Norwood

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Norwood, in Birmingham, AL, was probably the coolest {and scariest} neighborhood I've ever driven through.
These homes were absolutely UH-MAZING. Beautiful! Well, were.
A lot of the houses that you see above were occupied. Seriously, people lived in them.
And some were just vacant. Abandoned for years.
 
The homes started to be built in 1912 & by the 1920's-1930's, it was a thriving neighborhood full of Birmingham's most elite residents. It had schools, it's own little trolley, healthcare centers, & religious institutions.
After World War II, it started a slow, depressing decline as residents had started moving out due to the haze they lived in because of the neighborhoods high elevation & the fact the freeway was built that totally bypassed the neighborhood and cutting it off from part of "downtown".
Slowly but surely, the residents moved "to the other side of Red Mountain". More like Red Hill, there are no mountains in AL, haha.
The majority of the residents in this neighborhood now are black Americans {i refuse to say african american because not all black people come from africa}. And I'm pretty sure it's Crip territory... STOP sign, last pic. What chu think?
And a little girl, prob like 7 or 8 yelled out while I was taking pictures "what y'all think you're lookin' at!?"
She scared me and I ran off.

The city of Birmingham has dubbed Norwood as part of the Historic Registry. Which basically means, it's going to become beautiful again! People who care about elegant homes & history will move in & take care of their house. They just need to tackle the houses individually. There were quite a few houses that have already been stamped as "worthy", notice the 2nd to last picture has the sign bolted to the brick. Historic. Nooo touchey.

Minus the scary people staring at us, crack heads tweekin' and yelling at the ground, Crip graffiti errywhere & the sad looking homes that were once lived in by the olden days elite, I loved it. Loved.
And the houses were HUGE. My pics don't do them justice but they were giant. 

To read more about the history, go here.
If you want to read memories of the first residents who grew up in Norwood, go here.
If you want to just know more in general about it, go here.
You won't regret it. It's amazing.

Now that you know a little more about it, go back and look at my pics again.
Can you imagine growing up in one of those gorgeous homes and seeing it as it is now?
Kinda depressing huh?