Birmingham ( BUR -ming-ham ) is the most populous city in the state Alabama US and Jefferson County center. The city population is 212,237 in the 2010 US Census. In 2010, the Metropolitan Area of ​​Birmingham-Hoover has a population of about 1,128,047, about a quarter of the population of Alabama.
Birmingham was founded in 1871, during the Post-Civil Reconstruction era, through the incorporation of three pre-existing agricultural cities, notably Elyton. The new city is named for Birmingham, England, the second largest city in Britain and at a time of major industrial cities. The city of Alabama annexed its smaller neighbor and developed as an industrial hub, based on mining, new iron and steel industries, and rail transport. Most of the original settlers who founded Birmingham came from an English ancestor. The city was developed as a place where cheap and unionized immigrant workers (mainly Irish and Italians), along with African-American workers from rural Alabama, can be employed in municipal steel mills and blast furnaces, giving a competitive edge over industrial city associations in the Midwest and Northeast.
Since its establishment until the late 1960s, Birmingham is a major industrial center in the southern United States. Its growth from 1881 to 1920 earned him the nicknames such as "The Magic City" and "The Pittsburgh of the South". Its main industry is iron and steel production. The main components of the rail, rail and railway industry, produced in Birmingham: since the 1860s, two major railway centers in "Deep South" were Birmingham and Atlanta. The economy was diversified in the second half of the 20th century. Banking, telecommunications, transportation, power transmission, medical care, higher education, and insurance have become major economic activities. Birmingham is ranked as one of the largest banking centers in the United States. Also, it is one of the most important business centers in the Southeast.
In college, Birmingham has been the site of the University of Alabama School of Medicine (formerly the Medical College of Alabama) and the University of Alabama School of Dentistry since 1947. In 1969, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, one of the three main campuses of the University System Alabama. It is home to three private institutions: Samford University, Birmingham-Southern College, and Miles College. The Birmingham area has many faculties of medicine, dentistry, optometry, physical therapy, pharmacy, law, engineering, and nursing. The city has three out of five state law schools: the Cumberland School of Law, the Birmingham School of Law, and the Miles Law School. Birmingham is also the headquarters of the Southwestern Athletic Conference and the Southeastern Conference, one of the US college athletic conferences.
Video Birmingham, Alabama
History
Establishment and initial growth
Birmingham was founded on 1 June 1871 by the Elyton Land Company, whose investors include cotton farmers, bankers and railroad operators. It's sold a lot near the Alabama crossing & amp; Chattanooga and South & amp; North Alabama railroads, including land that was once part of Benjamin P. Worthington's estate. The first business at the intersection was a trading post and a state store operated by Marre and Allen. The railway crossing location is noted for its proximity to iron ore, coal, and limestone deposits nearby - the three main raw materials used in steelmaking.
Birmingham is the only place where a large number of these three minerals can be found in close proximity. From the beginning the new city is planned as an industrial center. The city's founders, organized as the Elyton Land Company, named it to honor Birmingham, England, one of the world's major industrial cities, to emphasize it. The city's planned growth was hindered by the cholera outbreak and the Wall Street crash in 1873. Soon after, however, it began to expand at an explosive level.
Tennessee Coal and Iron Company (TCI) became the leading steel producer in the South in 1892. In 1907 the United States bought it and became the most important political and economic force in Birmingham. However, he rejected the new industry to suppress wage levels.
In 1911, the city of Elyton and some surrounding cities were absorbed into Birmingham. From the beginning of the 20th century, the city grew so rapidly that it earned the nickname "City of Magic". The city center was rebuilt from a commercial and low-rise residential district into a busy grille of neoclassic and high-rise buildings that were intermittently tram lines. Between 1902 and 1912, four large office buildings were built at the intersection of 20th Street, north-south center of the city center, and 1st Avenue North, connecting industrial warehouses and facilities along the east-west rail corridor. This early skyscraper group was dubbed "The Heaviest Angle on Earth".
Birmingham was struck by the Irondale 1916 ( M L 5.1, intensity VII ( Very strong )). Some of the buildings in the area were slightly damaged. The quake struck down to Atlanta and neighboring states.
Though not including the best paid industry jobs, African-Americans join migration from rural to urban areas, drawn by economic opportunities.
The Great Depression of the 1930s hit Birmingham very hard, as the sources of capital that fueled the growth of the city quickly dried up at the same time the farm laborers, moved from the ground, made their way into the city in search of work. Hundreds of people poured into the city, many of which rose into empty box cars. "Hobo jungles" was founded in Boyles, The Twenty-fourth Street Viaduct, Green Springs Bridge, East Thomas, Pratt City, Carbon Hill, and Jasper. In 1934, President Roosevelt referred to Birmingham as "the most severe city in the country." New Deal programs put many urban dwellers to work in WPA and CCC programs, and they made important contributions to city infrastructure and artistic legacies, including key improvements such as the Vulcan tower and Oak Mountain State Park.
World War II demand for steel followed by a post-war development boom spurred Birmingham's rapid return to prosperity. Manufacturing diversified beyond the production of raw materials. Major civilian institutions such as schools, parks and museums are also expanded.
Despite the growth of urban population and wealth, Birmingham residents are virtually underrepresented in the state legislature. Although the country's constitution required redistricting in accordance with changes in the ten-year census, the state legislature did not do this at any time during the 20th century until the early 1970s, when it was forced by the United States Supreme Court in key decisions of Reynolds. v. Sims . Birmingham area voters have sued redistricting, and the Court in its verdict quotes the principle of "one man, one vote". The court found that the state's senate geographical base, which gave each region a senator, undermined rural districts. Representatives from rural districts also have disproportionate strength in the State Representative Building, and have failed to provide support for infrastructure and other improvements in urban centers such as Birmingham, have little sympathy for the urban population. Prior to this time, the General Assembly exercised local government as an extension of the state through their legislative delegation.
