Heading north towards the outermost regions of Birmingham, we now explore Gate City, whose name is perhaps a little obvious. There was a pass through Red Mountain, which perhaps you can extrapolate received its appellation from the abundance of iron ore running through it (remember, iron ore is one of the three components of steel production) and this neighborhood was the first area reached coming into the city.

The area is dominated by the humongous Charles P. Marks housing project, which opened in the early 1950s on the site of the Alabama Rolling Mills. It was originally intended for whites only.

Not surprisingly, the complex has seen better days, has had a serious problem with violent crime and large portions have now been shuttered.

As I noted in East St. Louis at the Lansdowne Towers, for some reason, the government thought it was a good idea to build public housing nowhere near employers and nowhere near reliable mass transit.

In fact, I feel like Birmingham reminded me a lot of East St. Louis: wood frame houses and vacant lots interspersed with housing projects.

I presume these buildings will be demolished soon.

A bright spot was this spunky little church, which is Holy Rosary Roman Catholic Church.

One thing I noticed that gives the city a rundown appearance is the Alabama Department of Transportations neglect of painting overpasses. I saw that throughout Birmingham.