Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham, Alabama
Flag Official seal of Birmingham, Alabama Seal
Nickname(s):  "The Magic City", "Pittsburgh of the South", "B'Ham", "The Ham"
Location in Jefferson County in the state of Alabama
Country	United States
State	Alabama
County	Jefferson, Shelby
Government
• Mayor	Bernard Kincaid (D)
Population  (2005)
• City	231,483
• Metro	1,170,012
Time zone	UTC-6 (CST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
Website	http://www.informationbirmingham.com/

Birmingham (ˈbɝmɪŋˌhæm) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alabama and is the county seat of Jefferson County. The population of the city proper is 242,820 (2000 U.S. census), and declined to 231,483 according to the 2005 estimate. [1] It also serves as the primary nucleus for a sprawling urbanization known as Greater Birmingham with 1,170,012 inhabitants constituting roughly one quarter of the state of Alabama's entire population. Birmingham was founded in 1871, just after the U. S. Civil War, as an industrial enterprise. It was named after Birmingham, the major industrial city of England. Home to a significant but rigorously segregated African American middle class, Birmingham was one of the battlegrounds of the American Civil Rights Movement throughout the 1960s.

Today, Birmingham ranks as one of the most important business centers in the Southeastern United States and is also one of the largest banking centers in the U.S. In addition, the Birmingham area serves as headquarters to two Fortune 500 companies: Regions Financial and Saks Incorporated. Birmingham has been recognized as the South's top city for income growth and among the top ten nationally over the last 20 years. [2]

Through the middle of the 20th century, Birmingham was the primary industrial center of the Southern United States. The astonishing pace of Birmingham's growth through the turn of the century, earned it the nicknames "The Magic City" and "The Pittsburgh of the South". Birmingham's major industries centered around iron and steel production. Over the course of the 20th century, while industry declined nationwide, the city's economy diversified. Though manufacturing is still a strong sector, Birmingham has also become a major medical research center and a regional banking and publishing power. In recent years, biotechnology and information technology have begun to grow rapidly to complement other sectors of Birmingham's economy. In recent years Birmingham has been named by various groups as one of the best U.S. cities in which to live.[3]

History

File:Bham al pan 1916.jpg

Panorama of Birmingham, Alabama c.1916

Birmingham was founded on June 1, 1871 by real estate promoters who sold lots near the planned crossing of the Alabama & Chattanooga and South & North railroads. The site of the railroad crossing was notable for the nearby deposits of iron ore, coal, and limestone - the three principal raw materials used in making steel. Birmingham is the only place worldwide where significant amounts of all three minerals can be found in close proximity. From the start the new city was planned as a great center of industry. The founders borrowed the name of Birmingham, England's principal industrial city, to advertise that point. Birmingham got off to a slow start: the city was impeded by an outbreak of cholera and a Wall Street crash in 1873. But soon afterward the city began growing rapidly.

The turn of the century brought the stupendous growth that gave Birmingham the nickname "The Magic City" as the downtown area rapidly developed from a low-rise commercial and residential district into a busy grid of neoclassical skyscrapers and busy streetcar lines. Between 1902 and 1912 four large office towers were constructed at the intersection of 20th Street, the central north-south spine of the city, and 1st Avenue North, which connected the warehouses and industrial facilities stretching along the east-west railroad corridor. This impressive group of early skyscrapers were nicknamed "The Heaviest Corner on Earth".

The Great Depression hit Birmingham especially hard as sources of capital that were fueling the city's growth rapidly dried up at the same time that farm laborers, driven off the land, made their way to the city in search of work. New Deal programs made important contributions to the city's infrastructure and artistic legacy, including such key improvements as Vulcan's tower and Oak Mountain State Park.

The wartime demand for steel and the post-war building boom gave Birmingham a rapid return to prosperity. Manufacturing diversified beyond the production of raw materials and several major cultural institutions, such as the Birmingham Museum of Art were able to expand their scope.