Birmingham Civil Rights Movement
In the 1950s and 1960s, Birmingham gained national and international attention as a center of activity during the Civil Rights Movement. Based on their members working in mining and industry, in the 1950s, the Ku Klux Klan branch (KKK) had ready access to dynamite and other bomb materials. The white people were not happy with the social changes of the 1950s carrying racially motivated bombings against the homes of black families who moved into new or politically active environments, resulting in Birmingham under the nickname "Bombingham".
Locally, civil rights activists are led by Fred Shuttlesworth, a fiery preacher who became legendary for his courage in facing such violence. But he found city officials refused to make changes for integration or reduce Jim Crow.
A turning point in the civil rights movement took place in 1963 when Shuttlesworth requested Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), founded by Shuttlesworth, came to Birmingham to help end public segregation. King had served in Birmingham as a preacher early in his career.
Together they launched "Project C" (for "Confrontation"), a massive nonviolent demonstration of the Jim Crow system. When imprisoned in April 1963 for participating in a nonviolent demonstration, Dr. King wrote the now famous "Letter from the Birmingham Prison", a decisive treatise in his work against segregation. During April and May, daily sit-up and mass rallies organized and led by leaders of the James Bevel movement met with police repression, tear gas, attack dogs, fire hoses, and arrests. More than 3,000 people were arrested during the protests, many of them children. The king and Bevel filled the prison with the students to keep the demonstration going.
In September SCLC and the city are negotiating to end economic boycott and store desegregation and other facilities. On Sunday in September 1963, a bomb exploded at the 16th Street Baptist Church, killing four black girls. The protests of activists and national outrage about police and KKK violence contributed to the desegregation of public accommodation in Birmingham as well as the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
In 1998, the Birmingham Pledge, written by local lawyer James Rotch, was introduced at Martin Luther King Unity Breakfast. As a grassroots community commitment to fight racism and prejudice, it has since been used for programs in all fifty states and in over twenty countries.
Recent history
In the 1970s, urban renewal efforts focused around the development of the University of Alabama in Birmingham, which has become a major research and medical center. In 1971 Birmingham celebrated its hundredth anniversary with a series of public works improvements, including the upgrading of Vulcan Park and the construction of a major downtown convention center containing a 2,500-seat symphony hall, a theater, a 19,000-seat arena, and an exhibition hall. The Birmingham banking institutions are also enjoying considerable growth, and new skyscrapers built in downtown for the first time since the 1920s. These projects helped the city economy to diversify, but did not prevent the exodus from many townspeople to independent suburbs. Suburbanization is a national trend. In 1979 Birmingham chose Dr. Richard Arrington Jr. as his first African-American mayor.
The population within Birmingham city limits has fallen over the past few decades, largely due to "white flights" from the city to the surrounding suburbs and job loss after industrial and rail restructuring. The most populous ethnic group, non-Hispanic whites, has declined from 57.4 percent in 1970 to 21.1 percent in 2010. From 340,887 in 1960, the city's population declined to 242,820 in 2000, a loss of about 29 percent. In 2010, Birmingham's population has reached 212,237, the lowest since the mid-1920s, but the city has since stopped losing the population. The same period saw an appropriate increase in the populations of the Hoover suburban communities, Vestavia Hills, Alabaster, and Gardendale, none being included as municipalities until after 1950.
Downtown Birmingham is experiencing a revival. The new resource has been devoted to reconstructing the downtown area into a 24-hour all-purpose district. Markets for downtown and condominiums are on the rise, while restaurants, retail, and culture are widespread. In 2006, the bureau of visitors chose "diverse cities" as the new tag line for the city. In 2011, the Highland Park neighborhood of Birmingham was crowned as America's Great Place 2011 by the American Planning Association. In January 2015, the International Game World Executive Committee selected Birmingham as the host for the 2021 World Games.
Recent developments have attracted national media attention. The New York Times has been praising the city's food scene since 2006. The Washington Post has also featured stories about cuisine and city environments. Referring to the history of urban civil rights, Alice Short of Los Angeles Times wrote, "Anyone who cares about US history should plan a trip here."
Maps Birmingham, Alabama
Geography
Birmingham occupies the Jones Valley, flanked by the long parallel mountains (at the far end of the Appalachian Mountains) running from the northeast to the southwest. This valley is drained by a small tributary (Creek Village, Valley Creek) that flows into the Black Warrior River. The valley is divided by the main railway corridor, where most of the initial manufacturing operations begin.
Red Mountain is located just south of the city center. Many Birmingham television and radio towers line up along this prominent ridge. The "Over the Mountain" area, including Shades Valley, Shades Mountain and beyond, is largely protected from industrial smoke and rough roads in industrial cities. This is the setting for more prosperous Birmingham suburbs at Mountain Brook, Vestavia Hills, Homewood, and Hoover. South of Shades Valley is the Cahaba River valley, one of the most diverse river ecosystems in the United States.
The Sand Mountain, the lower ridge, flanks the city to the north and divides the Jones Valley from the rougher rug to the north. Louisville and Nashville Railroad (now CSX Transportation) enter the valley through Boyles Gap, a prominent crest on long and long ridge.
Mount Ruffner, located east of the heart of the city, is home to Ruffner Mountain Nature Preserve, one of the largest urban sanctuaries in the United States.
Birmingham is 147 miles (237 km) west of Atlanta, 92 miles north of Montgomery, 147 miles (237 km) northeast of Meridian, Mississippi, 239 miles south of Memphis, 192 miles (309 km) south of Nashville, and 148 miles (238 km) southwest of Chattanooga, all through the Interstate highway.
According to the US Census Bureau, the city has a total area of ​​148.6 square miles (384.9 km 2 ), which is 146.1 square miles (378.3 km 2 ) is ground and 2.5 square miles (6.6 km 2 ), or 1.71%, is water.
Suburbs
Birmingham has a lot of suburbs. Like many key areas, most metropolitan populations live outside the city limits. In 2007, the metropolitan area comprised 7 districts, 102 cities, and 21 school districts. Since then, Alabaster and Pelham have separated themselves from the Shelby County School System to form their own school system. Some analysts argue that the region is suffering from having many suburbs; companies play jurisdiction over each other to get taxes and other financial incentives for relocation, so there is no net gain in the regional economy.
