40952094 10156681711149182 1543911069259399168 n 3 things to know about Birmingham's updated master plan, including how you can get involved — Get Healthy on the Railroad cooking classes at Railroad Park. Photo via Railroad Park, Blue Cross Blue Shield

Do you have a vision for the downtown Birmingham area? If you missed the recent public-information sessions for the city’s updated master plan that’s underway, that’s OK! You can still share your input and participate in the planning process.

50th Anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. event observed on April 4, 2018 at Kelly Ingram Park. Photo by Kristina O’Quinn for Bham Now

Birmingham hasn’t updated its City Center Master Plan since 2004, and our downtown area has grown in a lot of ways since then.We’ve grown a lot as a city in a short period of time, with projects like:

Railroad Park
Regions Field
The Pizitz Food Hall

Screen Shot 2018 04 26 at 9.32.15 AM 3 things to know about Birmingham's updated master plan, including how you can get involved — Pizitz Food Hall. Photo courtesy of the Wilbert Group

Big Business For Birmingham

We’ve also seen many mixed-use developments come to Birmingham, along with renovations of historic buildings, traffic infrastructure, new businesses (like the new Amazon distribution center in Bessemer) and more.

The changes represent partnerships between public and private groups, the city, the county and the state of Alabama, along with major financial investments. They are transformations that continue to impact our community, and those coordinating the new master plan hope that it will complement the ongoing revitalization.

It’s A Collaboration

Wondering who all is behind this plan? It’s being coordinated by:

The City of B irmingham
The Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham
REV Birmingham, under contract with the Stantec Urban Places team.
Sub-consultants to the Stantec team include: W-ZHA, Zimmerman / Volk Associates, the KPS Group and Studio 2H Design.

Birmingham, Woodlawn Street Market — Local dancers battling it out and entertaining the crowd at Woodlawn Street Market, a REV neighborhood development project. Photo via Woodlawn Street Market, REV

1. Get Involved In The Plan

If you didn’t attend the recent public-planning sessions, here’s the link to fill out the survey. According to the planning team, your input will directly affect their recommendations.

2. The Boundaries

The City Center master plan stretches from I-65 to the west and U.S. 31 / Elton B. Stephens Expressway to the east.

citycenter basemap final 180831 01 orig 3 things to know about Birmingham's updated master plan, including how you can get involved — Map via downtownbhamplan.com

The northern boundary includes:

The Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center
Uptown District and 11th and 12th Avenues North.
The southern boundary encompasses the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) campus, Five Points South and the St. Vincent’s Hospital campus.
Two areas extend beyond the U.S. 31 / Elton B. Stephens Expressway to the east: the Sloss Furnaces Historic Site and the Lakeview District.
The western boundary includes the former Trinity Steel site (27 acres), which extends beyond I-65 near UAB.

Birmingham, Alabama, the Metropolitan — Lakeview living at the Metropolitan. Photo by Wade Cline for Bham Now

3. Who’s Paying?

The City Center master plan is being funded through the Building Communities Program. The program is administered through the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham.