Photos: Christine Prichard. Reprinted with permission.

The Birmingham Barons celebrate winning the Southern League
Championship in 2013, the team’s first year back in Birmingham.

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By Christine Prichard

Nearly all of the innovative things that have popped up in the ’ham since I dropped anchor here in 1997 exist because of creative collaboration.

So many productive partnerships are out there, including Jones Valley Teaching Farm + the Birmingham City Schools + Southern Living and Cooking Light. Or Innovation Depot + UAB + entrepreneurs. Or McWane Science Center + corporate sponsors + volunteers.

Collaboration is what created Railroad Park and Regions Field. Collaboration is at its best during the Sidewalk Film Festival, where the rich talent of our local film production community plus enthusiastic volunteers and filmgoers work together to create one of many celebrated arts events in Birmingham.

Shella Sylla is the founder of Birmingham company Sister Golf,
which teaches the game’s fundamentals to busy professionals.

And think of metro area youth who passionately participate in arts, sports and academic activities. This wouldn’t be possible without the joint efforts of teachers, coaches, parents, volunteers and the students themselves.

Metro Changers, a Birmingham-based nonprofit group,
takes a moment for prayer.

All of these projects, places and people collaborate and thereby create a vibrant community for all who call Birmingham home.

A gala benefitting the Alabama School of Fine Arts in Birmingham.

Just think what could happen if this collaborative spirit were more influential in areas where Birmingham needs to improve, such as air quality and mass transportation.

Habitat for Humanity site supervisor Chris Cosby, left, works
with a volunteer while constructing a house in Avondale for
World Habitat Day.

Collaboration is what makes us great and is the future of Birmingham.

• • •

Christine Prichard is a Birmingham-based photographer and photography educator who collaborates with solo entrepreneurs and small businesses to create custom photography, mobile apps and mobile websites.

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• • •

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Cleanup and paving
crews show up every 4 years
before elections.

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Photo: Greg Willis (CC)