Suburbs in the Birmingham-Hoover metropolitan area based on population order (estimated 2016):
Cityscape
Climate
Birmingham has a humid subtropical climate, characterized by hot summers, cool winters, and abundant rainfall. January has a daily average temperature of 43.8 Â ° F (6.6 Â ° C), and there is an average of 47 days each year with low at or below freezing, and 1.4 where the height does not go beyond the point frozen. July has a daily average temperature of 81.1 Â ° F (27.3 Â ° C); the highest reaching or exceeding 90 ° F (32 ° C) at 55 days per year and 100 ° F (38 ° C) at 2 or 3. The precipitation is relatively well distributed throughout the year, sometimes falling in the form of snow during the winter; However, 10.3 inches (26.2 cm) fell on March 13, 1993, during the 1993 Winter Storm, which set the highest daily snowfall, one-hurricane, and total winter recorded. The normal snowfall for 1981-2010 is 1.6 in (4.1 cm), but, for the same period, the average monthly snowfall for each month is zero.
The spring and fall months are pleasant but varied because cold fronts often carry powerful thunderstorms and sometimes tornadoes into the region. Autumn (mainly October) has less rainfall and fewer storms, and lower humidity than spring, but November and early December are bad secondary weather seasons. Birmingham is located in the heart of Tornado Alley known as Dixie Alley due to the high frequency of tornadoes in Central Alabama. The larger Birmingham area has been hit by two F5 tornadoes; one in the northern suburbs of Birmingham in 1977, and second in the western suburbs in 1998. The area was exposed to EF4 tornadoes that were part of the 2011 Super Plague. In late summer and autumn, Birmingham often experienced tropical storms and hurricanes due to its proximity to Central Gulf Coast.
The high temperature record was 107 Â ° F (42 ° C), set on July 29, 1930, and the lowest record was -10 ° F (-23 ° C), set on February 13, 1899.
Demographics
Census data
2010
According to the US Census 2010:
- 73.4% Black/African Americas
- 22.3% White
- 0.2% of Indigenous Americans
- 1.0% Asia
- 0.04% Hawaiian or Pacific Islander
- 1.0% Two or more races
- 2.0% Other race
- 3.6% Hispanic or Latin (from any race)
2000
Based on the 2000 census, there were 242,820 people, 98,782 households, and 59,269 families living in the city. Population density is 1,619.7 people per square mile (625.4/km 2 ). There are 111,927 housing units with an average density of 746.6 per square mile (288.3/km 2 ). City racial makeup is 62.46% Black, 35.07% White, 0.17% Native Americans, 0.80% Asia, 0.04% Pacific Island, 0.62% of other races, and 0.83% of two or more races. 1.55% of the population are Hispanic or Latino from any race.
There were 98,782 households where 27.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 31.1% were married couples living together, 24.6% had non-husbands female households, and 40.0% were not family. 34.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.4% had someone living alone 65 or older.
In the city, the population is scattered, with 25.0% under the age of 18, 11.1% from 18 to 24, 30.0% from 25 to 44, 20.4% from 45 to 64, and 13.5% 65 years or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 women, there are 85.7 men.
The average income for households in the city is $ 31,898, and the average income for families is $ 38,776. Men have an average income of $ 36,031 compared to $ 30,367 for women. The per capita income of the city is $ 19,962. Approximately 22.5% of families and 27.3% of the population are below the poverty line, including 41.9% of those under the age of 18 and 18.3% of those aged 65 and older.
Religion
Birmingham has hundreds of Christian churches, five synagogues, three mosques, and two Hindu temples. The Association of Statisticsians of American Religious Bodies published data showing that in 2010, among metro areas with a population of over one million, Birmingham had the second highest Christian ratio, and the largest ratio of Protestants, in the US.
The Southern Baptist Convention has 673 trials and 336,000 members in the Birmingham metro area. The United Methodists has 196 congregations and 66,759 members. Presbyterian Church headquarters in America were in Birmingham until the early 1980s; PCA has more than 30 trials and nearly 15,000 members in the Birmingham metro area, with megachurches such as Briarwood Presbyterian Church. The National Baptist Convention has 126 trials and 69,800 members.
The city is home to the Roman Catholic Diocese in Birmingham, covering 39 territories and consists of 75 parishes and missions and seven Catholic high schools and nineteen elementary schools. There are also two East Catholic parishes in the Birmingham area. Catholic television network EWTN is headquartered in metropolitan Birmingham. There are three Eastern Orthodox churches in the metro area, along with the Greek, Russian, and Orthodox churches of America. The Alabama Episcopal Church parish church, Adventist Cathedral Church is located in downtown Birmingham. There is also Unitarian universalist church.
Crime
With a crime rate of 85 per one thousand inhabitants, Birmingham has one of the highest crime rates in the United States, ranked 20th, according to a study in 2017 for cities with populations over 25,000. Bessemer neighbors are also ranked high on 7. The cruel crime in Birmingham has increased by 10% from 2014 to 2016. As the third most violent city in the country, the killing, robbery and level of attack in this city are each among the top five of all cities great in the US. As in many areas of high crime, poverty is relatively common in Birmingham. Across the city, 31% of the population lives in poverty, a higher poverty rate than all but a dozen other major US cities.
Birmingham is ranked 425th in US crime rates for 2012 by CQ Press. The Metropolitan Birmingham-Hoover (MSA) Statistics Region is classified as having the 35th highest crime rate in the US, from 347 MSAs in 2011 by CQ Press. The crime rate in the Birmingham metro area is in line with other southern MSAs such as Jacksonville and Charlotte. US. News & amp; World Report puts Birmingham as the third most dangerous city in the country for 2011 (only Atlanta and St. Louis are ranked higher). Series A & amp; E Network The First 48 has filmed episodes with several city murder detectives.