In the 1950s and '60s Birmingham received national and international attention as a center of the civil rights struggle for African-Americans. The city was given the derisive nickname Bombingham because of a string of racially motivated bombings that took place during this time. A watershed in the civil rights movement occurred in 1963 when Martin Luther King, Jr., imprisoned for having taken part in a nonviolent protest, wrote the now famous Letter from Birmingham Jail, a defining treatise in his cause against segregation. Birmingham is also known for a bombing which occurred later that year. Four black girls were killed by a bomb planted at the 16th Street Baptist Church.

In the 1970s urban renewal efforts focused around the development of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, which developed into a major medical and research center. In 1971 Birmingham celebrated its centennial with a round of public works improvements, including the upgrading of Vulcan Park. Birmingham's banking institutions enjoyed considerable growth as well and new skyscrapers started to appear in the city center for the first time since the 1920s. These projects helped the city's economy to diversify, but did not prevent the exodus of many of the city's residents to independent suburbs. In 1979 Birmingham elected Dr. Richard Arrington Jr. as its first African-American mayor.

Following the same pattern as many other American cities, the population inside Birmingham's city limits has fallen over the past few decades. From 340,887 in 1960, the population was down to 242,820 in 2000, a loss of about 29 percent. However, the growth of Birmingham's suburbs over that same period has kept the metropolitan population growing. Over the course of the 20th century, while industry declined nationwide, banking, law, medicine, research and publishing emerged as Birmingham's new economic engines.

Today, Birmingham has begun to experience a bit of a rebirth. Currently there are hundreds of millions of dollars being invested in reconstructing the downtown area into a 24-hour mixed-use district. The market for downtown lofts and condominiums has mushroomed while restaurant, retail and cultural options are beginning to sprout up.

Geography and climate

Geography

Birmingham is located at 33°31′29″N 86°48′46″W (33.524755, -86.812740)Template:GR.

Cahaba River National Wildlife Refuge

Birmingham occupies Jones Valley, flanked by long parallel mountain ridges (the tailing ends of the Appalachian foothills) running from north-east to south-west. The valley is drained by small creeks (Village Creek, Valley Creek) which flow into the Black Warrior River. More importantly, the valley was bisected by the principal railroad corridor, along which most of the early manufacturing operations began.

Red Mountain lies immediately south of downtown. Many of Birmingham's television and radio broadcast towers are lined up along this prominent ridge. The "Over the Mountain" area, including Shades Valley, Shades Mountain and beyond, was largely shielded from the industrial smoke and rough streets of the industrial city. This is the setting for Birmingham's more affluent suburbs of Mountain Brook, Vestavia Hills, Homewood, and Hoover. South of Shades Valley is the Cahaba River basin, one of the most diverse river ecosystems in America.

Sand Mountain, a smaller ridge, flanks the city to the north and divides Jones Valley from much more rugged land to the north. The Louisville and Nashville Railroad (now CSX Transportation) enters the valley through Boyles Gap, a prominent gap in the long low ridge.

Ruffner Mountain, located due east of the heart of the city, is home to Ruffner Mountain Nature Center, one of the largest urban nature reserves in the United States.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 393.5 km² (151.9 mi²). 388.3 km² (149.9 mi²) of it is land and 5.3 km² (2.0 mi²) of it (1.34%) is water.

Climate

Birmingham has a temperate climate characterized by warm summers, mild winters, and abundant rainfall. Birmingham has slightly less rainfall than the Gulf Coast and is slightly cooler. January sees average daily high temperatures of 53.0 °F (11.7 °C) and lows of 31.8 °F (−0.1 °C). In July the average daily high is 90.6 °F (32.6 °C) and the low is 69.2 °F (20.7 °C). The average annual temperature in Birmingham is 62 °F (17 °C). Snowfall is infrequent in the area, with a yearly average of only 0.5 inches (1 cm) but during the Great Blizzard of 1993, the city received over a foot (30CM) of snow. The average yearly rainfall in Birmingham is about 52 inches (1330 mm), with March being the wettest month and October the driest.