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1. Hipsters forced to sit in the back of the (solar-powered) (karaoke) bus.
2. Automated city council pay raises with compounded interest.
3. Newspaper printed three times a month on super-secret schedule.
4. CrossPlex holds IronTribe CrossFit Games; nerds hide in basements.
5. Drivers use bike lanes as intended … “emergency” parking.
6. Barbecue-flavored craft beer.
7. And deep-fried gourmet popsicles.
8. And throwed trolls.
9. Our inevitable annexation by Atlanta.
10. City lands not one but two NFL franchises fleeing gently used stadiums.
11. UAB football team disbanded for second time, during winning drive of national championship game.
12. Vulcan gets a tattoo!
13. No more toxic dumps — cancer injected directly into North Birmingham residents.
14. Farm-to-table movement grows crops directly in dirt pile on your dinner plate.
15. Newly rebuilt I-20/59 collapses after looters strip it for copper wiring.
16. Illegal immigrants escape impoverished Hoover to sneak into the land of promise, McCalla.
17. Nightly races between Taco, Hot Dog and recently out-of-work Finebaum. (Spoiler: Finebaum cheats.)
18. As Millennials turn 30, indicated by flashing crystals in their hands, they come to Boutwell for the renewal of Carousel.
19. The Combloggerator Matrix comes online, mercilessly assimilating all posts and bloggers.
20. The new Publix? All bread and milk.
21. The new Trader Joe’s? Speculoos Cookie Mayo.
22. Fusion-powered Bank for Savings rooftop sign visible from space.
23. MTV arrives to film an episode of “Pimp My Airport.”
24. New sport diathlon from combining firing ranges and trampoline parks.
25. Bessemer revolts, dumping sweet tea into Alabama Splash Adventure.
26. Airwaves ruled by wacky morning team of Barkley and Bubba.
27. The gUber app: Users get rides from ’82 Camaros with flame decals (seat belts and airbags optional).
28. Tiny trailers infest Homewood … with cuteness!
29. Schools sort children into bins: Soylent Green, Soylent Teriyaki, Soylent Gluten-Free.
30. St. Paul and the Nicely Mended Bones, thanks to rehab at UAB Hospital.
31. “Welcome to the Courteney Cox-Kwon Museum and Muffler Shop!”
32. Everyone lives in at least two condos and parks in their living rooms.
33. The zoo’s biggest attraction? Man!!!
34. Advanced parking meters simply explode at random.
35. A lone survivor crosses the food desert in search of rhubarb.
36. Self-driving city buses take payment in cash, tokens and stray animals.
37. Prize2theFuture … ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!
38. In Trussville, you’re either eastern Walmart or western Walmart.
39. Loudspeakers from every corner blare sports talk radio nonstop.
40. “The Walking Dead,” but with fatter, slower zombies.
41. Drone delivery of tacos is a thing. Like, straight to your greedy tacohole.
42. City flag? Magician’s hat with a dead rabbit.
43. City mascot? Diabetes.
44. Bus terminal smell upgraded to “uptown funk.”
45. Steel plants converted into discotheques.
46. Segregation limited to humans, cyborgs and robots.
47. We finally land a car factory. It’s for the Kia Mucus.
48. #HashtagCity
49. (No, seriously. That’s our new nickname.)
50. Water/sewer bills in convenient podcast form.
51. Kiddieland reopened to genetically engineered dinosaurs that can never ever go berserk and devour their human masters.
52. Meat and four, baby.
53. (The four are also meats.)
54. Montgomery takes Birmingham’s lunch money, holds the city upside-down over a toilet.
55. Mayoral debates via Dubsmash.
56. Quantum technology allows pork to be simultaneously chopped and sliced.
57. Some dissension over 50-foot Larry Langford bronze statue in Linn Park.
58. Cyber attack exposes everyone’s real names from al.com usernames.
59. The World Games never leaves. IT NEVER LEAVES.
60. Secret NASCAR races inside Century Plaza.
61. Pop-up eating contests.
62. Baptists now greet each other at the liquor store and the strip club.
63. Richard Scrushy holds city hostage with a mustache ray and taunts a helpless public.
64. Lacrosse, but with balled-up copperheads.
65. Prominent websites continue to include Birmingham in Top 10 lists, but only ironically.
66. The Barons move to Mt. Olive.
67. Giuseppe Moretti LXXXIII discovers the remains of the tiny Statue of Liberty and the horrifying origin of the City of the Apes.
68. Rectal vaping not only encouraged but mandatory.
69. Annual city budget is one part speed traps, one part business licenses, one part GoFundMe campaign.
70. Dome built in wrong shape.
71. The final phase of gentrification goes perfectly, as every house in Birmingham costs at least $500,000.
72. The Regions Park Supermax Correctional Facility.
73. Megachurches become sentient, overcharge for coffee.
74. Birmingham Bowl played to the death, as per ESPN rules.
75. Public spaces: dog park, cat park, skateboard park, hoverboard park, Confederate dog park, sacred Indian burial ground park.
76. Everyone finishes the new Metric Mercedes Marathon, a bracing 26.2 meters.
77. Clone of Lou Wooster saves city after Ebola epidemic.
78. Elevated 280 barely used by hover cars.
79. Paying sales tax requires installment plan.
80. One-way streets all head north-northeast.
81. Mountain Brook grows clones each fall for fresh harvest of domestic servants.
82. The last locally owned company does, in fact, turn off the lights.
83. GMOs hold Pepper Place hostage.
84. Thanks to stern billboards, human trafficking down 70 percent.
85. Everything is as Sun Ra predicted.
86. By the light of the full moon, Condoleezza stalks the city streets, a grim avenger of the night.
87. The Second Life version of Birmingham suffers from clone flight.
88. Graffiti king Moist becomes artist laureate.
89. We feed the poor feral cats.
90. Correction: We feed the poor to feral cats.
91. A revitalized Ensley still only one-third full.
92. Trains merely slow down at station, as passengers expected to hop off and on quickly.
93. Bonnaroo juggernaut leaves our festivals with drummer from Blink-182 plus Kenny Chesney.
94. County bankruptcy paid off, but debt collectors keep calling at all hours.
95. School days and sporting events begin with civic anthem, “Do I Make You Proud?”
96. Civil Rights Heritage Trail selfie stations.
97. Police body cam footage powers entire season of “Cops” and “The First 48.”
98. Plasma force fields shield buildings from tornadoes, debris and other outside agitators.
99. Home schooling expanded to home churching, home sporting.
100. Upon sudden impact, cars equipped to deploy business cards for Alexander Shunnarah.
101. Red Mountain renamed Peak Birmingham.