Economy
From the early days of Birmingham onwards, the steel industry has always played an important role in the local economy. Although the steel industry no longer has the same advantages as ever in Birmingham, steel production and processing continue to play a key role in the economy. Manufacturer of American Cast Iron Pipe Company (ACIPCO) and McWane-based steel products in the city. Some of the largest steelmakers in the country, including CMC Steel, US Steel, and Nucor, also have a large presence in Birmingham. In recent years, local steel companies have announced a $ 100 million investment in expansion and new plants in and around the city. Vulcan Materials Company, the premier provider of crushed stone, sand and gravel used in construction, is also based in Birmingham.
In the 1970s and 1980s, the Birmingham economy was altered by investments in biotechnology and medical research at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and adjacent hospitals. UAB Hospital is a Level I trauma center that provides health care and breakthrough medical research. UAB is now the largest company in the region and the second largest in Alabama, with a workforce of around 23,000 by 2016. Healthcare Healthcare Service providers (formerly HealthSouth), Affiliate Surgery and Diagnostic Health Corporation are also headquartered in the city. Caremark Rx was founded in the city.
Birmingham is a leading banking center, serving as the home of two major banks: Financial Corporation and BBVA Compass. SouthTrust, another major bank headquartered in Birmingham, was acquired by Wachovia in 2004. The city still has major operations as one of Wachovia's regional headquarters, now part of Wells Fargo. In November 2006, Regions Financial joined the AmSouth Bancorporation, which is also headquartered in Birmingham. They form the eighth largest US bank with total assets. Nearly a dozen smaller banks are also headquartered in Magic City, such as Bank Superior and Cadence Bank. In 2009, the financial and banking sector in Birmingham employed 1,870 financial managers, 1,530 loan officers, 680 securities commodities and financial services sales agents, 380 financial analysts, 310 financial auditors, 220 credit analysts and 130 credit counselors. While Birmingham has seen major changes with its banking industry, it remains the ninth largest banking center in the United States with local deposits headquartered in 2012. A study of 2014 found that the city has moved to the tenth largest banking center.
The telephone company now owned by AT & amp; T, formerly BellSouth and before that South Central Bell, headquartered in Birmingham, has a major relationship in Birmingham, supported by a city center of skyscrapers as well as several large operational center buildings. and data centers.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama, Life Protection, Infinity Property & amp; Casualty, ProAssurance, and Liberty National have their headquarters in Birmingham, and this employs a large number of people in Greater Birmingham.
Birmingham is also a construction powerhouse and engineering company, including BE & amp; K, Brasfield & amp; Gorrie, Robins & amp; Morton, and B.L. Harbert International, which is regularly included in the Engineering News-Record list of the best designs and international construction companies.
Two of the largest bottling soft drinks in the United States, each with more than $ 500 million in sales per year, are located in Birmingham. The Buffalo Rock Company, founded in 1901, used to be a ginger ale maker, but it is now a major bottler for the Pepsi Cola Company. The Coca-Cola Bottling Company United, founded in 1902, is the third largest bottler of Coca-Cola products in the United States.
Birmingham has seen a marked decline in the number of Fortune 500 companies headquartered in the city, due to mergers, moves, and purchases. In 2000, there were ten Fortune 500 companies headquartered in the city, while in 2014 there was only one, Bank Area. Birmingham is also used to be home to more than 30 public companies, but in 2011 there were only 15. That number has increased since then, but not significantly. Some companies, such as Kitchen Zo, were established and operated in Birmingham, but moved their headquarters before going public, even after saying they would live in their home country. Birmingham has experienced a rebound, though, with the growth of companies like HealthSouth, Infinity Property and Casualty Corp, Southern Company, and others.
The metropolitan area of ​​Birmingham has consistently been rated as one of America's best places to work and earn a living based on relatively competitive regional salaries and relatively low living costs. One study published in 2006 by Salary.com determined that Birmingham was second in the country to build personal wealth, based on local pay rates, living costs, and unemployment rates.
A 2006 study by the bizjournals.com website calculates Birmingham's "combined personal income" (the sum of all money received by all residents of a county in a year) of $ 48.1 billion.
Birmingham's sales tax, which is also fully applicable to groceries, stands at 10 percent and is the highest tax rate of the country's 100 largest cities.
Although Jefferson County's filing for bankruptcy in 2011 was the largest government bankruptcy in US history, Birmingham remains a solvent.
In 2017, the largest public company in Birmingham by market capitalization is Vulcan Materials (VMC, $ 17.63 billion), Regions Bank (RF, $ 16.17 billion), Medical Properties Trust (MPW, $ 4.91 billion), Energen (EGN, $ 4.6 billion) billion), and HealthSouth (HLS, $ 4.35 billion). All are listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Life Protector was bought by Japanese company Dai-Ichi in 2015 and removed from public commerce. If Alabama Power is considered independent of the South Company (based in Atlanta), Alabama will become the second largest company in Birmingham with revenues of more than $ 5.8 billion by 2015.
In 2017, the largest private company in Birmingham based on annual income and employees is EBSCO Industries ($ 2.8 billion; 1,436 employees), Brasfield & Gorrie, LLC ($ 2.4 billion; 920 employees), Drummond Co., Inc. ($ 2.2 billion; 1,283 employees), O'Neal Industries ($ 2.1 billion; 275 employees); and McWane Inc. ($ 1.7 billion, 575 employees).
Art and culture
Birmingham is the cultural and entertainment capital of Alabama, with many art galleries in the area including the Birmingham Museum of Art, Southeast's largest art museum. Downtown Birmingham is currently experiencing a cultural and economic rejuvenation, with several new independent shops and restaurants opened in the area. Birmingham is home to the country's premier ballet, opera and corporate symphony orchestra such as Alabama Ballet, Alabama Symphony Orchestra, Birmingham Ballet, Birmingham Concert Chorale and Birmingham Opera.
- The historic Alabama Theater hosts movie shows, concerts and performances.
Ã, Â ° The historic Lyric Theater, which has been completely renovated and reopened in 2016, hosts art shows and concerts.
- Alys Robinson Stephens Performing Arts Center is home to the Alabama Symphony Orchestra and the Birmingham Opera as well as several concert and lecture series. It is located on the University of Alabama campus in Birmingham.
