Enter Southside's TriBeCa Studio, Be Inspired, Spend Money, Look Cool.

Shops like TriBeCa in 5PS are the type that make living Intown so unique. I'm no retail expert and I'm not one the get excited about cloth stores usually but I get a smile every time I walk into this store. In my experience there is no store that duplicates what they are able to do. Maybe it's the clothes: Some fashions are like what you see in the mall stores, but seem more authentic somehow; others are like what you will see in other independent stores on the West side of town but with better materials and more cache. The prices are good also. Usually there's
something on sale that I want in addition the the regular stuff which while definitely no cheap is definitely fair for the quality and uniqueness offered. Maybe its the staff. There usually are several good looking women there, led my store manager Mia, dressed in the style that the store sells which have I mentioned is unique. Maybe it's the hats. Probably it's the hats. R and B singer Ne-yo and "Mad Men" character Don Draper have brought the fedora back and TriBeCa has the best hat collection in the city. Thus the picture above which is my latest acquisition.

Get inspired at

1919 11th Ave S,a few doors down from Golden Temple or call them at 939-1594.

Let me know if you agree or disagree with me on the styles there.

Store manager Mia is bullish on business in 5PS and says the this shopping season has been decent so far. She likes the new ferrite-toned paint at the district namesake intersection. The store hasn't had any problems with crime, something she says usually occurs after midnight. "People need to get past the general idea of fear down here." Amen to that.

Are the green spaces of Intown Bham an answer to ADHD and obesity?

Maybe. If we take advantage of what we have available to us. According to the December issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine and reported in Birmingham News last week, the amount of open spaces in a neighborhood has a correlation to the amount of body fat, hyperactivity and cognitive ability. So move to Norwood, Bush Hills or around Highland Avenue or near one of the many parks of Intown and your children will all grow up to be hot-bodied, well adjusted, 1600-SAT achieving teenagers! Go Intown!

If only it were so easy. Food is so good. TV is so comfortable. Video games are so addictive. "Excercise" kinda sucks. This article is good news though. The linear and street bordered parks of Norwood Blvd, Bush Blvd and Highland Avenue were designed in tandem as gems in a dreamed of city of parks and open spaces. I still get excited about that idea. Perhaps if we can find more social reasons to draw people out into our many open spaces we can actualize the health potential of our parks?

For the technical out there you can read the actual Journal article here.

Birmingham Chamber wants to know how people feel about living in Birmingham.

We have a regional Chamber of Commerce in Birmingham. Ideally that's supposed to help the Metro area to work better together, but you wouldn't guess that based on the many fiefdoms that make up our area's political geography. UrbanUpscale focuses on the historic and older areas of Birmingham and the surrounding area, but I'm interested in a poll that the Regional Chamber is looking for responses to. Please take a second to take our poll to the right then click HERE to go to the poll that the Chamber is doing and see what people in neighborhoods all over the area-historic and otherwise are thinking.

The password for the Chamber poll is "bham".

"We grow old by deserting our ideals." Sam Ullman

I think I would have liked Sam Ullman if I'd had the opportunity to know him in 19th century Birmingham. His progressive work and independent spirit live on in the spirit of the Southside today. His home, preserved and historically designated through UAB, serves as a reminder of the inspiration the living man gave to Birmingham and the world.

One of my customers is a retired teacher who over several years has told me several stories about the old Ullman High School, named after Sam Ullman. This was one of the few high schools that educated Blacks in Birmingham beginning in 1937 and continuing until 1970. The building still stands on UAB's campus near the football field and track on 6th Avenue South. A few weeks ago I came across the poem that has contributed as much as anything to make Ullman's name known worldwide, "Youth". Reading it I get a sense of the way the man thought and perhaps a window into the unique character that lives on the Southside of Birmingham in particular and perhaps in the new residents and businesses creating Intown in general. I'm including the first two paragraphs of the poem but you can read the full poem here.

Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.

Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity of the appetite, for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of sixty more than a body of twenty. Nobody grows old merely by a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals.

Lots of choices in the city for election night.

You'd think it was a friday. For my neighbors in Norwood, it looks like many will be heading to Norwood Circle for a pot luck and intimate company looking out over downtown from a large back porch. Email me for an address. For those who want to get out into the streets there's ton's of choices. Cosmos Bar and Grill will be open and watching its many LCD screens and there is no cover except on weekends during special occasions. Free programs are going on at Steel Urban Lounge at 1st Ave N and 23rd Street downtown, Steppers and Walkers at 2223 4th Ave North, downtown next to the Birmingham News (they say they will have drink and food specials all night), I've heard from friends meeting at several different restaurants around the city and the Birmingham Obama campaign office will be partying at the Boutwell Auditorium in the Exhibition Hall, 1930 8th Avenue North, Birmingham, Al 35203 at 7:00 P.M. until 11:00 P.M. Whew! As I always say:

What to do, what to do?

