This is an opinion column

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Today’s guest columnist is Jay Taylor.

It’s all too appropriate that the centerpiece of Birmingham’s beloved Five Points South is a fountain titled, “The Storyteller.”

This eclectic entertainment district has quite a story to tell, and a horrific chapter was written on September 21, 2024.

The narrative of that evening was upsetting enough to evoke a wide range of emotions: sadness, fear, anger, hopelessness – you name it.

But after we catch our collective breath, I ask you, what will the next chapter be?

The story of Five Points South is not exclusively danger, crime, and despair.

Remember how we all puffed out our chests when Highlands Bar and Grill was named the most outstanding restaurant in America by the James Beard Foundation?

Next door, Frank Stitt’s French bistro Chez Fonfon remains a local fave as well, with numerous restaurants in this area offering tasty fare for all types of budgets any time of day.

Your wait will be worth the breakfast at The Original Pancake House. Don’t forget other establishments such as Ocean, Makario’s, Jim-n-Nick’s, Surin, Mellow Mushroom, and Iron City Pizza – just to name a few.

In recent years, new boutique hotels have gone up in the district. New restaurants have come in, and classics such as Ranelli’s, Upside Down Plaza, and Dave’s have thrived.

September 21 wasn’t the first dark chapter in the story of Five Points. In 2008, for instance, a disagreement at an establishment called Banana Joe’s ended up with two dead. And we’re not alone.

Look at the thriving bars on Broadway in Nashville, for example. Shootings on June 14, 2021, January 5, 2023, July 2, 2023, and January 2, 2024 are just a few of the incidents that have led to multiple deaths. Not only did these crimes not make headlines on CNN, they didn’t stop Nashville.

As we absorb the shock of this latest plot twist, we must also think about what history will say about Five Points South when we turn the page. We’re all authors in this story.

First and foremost, several players have to come together to take action. The mayor, police chief, business leaders, Merchants Association, Five Points South Neighborhood Association, and other stakeholders must be developing a plan of action now.

You – we – all of us, cannot give up on Five Points South. It’s worth fighting for. Remember the Barber sign over Louie Louie? Five Points South Music Hall? Personally, I saw the Ramones there once. And I shook Michael Jordan’s hand in a locale where Jim-n-Nick’s is now. Do not stop supporting the businesses that still call Five Points South home.

Don’t forget, the crime stats for our city are misleading. Yes, the numbers are up, and the mayor and police chief should be held accountable, but we’re a city (metro area) of 1.1 million people. However, because we are fragmented, when you do the math, our denominator is 197,000. In a similarly sized city such as Memphis, for instance, crime may be higher but the city is less fragmented. They have 1.3 million, but their denominator is 633,000. This makes an overwhelming difference when you calculate crime per capita.

When the city considers granting a license to a bar, if that bar feels the need to “pat down patrons and scan them with security wands,” as quoted on al.com, maybe that bar needs to rethink their business model and clientele before being granted permission to operate.

If you live or work in Bibb, Blount, Chilton, Jefferson, St. Clair, Shelby, or Walker counties, safety in Birmingham should matter to you. Businesses looking to invest and bring jobs to a metro area look at crime stats. They see Birmingham, not Helena or Calera. Crime stats are used to quantify quality of life, so the numbers reverberate. When the 197,000 people who live within the city limits of Birmingham are safe, we all thrive.

For years, I have proposed an idea that multiple Birmingham cities merge, including Homewood, where I live. At first, I know this may be unpopular with the 1.1 million residents who call Birmingham home. But hear me out, and sleep on it. Adding Hoover, Vestavia, Bessemer, and other municipalities would cause our population to swell. On paper, we would be Birmingham. In reality, each would be considered a borough and maintain complete autonomy. Each borough would have their own schools, police, fire, and so on. But our numbers? Well, they’d be much more accurate, which would have a snowball effect for our area.

How will the next chapter of Five Points South and our city unfold?

It’s time we all start plotting that out. Ironically, the Storyteller Fountain was born out of an idea to memorialize Five Points South merchant and resident Malcolm McRae who was shot and murdered in 1983. Frank Fleming’s sculpture, erected in 1992, has not only honored McRae, it has stood as a testament to the fact that this neighborhood and city can thrive when we all work together.

After all, Frank Stitt opened Highlands Bar and Grill in Five Points a mere 97 days before McRae was murdered and look what came from his success. If you’ve never dined there, you’ve at least visited one of the many restaurants in town owned by a chef from Stitt’s culinary lineage.

So you see, we must grieve, memorialize, and learn from everything that happened on September 21, 2024. But Five Points South must be saved.

What a story.

Jay Taylor is a freelance writer based in Birmingham, Alabama. He has more than 35 years of experience working in advertising, journalism, marketing, and business. He renovated Kessler Lofts with his family and cofounded the startup TabX in Birmingham. Taylor previously served as president of the Central City Neighborhood Association. Today, he lives in Homewood with his wife and two children.

David Sher is the founder and publisher of ComebackTown. He’s past Chairman of the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce (BBA), Operation New Birmingham (REV Birmingham), and the City Action Partnership (CAP).

Invite David to speak for free to your group about how we can have a more prosperous metro Birmingham. [email protected]