Category Archives: Commentary

No excuses – time to make your voice heard!

Posted on November 28, 2011 by | Leave a comment

Birmingham Comp Plan logo.This evening (Monday, November 28) there will no doubt be those wondering if they should attend the first of three final chances to share their thoughts about the future of the city of Birmingham, at least in terms of the current efforts for the its first Comprehensive Plan study since 1961.

Considering some of the conversations I got to be a part of this holiday weekend, people definitely have an opinion (well, after they share their thoughts on college football in the state and the immigration bill).

The Area 4 meeting is scheduled to take place at Carver High School (3900 24th Street, North) from 5:30-7:30 PM and focus primarily on portions of the city located on its Northside. There are two more meetings scheduled for this week – Area 5 (Southside) will take place tomorrow (Tuesday, November 29) at Glen Iris Elementary School; Area 6 (think Highway 280) will take place on Thursday, December 1, at the Cahaba Pumping Station Museum (a.k.a. the Pump House). Both of those meetings are also scheduled to  go from 5:30-7:30 PM.

There’s additional information available via a flier that’s been made available on the official website for the comprehensive plan process.

Let’s address some of those reasons that could potentially pop into your head to keep you from attending, shall we?

But [insert name of local meteorologist here] says it’s going to snow tonight!?! Yes, that’s true, the National Weather Service is calling for snowfall this evening. The winter weather advisory currently announced for Jefferson County doesn’t even go into effect until 12 AM though – well after the meeting is scheduled to be finished.

It doesn’t matter what we say, it’ll never happen. If you don’t go and your ideas aren’t shared, of course it’ll never happen, since it may never be considered. The notion behind the process, whether or not it’s been easy to actually know when or where the meetings are, is to engage as many people as possible

Didn’t they already do a big session at the CrossPlex? They did. The purpose of that public meeting was to establish a starting point for what the citizens in the city wanted to see from the planning process – a vision statement that will help guide the plan.

I didn’t know there were more meetings taking place. You may not have. It’s not necessarily as sexy as reporting about the Iron Bowl, the ongoing issues surrounding the stalled UAB football stadium project or anything else that seems more exciting. That said, perhaps a better job could have been undertaken by City Hall to help spread the word about the meetings. Hopefully any future opportunities for public input into the Comp Plan will receive that support and exposure from the City. You know now though, and you’ve got two more chances (tomorrow and Thursday) to show up and have your voice heard.

The area being focused on isn’t where I live. The future of the city of Birmingham is dependent on what’s happening everywhere, not just what’s happening in your neck of the woods.

There are no doubt countless more reasons that could and will be given in the coming days, but I figured I’d stop while I was ahead.

Children amaze me. acnatta/FlickrOne of the highlights of the visioning session held last month was the enthusiasm of the children who attended. They decided to make sure their voices were heard just as clearly as the rest of the nearly 250 people gathered in attendance. The idea of remembering that we’re simply borrowing the city from them for a short period of time is a notion that should be enough to get you up and out the door this evening (or perhaps making a side trip to avoid the beginning of the holiday shopping effect on rush hour traffic in the region).

I plan on attending a meeting either tonight (Monday), or Tuesday, or both. I’m hoping that many of you will consider making it part of your plans this week as well. If you can’t attend either of these meetings, hopefully other opportunities to make sure your voice is heard, either via the website or at additional public meetings, will be made known to you in the immediate future.

There’s no time for excuses anymore, only the beginning of a solution.

André Natta is The Terminal’s stationmaster as well as a member of the City of Birmingham Comprehensive Plan’s steering committee.

Photo: Children amaze me. acnatta/Flickr

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Time for a “Green Out” on Saturday?

Posted on November 3, 2011 by | Leave a comment

UAB Blazers logoThere have been protests, tweets and columns all written about the recent decision by the University of Alabama Board of Trustees’ decision to not include discussion about a proposed football stadium for the UAB Blazers as part of the agenda for their upcoming meeting.