- The Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex (BJCC) has a theater, concert halls, exhibition halls, and sports and concert halls. BJCC is home to the Birmingham Children's Theater, one of the nation's oldest and largest children's theaters, and hosts concert and sports events. Adjacent to the BJCC is the Sheraton Birmingham, the largest hotel in the state. The new Westin Hotel is near the Uptown entertainment area in downtown Birmingham, which opened in 2013.
- The historic Carver Theater, home of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, offers concerts, dramas, jazz classes (free for every citizen of Alabama state) and many other events at Historic 4th Avenue District, near the Birmingham Civil Institute Rights.
- Birmingham Public Library, the city center of the 40-prong library metro system, presents programs for children and adults.
- The Boutwell Memorial Auditorium (formerly Municipal Auditorium) is located in Linn Park.
- Oak Mountain Amphitheater is a large, two-stage open space located on the outskirts of Pelham just south of Birmingham.
Other attractions in the area include:
- Red Mountain Theater Company is a local theater in Birmingham that was founded in 1979. The theater locates in the season of professional musical theater repertoire during the summer and fall of each year. It received a national notice for the company's performance Newsies at the Alabama School of Fine Arts and received praise from reviewers around the world.
- Fourteen76 is a local online center for everything related to Birmingham art and its surroundings. It features local artists, interviews, coverage of artistic journalism and social events, as well as local artistic calendars and music related events.
- The Birmingham CrossPlex/Fair Park Arena on the west side of the city hosts sporting events, local concerts, and community programs.
- Workplay, located in the Southside community, is a multi-purpose facility with offices, audio and movie production rooms, lounges, and theater and concert venues to visit artists and film screenings.
- The Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival, a new independent cinema celebration in downtown Birmingham, was named one of the Time Movies for Our Resting Film Festival on June 5, 2006, their edition. Beginning in 2006, the Pavilion Film Festival hosted the SHOUT Film Festival, LGBTQ's first and only film festival in Alabama.
- The Wright Center Concert Hall, a 2,500-seat facility at Samford University, is home to the Birmingham Ballet.
The nightlife of Birmingham mainly crowds around the Five Points South, Lakeview, and Avondale districts. In addition, the $ 55 million "Uptown" entertainment district recently opened adjacent to the BJCC featuring Westin's restaurants and hotels.
The Greater Birmingham Culture Alliance maintains Birmingham365.org, "a one-stop source to find out what's going on where about" Birmingham.
Museum
Birmingham is home to several museums. The largest is the Birmingham Art Museum, which is also the largest city art museum in the Southeast. The region's historical museum includes the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, which houses a detailed and emotionally detailed narrative exhibition that puts Birmingham's history into the context of the Civil Rights Movement. It is located in Kelly Ingram Park adjacent to 16th Street Baptist Church.
Museum sejarah lainnya termasuk Southern Museum of Flight, Bessemer Hall of History Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark, Alabama Museum of Health Sciences, dan Arlington Home.
The Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame is housed in the historic Carver Theater and offers exhibits on famous jazz musicians from the state of Alabama.
McWane Science Center is a regional science museum with live science exhibitions, temporary exhibitions and IMAX vault theater. The center also houses the main collection of fossil specimens for use by researchers. Other unique museums include the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum, which contains the largest collection of motorcycles in the world; Iron & amp; Alabama Steel Museum at Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park, near McCalla; and Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.
Festivals
Birmingham is home to many cultural festivals featuring music, movies, and regional heritage. The Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival brings filmmakers from all over the world to Birmingham for their films to be seen and judged. The festival is usually scheduled at the end of August in eight places around the city center. The screenings are concentrated in the Alabama Theater. The Sloss Furnaces has a Halloween annual ghost attraction called "Sloss Fright Furnace". During the summer, Sloss Furnaces organizes an annual music and art festival known as the Sloss Music and Arts Festival, or Sloss Fest. Since its inception in 2015, the festival has attracted hundreds of national headliners as well as local bands. In the first year, Sloss Fest has about 25,000 participants over a span of two days.
Another music festival is the Taste of 4th Avenue Jazz Festival, which is presented at the end of August every year, along with the Sorongar Moving Pictures Festival. The all-day festival features national and local jazz action. In 2007, the festival attracted about 6,000 people. The Birmingham Folk Festival is an annual event held since 2006. It moved to Avondale Park in 2008. In 2009 the festival featured nine local bands and three "major band" tours.
The Southern Heritage Festival began in the 1960s as a music, art, and entertainment festival for the African-American community to attract most of the younger demographics. Do Dah Day is an annual pet parade held around the end of May. Schaeffer Eye Center Crawfish Boil, an annual music festival held in May to benefit local charities, always includes talented players. It usually attracts more than 30,000 viewers for the annual two-day event. The annual Greek festival, celebration of heritage, culture, and especially Greek cuisine, is a charity fundraiser organized by the Greek Orthodox Church - the Cathedral of the Holy Cross. The Greek festival attracts 20,000 customers each year. The Lebanese Food Festival is held at St. Elias Maronite. Central Alabama Pride places LGBT events every year, including festivals and parades. Magic City Brewfest is an annual festival that benefits the local grassroots organization, Free the Hops, and focuses on craft beer. Alabama Bound is a yearbook and fair writer who celebrates the writers and publishers of Alabama. Hosted by the Birmingham Public Library, this is an opportunity where fans can meet their favorite authors, buy their books, and hear them read and talk about their work. The book signing follows every presentation.
Other attractions
The Vulcan statue is a representation of iron-iron gods, iron and Roman blacksmiths who are a symbol of Birmingham. The statue, which was cast for the St. Louis 1904 and founded in Vulcan Park in 1938, standing high above the city, looking down from a tower on the summit of Mount Merah. Open to visitors, the tower offers views of the city below.
Birmingham Zoo is a large regional zoo with over 700 animals and a newly opened interactive children's zoo.
