Birmingham, AL: North-South Downtown Street Tour

[Crocfan20]

Nice ride through downtown Birmingham, only been to Alabama four times(twice as a rider in my brother's big rig)but never visited downtown.

[springbob]

Certainly not the city I remember from my days there.

[prfsnlwannabe]

Great video, I always wondered what downtown Birmingham was like. Have passed through B'ham several times, but unfortunately never stopped to see anything within the city(thanks to the fact I was always en route on vacations elsewhere). I'd love to see B'ham one day, plus the downtown was a little nicer than I envisioned it'd be. B'ham seems lot like a smaller version of Atlanta to me.

I'm also interested in driving on the Red Mtn. Expwy(US 31/280), as it looks like an attractive expressway.

[Freewayjim]

@prfsnlwannabe Thanks, The Red Mtn Expwy is definitely worth a short detour to see it.

[utterbullspit]

How do you have the time to go to all these places?

[Freewayjim]

@utterbullspit Stange as it may seem I really don't travel much, this was just a saturday day trip.

[beyondfamous]

Great video! It'd be cool so see you start at the top of 20th, coming off of Red Mountain, a little later in the day, to get a feel of the 'people traffic'...Birmingham comes alive at night! :)

[Freewayjim]

@beyondfamous Good to know, thanks

[the3idiots14]

Great videos on Birmingham, showed its best of downtown. You left out the new Railroad Park, 5 Points South, Red Mountain and Vulcan (amazing photography locations), The Club (located on top of Red Mountain, 16th St. Baptist and so much more. And those car dealerships are owned by one guy, Jim Burke. I wish you had shown Vestavia Hills, Mountain Brook and Hoover (the richest cities in the Birmingham Metro area). But great video, very proud.

[Freewayjim]

@the3idiots14 Thank you, I mainly concentrate on highways and city areas/infrastructure, those areas you mentioned aren't things I'd film and I'm not doing free Chamber of Commerce productions either :)

[bigbob1122]

I live just outside of Birmingham, in Clay. The city does have its crime, as does any big city, but the majority of the crime can be avoided if you just use common sense and good judgment. A lot of the city's problems actually come from mis-management on the part of its elected officials rather than the crime.

[CAMINOANDALUZ]

Cool vid as always.. Seeing your video makes me want to get out there right now!!, Beautiful city and thanks for the ride!!

[Freewayjim]

@CAMINOANDALUZ Thanks, glad you enjoyed it

[MyJunior1975]

I knew this area like the back of my hand. I used to travel to Birmingham to visit my sister from 2007-2009 when she was attending UAB. Everytime I visited, I went a few blocks down the street to go to Charlemange Records. If you are a serious music fan, you have to go there!!!

[Bluetailvappy]

All this was just barely spared in the recent tornadoes.

[jet101988]

Very nice as usual Jim. I was in Birmingham in 2008, but I never got to explore the streets of downtown like you did.

[Freewayjim]

@jet101988 Thank you!

[BrollikIsMrNikon]

Downtown B-ham looks nice! But overall B-ham is pretty rough! good thing the crime rate is down tremendously over the years!

[GoHard1102]

LOL....Birmingham is going down..and i mean fast.. seems like everyone is LEAVING the city instead of helping it.

[the3idiots14]

@GoHard1102 Nope it's going up actually.

[HighwayStar1982]

The more I watch this, the more I love it. The effects during your transitions are great!

[ScrewdUPClickV2]

pretty good tour . thanks for the video jim,

[Freewayjim]

@ScrewdUPClickV2 Thanks Bro.

[Bluetailvappy]

You know, the many times I have been through here on I-65, I never thought once to get off and go downtown. I mean, you look at the passing scenery going by on I-65 and it looks a little intimidating from the highway. There looks to be even generic urban blight down below the bridge. But the downtown area reminds me a lot of the downtown area of Atlanta. Well, minus all the traffic.

[HighwayStar1982]

Great video, Jim! A street level video has to be so hard to do, to pull it off like you did! Wonderful job..i love the flow of this. I spin house music on my turntables and have a few St. Germain singles on vinyl, but not this one! I think I found a new one to add to my collection!

[Freewayjim]

@HighwayStar1982 Thanks, glad you liked it, yes they are more difficult to make than the stanard freeway fare. Glad you liked the song too!

[Bryant5493]

Nicely done, Jim. Those one streets in downtown Birmingham are well marked. A lot better than the ones in downtown Atlanta, or anywhere, for that matter, that I've driven in Metro Atlanta.

[Freewayjim]

@Bryant5493 Thanks Bryant, yes I think you are right about the street markings.

[KatsStray]

For those who didn't know, 20th street, at least south of downtown, was old US 31 before the Red Mountain Expressway was built. Headed away from downtown, 20th street, two lanes for the most part, was one of the very few ways to get up and over Red Mountain to and from Birmingham and the "over the hill" suburbs of Mountain Brook and Vestavia Hills. Not much fun on icy days. Its a much more peaceful drive with less traffic and a great view of the city - if you're not driving.

[Bluetailvappy]

@KatsStray Thanks for the clarification.

[Freewayjim]

@KatsStray Thanks for the info, I did not know that.

[maidenrulezzzz]

Another great video Jim. it's nice to see something from the USA. hope to go there someday.

[Freewayjim]

@maidenrulezzzz Thank you!

[georgiaroadgeek]

Great video. Downtown Birmingham doesn't look too bad, actually.

[Freewayjim]

@georgiaroadgeek That was my overall impression of it too.

[aswchris]

Interesting video, I like the skywalks :)

[Freewayjim]

@aswchris Thanks!

[VaFreeways]

Awesome tour of downtown! Love the music too. Favorited.

[Freewayjim]

@VaFreeways Thank you, where else was I going to use this song? LOL.

[VaFreeways]

This is true. But the fact that you were able to find music that fits so well for the video like that is pretty cool.

[Freewayjim]

@VaFreeways Thanks!

[writer125]

Thanks for the video and showing the BJCC towards the end of the video. I spent a week there back in 2008. Great place and great city, Birmingham.

[Freewayjim]

@writer125 Sure thing, thanks for watching!

[Freewayjim]

@McBearPEI Me either!

[FreewayTitan]

UAB is bigger than I thought. Also, I liked the Red Mtn. Expressway bit. Nice video, Jim.

[Freewayjim]

@FreewayTitan Thanks, yeah UAB is bigger than I expected too, I had to take my father there last year and getting around that hospital is like a maze.

[Theo76150]

Merci pour cette superbe vidéo !

4:04 Paramedics <3

[Freewayjim]

@Theo76150 Thank You!

[DaddyIvo]

Nice song choice Freeway'. Thanks for posting.