The aggregavation of housing...

Some things I do wonder about the world we reside in such as housing.  It seems to be the fabric of our communities since they offer shelter for all of us.  However, that necessity seems to be seen as a luxury by many bureaucratic paper-pushers.  In the case of the Metro Atlanta area, where nearly all the public housing developments have been demolished and replaces with high-end condominium development.  On the surface, this looks as if it is a good thing since public housing seems to attract all the "undesirable" elements in our nation's society, but on deeper look reveals that many of these people have no where else to turn aside from being homeless.  This within itself is disheartening because you have to evaluate the entire situation before casting a broad judgment on housing for low-income residents.

Since 2001, the Atlanta Housing Authority has practically eliminated all the public housing in Atlanta (gotta love gentrification and its side effects).  Now suburban Marietta, in Cobb County, its housing authority is doing the same and hopes to shutter and demolish all public housing by 2012.  The replacements for such developments were vouchers given to former residents so they could either get into senior housing for older residents or at-market rate private housing or apartments for others.

On the other hand, the realization that most of the vouchers only pay for only 65% of such living costs associated with housing puts these people in a tougher situation.  Many people don't have the luxury of being able to afford private apartment, which most decent ones start at $600/month in rent in Metro Atlanta.  The lack of affordable housing is seriously lacking nationwide, but particularly in the South.  Ironically, most of those suffering from this dilemma are our fellow non-white citizens.

I know it's wonderful to see cities like Atlanta, Birmingham, New Orleans, Memphis, and other Southern cities move from their past images as low-income, crime-ridden places with projects everywhere.  However, you should never go from one extreme to another where you are pricing out your own residents to appease a reluctant crowd of non-natives of the city to move there.  It creates a new vacuum where you continuously force those whom need government assistance to another rough place.  There needs to be some type of median place where we can create affordable housing and not go from one extreme to another.

The EPA has been issuing grants to non-profits in Birmingham and Atlanta

The U.S. Department of Environmental Protection (EPA) has been issuing grants to clean-up and preserve of brownfields across the nation.  In Birmingham, the Freshwater Land Trust, a non-profit created in 1996 as a result of the Jefferson County violations of clean water regulations (which led to them being practically going bankrupt), has secured a $200,000 grant to purchase and preserve land surrounding Village Creek in the western portion of the Greater Birmingham area.  However, the majority of the Village Creek watershed is located within Birmingham corporate limits.  The grant would allow the Freshwater Land Trust to assess and clean up areas after years of abuse such as petrochemical dumping along Village Creek.

In Atlanta, the city is being rewarded $400,000 in brownfield grants to clean up parcels of lands along the proposed Beltline project and other redevelopment corridors.   The Beltline is one of the nation's largest urban redevelopment projects with it being proposed to have 22 miles of rail transit and green space.  Although the project has seen some major roadblocks, its most aggressive proponents have worked extensively to continue to push for it to come to fruition. 

High Speed Rail in the South?

The Southern High Speed Rail Corridor has been a point of discussion through out the 1990s and 2000s, but nothing came of it considering Alabama nor Georgia openly funds public transit since both states have bans on using gax tax revenue towards such things.  However, North Carolina and Florida, ironically the only 2 "swing states" in the South, have both struck it big on the Obama administration's stimulus funds for high-speed rail in the South.  North Carolina will get some $545 million in federal funds to improve intrastate rail service among 30 other projects that involves commuter and regional rail between the Charlotte metropolitan area and the Triangle (Raleigh/Durham).  Also the funds will allow quicker service from Charlotte to Washington, D.C., with the Amtrak Piedmont rail line.   Florida will get $1.25 billion in funds to mainly fund a commuter rail between the Tampa Bay area and Daytona Beach, including Greater Orlando.  Also a number of these funds can be used for the SunRail commuter rail system proposed for the Greater Orlando area.  

