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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.
One 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
A network to build a future of Birmingham on
UPDATE: The plan and its name – The Red Rock Ridge & Valley Trail System – was announced this evening – along with a website that allows you to see the entire plan.
It’s safe to assume that this evening (Tuesday) a large crowd will be gathered in the Steiner Auditorium at the Birmingham Museum of Art. They’ll be there to witness the unveiling of the Freshwater Land Trust’s “Our One Mile” plan. They’ll also be among the first to learn the name of the system – the result of a contest held at the end of last year. The level of excitement filling the space will undoubtedly be insane.
Well, this is where I bring up one more thing to keep in your mind as we get started – the under-construction Greenwood Park. Folks that normally travel along I-20/59 westbound that have wondered why all those bulldozers have been active just after you pass Tallapoosa St., here’s your reminder. This new green space could be viewed as a trail head for the 26-mile Village Creek Greenway, a project viewed by many as an integral part of the Our One Mile initiative.
You’re starting to connect the dots, aren’t you? These first two have been brought up before, courtesy of the Norwood Plan developed by Auburn University’s Urban Studio back in 2006.
The park would connect with the greenway, which could hypothetically have another touch point along Vanderbilt Road. That connection would just happen to be about ¼ of a mile from the easternmost edge of Norwood Blvd – and be right about where that photo I told you to pay attention to at the beginning of this piece was taken.
Assuming there’s access to the greenway at Vanderbilt, it’d only be a little over ½ a mile along the creek to get to the edge of Greenwood Park that touches Coosa Street. I’m not even focusing on the fact that this could potentially bring a whole new group of users over to Patton Park on the other side of the Interstate.
What does all of this mean?
It means more once you include the recent donation by Red Diamond – their former headquarters on Vanderbilt Road (valued at approximately $2 million in an online listing) to the Birmingham YMCA.
The distance from the edge of Norwood Blvd. to 1701 Vanderbilt Road is approximately half a mile. If you’re running, this means you’re probably no more than 5-7 minutes away.
It could be the jump start needed to encourage potential investors to take a look at the section of Norwood referred to by some in the neighborhood as “the bottoms” as an option for renovation projects. It’s safe to say there would be several young professionals that aren’t looking for a mortgage but instead for an inexpensive place that’s relatively close to downtown and some of those intangible quality of life benefits.
It might also lead to some changes in traffic flow in the area surrounding all of these things – changes that could influence whether or not we see significant development along 12th Avenue North, particularly the eastern end of the street. The western edge may already see some influence from a entertainment district that will soon go from dream to reality in the coming months.
It’s just an example of what happens when the dreams of a community are thought through and given the potential to be realized. It’s all out there – including pieces like Ruffner Mountain, Red Mountain Park, and the (soon-to-be-added-onto) Shades Creek Greenway. Now it’s simply time to see if folks want to connect those dots all the way.
Many of these thoughts about the northside are assuming that the YMCA decides that it can move ahead and make the additional improvements to their newest piece of property – suddenly the largest of the properties held by the organization. It also depends on how empowered and motivated the citizens of metro Birmingham get to make this greenway plan presented this evening a reality.
That last sentence is probably the most important one. As Wendy Jackson said in this morning’s Birmingham News piece by Thomas Spencer,
The days of people waiting for someone to take the lead need to end soon. As former UAB president Dr. Joseph Volker once stated, “We would do Birmingham a great disservice if we dreamed too-little dreams.”
This greenway – and many projects like it currently in the pipeline – are probably what Volker may have been thinking of as he spoke. It’s now up to the general public to lead the leaders to the city they want, rather than have a disjointed one given to them instead.
Maybe coming out to the event tonight’s a good first step.
André Natta is the stationmaster of bhamterminal.com.
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Posted in development
Tagged Birmingham, Commentary, editorial, greenway, Jefferson County, Our One Mile, Red Rock Ridge & Valley Trail System