Hoover

Hoover is a city in Jefferson and Shelby Counties in north central Alabama, in the United States. The largest suburb of Birmingham, the population of the city was 62,742 as of the 2000 census and was estimated to be 73,000 in 2008. Hoover is part of the Birmingham-Hoover, AL MSA (metropolitan statistical area) and is also included in the Birmingham-Hoover-Cullman, AL CSA. Hoover’s neighborhoods and planned communities are located along the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.
Hoover is home to the Riverchase Galleria, one of the largest shopping centers in the Southeast and one of the largest mixed-use centers in the U.S. with 2.4 million square feet (222,967 m²) of total retail floor area. The Riverchase Galleria complex includes shopping, hotel, and office space. The shopping complex major anchor stores are JCPenney, Belk, Macy's, and Sears. The Birmingham Barons minor league baseball team, which traces its history to 1885, plays its home games at the 10,800 seat Regions Park. Michael Jordan's brief professional baseball career was with the Barons in 1994.
== History ==
The City of Hoover was incorporated in 1967. It was named after William H. Hoover, a local insurance company owner. The area had been known as the Hoover community since the 1930s and was mostly a residential community. In the late 1970s and early 1980s the city was still mostly residential with a small City Hall that included space for the police department. The annexation of the Riverchase business and residential community provided a base of large office buildings and employers to the city. A significant change to the city occurred when Interstate I-459 was opened with a major interchange with Interstate I-65 within the city. The most dramatic change occurred in 1986 when the Riverchase Galleria shopping-hotel-office complex opened. This significantly increased the tax revenue for the city. It was the catalyst to bring new residents and businesses to the city. The city has grown extremely fast with annexations and new developments. The city now provides services from many large city facilities including a Municipal Center, a Library, and a Public Safety Center. Residents and businesses are drawn to the city because of the rolling hills and nice residential areas, schools, city services, shopping, and business communities. The city will likely continue to boom population wise; the population has risen significantly in Hoover from 2008 and is now 81,619 as of the 2010 Census.
==Geography==
Hoover is located at .
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 43.65 square miles (113.1 km²), of which, 43.13 square miles (111.7 km²) of it is land and 0.51 square miles (1.3 km²) of it (1.17%) is water.
== Government ==
The municipal government has operated under the Mayor-Council form of government since incorporation. The Mayor and City Council are elected on a non-partisan basis to concurrent four-year terms of office which begin on October 1 of election year. Policy-making and legislative authority is vested in the City Council, which consists of seven "at-large" elected members (prior to 2004, the council consisted of five at-large members.) The city council is responsible for, among other things, considering local resolutions and ordinances, adopting an annual budget, and appointing members to local boards and committees. The Mayor is responsible for carrying out and enforcing the city's policies and ordinances.
Current Mayor 	Current Mayor 	Current Mayor
Tony Petelos 	Tony Petelos 	Tony Petelos
Current City Council Membership	Current City Council Membership	Current City Council Membership
Council Place 	Representative 	Position
1 	Trey D. Lott 	Councilor
2 	Gene Smith 	Councilor
3 	Mari Morrison 	Councilor
4 	Gary M. Ivey 	Council President
5 	Jack Wright 	President Pro Tem
6 	Brian Skelton 	Councilor
7 	John Greene 	Councilor
== Economy ==
The Riverchase Galleria shopping-hotel-office complex provides a large amount of tax money to the city as well as being home to many retail, hotel, and office workers. The Riverchase Office Park as well as other office parks and buildings throughout Hoover houses many large corporations. The Central Business District includes the US 31, Highway 150, and US 280 locations. Interstate highways I-65 and I-459 intersect in the city. Major shopping centers in the city include Riverchase Galleria on Highway 31, Patton Creek on Highway 150, and Village at Lee Branch on Highway 280.
===Top employers in the city (2006)===
* Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama (company headquarters) - 3,000
* Hoover Board of Education - 1,773
* Regions Financial (operations center) - 1,765
* AT&T (data center) - 1,143
* City of Hoover - 745
* Wal-Mart (two stores) - 650
* BE&K Engineering - 302
Source: City of Hoover/The Birmingham News
===Top providers of sales tax (2006)===
* Wal-Mart
* Parisian (acquired by Belk)
* Sam's Club
* Costco
* Belk
* Macy's
* Best Buy
* Home Depot
* Publix
Source: City of Hoover/The Birmingham News
== Public safety ==
Hoover Fire Department is a full time career department operating from nine fire stations throughout the city. The city has one battalion. There are nine engine companies, three ladder trucks, three ALS rescue/ambulances, and two battalion chief cars. All engine companies are staffed with a minimum of three, with at least two being firefighter/paramedics. All engines are classified ALS (Advanced Life Support). The department also operates one heavy rescue truck, and one hazmat unit. Hoover Fire Department holds a Class 2 ISO rating and has done so for over 15 years. The department is very active in the community of over 70,000, providing free blood pressure checks at all stations, participates in Meals on Wheels, installs hundreds of child safety seats each year, participates in Operation Safe Place, in addition to a very active Fire Prevention program taught in all Hoover elementary schools. In 2007, the department responded to over 9000 calls. Fire Chief Tom Bradley retired in February 2009 with 60 years of service, over 30 of it with the city.