Georgia fumbled big time with it majority conservative and Republican General Assembly by only getting $750,000 in federal funds to study it for the state.  Whereas, Alabama is still trying to figure out how to put together the economic development and transportation puzzle with the Alabama Department of Economic Development (ADECA) and Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT), both needs to merged into one agency like Louisiana where the transportation and development departments are one (LDOTD).  Alabama did get a few funds to do more studying of high-speed rail like Georgia.   Unfortunately, Birmingham and Atlanta will continue to suffer from sprawl and one-tract mindsets of their state leadership since both cities are limited in alternative forms of transportation aside from private automobile (although Metro Atlanta has MARTA, but it is limited to only Fulton and DeKalb counties with limited connections to bus systems in Cobb, Gwinnett, and Clayton counties). 

The current rail service in the South, mainly the Deep South, is the Amtrak Crescent Line, that goes through Richmond, Greensboro/Winston-Salem, Charlotte, Greenville/Spartanburg, Atlanta, Birmingham, and terminates in New Orleans.  The funds on the table that Alabama and Georgia would upgrade their service allowing a high-speed rail line from Birmingham to Atlanta within 45 minutes. 

This something leaders in these 2 states need to think about and stop being so damn shortsighted about since this portion of the country is increasingly becoming an urbanized belt.

Oh why o why?

Last week the Calhoun County Commission voted to demolish abandoned structures on the campus of former  Fort McClellan.  Get this these buildings have significant historical status, but Calhoun County officials feels that they are so dangerous that anyone going into them could get hurt.  Uh, I used to work for the state of Alabama and one of the things I used to do is go on to the campus all the time, yet noticed that the campus has much potential to be something great and conductive for future growth for the Anniston area particularly the City of Anniston.  McClellan could easily be incorporated into the urban infrastructure of Anniston and help Anniston set standards for that would be allow for more sustainable growth and development.  Also there are a number of bus shelters there that could be incorporated into the Anniston Citizens Transit System (ACTS). 

However, the campus was forcefully de-annexed from Anniston because of legal technicality specifying that Calhoun County, not Anniston would have zoning and land-use authority over the campus of Fort McClellan, which effectively has no zoning or land-use authority thanks to the inadequate Alabama Constitution.  Now there is suppose to be a commission that is made up of officials from Calhoun County Commission, the City of Anniston, state legislators, and congressional representative to issues recommendations for the future of the McClellan campus, but these recommendation practically have zero legal standing when it come to developers.  Calhoun is one of the 64 counties in Alabama that lacks home rule or self-govern authority over zoning, taxation, or land-usage.  Anybody can practically do anything they want as long as it falls within legal standards of state code on building and land-usage.  

Well, I for one think that Calhoun County Commission inability to find alternative solution to the problem with these structures is another symptom to Alabama's inability to progress under its lame state charter.  It is debatable who could or would be the better operator of the Fort McClellan campus, but the fact that one has land-usage authority and the other doesn't does matter.  Until somebody can get land-use and zoning authority to Calhoun County then more shortsighted decisions will be made on things involving McClellan area and its historically and developmentally-speaking sustainable layout.  What a shame!

Possible Cuts in MAX is coming, but the In-Town Transit Partnership is coming

Hoover announced after 2 public hearing Tuesday and Wednesday that it's going to cut or  reduce the Metro Area Express (MAX) of the Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority (BJCTA). 

With sales tax and other revenue down, Hoover trimmed its 2009 budget and anticipates a leaner budget for fiscal year 2010. The city is proposing to provide $50,000 for transit for 2010, mirroring 2009. The authority, also known as MAX, sought $119,155.

Since the BJCTA is funded by the cooperation of municipalities rather than an adequate funding source from the State of Alabama like most states (except Georgia).

On the other hand, there is some positive news in improving public transit in Greater Birmingham with the In-Town Transit Partnership (ITP).  The Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham (RPCGB) has applied for the Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant that would provide 100% funding without a local match for improving the public transit within the City of Birmingham.  The project would be projected to beginning of operation of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) along with its feeder routes would be 2012.

Birmingham is making waves globally with 2 new green design initiatives

Since Birmningham hosted the Green Building Focus Conference and Expo in late July, the attendees have put together 2 initiatives that are key to the future of sustainable development.  The "Birmingham Charter", a new sustainable development platform they hope to present to the United Nations at a summit in Copenhagen this December along with the "Birmingham Manifesto" being proposed by the Alabama chapter of the American Institute of Architects. 

