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Birmingham -- The Schizophrenic City

If metro Birmingham were to receive a psychiatric examination, I'm fairly certain the doctor would shake his head sadly, give a half-hearted tsk-tsk and start writing up commitment papers. Why? Because this city is apparently schizophrenic. Metro Birmingham is an area of almost limitless potential that can do almost anything it puts its collective mind to. Unfortunately, it rarely does, squandering opportunities over and over again.

Two recent incidents in the area highlight this disparity, showcasing the differences of what we can do as a city, and what generally happens in the normal course of business in the metro area.

First, the good news. The Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex played host this weekend to the first-round matches of the Davis Cup international tennis tournament that pitted the United States against Sweden. Through the efforts of Gene Hallman and the Alabama Sports Foundation, Birmingham landed an event which brought to the city not only international visitors (and their dollars) but positive publicity as well.

Jeff Ryan, United States Tennis Association director of team events, was quoted in the The Birmingham News as saying, "It was a home run for us... Would I love to come back? Yeah. It's just that kind of community we want to work with.

"Everybody has been so hospitable," he said, pointing out one of Birmingham's best characteristics. "From the Highlands Bar and Grill to Lou's Pub, everywhere we go, people are like, 'Hey, come back.' We're looking for communities that will wrap their arms around an event and make it into something more than it is. We can come in here with all our systems and plans, but you need a local heart and soul, and that's what we got."

Bringing The Davis Cup to Birmingham is just one of many feathers in the cap of Hallman and the ASF. The organization has many, many more success stories, from Olympic Soccer in 1996 to the Southeastern Conference Baseball tournament and the Regions Charity Classic golf tournament today.

The success of those events is the Dr. Jekyll side of Birmingham. Unfortunately it's the exception, rather than the rule. The Mr. Hyde side is what we see more often than not.

As an example from the other end of the spectrum, the News reported on Sunday that the metro area stands to lose $100 million in federal transit funding because regional leaders could not come up with a plan for the money -- even though they had four years to do it.

U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R) included the money in a 2005 federal transportation bill. To get the money, leaders were to come up with three things: An approved plan, 20 percent local matching funds, and identification of a steady stream of revenue to maintain the plan.

Given the current difficult economic situation, it might have been difficult, if not even impossible, to come up with the 20 percent matching funds and the continuing revenue source. But it's a moot point. We couldn't even come up with a plan, and because local leaders could not find a way to effectively spend the money, it will be appropriated elsewhere.

Shelby, quoted in the story, said he would try to get the funding back for the area, but "there's got to be some local initiative."

No kidding.

Even when the federal government wants to give us the funds to handle one of our most pressing regional needs, we can't get out act together enough to take advantage of the situation.

So why can't we, as the largest and most progressive area in the state (although "most progressive" doesn't apparently mean much around these parts) get the things done around Birmingham that need doing? The transit funding issue is just another example of an opportunity squandered. And there have been plenty, starting with the decision back in the 1950s to let Atlanta have the regional hub for Delta Airlines. Things have gone downhill from there. And it is just this kind of good news/bad news situation that is at the heart of my love/hate relationship with my hometown. We have so much potential, and so little gets done with it.

There is, of course, a prescription for the region's schizophrenia. It calls for leadership, vision, and cooperation. If we can get local governments to cooperate with each other, if we can create a vision of what we want the region to become, and if we have the kinds of leaders who put the region first, then we can fix our problems and become the area we want to be.

It's too bad that we tend to ignore the prescription and prefer the straightjacket.

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