Advice From An Expert

This time of year my morning routine involves checking on my beloved Auburn Tigers college football progress. I'm not sure why because I know that my heart will break at least twice this season, and most likely three times. Such is life as an Auburn fan. We're the Cubs of college football when it comes for unrequieted passion for a national championship.

Anyway, I'm greeted this morning by a headline that the upper deck at Legion Field is falling apart, forcing the Evil Empire (read: The Crimson Tide of the University of Alabama) to move three football games from Birmingham to their campus.

So...you've got an 80,000 seat football stadium that pumps millions into the city economy that, because of your lack of ability to maintain, is a cavern now hosting profit-draining high school football games and a struggling NCAA football team that puts about 15,000 people in the seats (while some inner-city high school clashes will draw 30,000).

As the former mayor of SimCity town of McKinneyville who once enjoyed a 70% approval rating by the townfolk (they had a hard time with me for a couple of game-years when I raised taxes to get some cash for that incredible transportation system I put in, but they got the big picture and loved me again once that came to fruition), here's some free advice for the city leaders in Birmingham:

Give up on your stupid MegaDome idea and build a state-of-the-art soccer arena and get after getting a Major League Soccer team. I mean, the men's and women's past history of soccer support and hosting the 1996 Olympic soccer games gives you some street cred. Put that arena near the city center (like that warehouse district on 1st Ave. N east of I-65). Revitalize downtown...and let that be the crown jewel. Have your monorail system hub around there, too (hey, if Disney can make it work, you can, too) so it can service your world-class hospital and nice university which drives your economy.

You are what you are, Birmingham, which is a potentially incredible 2nd-tier city that is in danger of becoming 3rd rate(read: Shreveport without the casinos). Stop trying to be Atlanta-West and be an excellent 2nd-tier city. You have aestetics and a lot of civic pride to play on.

And extending that monorail down 280 should be a high-level priority, too.

It's kind of sad to see my hometown goof everything up. People who live there love that city. Make it happen. It really is about vision. Birmingham is begging for it and will support it in droves. They love their city.

Sincerely,
The Former Mayor of McKinneyville (who once had a 70% approval rating)