Not bad, not bad at all.  Now only if these two initiatives started here can be enforced with future developments in the Greater Birmingham area.  We need to be working towards being not only the template for development and growth, something most of our fellow Southern cities have failed epicly doing just look at Metro Atlanta, Nashville, Raleigh, etc.

Now this is funny, 2 stores are coming to the Summit from Vestavia City Center and Bridge Street in Huntsville

The intimate apparel store, the Fitting Touch and women's boutique, Moods, are leaving their current respective centers in Vestavia Hills and Huntsville to locate the Summit.  The Fitting Touch is located in between White House/Black Market and Swoozie's in the main strip of the center; whereas, Moods is locating in the Saks Plaza in between J.Crew and MARY. 

LOL, it's funny how everybody in Huntsville was talking about how much Bridge Street was going to be this major upscale project for Huntsville and the Tennessee Valley and now retailers are leaving it along with the fact that there still no major anchors to the center.  The main tenants are the run-of-the-mill stores like Bed, Bath, & Beyond, Old Navy, etc. along side a few exclusive tenants like Juicy Couture and Ketchup. The Summit has those former tenants as well, but most of them are on their way out since their leases are set to expire in 2012, and the center's owner, Bayer Properties, made it known they are not being renewed.  The Summit is also within the corporate limits of Birmingham, so it is a true city landmark and super-regional destination for upscale shopping.  I wouldn't be a bit of surprised if Juicy Couture moves to the Summit in a few years since Bridge Street is a bust.

Vestavia Hills City Center was already out is its league because it was designed to be local open-air lifestyle center and nothing more than that.  It's been losing tenants left and right because of the extremely high leasing rates along with the tomfuckery owners and management of AIG Baker.  Yeah, this company is affiliated with the same federally-bailed out AIG that foots the financing for this commercial real estate company with developments in AL, GA, TN, FL, MS, and SC.  The only thing good about the company is its efforts to redevelop some older centers like Vestavia City Center, which used to be Vestavia Center enclosed shopping mall, and 1-million square-foot Wildwood Center in Homewood.  I do find that very admirable because the last thing Birmingham needs is more urban sprawl.

Good job, Bayer Properties and Birmingham!

Chains that need to be boycotted because they left Birmingham

Dunkin' Donuts
Baskin' Robbins
Denny's (but then yet I don't care about them because they like to discriminate against blacks or any minority group anyways)

However, my rant is why on earth did these 3 chains all over asudden vacate Birmingham in the 1990's. Dunkin Donuts used to have about 5 stores in Greater Birmingham back in the early to mid 1990's. I remember the locations in Homewood on Oxmoor Road and the other on in Eastwood where the current Olive Garden Italian Restaurant is located at Crestwood and Oport-Madrid boulevards. Then there is Baskin' Robbins suddenly leaving Alabama in 2000 when there used to be one in almost every decent-sized town or city across North Alabama. I remember going to their ice cream stores amongst every birthday asking my parents for either an ice cream cake or a large order of my favorite type of ice cream in a large container to go for multiple servings of enjoyment. However, I remember hearing that the last Baskin' Robbins was still open in 5 Points West as late 2002 before finally closing.

Ironically, both chains announced in 2007 that they were going to re-enter Alabama and open stores around Birmingham. Keyword: "around" rather than in Birmingham. I hate when chains do this crap because most of them don't care to do the proper research to open locations in key areas around Birmingham itself like Eastwood/Crestwood area, Roebuck/Huffman, or even the City Center (Downtown and Southside). These areas do have a significant population of middle-income households that can support these stores; instead, most want to run to Hoover, Northern Shelby County, Trussville, Gardendale, etc. These types of businesses irk me more than the current leadership in the region because they don't try to invest back into the city where people are moving to (contrary to popular opinion on al.com).

Anyways, rant over.

UPDATE:

According to the Birmingham News, Baskin-Robbins wants to open 35 locations in the Birmingham.  However, they will all be franchises after reading in between the lines.  So that means it can take forever for them to get their act together.  I'll believe it when I see it...