Blog hyper-local, Buy hyper-local. Neighborhood stores help with election lines.

Tomorrow is the biggest election day in anybody's recent memory. UrbanUpscale-Intown Green's staff (me) was so inspired by CNN correspondent and Tom Joyner Morning Show regular guest Roland Martin's idea of helping the election by helping people who are expected to be standing in tomorrow's long lines.

What to do? What to do?


Oh, I know. Food and drink.

I contacted two neighborhood stores who I have worked with in the past and they have donated and discounted some food items to help out the cause. This is part of the

"Shop where I sleep" campaign

that has been hinted here in the past. Now I'm stepping up the volume. Southwest Supermarket in Titusville and Lusco Foods Grocery in Collegeville at 3800 Shuttlesworth Drive. The owners are great guys and carry some nice items that I like and hadn't been able to find in the big national chains. Notice the Morgan Creek muscadine table wine in the picture (the wine is for tomorrow night, not for the lines. Just so we're clear). This is from an Alabama winery located off of 280. Lusco Foods sells this brand; I'd recently been hipped to this brand by downtown fashion haberdasher Sonya Faye's Tailors. Hadn't noticed it yet at my regular grocery store, but Bill Mardis has it ready for the taking. Lusco's is also sponsoring the "name these 5 red trees" Ben and Jerry's pint give away.

I need your help in this. If you want to donate some snacks, please call me tomorrow and I'll let you know which poll I'm working at that time. I'm trying to go to both the Norwood Community Center location and The Hudson School location during the course of the day starting at about 11am or noon. I can be reached at 205-223-8637

Birmingham Home and Garden Magazine wants you, Norwoodians.

Some of you have put some serious money into your home and have great taste to back it up. Now's the time to floss a little in full, glossy color. Birmingham Home and Garden wants to do an article on Norwood for the magazine in an upcoming issue. My contact, a church member, tells me that they are looking for folk who have done upgrades recently to their homes. Email me or send a response at the end of this post and I will get your information to the magazine. cdechols@gmail.com is the direct email address.

Thus sayeth Mike, Eat not of the fruit of the tree in the center of Norwood Boulevard.

Lesson learned yesterday: beautiful trees aren't always your friends. At 34th Street and Norwood Blvd. there is a female gingko biloba tree, very rare, that produces a small, round, smelly fruit that is on the ground now.

Me: "So will eating or making a tea of this fruit improve my memory?"
Mike Helms: "No. But it may kill you!"

Me: "Oh."

My ensuing laughter shows you my dark sense of humor. Mike Helms (no relation to the late Senator, Jesse) is an unapologetic botany enthusiast. In the span of about 30 minutes I got many times more information on the day to day workings of the greenery I walk past everyday than a biology degree and a lifelong interest in science ever provided. It helps when you love something, and Mike loves green, growing things. Turns out this ginkgo tree is rare because the smelly fruit causes people to not plant female species, so the Boulevard has yet another distinction to it's name. Even the shape of the gingko leaf figures into neighborhood architecture history: the ginkgo leaf was a common motif in the Art Nouveau/ Art Deco movement that influenced architecture and home fashions when many of the homes in Norwood, Forest Park, and Bush Blvd were built.

Mike has agreed to regularly make readers privy to the deep wellspring of botany knowledge he has amassed here on UrbUps-Intown Green. We plan video and printable description you can use in planning your garden and yard. For now though stay away from Gingko fruit and stick to the in store extracts.

It's official. Andre and Betsey are Norwoodians.

Andre will be exchanging the view in the above picture for a more natural one in "the placid place", Historic Norwood. No more looking out over the stark, though beautiful, concrete, masonry and glass of downtown. Now when Andre and Betsey look out of the large windows of their four square home it'll be birch trees, green grass and the occasional squirrel they see.

He's asking for help with the move tomorrow and is promising food and beverage refreshment as payment for your labors. Work starts about 9am at the house on 34th street. You can email him at acnatta@gmail.com for directions.

New Norwood restaurant and nightspot at vangurard of new businesses betting on Intown.

It's Thursday night, 11:45 pm. You live in the northern part of Intown and you want some good, hot food and maybe a spirited drink and some company and don't want to drive too far to get it.

