Tag Archives: analysis

A look at walkability in Birmingham (and Alabama)

WalkScore screenshotWalk Score‘s recent aggregation of scores for the nation’s 2,500 largest cities had us wondering just where Birmingham ranked. The site determines the “walkability” of any location based on how close it is to amenities like banks, groceries and restaurants.

We compared the city’s score (40) with those from cities that the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce visited as part of the B.I.G. trips taken between 2002-2008. They’re listed in the order that they were visited:

  • St. Louis, MO – 61 (348,366)
  • Baltimore, MD – 65 (652,670)
  • Charlotte, NC – 39 (564,023)
  • Nashville, TN – 39 (545,623)
  • Pittsburgh, PA – 67 (334,059)
  • Denver, CO – 64 (553,515)
  • Austin, TX – 51 (661,212)

It’s interesting to note that none of the cities listed above were the most walkable in their state, though they all made the top ten lists of their respective states.

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Birmingham abuzz about Blueprint

Blueprint Birmingham logo The Birmingham Business Alliance (BBA) was hoping for a great deal of buzz after the official unveiling of their Blueprint Birmingham last Thursday, their five-year strategic plan recently adopted by their board. There has indeed been a great deal of conversation about the plan, including tonight’s live chat hosted by The Birmingham News’ Eddie Lard beginning at 6 p.m. on al.com. There is also limited seating at the actual event this evening at Alabama Power headquarters; it is presented by the Birmingham Association of Black Journalists and the BBA.

There are countless ways to review the plan and to be exposed to the campaign underway to secure general support for the principles mentioned within. The plan’s official website (complete with the full plan and all supplemental documents) is joined by a promotional campaign website that provides links to signs similar to the billboards that say that “we’re open” to moving the region forward and a Facebook page. There’s also an official hashtag for folks talking about the plan on Twitter – #blueprintbham.

Columns by Joey Kennedy and Lard speak of the plan, as do the co-chairs of the committee tasked with creating the plan. Area bloggers have started multi-part series looking at what needs to be fixed or offered analysis of the plan (I’ll finally be adding my two cents to the matter in the coming days on Dear Birmingham). It will not be going away any time soon (in fact, it will be the topic of tonight’s #bhamchat on Twitter, starting at 7 p.m.).