In 2006, the police force of the city of Hoover began using 104 Chevrolet police Tahoes. With this change, the Hoover Police Department became the largest law enforcement fleet in the nation that runs on E85, a fuel that is 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline.Kent, Dawn. (February 23, 2006) "Hoover's ethanol SUVs catch researchers' eye." Birmingham News. The change was recognized by President George W. Bush, who visited the city in September 2006 to see the fleet and fueling facility. The police have a few other cars on staff as well, including a requisitioned Porsche 911 .
Hoover operates its own enhanced 911 emergency call center which has eight operator positions and is staffed 24/7.
Hoover provides traffic, severe weather, disaster information, and details on special events on low-power AM radio (1610 kHz).City of Hoover website
Hoover's first chief of police was Oscar Davis.
==Demographics==
As of the census of 2000, there were 62,742 people, 25,191 households, and 17,406 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,454.6 people per square mile (561.7/km²). There were 27,150 housing units at an average density of 629.4 per square mile (243.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 87.66% White, 6.77% Black, 0.16% Native American, 2.89% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.40% from other races, and 1.09% from two or more races. 3.79% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 25,191 households out of which 33.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.4% were married couples living together, 7.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.9% were non-families. 25.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 3.00.
In the city the population was spread out with 24.8% under the age of 18, 7.9% from 18 to 24, 32.6% from 25 to 44, 23.8% from 45 to 64, and 10.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 95.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.5 males.
According to a 2007 estimate, the median income for a household in the city was $75,365, and the median income for a family was $89,513. Males had a median income of $55,660 versus $34,836 for females. The per capita income for the city was $33,361. About 2.1% of families and 3.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.7% of those under age 18 and 3.9% of those age 65 or over.
 Population of HooverUNITED STATES OF AMERICA - ALABAMA : urban population
Year	Population
1980	15,100
1990	40,000
2000	62,742
2008	73,000
2010	81,619
==Communities==
* Bluff Park
* Caldwell Mill
* Chace Lake
* Deer Valley
* Green Valley
* Greystone
* Inverness
* Lake Crest
* Lake Cyrus
* Patton Chapel
* Riverchase
* Rocky Ridge
* Ross Bridge
* Russell Springs
* Russet Woods
* Shades Mountain
* Southlake
* The Preserve
* Trace Crossings
==Parks==
*Bluff Park Community Center and Playground
*Blue Ridge Park Facebook page of trail
*Georgetown Park
*Howard Lake Park
*Inverness Park
*Loch Haven Park
*Moss Rock Preserve
*Ross Park
*Russet Woods Park
*Star Lake Park
*Veterans Park
*Wildflower Park
==Education==
Public schools are managed by the Hoover City School District. Hoover has ten elementary schools, three middle schools, and two high schools, Spain Park High School and Hoover High School. Both schools have always been ranked highly in the country for excellent academics, being rated close to the top five-hundred schools in the country. The 2005-2006 school year saw 2,451 students enrolled in Hoover High School,
 1,400 in Spain Park High School, with a total of 11,433 students in the Hoover City School system.Hoover City Schools website Spain Park received the National Blue Ribbon Award in 2008."No Child Left Behind-Blue Ribbon Schools Program - 2008 Schools", U.S. Department of Education
Berry Middle School, which served as the city's first high school before the present Hoover High was constructed, was closed after the 2005-2006 academic year, with students moved to a new Berry Middle School constructed near the site of Spain Park High School. A poll of residents recently favored selling the school, possibly to the independent Shades Mountain Christian School. Simmons Middle School and Bumpus Middle School are the city's other middle schools, whose students move on to Hoover High.
Before the 2004-2005 academic year, a few schools, most notably Trace Crossings Elementary, had almost, if not more than, 1,000 students, resulting in the building of Riverchase Elementary. After that, the case of overcrowding was resolved, with many students moving to the new school. However, a similar case has started happening with Bumpus Middle School, resulting in meetings at a handful of schools to discuss what to do about the case.
==Media==
Hoover has one television station ABC 33/40 with main studios within its city limits. The metro area has TV broadcasting stations that serve the Birmingham-Anniston-Tuscaloosa Designated Market Area (DMA) as defined by Nielsen Media Research. Charter Communications, Bright House Networks, and AT&T U-verse provide cable television service to specific communities in Hoover. DirecTV and Dish Network provide direct broadcast satellite television including both local and national channels to Hoover residents.
No radio stations operate from Hoover though numerous stations from the Birmingham market serve the city. (WERC-FM is licensed to Hoover but its studio is located in Birmingham.)
Two newspapers serve Hoover: The Birmingham News, the state's primary daily newspaper, and the Over the Mountain Journal, a weekly newspaper that began publishing in 1991. The portion of Hoover which lies in Shelby County is also served by the Shelby County Reporter, a weekly newspaper based in Columbiana, the county seat.
:See also List of television stations in Alabama
:See also List of radio stations in Alabama
== Points of interest ==
* Aldridge Botanical Gardens
* Regions Park (formerly Hoover Metropolitan Stadium)
* Riverchase Galleria
* Ross Bridge Golf Resort and Spa
* Moss Rock Preserve
==References==
==External links==
*City of Hoover
*Hoover Alabama Chamber of Commerce
*Hoover Police Department
*Hoover City Schools
*Hoover Library
*Birmingham Barons
*Bluff Park Community
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