nearly 21,000 jobs and $54 million in new tax revenue per year. The In-Town Transit Partnership and Bus Rapid Transit system will move residents and visitors around our city center with ease, convenience and reliability. This alone gives us hope for a better Birmingham.

Economic growth will bring more people and an increased sense of community for those who will call Birmingham home. This is why we as elected leaders are shifting our focus to the heart of it all, our 99 neighborhoods.

With the passage of the recent budget that emphasizes neighborhood revitalization, residents will see a decrease in blight and an immediate increase in pride. People will not only want to work and play in Birmingham, but live here, too.

While the blueprint has been laid out for business development and neighborhood revitalization, at the heart of it all is the enhancement of our schools. The recent hiring of superintendent Kelley Castlin-Gacutan puts our system well on its way to producing leaders for our community. After all, education is the most important economic development tool we have as a city.

As elected leaders, we make decisions that affect our communities both now and in the future. The council recently raised the city’s minimum wage to $10.10 an hour by 2017, the first city in the Southeast to do so. We are also paving the way for more innovative businesses like the Uber and Lyft ride-sharing apps. This council is progressive in its ideas, strategy and vision for a thriving Birmingham.

So, from the increased economic development, to the revitalization of our communities, to the innovative laws benefiting our citizens and businesses, coupled with a top-notch school system, the future of Birmingham is one that should excite residents and appeal to newcomers.

We are well on our way to becoming a premier city, best in its class.

• • •

Johnathan F. AustinJohnathan F. Austin is president of the Birmingham City Council and general manager of AirOps.

• • •

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The Future of Birmingham: TBD

Saturday, September 12th, 2015
Regions Field, National Anthem

Photo: Rob Briscoe (CC)

Cub Scouts hold the flag during the National Anthem at Regions Field. The ballpark’s opening in 2013 brought the Barons back to Birmingham and changed the city’s landscape.

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By Carrie Rollwagen

The Future of BirminghamBirmingham is a city that’s both hopeful and humble. As a transplant to this place, I’ve been impressed by the ability of Birminghamians to remain hopeful for change. Lately, that has been rewarded with some amazing projects growing out of that optimism.

Community and civic involvement

Our city’s nasty history with civil rights includes so much tragedy that we should do our best to honor the sacrifices of those Birminghamians. We do this by taking an active interest in our civil rights and government.

Many problems that still plague our city — the sad state of Birmingham schools, our Jefferson County bankruptcy and the abysmal condition of our virtually nonexistent public transportation system — could be solved if more of us took an active role in our political system. The story of Alabama politics is a story so laced with corruption that it’s hard to imagine anything different, but lately Birmingham has changed in ways that give us hope.

Read an excerpt from Carrie Rollwagen’s
book, “The Localist.”

Birmingham, especially downtown, looks so different than even what the most optimistic supporters imagined years ago. I lived in a loft at the Phoenix Building on Second Avenue North about a decade ago. I couldn’t buy groceries nearby, I couldn’t find a coffee shop that stayed open regular hours, and I certainly couldn’t watch a baseball game.

Now, Regions Field has brought the Barons back to the city, and I regularly go to Railroad Park to read or have a picnic. Community development projects downtown have buoyed business (I now have my choice of great coffee shops: Urban Standard, Octane and Revelator), and they’re attracting new stores to the area (Publix will finally bring a full grocery store to downtown residents in 2016).

Businesses like these are important to the growth of our city, but community projects like parks and stadiums create infrastructure that brings people together (and attracts more business to the area, too).

A hidden benefit to this civic activity is better health. Like all American cities, and especially all Southern ones, Birmingham has a weight problem. Too many of us carry so much weight that affects our health, not to mention our image of ourselves. Being overweight can make us sluggish and unwilling to try new things in our city.

We can help ourselves by nurturing the small businesses and community projects that get us up and moving. Iron Tribe is a huge CrossFit organization that began in Birmingham. Zyp, the new bike share program from REV Birmingham, will give us opportunities to get from place to place more easily in the city center. And we have dozens of small local gyms in almost any discipline to keep us continually active, along with free fitness classes at Railroad Park.

