Andrea Lindenberg imagines her daughter’s future

When I was asked a few weeks ago to share my thoughts on Birmingham in 50 years, I agreed. Then, panic set in. Thoughts went through my mind like, “I’m not creative enough for this request. I’m not a visionary. I do my job on Red Mountain, mostly talking about things in our community that we’d like to fix, then I go home.” I was NEVER a person who had a great answer when my employer asked, “Where do you see yourself in five years, Andrea?” (um…here? Employed?!) But I digress.

To look forward 50 years, I have to reflect back on my 40 plus years here as a Birmingham native. As a child, my parents took me downtown for everything: to see Santa, Vulcan, random celebrities staying at the Parliament House, to shop, to watch shiny high rises go up and to watch historic buildings come down. My dad is a retired structural engineer who still shakes his head at the thought of the Birmingham Terminal Station demolition in 1969. I developed a deep love for Birmingham because of the trees, the people, its value in history and even for our “metropolitan identity crisis” shortly after Atlanta landed Delta’s HQ in the mid-‘70s.

The answer to my hopes for our future flowed freely when my 10-year-old daughter and I randomly decided to go to the Magic City Art Connection. On our drive to Linn Park, we wove through the streets for a brief history lesson. What I want for her when she is 60 is to be able to tell HER children how far Birmingham has come since SHE was a child in the 2000s.

I imagine:
* increased cooperation between Birmingham metro municipalities
* high-speed rail between here and Atlanta
* a highly-developed public transportation system that people really use to commute
* the continued flow of people moving back downtown, with a city center that offers shopping, restaurants and entertainment on a level hard to imagine right now in this economy
* an education system fueled with more parental involvement; one that makes headlines in national news
* a pride in an evolved downtown district that is as contagious as the pride we now see in places like Chattanooga, where they’ve “dusted off the streets” and developed a city center to attract tourists from across the Southeast
* a national reputation as a hotbed for music, art and creative, forward thinking people (we are getting there, right)
* people walking around downtown on Sunday afternoon because the city is “open for business.” It’s a beautiful walk, but it’s a bit lonely if you do it now.
* dare I say, television stations teaming up as ONE for community projects, much like NBC13, CBS 42 & ABC 33/40 did for “Stand Up To Cancer.” I may be pushing the envelope on THAT one (smile)
* even more pockets of beauty within the park system
* tolerance, understanding, acceptance as we continue our Civil Rights evolution
* and, lastly, no sewer debt

I’m blessed to live in a neighborhood in unincorporated Shelby County near two HUGE parks which are community bonding sites for ball games, art festivals, etc. I’m just down the street from my kids’ schools. I buy groceries less than a mile from my house. Even my eye doctor and favorite Mexican restaurant are almost in my backyard. In 50 years, I hope that sort of lifestyle piggy-backs with Birmingham’s rich history and progress so families are more inclined to inhabit my hometown. How do we get there? Hey, I’m just a news anchor who doesn’t know where she will be in five years!

Join us May 11 at our annual meeting and share what YOU imagine for our future.