The spring and fall months are pleasant but variable, but cold fronts frequently bring strong to severe thunderstorms and occasional tornadoes to the region. The fall season features less rainfall and fewer storms, as well as lower humidity than the spring, but it is also a secondary severe weather season. Birmingham is located on the heart of a tornado alley known as the Dixie Alley due to the frequency of tornadoes in Central Alabama. The Greater Birmingham area was hit by two F5 tornadoes - in 1977 and 1998 occurring on its western (1998)and northern suburbs (1977). In late summer and fall months, Birmingham experiences occasional tropical storms and hurricanes due to its proximity to the Central Gulf Coast.

Government

Birmingham has a strong-mayor variant mayor-council form of government, lead by a mayor and a nine-member city council. The current system replaced the previous city commission government in 1962 (primarily as a way to remove Commissioner of Public Safety Eugene "Bull" Connor from power).

By Alabama law, an issue before a city council must be approved by a two-thirds majority vote (Act No. 452, Ala. Acts 1955, as supplemented by Act No. 294, Ala. Acts 1965.). Executive powers are held entirely by the mayor's office. The current mayor of Birmingham is Bernard Kincaid, who was voted into office in 1999.

Current City Council Membership

District	Representative	Position
1	Joel Montgomery	Councilor
2	Carol Reynolds	Councilor
3	Valerie A. Abbott	Councilor
4	Maxine Parker	Councilor
5	William A. Bell	Councilor
6	Carole Smitherman	Councilor and President
7	Miriam Witherspoon	Councilor and President Pro-Tem
8	Steven Hoyt	Councilor
9	Roderick Royal	Councilor

See also: List of Mayors of Birmingham, Alabama

Economy

In the 1970s and 1980s, Birmingham's economy was transformed with investments in bio-technology and medical research at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and its adjacent hospital. The UAB Hospital is the only Level I trauma center in the entire 4-state area providing healthcare and breakthrough medical research. UAB is now the area's largest employer and the largest in Alabama with a workforce of about 20,000. Birmingham is also a leading banking center, serving as home to three major banking companies: Regions Financial Corporation, AmSouth Bancorporation, and Compass Bancshares. SouthTrust, another large bank headquartered in Birmingham, was acquired by Wachovia in 2004. In May 2006, Regions announced it would merge with AmSouth Bancorporation, forming the 8th Largest U. S. Bank (by total assets). More than half a dozen smaller banks are also headquartered in the Magic City. Telecommunications provider BellSouth has a major presence with several large offices in the metropolitan area. The city is also a powerhouse of construction and engineering companies. It started with Rust Engineering International and has grown to many other construction and engineering companies such as BE&K, Brasfield & Gorrie(largest in the state), BL Harbert International, and Dunn Construction, all of which are among the top engineering and construction companies in the world.

Metropolitan Birmingham has consistently been rated as one of America's best places to work and earn a living based on the area's competitive salary rates and relatively low living expenses. One 2006 study by experts at Salary.com determined that Birmingham was 2nd in the nation for building personal net worth based on local salary rates, living expenses, and unemployment rates. [4]

Another 2006 study by Bizjournals.com calculated Birmingham's "combined personal income" (the sum of all money earned by all residents of an area in a year) at $48.1 Billion. [5]

See also: List of Corporations Based or Major Presence in Birmingham

Infrastructure

Education

The city of Birmingham is served by the Birmingham City Schools system. It is run by the Birmingham Board of Education with a current active enrollment of 30,500 in 67 schools: 11 high schools, 13 middle schools, 34 elementary schools, and 9 K-8 secondary schools.

The Birmingham Public Library with 21 branches serves the entire community to provide education and entertainment for all ages.

The Greater-Birmingham metropolitan area is home to numerous independent primary school systems. The area's largest are the Jefferson County, Birmingham City, and Shelby County school systems.

The Birmingham area is home to some of America's best schools. In 2005, the Jefferson County International Baccalaureate School in Irondale, an eastern suburb of Birmingham, was rated as the #1 high school in America by Newsweek, a national publication. Mountain Brook High School placed 250 on the list. Other local schools that have been rated among America's best in various publications include Vestavia Hills High School and the Alabama School of Fine Arts located downtown. The Magic City also has two highly regarded prep schools: The Altamont School and Indian Springs School.

