{"id":226699,"date":"2025-05-06T12:17:19","date_gmt":"2025-05-06T12:17:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/alabama\/is-it-time-for-birmingham-and-hoover-to-merge\/"},"modified":"2025-05-06T12:17:19","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T12:17:19","slug":"is-it-time-for-birmingham-and-hoover-to-merge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=226699","title":{"rendered":"Is it time for Birmingham and Hoover to merge?"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/a>By David Sher<\/em><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t set your hair on fire!<\/p>\n

Birmingham and Hoover are not going to merge any time soon.<\/p>\n

But let\u2019s suspend judgement for the sake of this article and consider the substantial potential advantages.<\/span><\/p>\n

Combining Birmingham and Hoover may be the simplest step towards\u00a0 some kind of regional consolidation, but the chance of this happening is somewhere near zero.<\/p>\n

I live in Vestavia Hills and I likely wouldn\u2019t vote for a merger with Birmingham, so asking my neighbors in Hoover to do so would be hypocritical.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve been diddling around for decades talking about regionalism and very little has changed.<\/p>\n

But how to do it?<\/p>\n

Jeffrey Bayer, a well-respected real estate entrepreneur, suggested in a ComebackTown column that we combine unincorporated Jefferson County with Birmingham<\/strong><\/span>. This is still a logical solution, but faces its own set of challenges.<\/p>\n

Some folks have proposed we combine the over-the-mountain communities.<\/p>\n

But much of the discussion has been around merging our 35 Jefferson County municipalities into One Great City<\/strong><\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Getting 35 cities to agree on anything is a daunting task.<\/p>\n

I hope you can feel my frustration.<\/p>\n

Particularly since the option of merging Birmingham and Hoover, the two largest cities in Jefferson County, would completely change the dynamics of our Birmingham region.<\/p>\n

Birmingham-Hoover would immediately become the largest city in Alabama<\/strong><\/p>\n

Combining Birmingham and Hoover would create a city with nearly 300,000 residents, dwarfing Huntsville as Alabama\u2019s largest city.<\/p>\n

This larger population would boost our region\u2019s national reputation, make it easier to coordinate large projects, give us greater statewide political influence, and attract more businesses and cultural opportunities.<\/p>\n

Fragmentation in the Birmingham metro area has hindered job growth and we\u2019ve lost many of our children and grandchildren to career opportunities elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Research shows that unified metropolitan areas<\/a><\/strong> <\/span>often experience faster job growth and greater prosperity compared to fragmented ones. For example, cities like Louisville and Nashville saw significant economic benefits after consolidation, including streamlined government operations and improved business recruitment.<\/p>\n

If designed well, the merger could create a stronger, more inclusive regional identity that leverages both cities\u2019 strengths\u2014Birmingham\u2019s cultural and institutional core and Hoover\u2019s affluent residential and commercial base. If successful, this might encourage other cities to join.<\/p>\n

Big win for both Hoover & Birmingham<\/strong><\/p>\n

When the owners of the Birmingham Barons made the decision to move to downtown, many people expected the worse.<\/p>\n

\u201cHoover will be stripped of Southern League baseball and Hoover Stadium will be abandoned.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cNo family would risk bringing their children downtown and the Barons will fail.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The opposite happened.<\/p>\n

The Hoover Met Complex<\/strong><\/span><\/a> has been wildly successful. My family spends way more time at the Hoover Met Complex now than we did when the Barons played there.<\/p>\n

And Regions Field<\/strong><\/a><\/span> has been a winner from day one. The Barons began breaking Southern League attendance records the first year.<\/p>\n

All it took was a few community and political leaders from both cities to sit down like adults and plan for the best outcome.<\/p>\n

Merging likely unpopular<\/strong><\/p>\n

Of course, there are endless reasons why folks would hate the idea.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s human nature to focus on the negative and not consider the possibilities.<\/p>\n

One obvious objection would be that the two cities aren\u2019t contiguous to one another.<\/p>\n

But there is a precedent.<\/p>\n

Hoover\u2019s neighbor, Vestavia Hills, annexed Liberty Park when the two cities weren\u2019t adjacent. They didn\u2019t become contiguous until Vestavia Hills annexed Cahaba Heights.<\/p>\n

Why this might be a good time to consider<\/strong><\/p>\n

No need to combine school systems. When Indianapolis, Indiana merged into one county-city, the school systems remained independent.<\/p>\n

Why bring up an idea that is not likely to happen? <\/strong><\/p>\n

As Larry Page, former CEO of Facebook, proclaimed, \u201cGood ideas are always crazy until they\u2019re not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Our Birmingham region is never going to progress unless we consider improbable ideas.<\/p>\n

Most people thought Railroad Park was farfetched.<\/p>\n

Moving the Birmingham Barons to Regions Field downtown was considered preposterous.<\/p>\n

