|
|
|
Welcome to Birmingham, Alabama.
Birmingham is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Jefferson County. The city also occupies portions of Shelby County. Birmingham was at the center of the American Civil Rights Movement throughout the 1960's. Birmingham is a city that features a mixture of Old South meets New South, but perhaps without the progressive government that the label connotes in this new southern culture. In recent years Birmingham has been named by various groups as one of the best U.S. cities to live in.
Alabama, the Heart of Dixie, lies in the southeastern USA. It borders Mississippi, Florida, Georgia and Tennessee and its southwestern corner touches the Gulf of Mexico. Its climate is typically southeastern, warm and humid. Alabama is two-thirds forested and its four physical regions are the northern highlands, central plantation area, southern wiregrass zone and the gulf coast delta.
Alabama's steel industry makes it the heavy-industry leader of the South although agriculture and tourism are also important to the state's economy. Alabama became the 22nd state in 1819 and joined the Confederacy in 1861. The Confederacy's first capitol was in Montgomery, now the state capitol.
Alabama's mild winter climate is attractive to northerners. Beach resorts, golf and sport fishing are popular year round. Other attractions include many landmarks of the civil rights movement, the Huntsville Space and Rocket Center and Tuskegee Institute.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Birmingham's economy was transformed with investments in bio-technology and medical research at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). UAB is now the area's largest employer and the largest in Alabama with a work force of about 20,000. Birmingham is also a leading banking center, serving as home to three major banking companies: AmSouth, Compass Bancorp and Regions Bank. SouthTrust, which had also been headquartered in Birmingham, was acquired by Wachovia in 2004. Telecommunications provider BellSouth has a major presence with several large offices in the metropolitan area.
The Birmingham-Hoover metropolitan area is home to numerous independent primary school systems. The area's largest are the Jefferson County, Birmingham City, and Shelby County school systems.
Major attractions: Barber Motorsports Park (http://www.barbermotorsports.com) is a $40 million motorsports complex that includes a 2.3 mile (3.64 km) long track built to MotoGP specifications and a spacious museum housing George Barber's world class collection of motorcycles and racing cars. The park currently hosts Superbike and Sports Car Grand Am races.
The Birmingham Botanical Gardens is a 67 acre park displaying a wide variety of plants in interpretive gardens, including formal rose gardens, tropical greenhouses, and a large Japanese Garden. The facility also includes a white-tablecloth restaurant, meeting rooms, and an extensive reference library.
The Birmingham Zoo is a large regional zoo with over 700 animals and a recently-opened interactive children's zoo.
The Riverchase Galleria mall hosts more than 200 retail stores, a five-star hotel, and an office tower under the largest skylight in the world in the suburb of Hoover. The anchors are JCPenney, McRae's, Parisian, Proffitt's, Macy's, and Sears.
The Talladega Superspeedway, located east of Birmingham, is home to two of NASCAR circuit's annual races in April and October. The speedway also has a Motorsports Hall of Fame museum.
Visionland (http://www.visionland.com) is an amusement park with two independent sections: Splash Beach Waterpark and Magic Adventure Theme Park,. The theme park has 25 different thrill rides including The Rampage wooden roller coaster and, Zoomerang, a steel roller coaster purchased in 2004 from the Brisbane expo.
The Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail (http://www.rtigolf.com), a world-famous development of high-caliber public golf courses throughout Alabama, includes two championship courses and a an 18-hole short course in Oxmoor Valley just south of Birmingham.
McWane Center (http://www.mcwane.org) is a science center and IMAX Dome Theater located downtown with state-of-the-art permanent and traveling educational exhibits.
