Being from the state, this is one of those twenty-five questions that can arise, and you can debate at length.
For the record, Birmingham was a working-man's town up through the 1940s and probably still existed as such through the 1970s. I should note....the last Republican mayor of the town was George Siebels (1967-1975). From 1975 on, it's been a long tradition in the city to only elect Democratic mayors.
So as the cocaine age (1980s) arrived, crime escalated in the city, and various neighborhoods began to empty out....moving 10 to 20 miles away, and those voters...who might have been traditional Republican voters.....weren't in the mayor election business.
The shape and feel of law enforcement in the city? The police were used as 'gate-keepers'.....don't interfere with these areas of town, and look the other way.
So as drugs increased, and gang action became a normal thing in the city....violence and murders increased.
At some point, the city of Birmingham....realizing the tax revenue bucket was lessening....decided to attempt a tax on people....even if they don't live in the city, but work there. Alabama has a general law against that type of taxation gimmick....so that failed.
What you can generally say.....at this point, even if the city council wanted to resolve the crime and murder business....they don't have the revenue to go and hire enough police to effect change.
The general public of Birmingham figuring out this failure? There is a slow steady decline in the population of the city, and in roughly two years....Huntsville will be the most populated city of the state. I would take a guess by 2030....Birmingham will gone down to about 200,000 in number. Here's the thing....the only super-positive spin to the city is that it has a decent airport. Beyond that....there's nothing to make you feel charged-up to bring a business to the city.
I'll go and predict the murder numbers continue to increase, with people openly frustrated with the lack of attention.
2 comments:
Fun fact, as of the 2020 Census, Huntsville is the largest city in Alabama. The greater Birmingham metro area is probably still larger, but Birmingham city proper now has a smaller population than Huntsville and Huntsville is still growing.
On a different subject. Next time you speak to Russell, please tell him that John Richards said Hello. I haven't seen him since I retired in March 2020. Russell is one of the folks at work that I miss seeing and talking too. Spent many hours in his office talking tractors, farming and many other things. He's a good fellow.
On the scale of thing (considering Space Command arriving and a few more industries on the landscape)...Greater-Huntsville will be in the 250,000 range by 2030. Birmingham is going the opposite direction. Unless you were using the airport, no reason to venture into the city limits.
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