Top Metros of 2001: Ok BIG Metros, here's your bone.

[Bartram]

Here we have another "best of" list, but this list don't mean anything, directly, for the average black person. In terms of cities and their economic development and jobs though, this is a prime indicator. This is from a magazine that specializes in factory, distribution and business location. Sight Selection Magazine.

http://www.siteselection.com/issues/2002/mar/p162/

The largest cities in America dominate these "best of" lists, but there are some small metros like Tuscaloosa, Alabama that make some of the top ten because of Mercedes.

 

[Sonic98]

This is just becuase of expansion and facilities correct?

 

[Killer Bees]

Chicago?????? I been to Chicago over the 4th of July holiday. I wasn't impressed at all. It is nothing but a big, old, dirty, crowded city. The only thing I did like was Lakeshore Drive. Chicago is one of those cities you have to make a LOT of money to really enjoy it. On top of that, you don't get a lot for your buck there.

Chicago has made me appreciate Atlanta more.

 

[Bartram]

yeap.

Yes, basically business expansion/relocation, corporate HQ relocation, research park and office park growth.

Atlanta is getting to the point where it is of benefit to the whole region even spilling over into parts of Alabama.

When the high speed rail is completed from Birmingham through Atlanta and on to D.C., the B'ham-Atlanta corridor will begin to transform into an approximation of the D.C./Baltimore/NJ/NY corridor but on a much smaller wider scale obviously.

 

[Killer Bees]

When the high speed rail is completed from Birmingham through Atlanta and on to D.C.,

What high speed rail?????? And if it is true, why did they choose Birmingham of all places?

 

[Bartram]

High speed (err fast) rail, Birmingham.

There have been 3-4 proposals for corridor studies the last 2-3 years. This is yet another in a series.

Ey,,, don't look at Birmingham! it's a Georgia politician that's pushing the proposal! (thank goodness,,, which is why i'm so confident it will happen. anytime Atlanta gets behind something like this, IT GETS DONE. :flippy: )

But to the core of your question, Birmingham is a natural extension west/southwest just like Amtrack. Plus too, Atlanta wants links west, the more the merrier. What are they going to do,,, NOT push, for example, for I-20 from Birmingham back in the 1940s when the interstate was the big transportation proposal on the drawing board? No. I-20, high-speed rail, rail roads,,, the more connections to Atlanta the more of a transportation hub they are, so an extension to Birmingham is only natural. :lecture:

Birmingham-Atlanta-D.C. fast-rail proposal:
http://www.al.com/business/birmingh...ndard.xsl?/base/business/1030007772319430.xml