What to do? What to do?

Until recently there were few if any options. No longer, however. Entering the Intown restaurant and nightclub scene as of October is Cosmos Bar and Grill on 12th Avenue in Norwood. For some of us in the neighborhood it quicker to walk to Cosmos than to drive there, though most folk will probably wait until spring to test that!

The above scenario is a personal one; tonight for the first time since moving to Norwood I was able to quickly indulge a late night desire for savory fish and sweet drink while sitting down in the company of fellow travellers. That's where Steve Tutt, owner of Cosmos, enters the picture.

Steve Tutt is a busy man these days

managing a growing bevy of different businesses, all located in various Intown neighborhoods. He and wife Lelia are the engines behind these enterprises and represent an underlying optimism about opportunities for Intown Birmingham I've seen in my work when calling on many merchants. In the months of September and October several new restaurants have opened throughout various Intown neigborhoods, belying the general economic slowdown. Over the next few weeks I'll scoop the faithful on the details of a few of them (maybe even get some special kind of special UrbanUpscale/Intown Green swag for you, too). Stay tuned by scrolling down to the bottom of the page and subscribing to the blog for new updates! It'll be worth it.

Steve and Lelia began doing the extensive work to open Cosmos about 14 months ago. The result is a multi-purpose gathering place anchored by an extensive bar and a
fairly diverse bar food menu that is open from 11am to when the last person leaves. Always smiling Cosmos promotions guy, bar man and all around cool dude

Lee Vines says "We don't turn nobody away."

The food prices are very affordable and I've enjoyed the Philly Cheese Steak and the Catfish Sandwich with fries. The Talapia has also gotten a favorable report from another Norwood resident for it's taste. One thing: the portion sizes are decent but not as big as at dedicated restaurants; there's a reason Cosmos is named BAR and grill and not vice versa. You will get a nice meal, but you might have to double up if you are an eat-until-full person like me. One can do other things here though: pool, cards, TV watch, dance and hear some good music. Lenny Williams (whose " Cause I Love You" hit is a personal soul favorite) performed last friday night as part of the festivities for the Magic City Classic.

Urban Upscale/Intown Green readers are invited to come to Friday happy hour that includes a free buffet starting at 5pm and going until 9. Or do like me and get something for take out: Cosmos is located at 3200 12th Ave. North and can be reached at 205-214-7111.

Weird, man. Count the number of people in this picture...

...then add up the total of the numbers in the address of the home in the picture-"3511".

Have you done it yet?


Good. Spooky isn't it?

No? Well how about this: the picture was taken recently on Norwood Blvd for a home that was recently closed on by a new owner and this was the culmination of the first get together of probably many (if I know the owner like I think I do). Consider that the people here are part of the new generation of folk who have moved into Norwood over the past four years or so and tend to get together rather easily once the word is put out. Consider that one of the people is the new owner's next door neighbor. Consider that one of the people in the picture had a relative who lived in this very house in the 1960s. Spooky.

That's a lot to consider. Now throw the number 10 consideration out the window because you have to consider that the person taking the picture (who is the new owner of the 3511 house) makes the total number one more than the people in the picture. Te-Hee. Just playing around.

But hey I've got something real to consider. Come with me to see

Founberg Treme

one of the documentaries in this year's Sidewalk Picture festival. It's showing today (Sat) at the Civil Rights Insitute at 1:15pm. The Treme section is in my hometown New Orleans and is a neighborhood that early on caused me to fall in love with historical areas of cities. It's located right outside of the French Quarter, so if you haven't been there you'll be able to easily see it the next time you go to NOLa. It just so turns out that it's also one of the most unique areas in America historically and a key to why New Orleans is such a unique place. Here's some online info about it.

Also the Northside Blocakwatch Festival is going on in Norwood Park 8am to 4pm. Potential neighbor Andre Natta is the wizard behind the curtain of the WordPress Conference for bloggers downtown today and tomorrow. There's a lot to consider this weekend!

He has an easel. He will travel. You will be impressed

Myron Pierre is a unique type of Birminghamian. You can tell this immediately by the red handkerchief he wears rolled and tied around his neck, artist style. It's a touch of class fashion move that quickly says to people like me "deep waters ahead". That's just me though. But even before seeing the handkerchief you would have probably noticed the stand up easel with the umbrella over it that he is sitting at working on a boulevard somewhere in Alabama. It's the first thing I noticed. He's a man on a mission it turns out: "The downtown areas of our cities should be recorded by hand. That's what I'm trying to do with my portraits." Like I said-'deep'.

You should wade in and take a look at his work. He's been doing hand drawings of buildings and homes for almost 20 years, mainly here in Alabama. I met him during Artwalk this year and I'm richer in experience for having done so. I plan on having him do a portrait of my home on 'The Circle' and talk to him about his gardening project over in West End. More on that later. His flyer says you can reach him at 205-223-2164.

Scoop! Local online celebrity may be moving to Norwood.

Andre and Betsey may be moving to Norwood. Yes, I refer to them by only their first names. What would our Southern cities look like if people like Andre Natta, founder, editor and publisher of The Terminal website, among other web projects, was commonly referred to by folk who don't know them as simply "ANDRE"? I can hear the chant now: "AN-DRE! YES. WE. CAN....get people to realize that historic downtowns and neighborhoods are the bomb!" For you non-geeks out there who don't know who 'Dre is, he was profiled here in the Black and White Paper in July.

Anyway, flights of fancy aside and jibes at non-geeks aside, I'm excited to hear that Andre Natta may be moving to my neighborhood. The home he and Betsey have identified is not far from my street ("The Circle" among those in the know) and they're working on a deal with the current owners to acquire it for a residence. Yes, a residence, as in for themselves. Take that other Intown neighborhoods-all of which I love-just not as much as where I live.

Necessary disclaimer: it is possible that the purchase may not work out. I was just excited to hear of the strong possibility of the move. It would definitely be a positive for Intown. He and Betsey are a node in the network of people having a positive and progressive impact on Birmingham. Anyone interested in blogging and internet development should attend the upcoming WordCamp Conference he's organizing. I and other Andre and Betsey fans will be there.

Ideas for Intown homes to cut their power bills and maybe even get a check from Alabama Power.

Most of the homes in Birmingham's Intown neighborhoods were built before there was regular access to air conditioning. Many of the architectural features that I love had a dual use of helping to regulate the temperature in the house. That said, some significant retrofitting is often necessary to lower energy usage, save money and be more green. My house, built around 1933, has about 35 large windows. Thirty-five! I've recently come across some low cost ideas for dealing with this and maybe even getting a check back from Alabama Power (if you can afford the entry fee).

Relatively cheap and old school ideas...
The Attic: Attic fans and insulation
Windows: Removable window film.
Heating and AC: Electronic thermostat.
Electronics/Appliances: Unplugging computers, microwaves, DVDs, etc when not in use.
Lighting: Switching over to compact florescent bulbs (CFCs) that are now becoming popular.

Slightly more costly new school (and more fun )ideas...

Home energy power cost monitor-let's you know the wattage that your powered items are using in real time and can even alarm you when you go over certain limits.

And one for you ballers out there...

Net Metering-A Norwood neighbor recently received a letter from Alabama Power telling him that they were able to now offer net metering, which could actually allow you to get a check back from our local energy company. You first have to install solar panels that would turn your property into a mini power station. This is not a cheap proposition as costs for a residential set up can run upwards of $20,000 right now. I can't find information on net metering on the Alabama Power website, but my neighbor does have a letter from them talking about the program. I'll look more into this in upcoming posts.

Would the old Torme's location work for ALDI?

When Torme's closed over a year ago the Birmingham News article made it sound like there were some talks in place for a new store to replace it. If so then they are either moving VERY slow or they have since fallen apart. I only made it to Torme's once while they were there, but Aldi's would see me every week.

It would take some work and vision to get ALDI here: more parking probably, maybe a raised roof and this area of downtown isn't the most traveled (all the locations of ALDI I've seen so far are on major multi-lane, two way thoroughfares). Second Avenue is multi-lane but it is one way. Some momentum has been lost from other projects too: According to BhamTerminal.com the brewpub planned for around the corner in the old Jimmie Hale Mission is now off the table.

A Herculean Task

One of the pleasures of living in a 100 year old neighborhood is that there is plenty of greenery that is well established. It is also one of the great banes of living in a 100 year old community; some of my chlorophyll powered neighbors don't know when their welcome is well worn out and need to just die. In fact I'm sure that they ask themselves 'why is this newcomer cutting on me?' in their own ever silent way.

Hercules in one of his 12 labors is supposed to have fought a many headed hydra who grew back two heads in the place of each one that the mythical hero cut off. I can't speak for the ancient world but the modern day analog of that is surely the fern type of tree that is seen randomly around Intown homes and businesses and is the bane of my summer each year. Each year I cut it back to a stub and each year it comes back with more (though at least their smaller in diameter than the first) branches to block the northeast view off of my porch. Like the story of Hercules, short of digging out this stump, I will have to cauterize the cut branches in order to stop it's growth. Anybody out there have some luck stopping the growth of these things?