• • •

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

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We act out of fear
to protect ourselves and our
kin, which breeds more fear.

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Photo: Rob Briscoe (CC)

Father and daughter go hiking at Red Mountain Park, which
opened in 2012. Children have a wider array of activities in
Birmingham for learning and growing.

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By Angie Cleland

It wasn’t until 2005, when my first daughter was born, that I seriously considered the future of the Magic City and what it would and could offer her and the family that my husband and I were building here. Until this point in my life, my view of my hometown had always been, well, half-empty.

I was a naysayer. I watched the go-getters come and go from a city that lost hope and forgot to look to the future.

No, it wasn’t until my first daughter was born that I realized I wanted more for this city that she would call home. I wanted her to fondly recall the experiences of her youth here. Her birth created in me a new interest in unearthing the magic of our city for her and her generation. I no longer wanted to sit on the sidelines.

So, I started digging in to see what the city already had to offer children and families and created a group for stay-at-home moms like me. I didn’t find too much. I felt this growing need to prove to them that their misinformed perceptions or negative stories about Birmingham weren’t true — even if I didn’t fully believe it myself yet.

Finding events and activities for our children became easier. Our city, my city, was beginning to change. It gave me a renewed sense of pride, one that eventually led to the creation of the site Birmingham Mommy. My weekly events calendar grew, and my family grew, too, with the addition of twins. New places to take the children were opening left and right. I was giddy, and my kids were as well.

Having seen what nearby cities were doing reaffirmed for me that our town, too, was full of potential — we just needed a little more guidance and direction. We needed the right people in place to push us, people who would not give up when their ideas were met with resistance and skepticism.

With a new generation of doers and makers and leaders in place, we’ve witnessed the emergence of the Lyric Theatre, Regions Field and Railroad Park. We’ve enjoyed new breweries like Avondale and Good People, and watched in delight as the food scene has exploded with restaurants like El Barrio and Bamboo on 2nd and Post Office Pies.

Thanks to local artists, we’re sporting our cool new T-shirts that profess our love for the “’ham.” We go to food festivals to support our growing food truck scene, we take in concerts at venues like Iron City and Saturn.

For the first time in a long time, people are actually participating. And as a result, local businesses are thriving.

One of my most favorite things to do with my kids is make a summer bucket list. We used to spend a lot of time away from Birmingham marking the activities off of our list. While “riding a dolphin” might not be possible here (yet!), zip-lining through Red Mountain Park, rock climbing at First Avenue Rocks and cooling off at Alabama Splash Adventure are all within reach.

Now, when I see the Birmingham in which my children are growing up, I’m amazed and proud of all they can experience here. This makes my little Birmingham heart very happy … and maybe more than just half-full.

• • •

Angie Cleland is owner and co-founder of the website Birmingham Mommy.

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

• • •

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The grandmas on the
block like to dress scarily
for shakes and giggles.

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Photo: Fiesta (reprinted with permission)

Dancers entertain the audience at Fiesta in Linn Park. Cultural festivals showcase the diversity and the stories of Birmingham’s communities.

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By Teresa Zúñiga Odom

“Festivals ask the audience to be a player, a protagonist, a partner, rather than a passive spectator.”

— David Binder, Broadway producer in his 2012 TED Talk

So many exciting festivals in Birmingham each year draw diverse attendees: Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), the Chinese New Year Festival, Sidewalk Film Festival, the Taste of 4th Avenue Jazz Festival, Oktoberfest. We brought our own event into the mix in 2002.

At the time, I was a board member of the Hispanic Business Council, part of the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce (now the Birmingham Business Alliance). A few of us were looking for a way to raise scholarship money for Hispanic students in Alabama. A business idea quickly turned into a nonprofit event when we realized how many misconceptions people had about the Hispanic community, from both a business and a societal perspective. That discussion gave birth to Fiesta, the state’s premier Hispanic cultural festival.

The Hispanic population in the Birmingham region was exploding, but the myth was that everyone who speaks Spanish was from Mexico, ate tacos and listened to mariachi music. Creating a festival got our creative juices flowing on ways to educate the non-Hispanic community about the many cultures of Alabama’s Latino community in a relatable way.

