We need to look at the city as a whole before we set out on a trail to bring in new businesses. Many people lost jobs and we need to get jobs back into the city first. Bring back the old jobs and more solid sustainable jobs for the future. We also need to look at the demographics of the city as a whole. What can and can't make it in a city our size.

The fact that we are a college town is a unique feature and I think we should look to other college towns of similar size for guidance on how to move forward. Some of this goes past the point of tornado damaged areas, but once we get jobs back in those areas and businesses up and running we can further look to the future. Towns like Boulder (University of Colorado), Norman (University of Oklahoma), and even Ann Arbor (University of Michigan) have similar populations and are considered some of the best small college towns in America. While the demographics of Tuscaloosa are different than each of those we still can look to those cities for ideas on future growth.

Right now it's hard to say that we need to bring in a ton of new businesses when Midtown Village isn't even at full capacity, but we have to look to it in the future. Bring in businesses that will work in our city, while also bringing back those that were here before the tornado. A thorough planning can help to figure what can and will work in Tuscaloosa with a very young population, as well as a population that is gradually growing. We need to look at the rate of growth and plan ahead for it.

Remember to support the past and those businesses but thoroughly plan for the future of the city.