Building the Uptown Entertainment district north of downtown was thought to be insane.<\/p>\n

Some folks today think it\u2019s crazy to build a world class 9,300 seat amphitheater in North Birmingham. Bet they are wrong.<\/p>\n

Every one of these projects was considered unrealistic, but happened or is happening anyway.<\/p>\n

So why am I proposing Birmingham and Hoover merge when I know it isn\u2019t likely to happen.<\/p>\n

Because improbable and surprising things continue to happen in Birmingham.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know which ones will come to fruition\u2013and neither do you.<\/p>\n

David Sher is the founder and publisher of\u00a0ComebackTown<\/strong><\/a><\/span>.\u00a0 He\u2019s past Chairman of the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce (BBA), Operation New Birmingham (REV Birmingham), and the City Action Partnership (CAP).<\/em><\/p>\n

Click\u00a0here\u00a0to sign up for our newsletter.<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Invite David to speak for free to your group about how we can have a more prosperous metro Birmingham. dsher@comebacktown.com<\/p>\n

(Visited 34 times, 34 visits today)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By David Sher Don\u2019t set your hair on fire! Birmingham and Hoover are not going to merge any time soon. But let\u2019s suspend judgement for the sake of this article and consider the substantial potential advantages. Combining Birmingham and Hoover may be the simplest step towards\u00a0 some kind of regional consolidation, but the chance of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":226700,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11763],"tags":[13518,8646,28476,1231],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-226699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alabama","tag-birmingham","tag-hoover","tag-merge","tag-time"],"yoast_head":"\nIs it time for Birmingham and Hoover to merge? - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=226699\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is it time for Birmingham and Hoover to merge? - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By David Sher Don\u2019t set your hair on fire! Birmingham and Hoover are not going to merge any time soon. But let\u2019s suspend judgement for the sake of this article and consider the substantial potential advantages. Combining Birmingham and Hoover may be the simplest step towards\u00a0 some kind of regional consolidation, but the chance of […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=226699\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-06T12:17:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Hoover-City-Hall-1024x768.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=226699#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=226699\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\"},\"headline\":\"Is it time for Birmingham and Hoover to merge?\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-06T12:17:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=226699\"},\"wordCount\":830,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=226699#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Hoover-City-Hall-1024x768.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Birmingham\",\"Hoover\",\"Merge\",\"Time\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Alabama\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=226699#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=226699\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=226699\",\"name\":\"Is it time for Birmingham and Hoover to merge? - Som2ny Network\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=226699#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=226699#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Hoover-City-Hall-1024x768.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-06T12:17:19+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=226699#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=226699\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=226699#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Hoover-City-Hall-1024x768.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Hoover-City-Hall-1024x768.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":768},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=226699#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Is it time for Birmingham and Hoover to merge?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"description\":\"Daily Deals\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":86,\"caption\":\"Som2ny Network\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Is it time for Birmingham and Hoover to merge? - Som2ny Network","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=226699","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Is it time for Birmingham and Hoover to merge? - Som2ny Network","og_description":"By David Sher Don\u2019t set your hair on fire! Birmingham and Hoover are not going to merge any time soon. But let\u2019s suspend judgement for the sake of this article and consider the substantial potential advantages. Combining Birmingham and Hoover may be the simplest step towards\u00a0 some kind of regional consolidation, but the chance of […]","og_url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=226699","og_site_name":"Som2ny Network","article_published_time":"2025-05-06T12:17:19+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":768,"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Hoover-City-Hall-1024x768.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=226699#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=226699"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371"},"headline":"Is it time for Birmingham and Hoover to merge?","datePublished":"2025-05-06T12:17:19+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=226699"},"wordCount":830,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=226699#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Hoover-City-Hall-1024x768.jpg","keywords":["Birmingham","Hoover","Merge","Time"],"articleSection":["Alabama"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=226699#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=226699","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=226699","name":"Is it time for Birmingham and Hoover to merge? - Som2ny Network","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=226699#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=226699#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Hoover-City-Hall-1024x768.jpg","datePublished":"2025-05-06T12:17:19+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=226699#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=226699"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=226699#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Hoover-City-Hall-1024x768.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Hoover-City-Hall-1024x768.jpg","width":1024,"height":768},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=226699#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Is it time for Birmingham and Hoover to merge?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","name":"Som2ny Network","description":"Daily Deals","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization","name":"Som2ny Network","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","width":300,"height":86,"caption":"Som2ny Network"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/fivemor.com"],"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=226699"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226699\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/226700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=226699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=226699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=226699"},{"taxonomy":"dealstore","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fdealstore&post=226699"},{"taxonomy":"offerexpiration","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fofferexpiration&post=226699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}