What's up with Forest Park in Birmingham, Alabama?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

It's a neighborhood that appears to be about 2:1 for Biden despite being heavily white. One precinct is even almost 70% Biden and over 90% white. Yet it also looks like a standard pretty boring suburban in nature area. Even if heavily educated, areas like that in the Deep South don't have D-voting whites! But this is without question Biden's best area amongst whites in Alabama. So what type of place is it?

[Sol]

Birmingham is one of the more sizable and cosmopolitan cities in the Deep South-- New Orleans and Atlanta are all a tier above it to be sure, but Birmingham is much bigger and more significant than Jackson or Macon or Mobile. It makes sense that it would have a non-negligible white liberal population, as is true of Memphis, which has a similar area in Midtown.

I'm sure in terms of land use Forest Park is relatively suburban looking--since that tends to be true of the built environment of most southern cities, even in neighborhoods close to the core--but in terms of geography it's pretty close to downtown Birmingham.

[jimrtex]

It's a neighborhood that appears to be about 2:1 for Biden despite being heavily white. One precinct is even almost 70% Biden and over 90% white. Yet it also looks like a standard pretty boring suburban in nature area. Even if heavily educated, areas like that in the Deep South don't have D-voting whites! But this is without question Biden's best area amongst whites in Alabama. So what type of place is it?

It is a leafy area close to downtown, UAB, and the hospital. It is not suburban in any meaningful sense of the word.

[Del Tachi]

Ugh....White liberals exist in the urban Deep South, dude

[Schiff for Senate]

Birmingham is one of the more sizable and cosmopolitan cities in the Deep South-- New Orleans and Atlanta are all a tier above it to be sure, but Birmingham is much bigger and more significant than Jackson or Macon or Mobile. It makes sense that it would have a non-negligible white liberal population, as is true of Memphis, which has a similar area in Midtown.

I'm sure in terms of land use Forest Park is relatively suburban looking--since that tends to be true of the built environment of most southern cities, even in neighborhoods close to the core--but in terms of geography it's pretty close to downtown Birmingham.

Actually, I'd argue Memphis and New Orleans are on a common tier somewhat above Birmingham, and Atlanta is on its own, higher tier. It's a much larger city than Memphis and New Orleans and is much more politically important - Atlanta has single-handedly transformed GA from a red state to a purple one, whereas despite Memphis and New Orleans, despite their presence, have done little to change TN and LA's respective political landscape. Quite honestly, comparing New Orleans to Atlanta is like comparing Cleveland to Chicago. Atlanta is the NYC of the South (at least, as long as you aren't includng FL in the south). I'd personally say Jackson and Montgomery, the state capitols of the two Byrd 1960 states, are on the lowest tier, on a higher tier is Birmingham (one could argue that Nashville is also on this tier), on a somewhat higher tier are New Orleans and Memphis, and on a significantly grander and more expansive tier is Atlanta.

[Sol]

I elevated New Orleans because it's historically a much larger and more significant city. Obviously it's not as important economically or demographically these days, but its demographic and electoral patterns make much more sense when considered in that light imo.

Even now, it's probably more culturally prominent than any other city in the south, including maybe Atlanta.