On Birmingham...

Well, to make a long story short, Birmingham was driven over the cliff by the likes of Scott Beason and William Bell.  The blame goes both ways with whites and blacks in Birmingham.  I lived there for enough years to realized that the people of Birmingham (yeah, I mean all of you in the region not just within Birmingham city limits), lack discerning abilities to wise decision on whom will represent you a local leadership or the Alabama Legislature.  It just seems there is no real willpower on the part of a significant portion of the citizenry to care enough to want to make an effort to progress the city forward rather than hobble along the way.  

Even more embarrassing is the filing for bankruptcy for Jefferson County, but this is a result of urban sprawl without any regard to negative effects to the surroundings, the idiocy within the Jefferson County government, and the city of Hoover.  Hoover was the ones whom owned the sanitary sewer treatment facility on Shades Creek that overflowed and wind up with the DOJ forcing Jefferson County to take control of all the sewer lines within the immediate Greater Birmingham area. 

As today, Birmingham has become battleground for where the Alabama immigration law debate will take place with leadership from congress meeting the local leadership about how it has negatively affected the city's  resources.  All I have to say is good luck because we all know that the reason why the Congressional Republicans haven't take up the immigration debate there in DC is because they know they will be exposed for the due-nothings they are in the US House.

UPDATE:  The latest developments with Birmingham itself is the creation of its first citywide, long-range, comprehensive plan since 1961 called "The Plan Birmingham".  Yeah, I'm like COME AGAIN?  Yeah, this is the first comprehensive plan they have created since post-integration period.  This alone is an embarrassment to humanity and anyone that has worked in the planning, economic development, and public policy making in Birmingham.

On the welcome page of The Plan Birmingham, there is a picture of Birmingham's mayor, William Bell's goofy, gap-toothed smiling face with a "message" about what he feels is the vision for the future of Birmingham.  Right below, his message was Roderick Royal, the current Birmingham City Council president with his statement as well.  Why is it this is the most substance of detail about this website's home page is beyond me?  The site details including the "Birmingham Resource Book" which is most GIS maps by census tract or overall area assessments of land usage, public facilities, water & watersheds, parks & recreations, personal vision statements by citizens, etc.

Overall, it is a well put-together site, but the GIS maps need major improvement like the parks and recreation map that doesn't label or has arrows that doesn't even point to the actual location of these facilities.  That is embarrassing, and should have been done better, Barry William, who is the city's GIS manager...

Finally, why is the city of Birmingham wasting taxpayer funds for outsourcing to a Boston-based firm for consultant work when you have full-time planners that handle community planning and development at the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham (RPCGB) right there on 1st Avenue North in downtown?   That is just plain STUPID and WASTEFUL on the mayor and city council part's not to take advantage of a free or nearly free resource of staff planners at the RPCGB, whom have done comprehensive plans for Bessemer among other area municipalities.  Also they can work on a regional scale and is very well capable of administering the regional initiatives such as the Green Birmingham, Prosperity and Opportunity economic development, and Getting from Here to There transportation and mobility initiatives with other area governments.

So ready to have this stuff over with Auburn

After nearly 3 going 4 months of silence, I feel like this is the reason why I 'm tired to that place.  I stay on the road leaving town because it is easier and there are no remainders that place.  Lately, I've been relaxing by chilling at home away from the foolishness.  Auburn is just one of those places where I feel and know people are just brought there so there can front with pseudo-egalitarian atmosphere, but in reality the place is very socially segregated and as about as anti-progressive as the rest of the state of Alabama.  Honestly, I can't truly name or point to much research Auburn has conducted that is associated with anything of importance other than farming techniques and veterinarian medicine treatments for animals.

Honestly, the most aggravation has come from me working with a moron in my assistantship that displays why I know for a fact the graduate program in community planning at Auburn University is pathetic.  For starters, the dude can bare speak English, lacks the discernment to realized that people have other responsibilities aside from working with him, and finally he couldn't teach a small child how to tie a shoe so much as bullshit suppose to be doing.  To sum it up, this shit is ridiculous and as about as productive as watching water boil.

As I mentioned last year, the area might as well be given to the state of Georgia because nothing about the region is economically or socially attached to Alabama.  The Auburn-Opelika area is basically a western extension of the Columbus area in west Georgia like Phenix City is in Russell County.  It just makes you wonder why is Auburn University in Alabama nearly half of its student body (some 40%) are from Georgia.