Every diverse group experiences misperceptions and struggles with finding ways to explain them to others. For the founding board members, the idea of educating others about these misperceptions through Fiesta compelled us. We felt like a mini-Hispanic United Nations.

Today’s festivals celebrate diversity and multiculturalism. Everyone involved in Fiesta takes pride in pulling it together each year and gathering feedback from all groups to improve it constantly. Putting on the event has had some unexpected benefits in its 13-year history.

One section of Fiesta is the Cultural Village, where booths each represent a country with personal artifacts, food and music. To me, this is the most colorful part, the corazón (heart) of the event. The number of people who experience the stories of these Latino community members never ceases to amaze me.

I especially love hearing conversations with a true give-and-take. One year, I overheard a young woman speaking to the gentleman who pulled the Peruvian booth together. She recounted her visit to the Incan citadel Machu Picchu, only to discover that he had never been. She couldn’t believe it, and he asked her if she had ever visited the Statue of Liberty.

Her face changed, growing a little embarrassed as she said no. A few seconds later, they were both laughing and talking about assuming things and sharing more stories about Peru, travel and culture. This scene is typical. Educating through stories is a valuable part of festivals.

Fiesta and other festivals in our city prove to us how great we can be as a community. Find your festival, and let it give you hope. Share your story, and listen to others. Dance, eat and laugh together. Do your part in positively shaping the diversity of Birmingham.

• • •

Teresa Zúñiga Odom is an energy expert training coordinator at Alabama Power, a blogger at Southern Señora and a founding board member of Fiesta.

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

• • •

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

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My jukebox: YouTube.
My photo album: Facebook.
My memory: Shot.

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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?

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

• Website | Facebook | Twitter @ditchell | 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.)

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Harvesting from the
candied apple tree, wearing
gloves and sneaking bites.

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A look at Birmingham in videos …

A look at Wine-o-logy during Birmingham Restaurant Week at the Wine Loft downtown. From P Marashi.

•

The 500th episode of the weekly webcast, “WeatherBrains”! From James Spann.

•

Randy and Anna Anderson visit Artwalk this past weekend. From Randy and Anna.

•

No Birmingham vlog, thanks to … Windows Vista. From HanBan Randoms.

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Drone video captures lightning over Birmingham. From al.com.

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Adopt-A-Golden Birmingham teamed up with its Atlanta sister organization fly in 24 golden retrievers from Istanbul. From WVUA-23.

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Andrea Taylor introduced as president and chief executive officer of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. From Alabama NewsCenter.

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Samford student Ashley Lyon (along with suitemate Maggie Terp) created an inspirational video for her younger brother Jason, who was diagnosed in June with an inoperable brain mass and is undergoing cancer treatments. From Margie Terp.

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Promo for Birmingham Blaze tryouts on Sept. 26 at Carver High School. From T4Films.

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Modesty XO on the Birmingham city council raises. From Modesty XO.

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Save Our South sues the Birmingham Parks and Recreation Board and city council to stop the removal of the Confederate Soldiers and Sailors monument in Linn Park. From Save Our South.

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Ashley Roberts performs at Unity of Birmingham on Southside. From Unity of Birmingham.

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Interview with the Kellys, clients of Children’s Harbor Family Center. From United for Life Foundation.

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Wall cloud passes north of downtown Birmingham. “Rotation was weak to none, but sure looked impressive on radar.” From Jill Gilardi.

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Danny Hayes hits a solo homer for the Birmingham Barons. From Minor League Baseball.

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AJR, American Authors and Andy Grammer perform in August at Iron City on Southside. From Jojuan.

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Homewood’s ReVamp Health holds its first neon twerk fitness class. From Erin Doe.

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Avery Jones takes a day trip to McWane Science Center and the Birmingham Zoo. From insidemybrain.

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Promo for Bards of Birmingham nonprofit theater company. From Bards of Birmingham.

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Promo for “Great High Priest” EP from Grace and Peace Music at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Homewood. From Grace and Peace Music.

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Greater Birmingham Ministries staff members speak out to reporters on how increasing the minimum wage would improve the quality of life for citizens. From Greater Birmingham Ministries.

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Top White Sox prospect shortstop Tim Anderson in two Barons games versus the Montgomery Biscuits in August. From FutureSox.