I’ve got a better idea – why not pack out Legion Field on Saturday night as the first step at showing the trustees that there is Blazer pride for more than basketball in Birmingham, AL? Incidentally, I’d be curious to know how many tickets are sold for Saturday’s game compared to how many folks will be at Bartow this evening for the preseason opener against Florida Tech (starting at 8 PM CT)…

A crowd of more than 32,000 would be a much louder message than having 100+ fans protesting the trustees meeting. It would be one that locals would have to pay attention to as well – especially considering all of the attention being shown to the game of the century happening about an hour down the road Saturday evening between the Crimson Tide and the LSU Tigers (at the same time no less).

There will be 101,000 fans in Bryant-Denny and countless more milling about outside. Wouldn’t it be nice to see the Old Gray Lady looking a little more like herself on Saturday, almost in a way defying the belief that the state of Alabama can’t support three large crowds in one day. It’d also be interesting since all of UAB’s top 10 attendance totals at Legion Field are before 2006. Granted, there hasn’t been a winning season since 2004 (and they haven’t finished higher than fourth in their Conference USA division since then either).

Those facts make it tough to not understand why the trustees didn’t necessarily vote the Blazers’ way. The largest crowd in Blazer football history – 44,669 – showed up primarily to see Ruben Studdard perform back in 2003, though the Blazers did put on a show, barely losing to Southern Miss by a score of 12-17. No doubt many of them wanted to try to score tickets to the Velvet Teddy Bear’s concert the next night at the BJCC. The closest they came to that total again that season was for homecoming against Army, with a gathered crowd of 22,020.

Some folks would argue that the home field should be closer to UAB’s campus. A quick drive down Graymont Avenue towards their current home reminds you of just how close it is to campus (though not as close as most supporters of the new stadium would want) and how powerful the experience could be if some folks felt like investing in redevelopment along the street – not just for UAB fans approaching from campus, area interstates and Highway 280, but also for those attending other sporting events like the Magic City Classic and the SWAC Championship among other things.

A UAB campus creeping ever so closer towards Birmingham’s Entrepreneurial district would make it easier to do those types of projects and help accelerate many of the long held dreams for that part of the city, though probably not soon enough for those who want to see something happen as soon as possible.

That said, Legion Field has issues and they’re more than enough to justify wanting a new home or a commitment of some sort towards a significant renovation – something not necessarily in the immediate future during these difficult economic times.

A new stadium would have humble beginnings if built, especially considering it’d be a little larger than Legion Field was when it was first constructed in 1926 (it originally held 21,000). Perhaps playing in cozier quarters would help gain some additional fan support. That would be something difficult to come by considering the large contingents of Alabama and Auburn fans in the metro area.

If success – on the field and in the box office – followed though it wouldn’t stay cozy for long. That’s one reason why suggestions to make changes to the proposed plan for a baseball-only stadium adjacent to Railroad Park accommodate the Blazers seem a little far-fetched. The Barons already play in the largest home field in the Southern League (10,800); any future expansion necessary to suit the needs of the Blazers would force them to be looking for a new home a lot faster. Considering the Barons would still be the primary tenant of such a facility (six month baseball season vs. 2½ month football season), I don’t see that ending well for the Blazers long term either.

Which takes us back to Saturday…

It’d be a powerful message to the team and the trustees – and one that would do more to move forward efforts for a new home in the long term – if they saw a sea of green and gold at Legion Field on Saturday night. A crowd somewhere around 40,000 wouldn’t hurt either. You’ll still get to see a BCS team play too – and it may not be on television locally.

There’s still time to trade in your tickets to the game of the century in Tuscaloosa for a ticket to Legion Field. I’ve got a feeling this one may also mean more in the future – for the team and the city – than the hotel rooms occupied for the showdown an hour south.

What do you think? Share your thoughts below…

André Natta is The Terminal’s stationmaster.

