Everything about Tuscaloosa Alabama totally explained
Tuscaloosa is a city in west central
Alabama in the southern
United States. Located on the
Black Warrior River, it's the
seat of
Tuscaloosa County and the fifth-largest city in Alabama with a population of 83,052 (
2006 U.S. Census Bureau Estimate).
The highest temperature to have been recorded at the Tuscaloosa Regional Airport was 107.0°F (41.7°C) on
July 29,
1952 &
August 10,
2007, while the lowest recorded temperature was -1.0°F (-18.3°C) on
January 21,
1985.
Demographics
As of the
census of
2000 there were 77,906 people, 31,381 households, and 16,945 families residing in the city. The
population density was 1,385.2 people per square mile (534.8/km²). There were 34,857 housing units at an average density of 619.8/sq mi (239.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 54.09%
White, 42.73%
Black or
African American, 0.16%
Native American, 1.49%
Asian, 0.02%
Pacific Islander, 0.63% from
other races, and 0.87% from two or more races. 1.40% of the population were
Hispanic or
Latino of any race.
There were 31,381 households out of which 23.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.0% were
married couples living together, 15.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.0% were non-families. 35.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.22 and the average family size was 2.93.
In the city the population was spread out with 19.8% under the age of 18, 24.5% from 18 to 24, 25.4% from 25 to 44, 18.5% from 45 to 64, and 11.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 28 years. For every 100 females there were 90.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.9 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $27,731, and the median income for a family was $41,753. Males had a median income of $31,614 versus $24,507 for females. The
per capita income for the city was $19,129. About 14.2% of families and 23.6% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 25.3% of those under age 18 and 13.4% of those age 65 or over.
Government and politics
Tuscaloosa has a strong-mayor variant
mayor-council form of government, led by a
mayor and a seven-member
city council. The mayor is elected by the city at-large and serves four-year terms. Council members are elected to single-member districts every four years as well. Neither the mayor nor the members of the city council is term-limited. All elected offices are nonpartisan.
The mayor administers the day-to-day operations of the city, including overseeing the various city departments, over whom he's hiring and firing power. The mayor also acts as ambassador of the city. The mayor sits in city council meetings and has a tie-breaking vote. The current Mayor of Tuscaloosa is
Walter Maddox, who was elected to office in September 2005. Prior to Maddox,
Alvin A. DuPont had served as mayor for 24 years.
The city council is a legislative body that considers policy and passes law. The council also passes the budget for mayoral approval. Any resolution passed by the council is binding law. The majority of work in the council is done by committee, a usually consisting of a chairman, two other council members, and relevant non-voting city employees.
Current City Council Members>
| District |
Representative |
Serving Since |
| 1 |
Bobby E. Howard |
2005 |
| 2 |
Harrison Taylor |
1993 |
| 3 |
Cynthia Lee Almond |
2005 |
| 4 |
Lee Garrison |
1997 |
| 5 |
Kip Tyner |
1997 |
| 6 |
Bob Lundell |
2005 |
| 7 |
William Tinker, III |
2005 |
Tuscaloosa, as the largest county seat in western Alabama, serves a hub of state and federal government agencies. In addition to the customary offices associated with the county courthouse, namely two District Court Judges, six Circuit Court Judges, the
District Attorney and the
Public Defender, several Alabama state government agencies have regional offices in Tuscaloosa, such as the Alabama Department of Transportation and the Alabama State Troopers (the state police). Also, several federal agencies operate bureaus out of the Federal Courthouse in Tuscaloosa.
Tuscaloosa is located partially in both the 6th and 7th Congressional Districts, which are represented by
Spencer Bachus (
R) and
Artur Davis (
D), respectively. In addition, Alabama's senior
senator,
Richard Shelby (
R), is a resident of Tuscaloosa.
On the state level, the city is split among the 5th, 21st, and 24th Senate districts and 62nd, 63rd, and 70th House districts in the Alabama State Legislature.
Economy
Despite its image as a college town, Tuscaloosa boasts a diversified economy based on all sectors of manufacturing and service. 25% of the labor force in the
Tuscaloosa Metropolitan Statistical Area is employed by the federal, state, and local government agencies. 16.7% is employed in manufacturing; 16.4% in retail trade and transportation; 11.6% in finance, information, and private enterprise; 10.3% in mining and construction; and 9.2% in hospitality. Education and healthcare account for only 7.2% of the area workforce with the remainder employed in other services.
The city's industrial base includes
Elk Corporation of Alabama (Asphalt Shingles)
, Nucor Steel Tuscaloosa, BF Goodrich Tire Manufacturing (a division of
Michelin),
JVC America,
Phifer Incorporated, and the Gulf States Paper Corporation. Another significant contributor to Tuscaloosa's economy is the
Mercedes-Benz U.S. International, Inc., assembly plant located on a site in Tuscaloosa County located near
Vance. The plant began assembling the
Mercedes-Benz M-Class in
1997 and the
R-Class Grand Sport Tourer in
2005 and just recently began production with the
GL-Class. Plants that supply components to Mercedes-Benz also make their home in Tuscaloosa and add to the economic strength of the city.
Health-care and education serve as the cornerstone of Tuscaloosa's service sector, which includes the
University of Alabama, DCH Regional Medical Center,
Bryce State Mental Hospital, the William D. Partlow Developmental Center, and the Tuscaloosa
VA Medical Center.
The city is home to the region's two largest malls,
University Mall and McFarland Mall, as a well as large array of retail outlets and a 16-screen movie theater.
Education
Education is a vital component of the city as Tuscaloosa is home to several colleges and schools. The
University of Alabama is the dominant institution of higher learning. Enrolling approximately 24,000 students, UA has been a part of Tuscaloosa's identity since it opened its doors in 1831.
Stillman College, which opened in 1875, is a
historically Black liberal arts college which enrolls approximately 1,200 students.
Additionally,
Shelton State Community College, one of the largest in Alabama, is located in the city. The school enrolls 8,000 students from all backgrounds and income levels. The majority of Shelton State students are "traditional" students. They are usually either first-time college students earning associate degrees for transfer to four-year institutions after graduation, or UA and Stillman students enrolled in entry-level classes that they can't or don't want to take at their home institutions.
The Tuscaloosa City School System serves the city. It is overseen by the Board of Education, which is composed of eight members elected by district and a chairman is elected by a citywide vote. The Board appoints a Superintendent to manage the day-to-day operations of the system. Operating with a $100 million budget, the system enrolls approximately 10,300 students. The system consists of 19 schools: 12 elementary schools, 3 middle schools, 3 high schools; Paul W. Bryant High School, Central High School (Tuscaloosa, Alabama), and Northridge High School (Tuscaloosa, Alabama), and 2 specialty schools (the Tuscaloosa Center for Technology, a
vocational school, and Oak Hill School for special needs students). In 2002, the system spent $6,313 per pupil, the 19th highest amount of the 120 school systems in the state.
Culture
Tuscaloosa is home to a variety of cultural sites and events reflective of its historical and modern role in Alabama and the Southeast in general. Many of these cultural events are sponsored by The University of Alabama. Numerous performing arts groups and facilities, historical sites, and museums dedicated to subjects as varying as American art and collegiate football dot the city. The nightlife is one of the highlights of the city with popular venues such as The Houndstooth, Egans, Gallette's, 4th and 23rd, and Innisfree Irish Pub being classic staples of social life. During football season the area known as "the strip" pulsates with students, alumni, locals and visitors.
Eateries in Tuscaloosa range from the classy Cypress Inn to a wonderfully shabby steak house, Nick's in the Sticks. Downtown offers Italian cuisine at Cafe Venice or Depalma's; those seeking biscuits and grits can have their fill at the Waysider, a landmark filled with Crimson Tide paraphernalia, or across the river at Northport's City Cafe or Northport Diner. Slabs of ribs are available at various locations, including the Dreamland Drive-Inn Bar-B-Que. This world-famous icon has been featured in many magazines, newspapers and on ESPN. Their slogan proclaims, "There ain't nothing like 'em nowhere." There are numerous other less-famous BBQ locations — including Archibald's, Woodrow's, Bottomfeeders, Big Bad Wolves, and Foxfire.
The
Tuscaloosa Public Library is a city/county agency with nearly 200,000 items on catalog. 46,857 registered patrons use the library on a regular basis — roughly 28 % of the population of the county. There are currently with three branches: the Main Branch on Jack Warner Parkway, the Weaver-Bolden Branch, and the Brown Branch in Taylorville.