|
Local daily news in Birmingham:
Barbecue champs opening Hartselle restaurant
A nationally recognized Butts and Bones barbecue competition team is bringing its show to Hartselle to stay. via WTVM Columbus
AIG's loss and record oil sour mood on Wall St
"Also, we are seeing the spiral playing out of declining home prices making financials' underlying collateral worth less. At best, financials will have to keep issuing new capital, which dilutes existing shares, so down the shares go." Stocks fell on Friday as the price of oil set another record and concerns about the financial sector flared up again after American International Group Inc reported a massive loss. via Earth Times
Storms Hit Southeast
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Parts of the Southeast are dealing with a battering from severe storms. via WXOW
|
|
 |
Use our Birmingham directory |
 |
Accommodations,
Accountants,
Airline Services,
Antiques,
Apartments,
Art,
Attorneys,
Attractions,
Auto Dealers,
Auto Rental,
Banks,
Barbers,
Beauty,
Bed & Breakfasts,
Bookstores,
Cafes,
Campgrounds,
Caterers,
Cell Phones,
Chambers of Commerce,
Churches,
Clothing,
Computer Dealers,
Contractors,
Dating,
Dentists,
Electronics,
Employment,
Festivals,
Financial Services,
Fishing,
Florists,
Gift Shops,
Golf,
Health,
Health Care,
Historical,
Hobbies,
Hotels,
Inns,
Insurance,
Jewelers,
Laundries,
Loan Services,
Manufacturers' Agents,
Massage,
Mortgages,
Motels,
Moving Companies,
Museums,
Music,
Nightlife,
Office Services,
Opticians,
Outdoor,
Parks,
Pet Care,
Pharmacy,
Photography,
Publishers,
Real Estate,
Restaurants,
Schools,
Shopping,
Sport & Recreation,
Stadiums,
Taxicabs,
Tourist Info,
Tours,
Travel Agents,
Websites,
Weddings
|
Search for a category of business by clicking a letter below e.g. 'P' for Plumber
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
|
|
Places of interest:
Homewood, AL (3.9 miles), Tarrant, AL (5.4 miles), Mountain Brook, AL (5.6 miles), Fultondale, AL (6.3 miles), Vestavia Hills, AL (6.8 miles), Forestdale, AL (7.1 miles), Cahaba Heights, AL (7.2 miles), Fairfield, AL (7.9 miles).
|
|
 |
Weather in Birmingham:
|
 |
Hotels in Birmingham
|
 |
Hilton Birmingham Perimeter
8 PERIMETER PARK SO. - Birmingham, AL, United States
|
|
Comfort Inn Birmingham
195 OXMOOR RD - Birmingham, AL, US 35209
|
|
Wynfrey Hotel
1000 RIVERCHASE GALLERIA - Birmingham, AL, US 35244
|
|
Days Inn Birmingham Airport
5101 AIRPORT HWY - Birmingham, AL, US 35212
|
|
La Quinta Inn Birmingham N.W.
905 11TH COURT WEST - Birmingham, AL, US 35204
|
|
La Quinta Inn & Suites Hoover
120 RIVERCHASE PARKWAY EAST - Birmingham, AL, US 35244
|
|
Residence Inn by Marriott Birmingham Inverness
3 GREENHILL PKY US280 - Birmingham, AL, US 35242
|
|
Hampton Inn Bhm Colonade
3400 COLONNADE PKWY - Birmingham, AL, US 35243
|
|
Studioplus Birmingham Inverness
101 CAHABA PARK CIRCLE - Birmingham, AL, US 35242
|
|
Studioplus Birmingham Wildwood
40 STATE FARM PKWY - Birmingham, AL, United States
|
|
Best Western Mountain Brook
4627 US 280 S - Birmingham, AL, US 35243
|
|
Days Inn Birmingham South
1535 MONTGOMERY HWY - Birmingham, AL, US 35216
|
|
Hampton Inn Bhm Mtn Brook
2731 US HWY 280 - Birmingham, AL, US 35223
|
|
Fairfield Bhm Inverness
707 KEY DR - Birmingham, AL, US 35242
|
|
Radisson Hotel Birmingham
808 S 20TH ST - Birmingham, AL, US 35205
|
|
Residence Inn by Marriott Birmingham Homewood
50 STATE FARM PARKWAY - Birmingham, AL, US 35209
|
|
Comfort Inn Birmingham East
4965 MONTEVALLO ROAD - Birmingham, AL, US 35210
|
|
Embassy Suites Birmingham
2300 WOODCREST PLACE - Birmingham, AL, United States
|
|
Red Roof Birmingham
151 VULCAN ROAD - Birmingham, AL, US 35209
|
|
Sheraton Birmingham
2101 RICHARD ARRINGTON JR - Birmingham, AL, US 35203
|
|
|
|
| Other Alabama cities | partners
