Mobile Development Thread

[Bogue]

Springdale's been in decline since the late 80's when I was a kid. I think they probably did a prudent thing in changing the interstate-facing side of it into a main-line shopping center. The part on the other side has gotten a bit better, though, than it was.

I think the ones that'll take the worst hit are the old shopping centers west of the interstate. If their better stores opt for Bell Air there'll be almost a mile-long stretch of restaurants backed by half-empty strip malls. The shopping corridor for that kind of shopping for the western suburbs is Schillinger and if the folks from the northern suburbs (and further, don't forget the 70,000 or so folk in the 4 AL counties just north of Mobile that send a ton of shoppers into town) aren't coming into town to buy things at BAM they can get the lower-end stuff in their own area. Midtown has lots of those businesses already scattered around it... just seems like the demographic as they are and as they're trending don't support that as a commercial area long-term. Might be in the area's best interest to bulldoze one of those big developments and build a large apt. complex to increase local residents. On the plus side, traffic in that area could get easier.

If I'm not mistaken, doesn't the condo plan for the old Gayfers building incorporate retail into its lower floors? Downtown Fairhope has a few nice boutiques as well in their area. I think such stores might work in the Springhill area in the near-term, but retail like that downtown might have to wait until all of these condo complexes come on-line and the residential mix is established. The folks in charge of store locations are probably going to want to be sure of a certain economic bracket and a certain level of foot traffic as well. I just tend to think that kind of thing is just a matter of time.

I also don't know what people are talking about when they say "there aren't enough wealthy people in Mobile" etc. Seriously? This is the coast, people! There are people living in multi-million-dollar houses all around the Bay and there's plenty of money in Springhill.

As for tourists there are soon to be 2 cruise ships permanently in rotation (not far off 200,000 tourists per year) and Mardi Gras is the single biggest tourism event in the state. The biggest tourism destination in the state is the beach area. That's not likely to be overtaken by Mobile proper, but a majority of those people still travel through here on their way there (for now). There's a handful of other things the city can do to increase tourism (which we have all gone over), but it's worth pointing out that the area is light-years ahead of the rest of the state in this facet of the economy and widening that gap every year as new stuff comes on-line. When the economy picks up again things will really take off.

My Ten Local Tourism Boosters: (in no particular order)

1. The Aquarium - Probably the most talked-about object of desire for tourism proponents. Some inkling that the city is pursuing this.
2. Amtrak - Need to make the city more accessible and we've seen w/ the whole mess that Carnival's had to go through re: busing people into Mobile that we're not well-enough-connected to mass transportation. This is more doable than a new airport b/c all the infrastructure is already in place.
3. Newer, Bigger Airport - See #2, but this one will require help from one of our sister cities in either MS or FL and neither seem capable of budging b/c of their states reticence to the idea.
4. A newer, larger Zoo - Great idea, but seems hard to find a location close-in to the city. May have to do like B'ham and put a bigger zoo in an adjacent community that's "sort of" close-in to town.
5. Waterpark - Probably would be successful and could be the most feasible of the projects, but location is again an issue.
6. National advertising campaign for Mardi Gras. I think this is already being done, but we need to amplify it a lot. This IS the original home of Carnival. We need to push our most successful tourism draw.
7. Downtown Marina - I don't mean one on the Mobile River in between some industrial cranes like the suggestion made by the development team. I mean put it where that pink hotel was on the Causeway. There's plenty of room there and if it has to be in conjunction w/ Spanish Fort then so be it. Putting one on piers jutting out into the bay from where the old gas station was on the side of the Causeway facing the Battleship would be even better. Making it quick & easy for downtown residents to sail or fish can be a draw for higher-end residents & having an attractive eastern entrance to the city makes the city as a whole more attractive. Plus it brings new people right up to the city.
8. A New Stadium - My only pie-in-the-sky objective. I'd like to replace the current Civic Center w/ a new open-air stadium done as a cooperative effort between USA & Mobile. The GMAC & Senior Bowl would get a new state-of-the-art place w/ the city's skyline as a backdrop. Just a new 40,000 seat facility with room to expand should that become necessary would be just about perfect. The old stadium could be sold to the school district.
9. An Opera Hall - Mobile has its own Symphony, Ballet Co., & Opera Co. and I believe they use a facility that is within the current Civic Center building. I think they would be better suited to having a concert hall of their own somewhere downtown. When the facility is not in use by one of the higher-level performing arts groups it could be available for small concerts like those put on in the Saenger at present or rented to churches/schools/civic groups for use in theatrical productions or events (graduations, speeches, etc.). These artists already draw a lot of people to the city and our artistic heritage is something for which we should be rightly proud.
10. Get the walkway over Water Street built. Simple, doable, and incredibly useful. They're working on it I suspect, but it sure seems to be taking forever.

Feel free to add your own.