Most of the museums in Tuscaloosa are found downtown or on the campus of the University. Downtown is the home of
Children’s Hands-On Museum of Tuscaloosa and the Murphy African-American Museum. The Alabama Museum of Natural History and the
Paul Bryant Museum are located on The University campus. The
Westervelt-Warner Museum of American Art is located in northern Tuscaloosa at Jack Warner's
NorthRiver Yacht Club.
Moundville Archaeological Park and the
Jones Archaeological Museum are located 15 miles south of Tuscaloosa in
Moundville.
Performance arts groups in Tuscaloosa include:
The Bama Theatre was one of the last
movie palaces built in the South. At the time of its construction in 1938, it was the only air-conditioned building in Tuscaloosa. The theater was renovated as a performing arts center in 1976 and housed the Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra and Theatre Tuscaloosa troupe until those groups moved into their own facilities. Today, the Bama is home to the Tuscaloosa Children's Theatre Company in addition to showing foreign and independent films in its Cinema Nouveau series. It also hosts a Jewish Film Festival in the spring.
The Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra currently resides at the Moody Music Building on The University of Alabama campus while Theatre Tuscaloosa makes its home at the Bean-Brown Theater at Shelton State Community College.
The Tuscaloosa Winds is a community and campus concert band composed of over 100 community members, university professors, university students, and other interested musicians. The band is sponsored by The University of Alabama and resides at the Moody Music Building.
Other performance facilities in Tuscaloosa include the Marian Gallaway Theatre (305-seat, proscenium theater), the Allen Bales Theatre (170-seat, studio theater), and Morgan Auditorium on the campus of The University of Alabama.
Events
Prior to each football game is a massive gathering at the UA Quad, where people gather starting on Friday for tailgating and the University of Alabama holds pep rallies on the Gorgas library steps. The Quad has hosted ESPN's Gameday several times and also is a place to meet Alabama football legends on game day and perform the "Elephant Stomp" to Bryant-Denny Stadium with the Alabama mascot "Big Al" and the Million Dollar Band.
On the first Thursday of each month, the Tuscaloosa art galleries open their doors for "Art and Soul" — highlighting local artists. There is a shuttle service that runs between this event and
Northport's "Art Night."
Sports
Tuscaloosa is known for its collegiate athletics - particularly the
University of Alabama football team. The
Crimson Tide is one of the most storied programs in the history of college football. In the 1925 football season, an underrated University of Alabama Crimson Tide football team played in the first of many
Rose Bowls, defeating Washington 20 - 19 and giving the Tide the first of 12 national championships. The Tide's 12 national titles tie the
University of Notre Dame for the most in college football history. The Crimson Tide also has the most SEC championships, the most bowl appearances and the most bowl wins of any team in college football.
The University of Alabama also currently fields championship–caliber teams in men's baseball, men's and women's basketball, women's gymnastics, and women's softball. These teams play in athletics facilities on the University campus, including Bryant-Denny Stadium (capacity of 92,000+), Coleman Coliseum (formerly Memorial Coliseum), Sewell-Thomas Baseball Stadium, Alabama Softball Complex, and the Ol' Colony Golf Complex.
Stillman College fields teams in football, basketball, and other sports. In the past decade, Stillman has gone through a renaissance of renovations, including a new football stadium.
Shelton State fields men's and women's basketball, baseball, and softball teams, each with on-campus facilities.
Tuscaloosa is also the birthplace of
Otis Davis, 400-meter track world record holder and gold medalist at the
Rome 1960 Summer Olympics.
In 2006, a
World Basketball Association team, the
Druid City Dragons, was unveiled but eventually folded after one season.
Media
Tuscaloosa is part of the Birmingham-Tuscaloosa-Anniston
television market, which is the 40th largest in the nation. All major networks have a presence in the market.
WCFT 33 is the
ABC affiliate,
WIAT 42 is the
CBS affiliate,
WBRC 6 is the
Fox affiliate,
WVTM 13 is the NBC affiliate,
WBIQ 10 is the
PBS affiliate,
WTTO 21 is the
CW affiliate, and
WABM 68 is the
MyNetworkTV affiliate. Additionally,
WVUA 7, an independent station, is operated by the University of Alabama. The Tuscaloosa City School system is home to a student television production program: Bryant-Central-Northridge Television (BCN-TV)
Tuscaloosa is the 234th largest
radio market in the nation. In January 2007, of the top-ten-rated radio stations, two were urban, three were country, two were contemporary, and one each was gospel, oldies, and talk radio.
