University of Alabama updates

[atlanta68]

Originally Posted by Packer16

atlanta, It's not set in stone, but, I believe the plan is to leave a bus lane (or two, if they decide the vehicles should be able to move east and west) and replace the parking area with green space. I know that the BOT wants the fascade on that side of the library to match the more traditional look on the Quad side (something similar to the renovation of Russell Hall). Most of the renovation of the library will include more modern seating area and computers. In the digital age, large libraries housing books is becoming a dinosaur. A large climate-controlled warehouse is located south of the campus that houses most of the older books and journals. If someone wants to check one out, they just order it, then, it's delivered to the library and ready for pick up the next day. I definitely don't miss the old days as far as that goes. RTR

What a polite, informative post, thank you!

[Packer16]

Interesting story. I have a buddy who sells real estate on Smith Lake. He had a lady call him and wanted to look for dockable lots on the lake and that she and her husband planned to build a multi-million $$ home The wife said their daughter was a freshmen at Alabama and really loved it and had already decided to attend graduate school, after graduating. She said her husband was a football coach and they have fallen in love with the area and wanted a home base to live off-season. My buddy, an ex-football coach, said her last name was Lombardi. Then, he realized who this was. He asked her, "Is your husband's name Joe?" (Joe Lombardi, the Offensive Coordinator for the Denver Broncos). She said, "Yes". They picked him up at the airport (she came a couple of days earlier to visit their daughter) and spent the day looking at several lots, ranging from $650,000 to $1.2 million. He liked the $1.2 million lot. So, the grandson of Vince Lombardi will be building and moving to Alabama. RTR

[Packer16]

A cool story about two out-of-state students meeting at a UA camp, attending UA, developing a relationship, getting married, graduating with bachelor's and master's degrees, then, moving to Birmingham to start their careers.

https://news.ua.edu/2024/04/love-at-...DEzMi40Ni4wLjA.

[chadinhsv]

Those are interesting stories and also shows how National of a brand that UA is. The key is getting them to campus and the grounds facilities basically and state of the art classrooms does the rest.

[atlanta68]

Originally Posted by chadinhsv

Those are interesting stories and also shows how National of a brand that UA is. The key is getting them to campus and the grounds facilities basically and state of the art classrooms does the rest.

Very true, but why is UA not enrolling the most in state students? I wish the Board cared more to figure out the answer.

[MdtwnATL]

I am disheartened by the amount of violent crime happening in parts of Tuscaloosa these days. Seems like every time I look at AL.com or other local news sites, there's another shooting. This could certainly have an impact on attracting Alabama high school students if parents don't consider Tuscaloosa safe.

Also, as far as Tuscaloosa's growth long term, I realize it is definitely more "city" than "community" compared to many college towns, but I would think that increased crime, along with pretty sub-par K-12 public schools, are deterrents for many graduates deciding to stick around after graduating from UA.

I live part time in Auburn, and I can attest that its incredible growth over the last few years has a LOT to do with its stellar K-12 public school system and very nice, safe neighborhoods. There really is no bad side of town. I actually look for it to be a bigger place than Tuscaloosa in coming years. I understand that it has a lot to do with Auburn being a relatively very "young" city and mainly growing with Auburn graduates, but I think Maddox really needs to focus on these areas to make Tuscaloosa a more inviting place for UA graduates and their families post graduation.

[chadinhsv]

Originally Posted by MdtwnATL

I am disheartened by the amount of violent crime happening in parts of Tuscaloosa these days. Seems like every time I look at AL.com or other local news sites, there's another shooting. This could certainly have an impact on attracting Alabama high school students if parents don't consider Tuscaloosa safe.

Also, as far as Tuscaloosa's growth long term, I realize it is definitely more "city" than "community" compared to many college towns, but I would think that increased crime, along with pretty sub-par K-12 public schools, are deterrents for many graduates deciding to stick around after graduating from UA.

I live part time in Auburn, and I can attest that its incredible growth over the last few years has a LOT to do with its stellar K-12 public school system and very nice, safe neighborhoods. There really is no bad side of town. I actually look for it to be a bigger place than Tuscaloosa in coming years. I understand that it has a lot to do with Auburn being a relatively very "young" city and mainly growing with Auburn graduates, but I think Maddox really needs to focus on these areas to make Tuscaloosa a more inviting place for UA graduates and their families post graduation.

MidTown: These are very good points about why Tuscaloosa struggles to keep graduates in town. I would like to point out that Northport is a very attractive place to live and is just across the river. Also, I don't want anyone to take this the wrong way but the demographics is way different if you compare Tuscaloosa to Auburn and there is a culture that needs to make drastic changes if Tuscaloosa will ever want to be seen as a "safe" city. Kudos to Auburn though, they have a great model but they have built in advantages with Atlanta being close by and their demographics. Tuscaloosa is in the poorest region of the country