File:UAB blaze.jpg

Institutions of higher education

• University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)
• Samford University (includes the Cumberland School of Law)
• Birmingham-Southern College
• University of Montevallo
• Birmingham School of Law
• Miles College
• Lawson State Community College
• Jefferson State Community College
• Bessemer State Technical College
• Herzing College
• Faulkner University
• Southeastern Bible College
• ITT Technical Institute
• Virginia College of Birmingham (includes Culinard)
• Andrew Jackson University

Planning

Before the first structure was built in Birmingham, the plan of the city was laid out over a total of 1,160 acres (4.7 km²) by the directors of the Elyton Land Co. The streets were numbered from west to east, leaving Twentieth Street to form the central spine of downtown, anchored on the north by Capital Park and stretching into the slopes of Red Mountain to the south. A "railroad reservation" was granted through the center of the city, running east to west and zoned solely for industrial uses. As the city grew, bridges and underpasses separated the streets from the railroad bed, lending this central reservation some of the impact of a river (without the pleasant associations of a waterfront). From the start, Birmingham's streets and avenues were unusually wide at 80 to 100 feet (24 to 30 m), purportedly to help evacuate unhealthy smoke.

In the early 20th century professional planners helped lay out many of the new industrial settlements and company towns in the Birmingham District, including Corey (now Fairfield) which was developed for the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company (subsequently purchased by U. S. Steel). At the same time, a movement to consolidate several neighboring cities gained momentum. Although local referendums indicated mixed feelings about annexation, the Alabama legislature enacted an expansion of Birmingham's corporate limits that became effective on January 1, 1910.

The Robert Jemison company developed many residential neighborhoods to the south and west of Birmingham which are still renowned for their aesthetic quality.

Early plans for a system of parks and greenways in Birmingham centered around a network of parks and greenways are just now coming to fruition with significant new urban parks under development. Birmingham officials in November 2004 were reviewing a City Center Master Plan developed by Urban Design Associates of Pittsburgh, which advocates strongly for more residential development in the downtown area and includes a major park over several blocks of the central railroad reservation to be called the Railroad Reservation Park. Along with Red Mountain Park, Vulcan Park, and Ruffner Mountain Park, Birmingham now has more public green space per resident than any city of America.

See also: List of Birmingham neighborhoods

Notable buildings

Tallest buildings

Name	Stories	Height
Wachovia Tower	34	454 ft (138 m)
AmSouth-Harbert Plaza	32	437 ft (133 m)
BellSouth City Center	30	390 ft (119 m)
AmSouth Center	30	390 ft (119 m)
City Federal	27	325 ft (99 m)
Cabana Hotel	20	287 ft (87 m)
John Hand Building	20	284 ft (87 m)
Daniel Building	20	283 ft (86 m)

Transportation

Birmingham has one of the most extensive networks of highways and roadways in the Southeast. Birmingham is served by three Interstate Highways, Interstate 20, Interstate 65, and Interstate 59, as well as a southern beltway Interstate 459 and the Elton B. Stephens (Red Mountain) Expressway (U.S. Highway 31 & U.S. Highway 280). There have been some recent developments with the regional interstate system, including the construction of Corridor X (Future Interstate 22), and the planned future construction of a Northern Beltline corresponding to the existing Interstate 459. Birmingham is served by the Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority through the Metro Area Express (MAX) bus system.

File:Birmingham Airport.PNG

Plane departs Birmingham International Airport

Birmingham is served by Birmingham International Airport (there is another airport of the same name in Birmingham, England) which serves more than 3 million passengers every year. With more than 160 flights daily, the Birmingham International Airport offers flights to 37 cities across the United States.

Amtrak's Crescent train connects Birmingham with the cities of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Charlotte, Atlanta and New Orleans. The Amtrak station is situated at 1819 Morris Avenue.

