Developing a sense of community

Birmingham’s downtown has come back in a big way since about 2010, after suffering decades of decline fueled by a middle-class flight to the suburbs that began in the 1960s. 

Downtown — defined for this article as the traditional retail and business district north of Morris Avenue, as well as Parkside and Midtown — has seen the construction of Railroad Park and Regions Field; the renovation of The Lyric Theatre; and the opening of numerous new bars, eateries and hotels.

This area and the rest of the City Center, including UAB and Five Points South, has seen a strong uptick in residential development, becoming one of the “fastest growing residential neighborhoods” in the metro area, according to David Fleming, president and CEO of REV Birmingham.

Since 2000, the population downtown — defined by REV Birmingham as the area from 12th Avenue North to 12th Avenue South and Interstate 65 to U.S. 31 — has increased by 32.4 percent. 

As of 2017, there were nearly 11,000 residents in that area, according to statistics from ESRI Business Analyst supplied by the Birmingham Business Alliance.

And the area is also beginning to bring back additional retail and other essential services, drawn in part by this increase in residents.

In short, downtown is finally becoming what planners call a mixed-use neighborhood: one that blends business, retail, entertainment, culture and residential uses in close proximity, with most people walking or using transit instead of driving cars.

“Downtown is no longer just striving to be a mixed-use neighborhood,” Fleming said. “It has arrived.”

The area has become a diverse “urban neighborhood” according to Jim Reed, longtime operator of Jim Reed Books on Third Avenue North.

And many of the people who live downtown seem to agree that the area is no longer just a place to spend the workday or enjoy evening entertainment. It is becoming a place where people can live, work, shop and satisfy their daily needs.

“Most of the things that I want to do, or places that I need to go, I am able to do downtown,” said Daniel Logan, a financial planner who lives with his wife in a apartment at The Pizitz.

“It is extremely walkable and easy to go across town,” Logan said. “It is at the heart of everything going on, from baseball games to concerts to plays.”

Downtown regulars nearly all say the area has changed dramatically, and for the better, in recent years.

Jim Reed Books “is experiencing an ever-increasing flow of shoppers and visitors, all of whom are so surprised and pleased to find that downtown is booming and vibrant,” Reed said.

The area is very different than it was less than a decade ago, according to Chatham Hellmers, a long-time downtown resident and, until recently, the owner of Charm boutique on Second Avenue.

“It’s exciting to see so many new businesses make a go of it, as well as seeing people riding around on bicycles, walking their dogs, sitting outside of bars and restaurants and just generally making themselves seen in what was formerly so scary an environment for suburban folk,” she said.

Bob Patterson, executive director of a retail trade organization, resides in the Johnston Lofts on First Avenue North, and said that downtown has changed quite a bit even in the four years he has lived there.

There are “more places to eat, drink and shop, as well as … more people living downtown,” Patterson said.

Mark Kelly, a writer and former publisher of Weld, has lived in the Fix-Play Lofts on First Avenue North since 2010.

He has noticed an “influx of more people, more businesses, more residential options, more street-level activity and more foot traffic at later hours.”

One only has to drive down any street downtown, or in Midtown and Parkside, to see new apartment complexes and an increasing number of retail options for residents who don’t want to leave downtown to take care of daily needs.

The popular Food Hall at The Pizitz, which was a big boost for the retail district when it opened in 2017, features the first Alabama location of upscale eyewear retailer Warby Parker.

Forstall Art, an art supply house, opened a location on 20th Street North in early 2017.

Wheelhouse Salon, a popular hair salon that began in Homewood, opened a second location — with 17 styling chairs — on the first floor of the historic Graves Building on Third Avenue North in 2017.

One sign of the growth of other essential services comes this summer with the opening of Magic City Dentistry on First Avenue North.

Dr. G. Robin Pruitt Jr., a Vestavia Hills resident, decided to open the practice after seeing there was an unmet dental need downtown, according to the facility’s website. 

One huge boost for the livability of downtown and Midtown as a real neighborhood was the opening last year of a long-awaited downtown grocery, the Publix in the 20 Midtown development on 20th Street and Third Avenue South.

“Publix was a game changer for a couple of reasons,” Fleming said. “For those who want to live downtown, they don't necessarily want to get in their cars to go to the grocery store. It also validates for a lot of retailers that downtown is a viable market.”

And downtown is now getting a second grocery store.

Organic Harvest, based in Hoover, announced it will open in August in the former Parisian building at Second Avenue North near 20th Street North.

We can expect to see more such announcements given the increase in the number of residents downtown, according to Fleming.

