Birmingham, AL Reviews

Meh, below mediocre decent food - 7/29/2022
Birmingham is better than ever, meaning it is beginning to gain half of the stuff a normal city of its size has. The food scene is definitely an exception and is above average for a city its size if you prefer southern food and some French/Italian the quality is high for the price. I wouldn't say it's as creative and the choices of foreign foods doesn't come close to a Los Angeles etc. I grew up here, lived here for thirty years and moved to the West Coast.

You MUST be religious of some type here, otherwise people won't trust you. Most people are evangelicals. You could be catholic, Greek, etc, as long as you're a church attender somewhere. There is a new money Birmingham crowd of mostly doctors and business executives of several mid sized businesses and a lot of small business owners. It's a very business friendly climate on permits and taxes and such if you don't mind it being a small market and consumers with limited curiosity. The same type things tend to work here Read More

small city to enjoy the typical southerner's life - 12/16/2020
Lived in the Birmingham for years.

The small city was divided by the historical train tracks into the north half and the south one.

The north section was the downtown of the old iron city. There are many old buildings, abandoned, but still with its charm. Some buildings are occupied by banks, as their national data-centers. People works there in the daytime. But after sunset, it's a ghost town. Across the 20 hwy, on the north side of the ghost town, many houses are abandoned. Tornadoes usually come from the southwest, and pass around the city by the north side. It doesn't worth to the fix the broken houses there.

The whole south section is the UAB campus, hospitals, clinics, and law firms. The campus area is much safer than the north section. But you still could get robbed in a garage building, if you leave too late.

Most students and apartment-dwellers live in the areas between the UAB campus and the red mountain ridge. Many Read More

A boring city - 4/7/2020
I moved to Birmingham 6.5 years ago for a new job. The city is very boring in my opinion, there isn't much to do over the weekend except shopping or eating out. Summer is long and humid. Pollen in Spring is terrible. The biggest employer seems to be UAB that does not offer any career ladder for employees. I agree with some of the reviewers here that blending with the locals is not easy. So I feel isolated here. I am glad I can finally move out of here. Read More

You should visit Birmingham - 3/10/2019
Birmingham was sooo bad just 10 years ago. The city is starting to look alive again. But some places in Birmingham need to be avoided but places like downtown (especially 2nd,3rd and 4th ave N) five Points south, Avondale,south side, and more. Surrounding suburbs are great like Hoover, Vestavia hills, Mountainbrooke, and more and the night seen it is exquisite Read More

Stay away if you are not white and from the area - 12/5/2018
Birmingham might be a good place for people who have lived there for generations.

However, if you are a professional from other regions of the country or god forbid from other countries, try to stay away from it.

My spouse and I are both professors and we lived in BHM for 7 years. We almost had to socialize exclusively with transplants like us the entire time. If you are not originally from the Alabama area, the locals won't hang out with you, their kids won't have playdates with your kids, you are discriminated at work, even universities, which are probably the most liberal place in the city. My former next door neighbor told me that she moved to Birmingham from Atlanta because Atlanta is too diverse. I find that to be the kind of mindset of Birmingham.

The city is extremely segregated. Neighborhoods are either almost completely white or complete Black, with later having bad public schools. We bought a house in a city with good schools, but we Read More

Don't do it... Unless you're a "brown noser" - 7/4/2018
I live in huntsville alabama
I've out of work professionally
About 4yrs. Temp work here and their. I've noticed if you're not part of the good ole boy click or brown nosing your not going to make it. And if you're the only black person on a team be prepared for the racist side jokes.
Been here since 2008 the biggest
Mistake of my life. Don't do Read More

Birmingham not the place - 1/3/2013
I have lived here for 12 years, and don't like it at all. My family and I live outside of Birmingham in a suburb. The suburbs are nice, quiet and the cost of living is low but there are few jobs there. Also right outside of the suburbs lurks HIGH CRIME Birmingham laced with murdering youth who kill for no reason. I am a Black female with a MBA and have to constantly fight to get hired for jobs that pay more than $50k per year. Thankfully a Fortune 500 company from a northern state has hired me to work from home in Alabama with a six figure income. Sad enough this could not happen locally, pretty sure due to racism. Outside of this I am terrified that my husband will be hurt or murdered by a senseless crime. committed by the youth from Birmingham. There is so much gun violence it is ridiculous and sad. We are seeking to move away but are still trying to decide where.... We have a 11 month old baby and this is no place to raise a family, or for minorities looking for fair pay and Read More

Suburbs of Birmingham - 10/23/2012
Living in surrounding areas of Birmingham i.e. Mt.Brook, Homewood, Vestavia, Hoover, Southside, Pelham, Trussville, Pelham, Chelsea, or any other small city should not be on a best place to live. The center of all these small cities is a high crime, highly polluted city of Birmingham. Have lived here for a long time and have had to deal with indifferent people, horrible traffic problems(have called the State Transportation Dept. many times and all I get are excuses), air filters in my home are always black from poor air quality and air pollution levels as bad as Flint, MI not to mention what the water quality must be. Crime rates and pollution in Birmingham in top ten in national polls. So there are no cities that surround this type of badly run large city that is going to be a great place to live or bring a family. I have seen to many positive reviews on internet that make no since at all. Get real or get off the internet with the false information. We are moving as Read More

Birmingham, AL - 2/21/2011
Birmingham is more of a big-ole-town rather than a city. People and businesses alike strike to make it a better community for all to live in. We have a world class medical center called University of Alabama in Birmingham. The landscape is mountainous with trees making for a beautiful back drop for our sunsets. Read More

Birmingham Job Initiative - 11/20/2010
Birmingham is currently undergoing a change in the job market. A change for the worse! In the last year jobs have decreased by 8.72%, therefore helping to raise the unemployment rate to 9.90%. Politicians have made promises to bring jobs to the state, cities, and counties, and we have seen little or no results! Those expecting results should not hold their breath because the last time a politician had to look for a job it was to seek election. No one currently in office has any solutions adn will not present any for the next 2-4 years. It is not in their best interest to do so. We as citizens should force them to change their ways of thinking and it should happen now!
Birmingham Water Works constantly brags about having the top 5% best water in the country. As a member of the Birmingham Regional Cahmber of Commerce you receive bottles of water for attending meetings. My question is to anyone listening is this: If Birmingham has the best water in the country why are there no Read More