Utilities

The water services for Birmingham and the intermediate urbanized area is served by the Birmingham Water Works Authority (BWWB). A public authority that was established in 1951, the BWWB serves all of Jefferson, northern Shelby, western St. Clair counties. The largest reservoir for BWWB is Lake Purdy, which is located on the Jefferson and Shelby County line, but has several other reservoirs including Bayview Lake in western Jefferson County. There are plans to pipeline water from Inland Lake in Blount County and Lake Logan Martin, but those plans are on hold indefinitely. Jefferson County Environmental Services serves the Birmingham metro area with sanitary sewer service. Due to government corruption in previous years, many neighborhoods in Birmingham have a relatively high sewage bill, that is higher than the cost of the water itself.

Electric power is provided primarily by Southern Company-subsidiary, Alabama Power. However, some of the surrounding area such as Bessemer and Cullman are provided by TVA. Natural gas is provided by Alagasco. The local telecommunications are provided by BellSouth.

People and culture

Demographics

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
1880	3,086	—
26,178	748.3%	—
1900	38,415	—
46.8%	1,910	−95.0%
132,685	245.4%	—
1920	178,806	—
34.8%	1,930	−98.9%
259,678	45.2%	—
1940	267,583	—
3%	1,950	−99.3%
326,037	21.9%	—
1960	340,887	—
4.6%	1,970	−99.4%
300,910	-11.6%	—
1980	284,413	—
-5.5%	1,990	−99.3%
265,968	-6.5%	—
2000	242,820	—
-8.7%		—

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 242,820 people, 98,782 households, and 59,269 families residing in the city. The population density was 625.4/km² (1,619.7/mi²). There were 111,927 housing units at an average density of 288.3/km² (746.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 73.46% Black or African American, 24.07% White, 0.17% Native American, 0.80% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.62% from other races, and 0.83% from two or more races. 1.55% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 98,782 households out of which 27.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 31.1% were married couples living together, 24.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.0% were non-families. 34.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 3.09.

In the city, the population is spread out, 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% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 85.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.4 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $26,735, and the median income for a family was $31,851. Males had a median income of $28,184 versus $23,641 for females. The city's per capita income is $15,663. About 20.9% of families and 24.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 35.4% of those under age 18 and 18.5% of those age 65 or over.

Crime

In 2005, the Morgan Quitno press ranked Birmingham as the seventh most dangerous city (of 208 surveyed) with a population of 100,000 to 499,999 and the tenth most dangerous of all 354 cities whose statistics were surveyed. [6] The majority of these crimes occur in outlying areas within the city limits. The crime rate in the downtown city center is very low, comparing favorably to affluent suburbs.[7]

In 2005, Birmingham recorded 105 homicides. (Compare with the record of 141 in 1994 and the recent low of 64 in 2004). Birmingham is seeing an increase in homicides in 2006, though the city's overall crime rate, including property crimes, has decreased by 1% according to the Birmingham Police Department's stastics. Perhaps this was due to the destruction of New Orleans, which increased the number of poor and homeless in Birmingham.

Culture

Birmingham is the cultural and entertainment capital of Alabama with its numerous art galleries in the area and home to Birmingham Museum of Art, the largest art museum in the state. Birmingham is also home to the state's major ballet, opera, and symphony orchestra companies such the Alabama Ballet, Alabama Symphony Orchestra, Birmingham Ballet, Birmingham Concert Chorale, Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival and Opera Birmingham.

Inside the Alabama Theatre in 1996

• The historic Alabama Theatre hosts film screenings, concerts and performances.
• The Alys Stephens Center for the Performing Arts is home to Alabama Symphony Orchestra and Opera Birmingham as well as several series of concerts and lectures. It is located on the UAB campus in the Southside community.
• The Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex (BJCC), houses a theater, concert hall, exhibition halls, and a sports and concert arena. The BJCC is home to the Alabama Ballet and hosts major concert tours and sporting events.

• The Birmingham Public Library presents programs for children and adults.
• Boutwell Auditorium (formerly Municipal Auditorium) is located at Linn Park.
• The Verizon Wireless Music Center, formerly Oak Mountain Amphitheater, is a large outdoor venue with two stages.

