"The red headed stepchild complex"

I see where you're coming from and I believe that a lot of Birmingham's inferiority rests in the fact that our destiny was decimated due to the asinine decisions the the city and state leaders. Add to this the fact that the Atlanta we know today was pratically birthed out of Birmingham's follies.

Had it not been for the insight and wisdom of Ivan Allen and William Hartsfield, Atlanta might've very well repeated our mistakes. But instead, they learned from them and became the city that Birmingham never was. This, I believe, explains the inferiorty complex that Birmingham has of Atlanta.

The Bible teaches that when you sow a seed you reap a harvest... Birmingham suffered from decades of stagnation which was, in my opinion, a direct result of the many years the city (and her citizens) invested in poor leadership, hate, racism, and violence. However, the Bible also teaches that if a generation fails to realize its destiny, a new generation will be brought up to do so.

With that said, I KNOW that Birmingham is on the brink of breakthrough. New leadership and young citizens with a vision to carry this city foward are beginning to emerge. When these "heirs to Birmingham" inheirit the city, we will begin to shed the cloak of inferiorty that we have been living under for far too long.

Bham24yrold said:

Does anyone whom lives in a mid-size city, and not far from a major metro area feel this complex?.

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I lived in Birmingham for two years (shout-outs to Valley Avenue) and live in Charlotte now. I also lived in Greensboro for a while. I would offer that Birmingham, Charlotte and all cities in the SE, at some point, have planned or executed some type of development that made their citizens say, “Hey, now we’ll be a little bit like Atlanta.” It’s a natural comparison, as Atlanta is the benchmark for just about everything in the region. I wish I had a dollar for every time I heard the phrase, “The blank will be the blank between Washington and Atlanta”. So the point is, I would say your observation is probably correct, but add a long list of other cities along with Birmingham. By the way, Charlotte has a new children’s museum opening called ImaginOn, Atlanta already has one called Imagine-It…WTF????

As for the potential of “The Ham”, I’ve always thought that Birmingham has the most potential out of every city in the SE. The existing density, the hills, etc. are all excellent. I especially love the hills. I would love to one day see Red Mountain lined with development. But…aint’ gonna happen. The divide between city and suburbs, IMO, is too wide in Birmingham. You often hear talk about the “status quo” residential development. But the reality is businesses and citizens are still moving out of the city center. Until that tide gets reversed, Birmingham will continue to have an uphill climb.

I've heard that Bham's lack of vision in regards to the airport ending up in Atlanta while true is a bit overstated. The fact that Atlanta is on Eastern Standard Time may have had more to do with it than anything. I read a large story about the whole Bham/Atlanta airport battle and some of the realities and myths involving the reasons why the airport located where it did. Supposedly the major airlines wanted to be in the same time zone as D.C., New York, Boston, and Miami which does make sense.

DT,

This is totally of the subject of the thread, but can you find out from the other board what the deal is with the RSA Tower in Mobile (I can't register on the board for some reason)? I detoured through Mobile this past weekend on my way to the beach to check out the tower and it's looking good. Having said that, I'm totally at a loss as to how this tower is going to end up being roughly 745 feet tall. They appear to be completing the 25th floor of a 35 floor tower and it's still 3 or 4 floors from equaling the 430 foot AmSouth Bank tower. Surely the tower's crown and spire aren't going to make up the last 250 or so feet are they? That seems like a lot of wasted space. What am I missing?

Fear of Heights said:

I've heard that Bham's lack of vision in regards to the airport ending up in Atlanta while true is a bit overstated. The fact that Atlanta is on Eastern Standard Time may have had more to do with it than anything. I read a large story about the whole Bham/Atlanta airport battle and some of the realities and myths involving the reasons why the airport located where it did. Supposedly the major airlines wanted to be in the same time zone as D.C., New York, Boston, and Miami which does make sense.

DT,

This is totally of the subject of the thread, but can you find out from the other board what the deal is with the RSA Tower in Mobile (I can't register on the board for some reason)? I detoured through Mobile this past weekend on my way to the beach to check out the tower and it's looking good. Having said that, I'm totally at a loss as to how this tower is going to end up being roughly 745 feet tall. They appear to be completing the 25th floor of a 35 floor tower and it's still 3 or 4 floors from equaling the 430 foot AmSouth Bank tower. Surely the tower's crown and spire aren't going to make up the last 250 or so feet are they? That seems like a lot of wasted space. What am I missing?

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Yep, you hit the nail on the head. It's actually going to be that much spire, heh.

What's happening when you try to register at the other board? Maybe I can help out.