6th Avenue Baptist shows up for Yes We Can, Birmingham.

The Titusville neighborhood is one of the under recognized gems of Birmingham. Historically it is an important area in producing many of the city's professionals, business people and leaders. Earlier this week the ever-active Helen Rivas sent me an email listing the YECB meetings this week; two were in the Eastlake area and one was at 6th Avenue Baptist Church in Titusville. Even though I live in Norwood, my first instinct was to go to the 6th Avenue meeting instead of the Eastlake ones. "I know 6th Avenue" I rationalized, the good, well dressed, professional members-of-Birmingham's-Black-backbone would certainly provide a productive meeting. We'll 6th Avenue didn't disappoint. While far from full, this meeting was well attended and had a lot of good ideas. Plus some REALLY good sweet iced tea and rolled sandwiches!

Many ideas were shared by attendees, some unique to this meeting: national certification for teachers, arts emphasis in the curriculum, training in the trades. On things that separated our area very similar concerns from the Opporto-Madrid meeting were voiced: routine and apathy keep people in their respective comfortable life spheres and the age-old Intown vs. the OTM divide. The Birmingham Schools Educational Foundation which is being formed out of this activity has

no official connection with the education foundations that have been in existence for years in Mountain Brook, Hoover and other cities.

That won't be changing anytime soon but the facilitators expressed optimism about how the bottom up approach of Yes We Can will lead to a better more productive Birmingham City Schools.

I will be reporting on more of these meetings in upcoming weeks. You can find out more by visiting the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham website. Even if you weren't at the meeting you can also leave your thoughts here to share your concerns and hopes for out local schools.

Bring on the Germans. Now!

The ALDI stores popping up around town are impressive. No wonder the Euro is kicking our greenback's butt if this is an indication of how much better they can run a "low end" grocery store compared to American companies. We Intowners need to quickly implant into the right people's heads that downtown Birmingham would be an ideal spot for one of their stores.

Why such a glowing words, you ask? If my reading of the people I'm often around is correct I'm out of step with many of you reading this in my grocery shopping. Ninety to 95% of the time I shop at Wally World or Piggly Wiggly not the food coutour haven these days, Publix. It saves me a lot of money and is overall not a bad shopping experience except that that I know I'm feeding the BeAsT itself, supporting its regressive employment practices and the questionable product sourcing practices. For now, however, I can't ignore those low, low prices and continue to put money into the coffers of the world's largest corporation. Shopping at Piggly Wiggly is a way to assuage my guilt and keep a few dollars local, but the difference in prices is great and thus far I haven't been able to verify that they pay their employees any better than Wal-Mart (WallyW). Enter the Germans with a solution to my conundrum: ALDI.


ALDI's got a nice selection of different brands than I can find anywhere else and they have them at really good prices. Yesterday I bought a bottle Shiraz wine for $3.50 and there were these frozen chicken asiago hot pockets that have a complexity of taste that remind me of a good restaurant that were about $2.00 a box! Add to that that they start new employees at $10 to $13 an hour! (You can work at WallyW for years in store management and not hit $10/hour, I'm told by a former manager.) Add to that they have a very active (almost to a fault) program for encouraging recycling, one of my hot buttons. Add to that ALDI stores all have a small size that can fit into a lot of different areas. Which is why they need to be downtown. In upcoming weeks I'm going to look into how we can let the good folk at ALDI know that downtown Birmingham would be a great place to reach Intowners. What do you guys think?

YES.WE.CAN!

Up until this Tuesday I have not been able to make to any of the Yes We Can! townhall style meetings going on around the city. Luckily the programs organizers are persistant in keeping these meetings going and I made it to one at the library on Oporto Madrid (beautiful building). I'm glad I did.

There was only a small group there, no suprise. Unfortunately only the most intersted in Birmingham's future are going to take time to go to these things. Pretty much everyone there currently served in some type of leadership role in their current life.

Interesting new ideas were shared. Two of the most interesting to me were creating schools with dormitories creating a residential system for public school students. WOW. Hadn't thought of that one in the past, but I believe it's worth a good review of costs and benefits. Another was a deeo more affordable entertainment options for families. There's opportunity for neighborhoods to be more aggressive in doing things like "movie nights" which could help with this.

Many things were shared in the hour and a half long meeting. I'm going to the one on today (7-17-08) at Sixth Avenue Baptist Church on Martin Luther King Blvd. Meet me there.