Other entertainment venues in the area include:

• Fair Park Arena, on the west side of town, hosts sporting events, local concerts and community programs.
• WorkPlay, located in Southside, is a multi-purpose facility with offices, audio and film production space, a lounge, and a theater and concert stage for visiting artists and film screenings.
• Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival, a celebration of new independent cinema in downtown Birmingham, was named one of TIME magazines "Film Festivals for the Rest of Us" in their June 5, 2006 issue.
• The Wright Center Concert Hall at Samford University is home to the Birmingham Ballet

Birmingham's nightlife is primarily clustered around Five Points South and Lakeview.

The Cultural Alliance of Greater Birmingham maintains activeculture.info, "a one-stop source for finding out what's going on where around" Birmingham.

See also: List of songs about Birmingham, Alabama

Attractions, events, and recreation

Birmingham is home to a variety of museums that ranges from those that depict the city's involvement in the Civil Rights Movement, science, fine arts, sports, steel industry, fight, and jazz. The area's largest is the Birmingham Museum of Art, which is also the largest municipal art museum in the Southeast. The museum is home to over 20,000+ artworks including the important collections of Wedgwood, the largest outside England, the premier collection of German decorative cast iron, and important collections of Asian and European decorative arts.

The area's history museums includes Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. The area was at the center of the American Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and the contemporary Human rights struggle around the world. It houses a detailed and emotionally-charged narrative exhibit putting Birmingham's history into the context of the movement. It is located on Kelly Ingram Park adjacent to the 16th Street Baptist Church. Other history museums includes Bessemer Hall of History, Sloss Furnaces, Alabama Museum of Health Sciences, and the Arlington Home.

Sloss Furnaces, Birmingham

Birmingham is also home to some of the most unique museums in the South. The McWane Science Center is a regional science museum with hands-on science exhibits, temporary exhibitions, and guided demonstrations. The building has a 42,000 square foot (3,900 m²) IMAX dome theater with science-related programming. The center also houses a major collection of fossil specimens for use by researchers. Other unique museums includes the Southern Museum of Flight and Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame. The Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum, located in The Barber Motorsports Park in the suburb of Leeds, has a collection of 1000 motorcycles, the largest in the world. The museum includes an extensive reference library and restoration workshop, as well as views over Barber Motorsport Park's 2.3-mile race course. The Alabama Sports Hall of Fame is located in the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex downtown, showcases the disproportional contribution of Alabamians to the world of athletics. The Talladega Superspeedway Motorsports Hall of Fame museum that depicts the history of motorsports across Alabama and the nation as a whole.

South of downtown upon Red Mountain, Vulcan statue and adjacent history center features the god Vulcan at his forge and Birmingham's history the cast iron industry. The statue is largest cast iron statue in the world which was first cast for the 1904 St. Louis Exposition, and displayed on top of in 1938.

Birmingham is home to numerous cultural festivals that features music, films, regional hertiage. City Stages is a world-renowned music festival that occurs around Birmingham's Linn Park on Father's Day weekend, that offers 3 days of music from all genres on 11 stages on Fathers' Day Weekend. Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival is considered the third largest film festival in the US behind Sundance and Tribeca. It brings filmmakers from all over the world to Birmingham to have their films viewed and judged. This festival usually occurs on the last weekend in September at eight venues around downtown, but is more concentrated around the Alabama Theatre. The Southern Heritage Festival is an event that began in the 1960s as a music, arts, and entertainment festival for the African-American community in Birmingham that targeted mostly younger demographics. Do Dah Day is an annual pet parade held around the end of April. The Schaeffer Eye Center Crawfish Boil, an annual music festival event held in May to benefit local charities, always includes an all-star cast of talent and typically draws more than 20,000 spectators for the two-day event.

On April 1st, 2006, Veterans Skate Park was opened to skateboarders in Birmingham and throughout the nation. Veterans Skate Park, located in nearby Alabaster, is a newly-constructed concrete skate park specifically designed with the skateboarder enthusiast in mind. As one of few such facilities in the south, the park has drawn considerable praise from skateboarders throughout the nation.