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Granny Hubcaps at RimTyme Birmingham in Roebuck. From RimTyme Birmingham.

• • •

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

Photo courtesy Carole Smitherman

Carole Smitherman served as Birmingham’s first and only
female mayor for 28 days. The city hasn’t seen many women
as CEOs and public officials in its history.

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Women wield power, but in Birmingham, that power has almost always been by their deliberate seizure of it, rather than waiting for its bestowal.

We’ve never had an elected female mayor of Birmingham, and only one in Hoover. Only two of the 25 largest private companies in Birmingham have women in charge. Occasionally, a woman has led the Jefferson County Commission or the University of Alabama at Birmingham, otherwise known as the city’s (and the state’s) largest employer.

Birmingham could do worse than female rule. That’s not a ringing endorsement, but I’m willing to let them have a turn for the next 150 years to be fair. If it goes badly, it’s all on me.

We’d need to find a way to transition out all the men as civic leaders and CEOs, whether by board votes or armed coup. Ballots or bullets, I’m willing to spring for either or both.

Sure, it’s not a meritocracy. But if we’re seriously living in a meritocratic city, we have utterly and totally failed. Birmingham high schools have among the worst graduation rates in the state. The city’s unemployment rate is substantially higher than the state and national averages, as is the homicide rate. Transportation, economic development, infrastructure, stopping brain drain, urban planning — none of these are new issues, and yet we’ve seen very little progress in any of these areas.

Women may not have all the answers, but let’s give them a shot.

Assuming we don’t ship off all the male leaders tomorrow, an alternate plan may be in order. Several professional organizations in Birmingham cater to women, but education should be the starting point.

Birmingham schools started six career academies in 2011: architecture and construction, business and finance, engineering, hospitality and tourism, health sciences and urban educators. (I haven’t seen any numbers to indicate results to date.) I propose a seventh, the Women in Leadership academy.

This is an opportunity for female high school students to learn and grow in an environment designed to push them for maximum achievement. Students can partner with mentors, learn about paths to the top and practice the skills of effective leadership and management.

They might run for office someday. They might start their own companies. They might take over Google and Boeing and Starbucks and JPMorgan Chase. They might win James Beard Awards and Oscars and Nobel Prizes and MacArthur Genius Grants.

I’ll leave it up to the new superintendent of Birmingham schools, Kelley Castlin-Gacutan. Coincidentally, the first appointed female leader for the system.

Let’s make the future brighter for half of our population today, so it will shine even more so for all of us down the road.

• • •

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.)

• • •

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It’s time for Hallo
weenThanksgivingVeterans
DayChristmasNewYear’s.

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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.

But 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. Austin is president of the Birmingham City Council and general manager of AirOps.

• Website | Facebook | Twitter @jfaustin | 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.)

• • •

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Photo: Jay Ryness (CC)

My picks for #sundayread for Sept. 13, 2015:

• The Future of Birmingham Is Pride, by @jfaustin, part 3 of 26 #futureofbham
• The Myth of Quality Time, by @FrankBruni (RT @rescuetime)
• Y’all Connect: The way to top-of-mind presence
• Dora Charles Moves on from Paula Deen, by @KimSeverson
• My new series/ebook “The Future of Birmingham” is free: http://itswa.de/futureofbham #futureofbham
• “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” marks end of an era for TV animation, by @timoneil5000
• Flashback: From 2012: Tuscaloosa woman held captive 70 days and counting
• Millennials Are Out-Reading Older Generations, by @AdrienneLaF (RT @melaniesiow)
• Virtual delegation and the speaking tour
• The Dubious, Brand-Led Surge of Fake National Holidays, by @JuliaRubin (RT ‏@kickpointinc)
• Flashback: From 2009: Happy trails, “King of the Hill”
• Katrina, 10 years later: The Yellow House, by @SarahMBroom (RT @melaniesiow)
• DC domestic violence survivors’ affordable housing crunch, by @mhbaskin (via @AndrewGiambrone)
• Sabbath, by Oliver Sacks (RT @ColumbiaSchArts)

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

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More posts from Wade this week:

• Happy Labor Day!

The latest #sundayread tweets

#sundayread Tweets

• More #sundayread recommendations from me