Birmingham Botanical Gardens is a 270 acre (270,000 square meter) park featuring a variety of plants in interpretive gardens, including formal rose gardens, tropical greenhouses, and large Japanese gardens. The facility also includes a white tablecloth restaurant, meeting rooms, and extensive reference library. Equipped with 30 acres of Hoover (120,000 m 2 ) Aldridge Botanical Gardens, an ambitious project that opened since 2002. Aldridge offers a place to take a walk, but to add a unique look in the years to come.
Alabama Splash Adventure (formerly VisionLand and Alabama Adventure) at Bessemer serves as a water park and Birmingham theme park, featuring many slides and water themed attractions.
Kelly Ingram Park is a prominent civil rights protest site and adjacent to the historic 16th Street Baptist Church. Railroad Park opened in 2010 in the Railroad District District, Birmingham. Oak Mountain State Park is about 10 miles (16 km) south of Birmingham. Red Mountain is one of the southernmost creases in the Appalachian chain, and the beautiful drive upwards provides a breathtaking view that reminds us of the Great Smoky Mountains to the north. To the west of the city is the Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park, a 1,500-acre Civil War site (6.1 km km) that includes the well-preserved ruins of Tannehill Iron Furnaces and John Wesley. Hall Grist Mill.
The Summit is an upscale lifestyle center with many shops and restaurants. Located in Southeastern Birmingham on US Highway 280, on par with Interstate 459.
Cultural reference
The folk song "Down in the Valley", also known as "Birmingham Jail", contains the phrase, "Write me a letter, send by mail; Send it in Birmingham prison care."
The song "Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd contains a line "in Birmingham they love the governor".
The "Black Betty" song performed by Lead Belly and Ram Jam, among others, contains the line "He from Birmingham (bam-ba-lam) Down at Alabam '(bam-ba-lam)".
Randy Newman wrote a song called "Birmingham" about a man living in the city. It was released as a song on his 1974 album Good Old Boys .
Birmingham is mentioned in "Playboy Mommy" by American songwriter Tori Amos and in "Run, Baby, Run" by American singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow.
Band country Blackhawk merekam lagu "Postmarked Birmingham".
Tracy Lawrence and Ken Mellons each recorded a country song "Paint Me a Birmingham".
The most famous song from husband and wife band Shovels & amp; Rope is their original song, "Birmingham".
Sports
Birmingham does not have a great professional sports franchise. The Birmingham area is home to Birmingham Barons, an AA league affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, who plays in the Field Area of ​​the Southside adjacent to Railroad Park. The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB Blazers) has a popular basketball and soccer program, and Samford University, located in Homewood, has basketball and soccer teams. The Hoover Metropolitan Stadium on the outskirts of Hoover was home to the Southeast Conference Baseball Tournament that drew more than 108,000 spectators in 2006. There is also an amateur football association, known as La Liga, and the Birmingham area hosts the Alabama Alliance basketball team.
Birmingham is home to the Black Baron, a very successful Negro League baseball team. The Black Barons play a home game at Rickwood Field, which still stands in the Rising-West Princeton neighborhood, and is verified as America's oldest baseball field. Scenes from the movie Cobb (1994), Soul of the Game (1995) and 42 (2012) were filmed at Rickwood.
The city has several pro football franchises. Former pro football team at Birmingham, Alabama Outlawz from X-League Indoor Football, folded in 2015. Other teams include two-time WFL champion Birmingham American champions Birmingham/Vulcans, before the league is folded. City hosted USFL franchise, Birmingham Stallions, but once again league folded. A WLAF franchise, Birmingham Fire, was renamed Rhein Fire when WLAF changed its name to NFL Europa, but the league was fully folded in 2007. A CFL franchise, Birmingham Barracudas, played for a season and then folded when the league ended its American franchise. trial. An XFL franchise, Birmingham Thunderbolt, is another example where the league is folded.
Birmingham's Legion Field has hosted several postseason bowl football games, including Dixie Bowl (1948-49), Classic Hall of Fame (1977-85), All-American Bowl (1986-90), SEC Championship Game (1992). -93), SWAC Championship Game (1999-2012), Magic City Classic (1946-present) and, currently, Birmingham Bowl (formerly BBVA Compass Bowl, 2006-present). Southeastern Conference, Southwestern Athletic Conference, and Gulf South Conference are headquartered in Birmingham.
In 1996, Legion Field hosted an early round of Olympic football in which he drew many records. The field also hosts the qualification and friendship of men and women. The transition from natural grass to artificial surfaces has left the role of the stadium as a place of doubtful football.
Motorsports is very popular in the Birmingham area and across the state, and this area is home to many annual motorsport races. The Aaron 499 & amp; AMP Energy 500 is a NASCAR Sprint Cup race that takes place in April and October at Talladega Superspeedway 50 miles (80 km) east of Birmingham. The Indy Grand Prix of Alabama shares the Barber Motorsports Park grounds with Superbike and GrandAm sports car racing.
The PGA Champions Tour has stopped regularly in the Birmingham area since 1992, with the establishment of Bruno's Memorial Classic, later renamed the Charity Classic Area. In 2011 the tournament was replaced by The Tradition, one of the five main "Tour" Champions Tour events.
Birmingham has been chosen to host the World Games in 2021. It will be the first time that an American city has hosted the event since the first World Inauguration was held in Santa Clara, California, in 1981.
Birmingham is home to a professional ice hockey team, the Birmingham Bulls of South Professional Hockey League. They played at the Civic Center near Pelham. The Birmingham Bulls is also the name of a team that played at the World Hockey Association from 1976 to 1979 and Central Hockey League from 1979 to 1981. The WHA Bulls played their home game at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Center. In 1992, another Birmingham hockey franchise was established that used the Bulls name, Birmingham Bulls of the East Coast Hockey League. The franchise is then sold to Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Fishing recreation is popular in the Birmingham area. Recently, Birmingham was named "Bass Capital of the World" by ESPN and Bassmaster magazine. Over the past few years, Birmingham has been home to many major fishing tournaments, including the Bass Masters Classic.
The US Paralympic Training Facility is located in Birmingham and is the main filming location for the 2005 documentary Murderball, about rugby wheelchair players.