Kelly Ingram Park, site of notable civil rights protests and adjacent to historic 16th Street Baptist Church. Oak Mountain State Park is about 10 miles South of Birmingham. It is one of the southernmost wrinkles in the Appalachian chain, and a scenic drive to the top provides views reminiscent of the Great Smoky Mountains further north. The Birmingham Botanical Gardens is a 67-acre (270,000 m²) park displaying a wide variety of plants in interpretive gardens, including formal rose gardens, tropical greenhouses, and a large Japanese Garden. The facility also includes a white-tablecloth restaurant, meeting rooms, and an extensive reference library. It is complimented by Hoover's 30-acre Aldridge Gardens, an ambitious project open since 2002. Still under development, Aldridge is currently more valuable to locals looking for a place to stroll than to tourists, but promises unique displays in coming years. The Birmingham Zoo is a large regional zoo with more than 700 animals and a recently-opened interactive children's zoo. Alabama Adventure Theme Park (formerly Visionland) is an amusement park with two independent sections: Splash Beach Waterpark and Magic Adventure Theme Park,. The theme park has 25 different thrill rides including The Rampage wooden roller coaster and Zoomerang, a steel roller coaster purchased in 2004 from the Brisbane expo. (The park was renamed at the start of the 2006 season, and major expansion plans were announced at that time.)

The Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, a world-famous development of high-caliber public golf courses throughout Alabama, includes two championship courses and an 18-hole short course in Oxmoor Valley just south of Birmingham, and another championship course at the new Ross Bridge Golf Resort and Spa, just a couple of miles away from Oxmoor Valley. In 2006, Ross Bridge became host course of metro Birmingham's stop on the PGA Champions Tour golf tournament.

Recreational fishing is also immensely popular in the Birmingham area. Few regions can offer the quality and quantity of fishing as found throughout this region of Alabama. In fact, fish have been caught in 14 separate Alabama lakes which would be state records in 35 other states. Recently, Birmingham was named "Bass Capital of the World" by ESPN and Bassmaster Magazine. Over the last several years, Birmingham has been home to numerous nationally renowned fishing tournaments such as the Bass Masters Classic. Some of the more popular recreational lakes around Birmingham include: Smith Lake, Lay Lake, Lake Neely Henry, Lake Logan Martin, Lake Purdy, and Bankhead Reservoir.

Sports

File:UABLegionField.jpg

UAB's Legion Field

• Though Birmingham has no major professional sport franchises presently, there is a very strong fan base for collegiate sports - primarily the University of Alabama and Auburn University football teams. The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) has a popular basketball program and a young football program which is growing in popularity. Birmingham is home to the Birmingham Barons, the AA minor league affiliate of the Chicago White Sox that plays at the Hoover Metropolitan Stadium. The Hoover Metropolitan Stadium is also home to the Southeastern Conference Baseball Tournament which drew more than 108,000 spectators in 2006. The city also hosts the Birmingham Steeldogs of the Arena Football League 2 at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex. There is also an amateur soccer association, known as La Liga.
• The city is notable for having multiple pro football franchises with all of the football teams either having folded or relocated elsewhere. This included a WFL franchise, the Birmingham Americans/Birmingham Vulcans, a USFL franchise, the Birmingham Stallions, a WLAF franchise, the Birmingham Fire, a CFL franchise, the Birmingham Barracudas and an XFL franchise, the Birmingham Thunderbolts.
• In 1996 Birmingham's Legion Field hosted early rounds of Olympic soccer where it drew record crowds.
• Motorsports are very popular in the Birmingham area and across the state, and the area is home to numerous annual motorsport races. the Aaron's 499 & UAW Ford 500 are NASCAR Nextel Cup races that occur in April and October at the Talladega Superspeedway, and bring a major boost to the area's economy. Superbike and Sports Car Grand Am races also take place in the area at the Barber Motorsports Park. The Mercedes Marathon is a marathon, half marathon, and kids 1 mile road race that takes place on the 1st or 2nd Sunday in February that was started in 2002.
• Nearby Hoover is host to the Regions Charity Classic presented by Bruno's Supermarkets, a stop on the PGA Champions Tour senior golf tour, to be played starting in 2006 at the new Ross Bridge Golf Resort and Spa. This event was formerly known as the Bruno's Memorial Classic, played in nearby Hoover at the Greystone Golf & Country Club.
• The US Paralympic Training Facility is located in Birmingham [8] and was a primary filming location for the 2005 documentary film Murderball, about wheelchair rugby players.
• Recently, it was announced that Birmingham would once again be host to a college football bowl game. Having previously hosted bowl games for many years, Birmingham had been without a college football bowl game since 1990. In 2006, ESPN Regional announced a deal that would feature teams from Conference USA and the Big East playing one another in the Birmingham Bowl. The inaugural game is scheduled to be played on Saturday, December 23, 2006.