So many individuals work hard to do good in our city, but we aren’t always great at rallying behind them. Our future will be stronger if we create a culture of volunteering and prioritize helping those in need. More organizations need to make it easy to jump in.

• • •

Social Media for Small Business and Personal Branding: Carrie Rollwagen will hold her daylong popup workshop on Sept. 19 at Innovation Depot downtown. Participants will learn blog management, keyword optimization techniques, techniques on communicating through social media and more.

Beginners will get a good start on their personal accounts and learn how to leverage business accounts; freelancers and artists will learn to brand themselves better with social media.

Tickets are $100, which includes lunch. For more information and to register, visit the event page.

• • •

Carrie RollwagenCarrie Rollwagen is author of “The Localist” and co-owner of Church Street Coffee and Books in Mountain Brook.

• • •

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

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The Future of Birmingham: Modest incremental improvement

Friday, September 11th, 2015
moe - Avondale Brewing

Photo: Shannon (CC)

The band moe. performs at Avondale Brewing’s outdoor stage.
The transformation in Avondale could spread to other
Birmingham neighborhoods.

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By Karl Seitz

The future of Birmingham is not likely to be as bright as it could be. A lack of strong local leadership and obstacles beyond local control limit the improvements that can be achieved.

The Future of BirminghamOh, some promising signs have appeared, primarily from nontraditional sources of leadership that will make some difference. But the political, business and institutional segments of public life from which municipal leadership typically comes are not doing much leading these days. And looming in the background is the obstacle Birmingham has faced throughout its history, a state government that is more dysfunctional than usual even as it retains its traditional antipathy to urban areas.

So, with all these obstacles, does Birmingham have any hope for a better future? Yes. Perhaps not as much as one would like, but more than we could expect depending on traditional sources of leadership.

Although they could be separated into distinct threads, the combination of the local craft beer industry, high-quality restaurants and the local music-entertainment business has already transformed Avondale and is well on the way to changing other parts of the city. Add the developers who are transforming — not always benevolently — the areas near these dining-entertainment venues, and significant parts of Birmingham will be very different places in 10 years.

Another change, this one in attitudes, that has been going on for more years than most of us realize and is likely to continue is LGBT acceptance. It is no coincidence that Jefferson County probate judges were ready to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples the day it became legal. In marked contrast to the handful of probate judges in Alabama who are refusing to issue any marriage licenses to avoid issuing a same-sex license, Judges Alan King and Sherri Friday had prepared for the change they rightly expected was coming. They had even worked with the state Health Department to change the license application forms to remove gender references.

While one hopes they would have done the same regardless of public opinion, it is likely they knew that a majority of county residents at least tacitly accept equal treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals. After all, bars in this city have openly catered to gay customers for at least 50 years. More recently, UAB has been a leader in treating AIDS, which primarily affected members of the gay community early on. And Jefferson County does have an openly gay state legislator in Patricia Todd.

Acceptance and equal treatment of LGBT individuals is not universal in Birmingham, but the trend is clear here as it is across the country. Acceptance will only grow in the years ahead.

Public education might produce positive changes in the next few years. New superintendents always stir hope. However, the cynic in me says such predictions are risky. Better to wait and see.

One would like to be more optimistic about the brightness of Birmingham’s future. But from my perspective, modest improvements appear to be the best we can do. The strong, broad-based community leadership that is necessary for a better result doesn’t currently exist.

• • •

Karl SeitzKarl Seitz arrived in Birmingham in 1964 to attend Birmingham-Southern College after serving 3 years in the Navy. While still a student, he began what would turn out to be a 38-year career at the Birmingham Post-Herald. For more than 30 of those years Seitz served as editorial page editor. Since retiring with the 2005 closing of the newspaper, he has been editor of a quarterly newsletter for the USS Caliente Association, a group of men who served on that Navy ship from 1943 to 1973. He has also written for genealogical publications.

• • •

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