Institute of American Sports Medicine (ASMI), located at St. Hospital. Vincent in Birmingham, founded by Dr. James Andrews in 1987. The agency's mission is to understand, prevent, and treat sports-related injuries. ASMI transforms Birmingham into a major medical destination for professional athletes across the country. Andrews has operated Bo Jackson, Drew Brees, Roger Clemens, John Smoltz, Charles Barkley, Michael Jordan, and Jack Nicklaus, to name a few. His orthopedic practices are often mentioned in books and articles.
Birmingham will be home to a USL team called Birmingham Legion FC starting in 2019.
Government
Birmingham has the form of a mighty mayor-mayor-mayor, headed by a mayor and nine-member city council. The current system replaced the previous city commission government in 1962 (primarily as a way to remove Eugene Public Safety Commissioner "Bull" Connor from power).
According to Alabama law, problems before the city council must be approved by a two-thirds majority vote. The power of the executive is fully held by the mayor's office. The current mayor of Birmingham is Randall Woodfin.
In 1974 Birmingham established a structured network of environmental associations and a community advisory committee to ensure public participation in governance issues affecting the environment. Environmental associations are regularly consulted on matters relating to changes in zoning, liquor licenses, economic development, police and other municipal services. The surrounding environment was also given discretionary funding from the city budget to be used for capital increase. The respective neighborhood officers meet with their peers to form a Community Advisory Committee, which is granted wider powers over the city department. The president of this committee, in turn, formed a Citizens' Advisory Council, which meets regularly with mayors, councils, and department heads. Birmingham is divided into a total of 23 communities, and again into a total of 99 individual neighborhoods with individual environmental associations.
State and federal representations
The United States Postal Service operates a post office in Birmingham. The main post office is located at 351 24th Street North in downtown Birmingham. Birmingham is also home to the Southeastern Southeast Asia Social Security Service Program Center. This center is one of seven in the United States that processes claims and Social Security rights payments. In addition, Birmingham is the home of a branch bank of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
Political controversy
Recent political history in Birmingham has received national attention. During his tenure as mayor, Larry Langford was arrested on charges of bribery. Langford was convicted in 2010 receiving bribes in exchange for directing $ 7.1 million in regional revenues to leading investment bankers. Bribes include $ 230,000 cash, clothing, and jewelry. Langford was sentenced to 15 years in prison and a $ 360,000 fine by a federal judge. Banker, Bill Blount, and the lobbyist, Al la Pierre, pleaded guilty and sentenced to a short prison sentence.
Former mayor William A. Bell is also the subject of national oversight. In 2015, the mayor has a physical squabble with city councilor Marcus Lundy. The fight sent the two men to the hospital.
Education
The city is serviced by the Birmingham City Schools system. It is run by the Birmingham Board of Education with current active enrollment of 30,500 in 62 schools: seven secondary schools, 13 secondary schools, 33 elementary schools, and nine elementary school grades eight.
Birmingham Public Library manages 21 branches across the city and is part of a wider system including 19 other suburban branches in Jefferson County, serving the entire community to provide education and entertainment for all ages.
The larger Birmingham metropolitan area is home to many independent school systems, as there has been a lot of fragmentation of the education system in Alabama and especially Jefferson County. Some school systems have only three to five schools. The three largest metropolitan school systems are the Jefferson County School System, the Birmingham City Schools, and the Shelby County School System. However, there are many smaller school systems.
The Birmingham area is renowned as the home of some of Alabama's best colleges, universities and universities. In 2005, the Jefferson County International Baccalaureum School in Irondale, Birmingham's eastern suburb, was rated as a secondary school. 1 in America by Newsweek . The school remains among the top five state high schools. Mountain Brook High School puts 250 on the list. Other regional schools that have been rated among America's best in publications include Homewood High School, Vestavia Hills High School, and Alabama School of Fine Arts located downtown. The metro area also has three private college prep school: Saint Rose Academy, located in Birmingham proper; The Altamont School, also located in Birmingham proper; and Indian Springs School in northern Shelby County near Pelham.
The leading institutions of higher education in Birmingham include the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Samford University (including Cumberland School of Law), the Birmingham School of Law, Miles College, the independent Miles Law School, Jefferson State Community College, Birmingham-Southern College, Montevallo University (at Shelby County), Lawson State Community College, and Virginia College in Birmingham, the largest career college based in Birmingham.
Media
Birmingham is served by one major newspaper, The Birmingham News (circulation 150,346), which changes from daily to publication three times a week on October 1, 2012. The Birmingham News' Wednesday edition features six subregional sections named East , Hoover , North , Shelby , South , and West covering news from that area. The newspaper has been awarded two Pulitzer Prizes, in 1991 and 2007. The Birmingham Post-Herald, the city's second daily, published its last issue in 2006. Other local publications include The North Jefferson News , The Leeds News The Trussville Tribune (Trussville, Clay and Pinson), The Western Star (Bessemer) and > The Western Tribune (Bessemer).
Las for Birmingham , Birmingham Weekly and Birmingham Free Press are free alternative publications in Birmingham. The Birmingham Times, a historic African-American newspaper, is also published weekly. Birmingham is served by city magazine, Birmingham magazine , owned by The Birmingham News .
Birmingham is part of the Birmingham/Anniston/Tuscaloosa television market. Major television affiliates, most of whom have their transmitters and studios located at Red Mountain in Birmingham, are WBRC 6 (Fox), WBIQ 10 (PBS), WVTM 13 (NBC), WTTO 21 (CW), WIAT 42 (CBS) , WPXH 44 (ION), WBMA-LD 58/68.2 (ABC) and WABM 68 (MyNetworkTV).
NOAA weather station, KIH54, broadcasts weather and danger information for the Birmingham Metropolitan Area.
The major broadcasting companies that have stations in the Birmingham market include IHeartMedia, SummitMedia, Cumulus Media, and Crawford Broadcasting. The Rick and Bubba Show , which is syndicated to over 25 stations mainly in Southeast, is from Birmingham's WZZK-FM. The sporting performances of Paul Finebaum, also syndicated and performed nationally on Sirius digital radio, are from WJOX.
