Ken Ford performs at the Steel City Music Festival in downtown Birmingham's Linn Park in June, 2017. (Stephonia Taylor McLinn/For The Birmingham Times).
Huntsville's Village of Providence community is an example of a trend called "Surban" development -- suburban communities with urban-style amenities -- that could be a significant part of the population boom expected in the Southeast during the next 10 years. (Alabama Center for Real Estate)
Cristopher Goods, 10, right, offers congratulations to Southwest Airlines captain Louis Freeman before Freeman piloted his last flight for the airline before his retirement in Dallas, Thursday, June 8, 2017. Freeman was the first African-Americansto become a chief pilot at a major U.S. airline and is retiring after a 36-year career that saw big changes in aviation. His most memorable flight carried the body of civil rights icon Rosa Parks. (AP Photo/LM Otero)