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Still dreaming Birmingham? Time to do.

Posted on January 13, 2011 by | 2 comments

Birmingham 360 degrees. E. Bruchac/FlickrIt is something that has become a mantra for me in these early days of 2011.

“It’s time to stop just thinking and do.”

The simple sentence echoes around in my head – a space that has felt quite cavernous until recently due to setting goals for the future.

This evening I’ll join more than 500 people over at Old Car Heaven starting at 4:30 p.m. as The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham announces the NEXT BIG THING for The Magic City (by the way, you’re invited so come out if you can).

There have been great things going on throughout the region in the months since Rebecca Ryan delivered a memorable keynote at the Community Foundation’s annual meeting. I shared this post on the organization’s Imagine blog the day of the speech.

A lot has happened. True, there’s been the success of Railroad Park and the Birmingham Business Alliance‘s unveiling of their Blueprint Birmingham strategic plan has led to many important conversations to be restarted.

It’s important to remind folks of some others things happening that may be just under the radar screen so to speak…

There are mounds of dirt moving on the city’s west side as work continues on a revamped centerpiece of the city’s Five Points West community, one that has felt long neglected despite being one of the city’s most populous regions.

There are families benefiting from the development of residential options in Woodlawn and buzz for a new downtown field of dreams to house our beloved Barons.

There are residents in communities like Norwood who are willing to lift their voices so that people know what they want and have no reason to assume while looking forward to the ability of having an entertainment district within walking distance in the next two years.

There’s a connection to a road that brings Birmingham ever closer to Memphis (and the western edge of Jefferson County) that teases those driving along I-65 every day watching its progress.

Tonight we gather to see if what the Community Foundation will announce as their next great project. If nothing else, attending this evening’s event will be an opportunity to celebrate all that has been accomplished, both big and small, and to answer the call represented by former UAB president Volker’s quote,

“We would do Birmingham a great disservice if we dreamed too-little dreams.”

Whatever it is, it will be part of a larger dialogue that needs to take place in Birmingham about where we’re going. The big difference is that instead of dwelling on what isn’t happening, we’ll be wondering what else should be happening.

There are several projects I think are worthy of being undertaken – whether it’s making sure that the Powell School building is preserved and maintained for a civic purpose or figuring out a way to expand and ensure the continued presence of the Birmingham Public Library. While I doubt that these are among the ones considered for today’s announcement, perhaps after the dust settles, people will see that much more is possible than they’ve ever imagined. They may just step up and get it done.

I know that as the incoming president of the Birmingham Jaycees, that organization will be doing their part to take on part of the challenge of doing.

How about you Birmingham?

It’s more than a year later – how big are the dreams you’re dreaming for Birmingham (and what are you willing to do to make them a reality)? What are you willing to do to help shape the city’s story.

André Natta is the stationmaster for bhamterminal.com.

Photo: Birmingham 360 degrees. E. Bruchac/Flickr

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Time for our future to be seen and heard

Posted on July 16, 2010 by | Leave a comment

hanging baskets downtownHow often are you heard, I mean really heard?

I was driving along 20th Street North last night after attending the third ever YP Expo and I noticed the hanging plants at the intersections. They’ve been hung every spring for at least the past four years, adding a bit of color to the hustle and bustle of the city’s central business district. It took getting a chance to stop at the light and be confronted by them to realize they were back and appreciate them.

The Expo holds a special place in my heart and I’ve long hoped for it to serve as a way to bring the city’s young professional community together under one roof to make it easier for individuals to learn about what’s available to them and about all of the good things going on in the city (I guess anticipating my hopes for accentuated positivity).

Despite arriving after comments had been made, there were several discussions taking place at tables throughout Rosewood Hall in downtown Homewood. Courtney Bascom Truss of the Birmingham Business Alliance and the organizations that took part in this year’s event should be commended. The conversations with people interested in getting involved were taking place.

So what’s next?

