By David Sher
Don’t set your hair on fire!
Birmingham and Hoover are not going to merge any time soon.
But let’s suspend judgement for the sake of this article and consider the substantial potential advantages.
Combining Birmingham and Hoover may be the simplest step towards some kind of regional consolidation, but the chance of this happening is somewhere near zero.
I live in Vestavia Hills and I likely wouldn’t vote for a merger with Birmingham, so asking my neighbors in Hoover to do so would be hypocritical.
We’ve been diddling around for decades talking about regionalism and very little has changed.
But how to do it?
Jeffrey Bayer, a well-respected real estate entrepreneur, suggested in a ComebackTown column that we combine unincorporated Jefferson County with Birmingham. This is still a logical solution, but faces its own set of challenges.
Some folks have proposed we combine the over-the-mountain communities.
But much of the discussion has been around merging our 35 Jefferson County municipalities into One Great City.
Getting 35 cities to agree on anything is a daunting task.
I hope you can feel my frustration.
Particularly since the option of merging Birmingham and Hoover, the two largest cities in Jefferson County, would completely change the dynamics of our Birmingham region.
Birmingham-Hoover would immediately become the largest city in Alabama
Combining Birmingham and Hoover would create a city with nearly 300,000 residents, dwarfing Huntsville as Alabama’s largest city.
This larger population would boost our region’s national reputation, make it easier to coordinate large projects, give us greater statewide political influence, and attract more businesses and cultural opportunities.
Fragmentation in the Birmingham metro area has hindered job growth and we’ve lost many of our children and grandchildren to career opportunities elsewhere.
Research shows that unified metropolitan areas often experience faster job growth and greater prosperity compared to fragmented ones. For example, cities like Louisville and Nashville saw significant economic benefits after consolidation, including streamlined government operations and improved business recruitment.
If designed well, the merger could create a stronger, more inclusive regional identity that leverages both cities’ strengths—Birmingham’s cultural and institutional core and Hoover’s affluent residential and commercial base. If successful, this might encourage other cities to join.
Big win for both Hoover & Birmingham
When the owners of the Birmingham Barons made the decision to move to downtown, many people expected the worse.
“Hoover will be stripped of Southern League baseball and Hoover Stadium will be abandoned.”
“No family would risk bringing their children downtown and the Barons will fail.”
The opposite happened.
The Hoover Met Complex has been wildly successful. My family spends way more time at the Hoover Met Complex now than we did when the Barons played there.
And Regions Field has been a winner from day one. The Barons began breaking Southern League attendance records the first year.
All it took was a few community and political leaders from both cities to sit down like adults and plan for the best outcome.
Merging likely unpopular
Of course, there are endless reasons why folks would hate the idea.
It’s human nature to focus on the negative and not consider the possibilities.
One obvious objection would be that the two cities aren’t contiguous to one another.
But there is a precedent.
Hoover’s neighbor, Vestavia Hills, annexed Liberty Park when the two cities weren’t adjacent. They didn’t become contiguous until Vestavia Hills annexed Cahaba Heights.
Why this might be a good time to consider
No need to combine school systems. When Indianapolis, Indiana merged into one county-city, the school systems remained independent.
Why bring up an idea that is not likely to happen?
As Larry Page, former CEO of Facebook, proclaimed, “Good ideas are always crazy until they’re not.”
Our Birmingham region is never going to progress unless we consider improbable ideas.
Most people thought Railroad Park was farfetched.
Moving the Birmingham Barons to Regions Field downtown was considered preposterous.
Building the Uptown Entertainment district north of downtown was thought to be insane.
Some folks today think it’s crazy to build a world class 9,300 seat amphitheater in North Birmingham. Bet they are wrong.
Every one of these projects was considered unrealistic, but happened or is happening anyway.
So why am I proposing Birmingham and Hoover merge when I know it isn’t likely to happen.
Because improbable and surprising things continue to happen in Birmingham.
I don’t know which ones will come to fruition–and neither do you.
David Sher is the founder and publisher of ComebackTown. He’s past Chairman of the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce (BBA), Operation New Birmingham (REV Birmingham), and the City Action Partnership (CAP).
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