Business View Civil Municipal - Sept 2023

26 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 9 A positive vision Hollman cites the City’s vision for enhancing the lives of citizens. One way is the Easy Street Art Walk, extending from the Alabama Veterans Museum down toward Old Black Bear. “During COVID, our recreation skyrocketed,” she says, “and people want more opportunities to get out and walk and to get outdoors, so, this would be a way we can beautify an area of downtown, help promote those businesses and allow citizens and tourists to enjoy the outdoors.” The mayor explains that the “Easy Street” name derives from a historically black neighborhood that existed in this area not 100 years ago. This was, Marks informs, a section of “predominately black-owned businesses, and to keep our historic value, we are going to call it Easy Street. And that’s where your barbershops and other places were. They were owned and operated by African-Americans. We’ve lost that history. We can’t find many of