There have always been residents “in pockets here and there” of the downtown core, Fleming said, but now there are residents scattered all around the area. “You’ve got residents in Parkside and everywhere in between,” he said. 

Retailers and service providers “like to locate where people live, and I think the … growth of residential allows for that, and they sort of start to feed off each other.” Fleming said.

Those new businesses will likely include services such as pharmacists and dry cleaners, according to Fleming.

“We could also see more destination or soft-goods retail return, though perhaps not like in the heyday of downtown,” Fleming said. 

So is there enough retail and other services in downtown now to serve the demand?

 “There is virtually nothing you can't get downtown these days,” Reed said.

“Downtown satisfies the majority of things that I need, and mostly all in walking distance,” Logan said. “With the local stores and Amazon or other online retailers, there are very few retail options that I feel like I am missing.”

“If you live downtown, and you want to have a grocery store and a pharmacy and a optometrist and a dentist, you can find them,” Fleming said.

Kelly agrees overall. “The number and range of retail and service-oriented businesses continues to expand,” he said.

But he expressed some reservations. “It’s still mostly specialty shops,” he said. 

“It remains necessary to get in your car to shop for certain items,” Kelly said.

And potential retail corridors downtown develop more slowly than others.

Ace Graham opened Alchemy, a boutique and clothing store, on 20th Street North downtown in late 2016.

But he recently moved his flagship store to Five Points in search of more foot traffic, even though he is keeping the downtown store as an incubator and pop-up space for small local makers and retailers.

Graham said 20th Street is “a great place” but believes the corridor needs another “24-30 months to really develop” as a retail destination. “It’s moving slower than we thought,” he said.

Long-time merchant Hellmers expressed concern about the higher rents that the revitalization of downtown has brought.

“Landlords sure are riding this wave,” said Hellmers, who fears that big rents could “drive potential retail establishments away.”

In fact, she thinks that downtown has plenty of bars and eateries, but that retail “is still pretty slim pickings.”

She said she was unsure of the reason, saying that it could be due to rent prices, the popularity of online shopping or even the city’s 10 percent sales tax.

“But to me what makes a city awesome is a wide variety of businesses,” she said.

Kelly said he has “truly enjoyed” living downtown and watching its rebirth firsthand. But like Hellmers, he expressed concern about rising rents.

“We need to be conscious of the value in working to achieve and maintain diversity of all kinds, including income levels, as a critical part of the flavor of downtown and Birmingham’s character as a city,” he said.

The growth of downtown is likely to continue, given the number of apartments and condominiums being developed in the district, as well as adjacent areas like Lakeview and Five Points South.

Residential unit growth in downtown Birmingham is expected to more than double over the next two years with more than 1,000 units under construction and another 450 or more units proposed, according to the BBA.

“The question now is how do we keep building off the success in a way that is equitable and unique and special for who we are and not trying to replicate something that somebody has done somewhere else and reflect really and truly who Birmingham is,” Fleming said.

One thing downtown has going for it “is that it has always been a walkable, historic core,” Fleming said. “You don't have to remake it into something walkable. It was designed for people.”

And maybe most important, the downtown area — despite the big buildings and traffic and concrete — seems to be developing new sense of community, a real neighborhood feel.

“We [previously] lived in the Shelby County suburbs, and while we were active in church and community there, it was never like downtown,” Patterson said. “We met more ‘neighbors’ within the first three months living downtown than we did in three decades in the suburbs.”

The district is also very diverse, according to Reed, who said downtown is “replete with professionals, public servants, artists, craftspeople, merchants, blue-collar workers, dentists and doctors, restaurateurs, hoteliers, clothiers” and others.

And the people who live, work or visit downtown “are our neighbors,” Reed said

“They are beginning to embrace the idea that we are all family,” he said. “You can feel this in the way we all interact, the ease with which we share our experiences and passions.”

Living Downtown

Residential unit growth in downtown Birmingham is expected to more than double over the next two years with more than 1,000 units under construction and another 450 or more units proposed, according to the Birmingham Business Alliance. A breakdown of current and planned housing units:

Existing

► Condominiums: 611

► Apartments: 2,883 (423 outside of downtown core)

► Assisted Living/Public Housing: 871

► UAB/On-Campus Student Housing: 2,787

Proposed Developments - Under Construction/Pre-Leasing

► Condominiums: 0

► Apartments: 262 (Metropolitan in Lakeview, outside of downtown core)

Proposed Developments - Under Construction/Announced

► Apartments: 144

Projects on Hold

► Apartments: 587

SOURCE: REV Birmingham