There have recently been some folks wondering aloud about the perpetual promise of our young professional class here in Alabama’s largest city (check out the comments to get a feel of how the conversation’s developing).

I actually spoke with two young ladies yesterday morning at one of the coffee shops I currently frequent after hearing them say that they felt limited in what they could do here in Birmingham. They did not know about the Expo. Once I told them about it they agreed that while it would be interesting to attend they weren’t really sure it was for them.

Young professionals have been viewed for a long time much in the same way that those hanging plants are – they are there and occasionally we are reminded of their existence and their significance. But they don’t necessarily announce their existence as loudly or with as much detail as we’d like them to.

As the push to engage more people in the future of the city continues, the idea of sharing information about what these organizations do with each other and those that may want to become a part of them becomes more important than ever.

The YP Roundtable is already making strides to improve that communication between organizations so the next logical step is to investigate how to share the missions and activities that the various organizations undertake with those on the outside. Focusing specifically on the YP organizations, using YP Now as a platform for their message to get out is one part of the solution, but so is focusing on the individual stories and the “hidden” efforts of the organization. People need to be shown why raising the funds are important and exactly what people are getting out of it.

I sort of came from the George Steinbrenner school of charity – do it but don’t necessarily let everyone else know you’re doing it. You’re supposed to be doing it for yourself and not for the praise or recognition of others. I’ve had to resign myself to the fact that it only lives in my idealogical world (though I’m hopeful that it is still possible to be that way one day).

It falls to the Young Professionals, young professionals, the creative class and all of the other groups that make up the city to find ways to expand the sphere of those who know what they’re accomplishing outside of the networking events and fundraisers.

It is easy to assume that YPs have failed us, but when you get a chance to speak to those who don’t always attend those events and hear what they’re actually contributing, it gives you a reason to express hope and see true progress in our region.

Does that mean that media outlets should give these groups a little more coverage? Maybe. Does it mean that maybe some of these groups need to take the on the broadcasting of efforts and achievements themselves to ensure that the message gets out to those who need to hear it? Definitely.

Part of changing that attitude involves becoming truly engaged in the conversation wherever it happens and not to be afraid of having conversations that truly need to be public and not behind closed doors or in hushed tones.

I believe the region’s best days are ahead of it and that there are many people who consider themselves YPs or creatives taking an active role in the process.

What do you think?

André Natta is the stationmaster for bhamterminal.com

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Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the City Positive

Posted on June 25, 2010 by | 1 comment

Birmingham Railroad Cut - East End. Curtis Palmer/FlickrI got into a conversation about an area of downtown known as “the cut” yesterday with someone very familiar with it. It runs down the middle of 1st Avenue South between 20th and 24th Streets South and is considered an important piece of the continuation of the soon to open Railroad Park – providing a pedestrian connection to Sloss Furnaces.

I’d recently walked across the 21st Street Viaduct, looked down and noticed a great deal of garbage and debris inside of it. It disturbed me because I’d taken part in one of several clean-ups of the stretch of land while I was a resident of the Birmingham’s Central City neighborhood.

I suggested to the individual that it was probably time to organize another clean up the space again, perhaps engaging a new group of concerned individuals in the process while they suggested that perhaps a phone call to the city to do so would be better while finding another way to get citizens involved, like a charrette.

When I asked why, he said that it would most likely be the same group of folks who always came out that would do the clean up again since it probably wouldn’t attract any new people.

I’ve got a feeling that people visiting Railroad Park in September who’ve still haven’t heard of it as of yet (and live in metro Birmingham) could be motivated to clean up a piece of property for the first time if invited.

Perhaps we’ve become so accustomed to seeing the usual suspects all of the time that we don’t always think of new ways to reach out to more people and engage them as well (maybe even using some of the same things that don’t work on the usual suspects anymore).

