2022 State of the City

Making Hope Tangible

“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” — Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

You’ve heard me speak before about that mother or grandmother who symbolizes the residents of our city. The woman whose grandchild she cares for, whose house is surrounded by blight, whose streets are littered with potholes. Who has to drive much too far to access healthy foods. Who has to sleep with gunshots ringing out at night.

That symbolic woman and her grandchild are at the center of all we do to make this city better. So for the past four years, we’ve dedicated ourselves to improving the lives of our families — reducing blight, addressing crime, filling potholes, working diligently to provide more healthy food options.

But it’s time to look ahead to the next four years.

That grandchild from our story? She has gone off to college, courtesy of the Birmingham Promise, where her tuition was covered in full. When she returns home, what kind of city does she want to come back to? As we look into Birmingham’s future that’s our challenge — creating a city that provides viable opportunities for our emerging work force, as well as the scores of residents who already call it home.

Here’s the burning question — how do we make hope tangible? For the answers, we look to our city itself. Birmingham was founded in 1871 — we just celebrated 150 years just last month. Those answers lie in our identity, who we are as a city and where we want to be.

We are a city of builders

We want a competitive city that positions us as major players in the sports scene for our region, bringing both eyeballs, tourists and revenue to our city. They say if you build it, they will come. So we did. And they did.

2021 saw the debut of Protective Stadium, as well as the return of the renovated Legacy arena. Fans of the UAB Blazers, The Birmingham Squadron, the Birmingham Legion, and the Birmingham Bowl, have a new home — revenue generated from those games goes directly into the neighborhood revitalization fund.

We saw the debut of the Morehouse-Tuskegee Classic and, of course, the continuation of the Magic City Classic.

We have the World Games this coming July as well as NCAA March Madness tournament games in 2023 and 2025

But we wouldn’t be here without public-private partnerships, which are essential to the growth we’re seeing.

We are a city that celebrates it heritage

We are so proud of our legacy. It defines us. We want that grandchild to return to a city that not only celebrates its roots, but allows her to have the opportunity to make her own history here as well.

That starts with our commitment to neighborhood revitalization, which means we’re restoring our communities.

That includes the more than $14 million of our $455-million operating budget being dedicated to neighborhood revitalization.

In 2021, we set $8.3 million in paving contracts for over 30 miles of paving. That work started in the fall.

In the first half of 2022, we will set an additional $8 million in paving contracts for an additional 20 miles of paving major roadways.

8,446 potholes have been filled as well.

Our historic neighborhoods are seeing the fruits of that work.

The Ramsay-McCormack building, which sat vacant almost four decades, was demolished to make way for a new five-story development.

The former Ensley High School property — abandoned for 15 years — will soon be transformed into a 244-home mixed-use development.

The Belview Heights community, a 25-million-dollar project will bring new, affordable housing to Oak Hill.

The City’s partnership with NCRC Housing Rehab Fund will be duplicated in other neighborhoods throughout the city.

We’re also excited about making major strides in transportation. We’re investing more in ride-sharing through Via and this summer we’ll see the launch of Birmingham Xpress, the state’s first one and one the southeast’s only bus rapid transit systems. The Federal Transportation Administration and transit authority will create a new, efficient mode of transportation to connect our residents with jobs, services and resources.

Soon, you will hear more about how we’re working to rehab homes as we partner with other organizations, stay tuned for that.

And, the historic A.G. Gaston Motel restoration received $1.1 million Mellon Foundation Grant and marked completion of phase 1 with lighting of sign. Work is expected to be completed this summer.

We are a city of opportunity

That grandchild is the recipient of the Birmingham Promise, our investment into our workforce. Since inception in 2020, almost 800 Birmingham City Schools students have received tuition assistance and/or coaching from Birmingham Promise, and 250 students have been placed in apprenticeships with more than 80 local employers. Tuition assistance in the last fiscal year totaled $1.7 million.

The Promise has received more than $10 million in investments to make sure this program continues and that our BCS students are able to graduate and go to college or into the workforce without fear of student loans.

We supported our small-business owners during tough times of COVID, thanks to Bham Strong, now known as Birmingham Corps.

Embracing mothers: By the end of this month the city of Birmingham will become the latest city to partner with the Mayors for a Guaranteed Income pilot program. This will provide $375 a month for a 12-month period for single mothers in Birmingham.

We recognize there is still much work to do.

We’ve taken 2,708 guns off the streets in 2021.

We also launched the Real Time Crime Center, bringing our public safety efforts into the 21st century.

Our fight against COVID-19 continues. Thanks to the department of health, UAB and the state for working with us to make vaccinations widely available earlier than many parts of the country.

But here’s what keeps us focused. By 2025, I plan to build progress by:

Investing in our people

Reimaging Public Safety

Renewing our commitment to neighborhoods

Realizing our economic potential

Just as that story of the grandmother or mother is of our present, the story of her grandchild is our future.

Protecting her, providing opportunities for her, allowing her space to grow her own small business, restoring the neighborhoods in which she lives — this is our charge. This is how we make hope tangible.

Randall L. Woodfin serves as the 30th Mayor of the City of Birmingham.