Minor League teams

Club Sport Founded League Venue Logo Birmingham Barons Baseball 1885 Southern League: South Division Hoover Metropolitan Stadium Birmingham Barons Logo Birmingham Magicians Basketball 2005 American Basketball Association: Blue Conference Fair Park Arena Birmingham Barons Logo Birmingham Steeldogs Arena Football 2000 AF2 Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Center Arena Toledo Storm Logo

Other area sport facilities include:

• Legion Field
• Rickwood Field
• Fair Park Arena
• Pelham Civic Center

Media

Birmingham is served by one daily newspaper, The Birmingham News (circulation 150,346). The Birmingham News' Wednesday edition features six subregional sections named East, Hoover, North, Shelby, South, and West that cover news stories from those areas. The Birmingham Post-Herald, the city's second daily, published its last issue in 2006. Other local publications include The North Jefferson News and The Hoover Gazette.

Birmingham Weekly, Birmingham Free Press and Black & White (published biweekly) are Birmingham's free alternative publications. The Birmingham Times, a historic African-American newspaper, also is published weekly.

Birmingham is part of the Birmingham/Anniston/Tuscaloosa television market, which is the nation's 40th largest. The major television affiliates are WBRC 6 (FOX), WBIQ 10 (PBS), WVTM 13 (NBC), WTTO 21 (CW), WBMA 33/40 (ABC), WIAT 42 (CBS), WPXH 44(i), and WABM 68.

Birmingham is home to EWTN, the world's largest Catholic media outlet and largest religious network of any kind broadcasting to approximately 118 million homes world-wide.

Visitors and tourists can watch City Vision TV to find out where eat, shop, and sightsee around the Magic City. City Vision TV is a new, but growing local station available in most hotel rooms throughout Greater Birmingham.

See also List of radio stations in Alabama

Other

Notable Natives

Main article: List of Birmingham, Alabama people

Sister cities

Birmingham's Sister Cities program is overseen by the Birmingham Sister Cities Commission

Hitachi, Japan Gweru, Zimbabwe Székesfehérvár, Hungary Pomiglian D'Arco, Italy Vinnytsia, Ukraine Anshan, China

Plzeň, Czech Republic Al Karak, Jordan Rosh Haayin, Israel (Friendship City) Maebashi, Japan (Friendship City) Chaoyang District, Beijing, China (Friendship City) Cobán, Guatemala (Partners for the Americas)

External links

• Official Site for the City of Birmingham, Alabama
• Greater Birmingham Convention & Visitors Bureau
• Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce
• Wikitravel for Birmingham
• Birmingham Public Library
• BirminghamProSports.com - history of pro sports in Birmingham
• History of Railroads and Industries in Birmingham
• The Birmingham News - daily newspaper of record
• The Birmingham Times - African-American community news
• MallBirmingham.com - Birmingham's Official Unofficial City Website
• The Birmingham Weekly - alternative news weekly
• The Black and White - alternative news - biweekly
• Birmingham Business Journal - business news weekly
• Birmingham Alabama - local directory of links
• Birmingham Urban Discussion
• Photos of Birmingham on Flickr
• Operation New Birmingham, a city center revitalization organization