Maybe it’s because it appears to some that others are always looking for something to complain about or they immediately have a negative reaction to any idea that is presented to them – for no really good reason. If you hang around a lot of people like that long enough, it tends to rub off on you too…

I write those last statements knowing that the majority of the voices that we normally hear online are those of a small minority made vocal due to the majority not necessarily wanting to share their opinions.

It would be nice to hear more of those optimistic and positive voices across more of the platforms that we use for communication here in Birmingham, AL. There are some people that need to hear from others like them; from imagining what this portion of Jones Valley can be in a few short years. Luckily, there are a few of them online (and offline – that you will run into every once in a while.

Avondale Brewing Co. home in progress. Courtesy of their fan page on Facebook.I headed over to the future site of the Avondale Brewing Company on the city’s east side today. I went over to check out the progress on their building – one that I’ve looked at optimistically for years in my former life at Main Street Birmingham. It was great to see the progress…

I was also over there scouting out a potential location for the office/collaborative space that I’ve talked about before on these virtual pages (BTW – the survey results and other news regarding that project will be posted on Monday morning – along with a few other minor changes to the site in general).

As I parked I noticed that the space that I was heading over to stare into again was in fact open, leading to one of those weighted moments where you’re thinking “I know there are other places there but…” That feeling went away when I figured out that the person leasing the space was a long time champion for the neighborhood.

His plans for the space reminded me of the hope that I used to hear from merchants and residents in parts of this city that many of the folks in the know actually don’t know. One of the great things about my former job was the level of passion that you could feed off of after a conversation with a property owner who’d been there for 50+ years or a new business that wanted to be where they were because they truly believed in the city’s future. It’s something I’m beginning to find again as the site begins to churn out content again.

Getting back in a positive frame of mind is one way to combat the “we’ll never do better” attitude. As more things come online those here in Birmingham, AL will learn to once again accentuate the positive (and eliminate the negative).

André Natta is the stationmaster for bhamterminal.com.

Photos:

Birmingham Railroad Cut – East End. Curtis Palmer/Flickr
Avondale Brewing Company under construction. Courtesy of their fan page on Facebook.

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Parking problem? Depends on where you have to go

Posted on June 23, 2010 by | 10 comments

Time out on parking meterIs parking availability really a major issue in Birmingham, AL?

An issue that has drawn considerable attention in recent months is the number of broken parking meters that currently exist in downtown Birmingham.

I recently stumbled across a couple of posts that suggested that Birmingham has a parking issue – one that would serve as a great reason for not considering a downtown baseball park. We’ll talk about the ballpark later on in this series…

We have a parking problem, but not the kind that will keep people from coming downtown because they can’t find a parking space.

Besides the obvious fact that we like to park right in front of the place we’re going and don’t like having to place our cars out of view, we also are having an issue collecting the total potential revenue that these spaces are supposed to be providing (which could be an issue unto itself).

As the city faces a budget deficit from this year and the City Council looks to the city’s reserve funds as part of a possible solution for the coming year, some have turned to the vandalized parking meters as a symbol for what’s wrong.

The lack of revenue due to several people (including LKW and myself) taking advantage of the “free” parking available on-street makes the situation the perfect poster child. If you remember, the plan was once to increase parking ticket fees and increase revenue coming into the city’s coffers.

It’s ironically something that most states do not encourage as parking meters are meant to be a way to regulate parking options and not to be viewed as a source of income. A quick glance at the Wikipedia entry for parking meters provides several examples of how the revenue argument does not hold up in a court of law even if it would in the court of public opinion.

It was also a shame to learn just how many resources were available to deal with the issue earlier this month while reading Kyle Whitmire’s account on Second Front .

Despite the city’s reliance on the automobile, it would be safe to say that people are becoming more strategic about when and where they drive, especially as gasoline prices fluctuate and some choose to boycott some stations due to the crisis in the Gulf.

A quick drive around any section of the city not called the UAB campus shows that parking options are plenty. For those wondering if there are enough parking decks available in the city to handle the number of vehicles, a recent Heaviest Corner post should put those worries to rest (and give you a heads up on where to consider parking next time you’re downtown).

