By Clay Ousley
REV Project Coordinator
When it’s a sunny day in Birmingham, I try to find a few free hours and just walk out my door. Walking around the city gives you time to notice little details and grand vistas – things that you miss when you speed by in a car. There is so much texture and beauty in Birmingham waiting to be appreciated at a slower pace.
In our Monday team meetings at REV, I’m always talking about my weekends spent taking in Birmingham on my walks, runs and bike rides – and our communications director has been teasingly saying she was going to make me write a blog post about it.
Except that she wasn’t teasing. So I captured a recent weekend’s Birmingham-wandering in pictures. My day was nearly free (just supporting some local businesses along the way, of course!). It’s beautiful and restorative, and the possibilities and combinations of Birmingham activities are endless.
I hope you enjoy my wanderings, and I hope you create your own version(s) soon!
Railroad Park is always a great place to find yourself on a walk.
The Powell Steam Plant stacks, seen from the Railroad Park overlook.
History is on display downtown.
It’s okay to look like a tourist. Crane your neck to see all the ornament and detail.
Parking decks are a great way to check out the views—and if you use the stairs, it counts as part of your workout.
So many signs of progress, from the reclaimed railway of Rotary Trail during a night run…
… to the elegant machinery creating the city anew (seen from the Publix elevator).
There is still an industrial edge as you head east.
And that has its own beauty.
Venturing out onto the 1st Avenue North Viaduct, unusual views of Sloss Furnace can be found.
Don’t worry, there’s a cold beer waiting at the other end (at Back Forty).
The neighborhoods surrounding the core of Birmingham provide a little bit of nature right outside your door. This is Vulcan Trail on a foggy day.
Avondale Park is a lovely place to get some fresh air.
And there’s delicious local coffee nearby (at Domestique’s Satellite at Saturn).
Wandering is the best way to find beautiful little scenes and experience Birmingham in new ways, no matter how long you have been here.
See you out there!
Related News
-
Why we say yay to two-way streets
Filed Under: Developer, Downtown Birmingham, Filling Vacant Spaces, Front Page, Transportation, Yaysayers
REV Birmingham is a long-time advocate for making the switch to two-way streets downtown, and this is something recommended by planners studying our downtown for years. In fact, the team that developed the 2004 City Center Master Plan recommended many street changes but noted 4th Avenue North conversion should take place “immediately.” We believe this project is a catalytic moment for Birmingham – but you may find yourself wondering why that is.
-
The Key Tool for Urban Revitalization: Downtown BHM's Business Improvement District
Filed Under: Business-Proving, Developer, Downtown Birmingham, Front Page, Get Involved, Potential-Proving, Why BHM
By the time REV took on BID management in 2018, downtown had a new set of needs from its BID. Downtown Birmingham in the ‘90s had a population mainly of 9 to 5 employees. But the downtown of 2018 had a whole new population of residents and visitors throughout the day and night. We had new opportunities to create positive experiences, inviting them into more downtown businesses and public spaces, and to keep them coming back for more.
-
Introducing the six businesses that call Nextec home
Filed Under: Business-Proving, Developer, Downtown Birmingham, Filling Vacant Spaces, Front Page, Historic Preservation, Potential-Proving, Why BHM
On the corner of 3rd Avenue and 16th Street North, you’ll find Nextec, a redevelopment of the 90-year-old, 65,000-square-foot Edwards Motor Company building (also formerly known as the Sticks ‘N’ Stuff building). With experience in historic renovation, developer Michael Mouron, chairman of Capstone Real Estate Investments, began this civic project in 2021 as a space for business startups to continue their work in the Magic City – a function encouraged by REV Birmingham.