Fear of Heights said:

I've heard that Bham's lack of vision in regards to the airport ending up in Atlanta while true is a bit overstated. The fact that Atlanta is on Eastern Standard Time may have had more to do with it than anything. I read a large story about the whole Bham/Atlanta airport battle and some of the realities and myths involving the reasons why the airport located where it did. Supposedly the major airlines wanted to be in the same time zone as D.C., New York, Boston, and Miami which does make sense.

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No, I don't think that is entirely accurate. The airport was originally built to be a line on the federal mail route. Atlanta did win the stop over B'ham. Atlanta won it thanks to a few personal connections of Hartsfield. Major airlines didn't come until years later -- Delta was first, I think. They moved a hub from Louisiana to Atlanta and the airport took off from there. Atlanta also "stole" the railroad stop from B'ham when they were building the rails across the south. The railroad and mail route were two critical moves that contributed greatly to Atlanta's growth and development.

Back to the OP post: Yes, there are many people in SE cities that have a complex about Atlanta. They shouldn't, but sadly they do.

This is no knock on Atlanta, but the cities that didn't experience the same growth spurt that Atlanta did should be thankful. The city is consumed with traffic and uncontrolled growth issues. In a few years, Atlanta's progress could become it's own worst enemy.

On the other hand, Birmingham (and a lot of other SE cities) are in a position similar to what Atlanta was in forty years ago. They learned from our mistakes concerning civil rights and how racism negatively impacted growth and public perception.

Now, Birmingham is in a position where we can learn from Atlanta's mistakes concerning traffic problems, poor regional cooperation, and other quality of life issues. This way, Birmingham can grow without repeating a lot of the same mistakes that Atlanta committed.

AubieTurtle said:

If the timezone effect really had something to do with Atlanta growing past Birmingham, it would be really sad since Alabama really should be in the Eastern Time Zone.

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I've always wondered why Alabama was in the central time zone. I thought the Eastern would be more fitting. Why the hell would they place us in the CST zone anyway?

Fear of Heights said:

I've heard that Bham's lack of vision in regards to the airport ending up in Atlanta while true is a bit overstated.

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I agree, particularly since both Memphis and New Orleans tell the same story as Birmingham regarding Delta and its operations going to Atlanta as opposed to those other cities.

Anyway, Delta moved its headquarters from Monroe LA to Atlanta in 1941. At that time, its only flights were Dallas-Shreveport-Monroe-Jackson-Atlanta and Memphis-Monroe. So there wasn't any hub to move. Most of its revenue came from its crop-dusting ops.

sleepy said:

I agree, particularly since both Memphis and New Orleans tell the same story as Birmingham regarding Delta and its operations going to Atlanta as opposed to those other cities.

Anyway, Delta moved its headquarters from Monroe LA to Atlanta in 1941. At that time, its only flights were Dallas-Shreveport-Monroe-Jackson-Atlanta and Memphis-Monroe. So there wasn't any hub to move. Most of its revenue came from its crop-dusting ops.

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Except it wasn't Delta that established the airport. Atlanta and B'ham both competed to establish a stop on the federal mail route. Atlanta got it over B'ham. There was no lack of vision on their part. They tried and it didn't work in their favor. Before the mail route, there wasn't anything for Delta or any other airline to use. It was a small airfield owned by one of the Candler boys.

A hub is a center of activity. That is what Delta moved to Atlanta. Whether they were mostly crop dusting or not, the term is appropriate.

notoriousbib said:

Except it wasn't Delta that established the airport. Atlanta and B'ham both competed to establish a stop on the federal mail route. Atlanta got it over B'ham. There was no lack of vision on their part. They tried and it didn't work in their favor. Before the mail route, there wasn't anything for Delta or any other airline to use. It was a small airfield owned by one of the Candler boys.

A hub is a center of activity. That is what Delta moved to Atlanta. Whether they were mostly crop dusting or not, the term is appropriate.

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According to this

http://www.deltamuseum.org/History/main_delta_history.html

it looks like the mail route was Ft. Worth, Dallas, Shreveport, Monroe, Jackson, Birmingham, Atlanta, and Charleston.

sleepy said:

According to this

http://www.deltamuseum.org/History/main_delta_history.html

it looks like the mail route was Ft. Worth, Dallas, Shreveport, Monroe, Jackson, Birmingham, Atlanta, and Charleston.

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Not that route. Atlanta got a stop over B'ham on the New York to Miami route. In the 20s. The airline was Pitcairn, which later changed its name to Eastern. Eastern was eventually bought by Delta. At one point, they both had HQ in Atlanta.

notoriusbib - You are partly right, with regard to Pitcairn. BUT - Delta never, ever purchased Eastern. They went bankrupt. And they had thier HQ's in Miami. They were never HQ'd in Atlanta, although they did operate thier largest hub and had more employees in ATL than any of thier other cities.

I still miss them to this day.