{"id":68281,"date":"2025-02-04T18:45:19","date_gmt":"2025-02-04T18:45:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/alabama\/birminghams-next-big-idea-comebacktown\/"},"modified":"2025-02-04T18:45:19","modified_gmt":"2025-02-04T18:45:19","slug":"birminghams-next-big-idea-comebacktown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=68281","title":{"rendered":"Birmingham\u2019s next big idea | ComebackTown"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n
\"Birmingham<\/a>
Birmingham from Railroad Park<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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

You probably won\u2019t appreciate what I\u2019m going to say unless you lived in Birmingham before 2010.<\/p>\n

Prior to 2010, Birmingham had literally given up.<\/p>\n

Nothing seemed to work and we were wrapped in a never-ending downward spiral.<\/p>\n

Then POOF\u2014Railroad Park.<\/p>\n

In 2010, after 25 years of agonizing paralysis and false starts, Rail Road Park<\/a><\/u><\/strong><\/span> opened in downtown Birmingham.<\/p>\n

Now instead of four squalid, tumble-weedy, empty blocks downtown, we now have Railroad Park, Regions Field, the Rotary Trail, Red Mountain Theatre, and blocks and blocks of apartments, bars, and restaurants.<\/p>\n

Railroad Park was a crazy idea and a huge risk.<\/p>\n

Many people thought an urban park was foolish and would never happen.<\/p>\n

Some folks warned it would be dangerous\u2014\u201cWho in their right mind would bring their kids to an urban park?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Others thought it was preposterous to build a lake in the middle of downtown.<\/p>\n

Then there were the contentious, never-ending negotiations with the railroads.<\/p>\n

Nope, this was an unrealistic, unworkable project.<\/p>\n

Well, surprise! Surprise!<\/p>\n

Railroad Park grabbed us by the neck, woke us up, and thrust us into uncharted waters.<\/p>\n

Railroad Park proved that with courageous leadership willing to take a calculated risk, we could take a giant leap forward.<\/p>\n

Time for Birmingham next big idea\u2013only bigger<\/strong><\/p>\n

Railroad Park is 15 years old.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s time for our next life-changing event.<\/p>\n

I strongly feel our next seminal attraction should be a major tourist attraction, but one that can also serve our community.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re not likely to attract a theme park the scale of Six Flags or build an aquarium able to compete with the $250 million Georgia Aquarium.<\/p>\n

We must find a one-of-a-kind attraction unique to Birmingham that no other city can replicate.<\/p>\n

One possibility is Bryson Stephens\u2019 idea to build a\u00a0lighted pedestrian trail<\/strong> <\/span><\/a>along the Red Mountain Cut.<\/p>\n

Another gangbuster attraction could be a gondola ride down the mountain from Vulcan.<\/p>\n

How about a unique state-of-the-art Civil Rights attraction that could draw visitors from around the world?\u00a0 Tourists are flocking to Montgomery for their Civil Rights attractions<\/strong><\/span><\/a>. The combination of the existing Birmingham and Montgomery sites would be a powerful draw.<\/p>\n

Birmingham-Hoover is the 47th most populated metropolitan area in the U.S, and yet, we we\u2019re one of only a few major metros that doesn\u2019t have a major sport franchise<\/strong><\/span><\/a>. Major sports would give us a huge\u00a0 boost and increase our visibility.<\/p>\n

Some folks are opposed to spending money on any kind of tourist attraction<\/strong><\/p>\n

When ComebackTown published a follow up column<\/strong><\/span><\/a> promoting the Red Mountain Cut, I was shocked that some people thought it a waste of money to spend money on a tourist attraction at the expense of what they see as Birmingham\u2019s shortcomings.<\/p>\n

Commenters wrote, \u201cCities should not spend for tourists. Invest in improving life for residents.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cAnother shiny thing that Birmingham can\u2019t afford.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to make our schools better, cut crime, and expand public transportation.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

But if we wait to invest in those things that make Birmingham attractive and livable until we solve all our problems, we will not want to live here and surely no one will want to visit.<\/p>\n

Tourists pay taxes<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the ComebackTown column, What we give up by living in Alabama, ask Nick Saban<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, I griped that we in Alabama are required to pay state income taxes and sales taxes on groceries while Florida residents are exempt.<\/p>\n

Commenters responded that Florida has a huge tourist industry and people from out-of-state pay a lot of taxes, thus cutting taxes for local residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can only tax your own people to a certain degree, but showing off your best assets to drive revenue from visitors is a great supplement and residents win too, with new recreation, education, entertainment or natural spaces.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cCivic investment aimed at tourist dollars is a great way to amplify local tax dollars to further benefit local residents.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

To quote Larry Page, former CEO of Google, \u201cGood ideas are always crazy until they\u2019re not.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

What big idea do you have?<\/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 37 times, 37 visits today)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Birmingham from Railroad Park By David Sher You probably won\u2019t appreciate what I\u2019m going to say unless you lived in Birmingham before 2010. Prior to 2010, Birmingham had literally given up. Nothing seemed to work and we were wrapped in a never-ending downward spiral. Then POOF\u2014Railroad Park. In 2010, after 25 years of agonizing paralysis […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":68282,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11763],"tags":[1022,28782,36298,341],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-68281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alabama","tag-big","tag-birminghams","tag-comebacktown","tag-idea"],"yoast_head":"\nBirmingham\u2019s next big idea | ComebackTown - 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=68281\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Birmingham\u2019s next big idea | ComebackTown - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Birmingham from Railroad Park By David Sher You probably won\u2019t appreciate what I\u2019m going to say unless you lived in Birmingham before 2010. 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