The
Tuscaloosa News is the major daily newspaper serving the city. The Tuscaloosa News also publishes
Tuscaloosa Magazine. Its offices are located west of downtown on a bluff overlooking the Black Warrior River.
The Planet Weekly is an
alternative weekly newspapers while
The Crimson White is the independent, student-run newspaper of the University of Alabama. Several other smaller magazines and newsletters are published and distributed locally, such as
Destination Tuscaloosa magazine.
Infrastructure
Health and medicine
DCH Regional Medical Center is the main medical facility in Tuscaloosa. Operated by the publicly-controlled DCH Healthcare Authority, the 610-bed
hospital opened in 1916 as the Druid City Infirmary. The
emergency department at DCH operates a
trauma center (it isn't certified as an official trauma center by the
American College of Surgeons, however) that serves all of west central
Alabama and is one of the busiest in the state. The DCH Healthcare authority also operates Northport Medical Center in neighboring
Northport.
Other major medical centers in Tuscaloosa include the 702-bed
Veterans Affairs Medical Center-Tuscaloosa and the 422-bed
Bryce State Mental Hospital.
Transportation
Tuscaloosa is connected to other parts of the country and the world via air, rail, road and sea. The city lies at the intersection of several
highway-grade roadways, including three
federal highways (
US 11,
US 43, and
US 82), three Alabama state highways (
AL 69,
AL 215, and
AL 216) and two duplexed (conjoined)
Interstates (
I-20 and
I-59).
Interstate 359 spurs off from I-20/I-59 and heads northward, ending just shy of the Black Warrior River in downtown Tuscaloosa.
Tuscaloosa is served by the
Tuscaloosa Transit Authority which operates the Tuscaloosa Trolley System. The Tuscaloosa Trolley provides transportation with four fixed routes that operate Monday through Friday from 5:00AM to 6:00PM. The trolley's paint job is an illusion; it's a El Dorado Transmark RE bus, painted to look like a trolley.
(External Link)
The
Tuscaloosa Regional Airport, on the north side of the Black Warrior River west of downtown Northport, is equipped with two lighted runways (6499' and 4001') and provides full facilities for the general aviation which the airport mainly serves. The airport also supports private jetcraft, but passengers of commercial aircraft from Tuscaloosa embark at either the
Birmingham International Airport, located 53 miles away on the east side of downtown
Birmingham, or the much larger
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, located 210 miles away in
Atlanta,
Georgia.
Amtrak's
Crescent line connects Tuscaloosa by rail to major cities along the east coast from
New York to
New Orleans. The
Amtrak station is situated at 2105 Greensboro Avenue, one mile south of downtown.
Kansas City Southern and
Norfolk Southern provide freight service to the area.
Barge traffic routinely transports goods along the Black Warrior River from
Birmingham and Tuscaloosa to the Alabama State Docks at
Mobile, on the coast of the
Gulf of Mexico. Via the
Tenn-Tom Waterway, the city is connected to the
Ohio River valley.
Points of interest
University of Alabama
University of Alabama Arboretum
Paul W. Bryant Museum
Notable residents
Ollie Brown, born in Tuscaloosa, major league baseball player
Willie D. Burton, born in Tuscaloosa, sound technician in the film industry. Oscar winner Dreamgirls (film) 2006 & Bird (film) 1988; seven time nominee.
Tom Cherones, from Tuscaloosa, University of Alabama alumnus, television producer and director of Seinfeld, NewsRadio, Desperate Housewives, others
Sylvester Croom, born in Tuscaloosa, the first African-American head football coach in the Southeastern Conference
Walter Flowers, raised in Tuscaloosa, former United States Congressman, served on the congressional committee that voted to impreach President Richard M. Nixon.
George Foster, born in Tuscaloosa, major league baseball player
Tuscaloosa is referenced in Harper Lee's To Kill A Mocking Bird in the first chapter.
Notes and references
Further Information
Get more info on 'Tuscaloosa Alabama'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://tuscaloosa__alabama.totallyexplained.com">Tuscaloosa, Alabama Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
