Slade changing west Birmingham’s status quo

Slade changing west Birmingham’s status quo

Date: Sunday, January 6, 2008, 11:00pm CST – Last Modified: Thursday, January 3, 2008, 1:57pm CST

L’Tryce Slade has her hands in a number of development projects aimed at revitalizing the west side of Birmingham. Her firm, Slade Land Use, Environmental and Transportation Planning, is spearheading the revitalization efforts with help from city and community officials to get the projects off the ground – some of which have been immobile for a number of years.

L’Tryce Slade has her hands in a number of development projects aimed at revitalizing the west side of Birmingham.

Her firm, Slade Land Use, Environmental and Transportation Planning, is spearheading the revitalization efforts with help from city and community officials to get the projects off the ground – some of which have been immobile for a number of years.

And she hopes to begin accomplishing many of them in 2008.

“My goal is to revitalize the western part of Birmingham,” she said. “I’m slowly but surely making my way, but it’s taking time.”

To restore Ensley’s Village Creek Community with adequate green space and walking trails, Slade is organizing an implementation workshop to secure funding and workout the details of the project near Jackson Olin High School.

Plans call for a multipurpose trail designed for bicycles and pedestrians along Village Creek between Avenue F to McAlphine Park and upstream to Huffman Park on Red Lane Road in Roebuck, a plan that was first proposed in 1925 by the Olmstead Brothers, which was an acclaimed park planning firm in its heyday.

A number of architectural drawings have been rendered in recent years, yet the project is at a stand still, Slade said.

But she is determined to pick up where they left off.

“They’ve actually done the legwork,” she said. “The problem is nothing is moving.”

In efforts to save the Enon Ridge Neighborhood off Arkedelphia Road, which struggles with drug activity, poor streets, unemployment and low property values, Slade is working to replace dilapidated homes in the area with new single-family dwellings. This will not only increase property values in the community near Birmingham-Southern College, but it will attract more young professionals to locate there, Slade said.

“That’s the idea,” she said. “To provide space for young professionals to live who wish to live close to the city but still have a good quality of life.”

Habitat for Humanity of Greater Birmingham and Johnson Realty Co. Inc. are on board to help develop the properties, Slade said.

Cassie Sanford, vice president of marketing and development for Habitat for Humanity, said she commends Slade for her efforts to revitalize the area.

“I think what she’s trying to do is great,” she said. “I think it’s going to take collaborative efforts from all resources to fulfill the vision.”

An Ahoskie, N.C., native, Slade earned a bachelor’s degree in political science, her master’s degree in regional planning and her law degree all from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

She has worked for Arcadis G & M and the North Carolina Department of Transportation and interned at the Federal Highway Administration, Department of Environment and Natural Resources and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Slade founded her firm in 2006 after feeling like she was overqualified for the jobs she was applying for.

She concedes it can be hard being the boss, and she works around the clock to make things happen, yet her experiences have only made her stronger.

“It’s a big testimony for me,” she said. “It’s been a lot of humbling experiences along the way.”