Birmingham is home to the EWTN (Eternal Word Television Network), the world's largest Catholic media outlet and the largest religious network of any kind, broadcasting to around 150 million homes worldwide in 2009.
City planning
Before the first structure was built in Birmingham, the city plan was laid out over 1,160 acres (4.7 km 2 ) by the director of Elyton Land Co. The streets are numbered from west to east, leaving 20th Street to form the center of the city center, anchored to the north by Capital Park and stretching to the slopes of Mount Merah in the south. A "train reservation" is provided through the center of the city, flowing from east to west and categorized solely for industrial purposes. As the city grew, bridges and underground streets separated the streets from railway beds, lending this central part some impact of the river (without the pleasant association of the seaside). From the beginning, Birmingham's roads and streets are very wide at 80 to 100 feet (24 to 30 m), supposedly to help evacuate unhealthy fumes.
At the beginning of the 20th century, professional planners helped put many new industrial settlements and corporate towns in the Birmingham District, including Corey (now Fairfield), developed for Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company (later purchased by US Steel). At the same time, a movement to consolidate some neighboring cities gained momentum. Although the local referendum shows mixed feelings about annexation, the Alabama legislature imposed the expansion of the boundaries of the Birmingham company which became effective on January 1, 1910.
Robert Jemison Company develops many residential neighborhoods in South and West Birmingham that are still renowned for their aesthetic qualities.
The 1924 plan for the park system, commissioned from Olmsted Brothers, sees renewed interest with some new parks and significant greenways in development. Birmingham officials have approved the Urban Center Master Plan developed by Urban Design Associates of Pittsburgh, which strongly supports the development of housing in downtown areas. The plan also called for a large park within a few blocks of the central railway reservation: Railroad Park, which opened in 2010. Together with Ruffner Mountain Park and Red Mountain Park, Birmingham ranks first in the United States for green public spaces per inhabitant.
Infrastructure
Transportation
The city of Birmingham has a higher percentage of households than the average without a car. By 2015, 15.8 percent of Birmingham's households do not own cars, and drop to 12.3 percent by 2016. The national average is 8.7 percent by 2016. Birmingham averages 1.48 cars per household in 2016, compared with the national average of 1.8.
Highway
- I-20
- I-22
- I-59
- I-65
- I-222 (proposed connectors between I-22 and I-422; direct exchange can not be built due to topography)
- I-422 (suggested North Bypass)
- I-459 (Southern Bypass)
The city is served by four Interstate Highways: Interstate 20, Interstate 65, Interstate 59, and Interstate 22, as well as bypass the Interstate 459 Interstate highway, which connects with I-20/59 to the southwest, with I-65 to south, I- 20 to the east, and I-59 to the northeast. Starting in downtown Birmingham is the Elton B. Stephens Expressway - "Red Mountain Expressway" to the southeast - which brings the US Highway 31 and US Highway 280 to, through, and through Red Mountain. Interstate 22 connects I-65 and Memphis, Tennessee. Construction has begun in the first segment of I-422, the North Highway Beltline that will serve the suburbs on the opposite side of Birmingham from I-459.
Public transport
In the field of metropolitan public transport, Birmingham is served by Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority (BJCTA) buses, trolleys and paratransit systems, from 1985 to 2008 branded Metro Area Express (MAX). BJCTA also operates a "downtown circulator" service called "DART" for the Transit Transit Downtown Area, which consists of two routes in the central business district and one in the UAB area, and also operates the Airport Shuttle every hour directly from the city center and UAB area. to the airport. Bus services to other cities are provided by the Greyhound Lines. Megabus offers bus services to Atlanta and Memphis.
Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport, 4 miles (6 km) northeast of the city center, serves over 3 million passengers each year. With over 160 daily flights, the airport offers flights to 37 cities provided by United Express, Delta Air Lines/Delta Connection, American Eagle and Southwest Airlines.
Birmingham is served by three major railway lines: Norfolk Southern Company, CSX Transportation, and BNSF Railway, along with smaller regional railways, the Alabama Warrior Railway and the Birmingham Southern Railroad. Amtrak operates a passenger car, Crescent , every day.
Utility
Water for Birmingham and mid-urban areas is served by the Birmingham Water Works Board (BWWB). Public authority established in 1951, BWWB serves all areas of Jefferson, north Shelby, and west St. Clair. The largest reservoir for BWWB is Purdy Lake, located in the Jefferson and Shelby County lines, but has several other reservoirs including Bayview Lake in west Jefferson County. There are plans to channel water from Inland Lake in Blount County and Lake Logan Martin, but the plan is being held indefinitely.
Jefferson County Environmental Services serves the Birmingham metro area with sanitary sewerage services. Sewer tariffs have increased in recent years after citizens are concerned about pollution in regional waters filed a lawsuit that resulted in a federal approval decision to improve the aging sewer system. Since the approximate cost of the approval decision is approximately three times more than the initial estimate, many blame tariff increases on corruption of some Jefferson County officials. Construction of sewer and bond exchange agreements continues to be a controversial topic in the area.
Electric power is provided primarily by Alabama Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company. However, some of the surrounding areas such as Bessemer and Cullman are provided by TVA. Bessemer also operates its own water and sewage system. Natural gas is provided by Alagasco, although some cities in the metro area operate their own natural gas services. Local telecommunications is provided by AT & amp; T. Cable television services are provided by Bright House Networks in Birmingham and Irondale cities, and the Communication Charter throughout the metro area.
Famous people
Twin Cities
The Birmingham City Sisters Program is overseen by the Birmingham City Sister Commission.
See also
Note
References
Further reading
- Arrington, Richard. There's Hope for the World: Memoir Birmingham, Alabama's First African American Mayor, University of Alabama Press, 2008. ISBNÃ, 978-0-8173-1623-5
- Berney (1878), "Birmingham", Alabama Handbook , Mobile: Print Mobile Stand Source of the article : Wikipedia
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