Perhaps increasing the urban tree canopy would make walking a couple of blocks farther just a little more bearable if you had to park a couple of blocks away from your destination. Encouraging the city or an organization to take on a project similar to New York’s MillionTreesNYC may help us reach that goal. The more comfortable and enjoyable it is to talk, the more likely some of these beliefs of parking issues may start to dissipate.

There are other potential solutions, but I’ll save some of them for inclusion in tomorrow’s piece.

We could also use this need to replace our current collection of meters in certain sections of the city with pay and display units, moving some of these newer units into sections of the city that are not seeing a heavy demand on parking. It would allow for individuals to pay for parking on the street using credit cards and dollar bills, perhaps dissuading the desire to break into the units for money (it wouldn’t necessarily stop those just doing it for the fun of it all – as stupid as that is).

Money is still needed to implement improvements to our network of parking management solutions as well as its maintenance. The issue may warrant a serious look in the budget and perhaps an examination of whether or not the city’s parking authority should take over on-street parking as well (something currently not officially in their purview).

One day parking availability will be a major issue in the City of Birmingham; I just don’t think it’s there yet compared to the other issues facing the city. We’ve got a parking infrastructure issue (and a psychological one) to deal with first.

What do you think?

André Natta is the stationmaster for bhamterminal.com.

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A Five Points South folly in progress

Posted on June 22, 2010 by | 7 comments

The Story Teller - Five Point South. stanroth/FlickrAccording to Glenny Brock’s tweet shortly after the Housing Board of Appeals voted unanimously to uphold the Design Review Committee’s decision to deny Chick-Fil-A’s proposal for a new local at the corner of Highland Avenue and 20th Street South, much cheering took place.

The battle’s been won (for now). The issue that we’ve got to worry about now is winning the war.

The war in this case is what will happen on the site where the Chick-Fil-A was proposed (that is assuming that a lawsuit doesn’t materialize). It’s been reported recently that a long awaited renovation of the 103-year old Terrace Court apartment building across 20th Street South from the site is set to begin, with as much as $4 million planned to be spent on the project. That should somehow influence what is considered for the site.

The points (courtesy of Elizabeth Barbaree-Tasker’s comments at the meeting) highlighted by Jeremy Erdreich in this blog post recapping the meeting provide another set of criteria for what could potentially be considered on that site.

There are some saying that Panera Bread would be a proper alternative for the proposed Chick-Fil-A location. Any solution that looks at a chain placing a suburban solution on that site is missing what the major point of the battle should have been.

It’s been an issue of preserving the character of the surrounding neighborhood.

While I’m a huge fan of Panera Bread, I look at their suggested arrival in Five Points South on that site as simply providing a nicer visual but not necessarily dealing with the issue at hand.

You will still have a one-story suburban structure with surface parking taking up one quarter of a major intersection in the city’s greater downtown area. The drive-through will not be there, but the traffic from people picking up their take-out lunches will be.

I’ve long held the opinion that we live in a region that could serve as an example of what a New South metropolitan area could do in the first part of the 21st century. This intersection and the surrounding community provides a golden opportunity to demonstrate just what that could look like and how it would function.

Perhaps it would help if the property owner wanted a solution that was more befitting an intersection that sees an average of 38,000 vehicles a day. Despite the community’s desires, a lot will be determined by what he wants to deal with on that site. This currently means that it will most likely be something that’s one story, at least for now.

Joey Kennedy’s hosting a live chat at 1 p.m. on al.com to discuss the issue further, though I’m thinking that people will be willing to accept a wolf in sheep’s clothing rather than actually affect a change in mindset about what Alabama’s largest city truly lives like at its core.

Let me know what you think in the comments section.

André Natta is the stationmaster for bhamterminal.com.

Photo: The Story Teller – Five Point South. stanroth/Flickr

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