Better Birmingham

06/07/2026

Birmingham City Council will be holding a public hearing on the Data Center Ordinance on Tuesday, June 9th, at 9:30am in Council Chambers. No sign up is require to speak at a public hearing. Participants are allowed 3 minutes to speak on the subject.

05/31/2026

Mayor's FY26 Budget - What does it mean?
https://open.substack.com/pub/betterbham/p/what-what-in-the-mayors-fy27-budget?

Where City Tax Dollars are going...

05/31/2026

Find a breakdown of the operating budget posted today on our Substack

05/13/2026

Article on our Substack. Link in Bio

05/10/2026

A shorter crosswalk might seem like a small change, but it can completely transform how a street feels. Curb bump outs reduce crossing distance, slow turning vehicles, and make pedestrians more visible to drivers. Tactical urbanism projects like this show how quick, low cost interventions can create safer streets and stronger neighborhoods.

05/03/2026

A closed road feels like a failure. But what if it’s actually a test of how well a city works?

The bridge along Messer Airport Boulevard has been out of service for years due to flooding. On paper, that sounds like a major disruption. But in practice, something interesting happened.

Traffic adapted.

Drivers didn’t stop moving, they rerouted. Trips still happen every day, just along different paths. For most people, it’s been a mild inconvenience, not a breakdown of the system. That says a lot about how resilient our street network already is.

So the question becomes, what do we do next?

Rebuilding this bridge would likely require major drainage improvements and significant investment. And every dollar spent there is a dollar that can’t go toward safer crossings, better transit, or protected bike infrastructure that serves more people every day.

Not every closure needs to be reversed immediately. Sometimes it’s an opportunity to step back and ask what kind of mobility we actually want to invest in.

Mobility isn’t about preserving every route exactly as it was. It’s about making sure people have safe, reliable options to get where they need to go.

05/02/2026

Parking in the bike lane has been a constant frustration, and people have been speaking up about it.

Now, Birmingham Department of Transportation is responding with a commitment to stronger enforcement.

That matters. Because a bike lane only works if it stays clear. When it’s blocked, cyclists are pushed into traffic, and the system breaks down.

Enforcement is what turns infrastructure into something people can actually rely on. It’s the difference between a painted line and a functioning network.

This is a step toward streets that work the way they’re designed to, for everyone.

04/29/2026

Fully protected bike lanes change the experience completely. This is where biking stops feeling exposed and starts feeling possible.

Physical separation creates real space for people, not just lines on pavement. It lowers stress, reduces conflicts, and opens the street to riders of all ages and abilities.

This is the difference between a lane you tolerate and a lane you choose. When safety is built into the design, more people show up.

And that is how a bike network grows.

04/28/2026

A painted bike lane is where streets start to draw a line, literally. It gives cyclists a defined space and brings clarity to how the road is used.

That line matters. It reduces confusion, improves predictability, and signals that biking is part of the transportation system.

But it’s still just paint. No barrier, no buffer, just a boundary that relies on behavior more than design.

It’s a step forward, and a reminder that the next step is building safety you can feel, not just see.