Photo by Eric Taunton
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Vestavia Hills Mayor Ashley Curry gave his annual State of the City address to Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce members at the chamber's monthly luncheon on Tuesday, Oct. 11 at Vestavia Country Club.
In this year’s address, Curry shared the progress the city has made since last year and how he expects the city to grow in the coming years in quality of life, safety and other facets.
“We continue to offer a quality of life for our residents that is second to none,” Curry said. “We have excellent parks and recreational facilities, our children attend excellent schools, we have a robust housing market and we experience other qualities of life that affect families.”
Curry said the city’s quality of life and economic strength continue to contribute to the city’s success and growth over time.
He said programs such as the Freedom from Addiction Coalition, Phoenix program and the Oct. 18 Domestic Violence Awareness Forum, where mayors from Vestavia, Homewood, Hoover and Mountain Brook will hear from domestic violence experts in Jefferson County about the state of domestic violence in the area, make Vestavia Hills a desirable place to live.
Curry also reported that Vestavia HIlls was ranked as one of the safest cities in Alabama that has a population of more than 30,000 people.
He said the crime rate in the city continues to be extremely low, a trend that’s carried on for several years.
“The Alabama crime rate is some five times higher than what we have in Vestavia Hills,” Curry said.
The Vestavia Hills Police Department increased the number of officers in Liberty Park, which improves the efficiency of the department in Cahaba Heights and other parts of Vestavia, he said.
“I think we’ve mentioned before that the additional units in Liberty Park helps because Cahaba Heights units now don’t have to leave Cahaba Heights and go to LIberty Park to answer a call,” Curry said.
The Vestavia Hills Fire Department received a class 1 rating by the Insurance Services Office, which is the highest rating a fire department can receive, Curry said.
Only 474 fire departments in the nation received a class 1 rating this year, Curry said, and only 14 in the state have earned that rating.
“I’m extremely proud of the fire department for achieving that ISO rating of number 1,” Curry said.
The fire department also re-initiated the Fire Prevention and Education program into the Vestavia Hills City Schools system, he said.
Curry reported to the chamber that the school system continues to find success in academics.
He said Superintendent Todd Freeman attributed the success of VHCS to the “culture of excellence” that is perpetuated by the employees and parents of the school system.
“One of the most exciting accomplishments of this class in 2022 is that they received over $44 million in scholarship offers,” Curry said.
Curry said he’s excited to see more economic growth in Vestavia Hills as several new businesses moved into the City Center such as Davenport’s Pizza and the Standard as well as Biscuit Love and Cajun Steamer in Cahaba Heights.
“As you can see, this area continues to grow and is accomplishing the family friendly atmosphere that was envisioned,” Curry said.
