What is holding Mobile back?

[Lizap]

Originally Posted by stephenMM

I grew up (for a while) in Mobile, and went there most weekends from the Mississippi Coast to see concerts at Municipal Auditorium back in the 80's. Wonderful venue for music groups. I'm in Little Rock now and not loving the drivers or the weather, so I looked at Mobile recently. It wasn't for me, and the problems I saw are probably what some other people have w/ it.

One was the crime. I read the newspaper online for a few months as well as the TV news, and it's certainly bad depending on where you live of course, but still, its bad. The other thing was how so many people talked about the Old Boy network, especially downtown. According to others, if you weren't from Mobile, you weren't going to be really accepted. Sounded similar to Charleston in that regard.

There were some other issues, and like many places in the South, it is still firmly rooted in the 50's. I loved what I saw on youtube regarding the neighborhoods downtown, but that alone wasn't enough to tempt me. If you're a city like New Orleans, you can get away w/ a lot of this negative stuff (and Mobile crime is nothing compared to New Orleans), but for the most part, New Orleans has been living on its reputation for decades. Mobile isn't nearly as well known unless you're a Southerner, and its not nearly as liberal either. Whether that's a negative or a positive is for others to decide.

I'm not sure if any of this jibes w/ what others think is holding Mobile back, but it was enough for me to consider places like Columbia, SC and a few other Southerner cities. Alabama and Mississippi both suffer from the stigma of days gone past. I'm not sure about Alabama, but Mississippi hasn't done much to make its image better other than The Coast, which was always totally different from the rest of the state, and gets tons of happy visitors from all over the country. If Mobile is going to present itself as a destination for people in neighboring Southern cities it will need to do things differently than it has.

This ^^^. Your post is spot on..

[Southsky]

As someone that lives downtown currently, I just do not see how one can form that opinion these days.

[brickpatio2018]

In Jackson, MS, the state legislature last year created a state-run police (the Capitol Police) with jurisdiction over the downtown area as well as the entire area that contains the state government offices, major medical centers, colleges, restaurant and shopping districts, parks, museums, and historic neighborhoods.

The Capitol Police have 150 officers for a small geographic area that contains about 20,000 people. Business owners report that the Capitol Police respond to calls instantaneously and are maximally helpful.

Essentially Jackson's most important district is now protected in the same way that neighboring upscale suburbs are, thereby paving the way for economic growth within the city itself and likely the metro as a whole also.

It's been a remarkable turn of events. The federal government is expected to approve a ten-mile lake through the heart of the city next year, which will connect to a new 3,000 acre park under development as well as the 30 square-mile Barnett Reservoir north of the city. The feds also appointed an expert to fix the city's water system, along with some $800 million for the repairs. It's working nicely. And Jackson's suburbs (Madison, Ridgeland, Flowood, Brandon, Clinton) are thriving and growing.

I think public safety is the lynchpin for economic growth in cities. Alabama's employers also need a level playing field with their competitors in Florida, Texas, and Tennessee which have no income tax.

Huntsville's and Birmingham's growth are funded by the federal government (NASA and medical research). Mobile benefits from military contracts but to attract entrepreneurs and major growth Mobile needs dramatic increases in safety levels (especially in the parts of town where major employers are located, where visitors come, and where people are likely to move). And assuming that public safety is resolved, eliminating the income tax would go a long way towards unleashing entrepreneurial growth in Mobile.

[InlandWave]

Originally Posted by brickpatio2018

In Jackson, MS, the state legislature last year created a state-run police (the Capitol Police) with jurisdiction over the downtown area as well as the entire area that contains the state government offices, major medical centers, colleges, restaurant and shopping districts, parks, museums, and historic neighborhoods.

The Capitol Police have 150 officers for a small geographic area that contains about 20,000 people. Business owners report that the Capitol Police respond to calls instantaneously and are maximally helpful.

Essentially Jackson's most important district is now protected in the same way that neighboring upscale suburbs are, thereby paving the way for economic growth within the city itself and likely the metro as a whole also.

It's been a remarkable turn of events. The federal government is expected to approve a ten-mile lake through the heart of the city next year, which will connect to a new 3,000 acre park under development as well as the 30 square-mile Barnett Reservoir north of the city. The feds also appointed an expert to fix the city's water system, along with some $800 million for the repairs. It's working nicely. And Jackson's suburbs (Madison, Ridgeland, Flowood, Brandon, Clinton) are thriving and growing.

I think public safety is the lynchpin for economic growth in cities. Alabama's employers also need a level playing field with their competitors in Florida, Texas, and Tennessee which have no income tax.

Huntsville's and Birmingham's growth are funded by the federal government (NASA and medical research). Mobile benefits from military contracts but to attract entrepreneurs and major growth Mobile needs dramatic increases in safety levels (especially in the parts of town where major employers are located, where visitors come, and where people are likely to move). And assuming that public safety is resolved, eliminating the income tax would go a long way towards unleashing entrepreneurial growth in Mobile.

I’m not worried about public safety, Mobile already has the lowest crime of Alabama’s big 4 cities and continues to drop an average of 8-12% every year

Now changing income tax would be an interesting take I would like see further researched into

[Suesbal]

Is a sea wall holding Mobile back?

[Southsky]

Originally Posted by brickpatio2018

In Jackson, MS, the state legislature last year created a state-run police (the Capitol Police) with jurisdiction over the downtown area as well as the entire area that contains the state government offices, major medical centers, colleges, restaurant and shopping districts, parks, museums, and historic neighborhoods.

The Capitol Police have 150 officers for a small geographic area that contains about 20,000 people. Business owners report that the Capitol Police respond to calls instantaneously and are maximally helpful.

Essentially Jackson's most important district is now protected in the same way that neighboring upscale suburbs are, thereby paving the way for economic growth within the city itself and likely the metro as a whole also.

It's been a remarkable turn of events. The federal government is expected to approve a ten-mile lake through the heart of the city next year, which will connect to a new 3,000 acre park under development as well as the 30 square-mile Barnett Reservoir north of the city. The feds also appointed an expert to fix the city's water system, along with some $800 million for the repairs. It's working nicely. And Jackson's suburbs (Madison, Ridgeland, Flowood, Brandon, Clinton) are thriving and growing.

I think public safety is the lynchpin for economic growth in cities. Alabama's employers also need a level playing field with their competitors in Florida, Texas, and Tennessee which have no income tax.

Huntsville's and Birmingham's growth are funded by the federal government (NASA and medical research). Mobile benefits from military contracts but to attract entrepreneurs and major growth Mobile needs dramatic increases in safety levels (especially in the parts of town where major employers are located, where visitors come, and where people are likely to move). And assuming that public safety is resolved, eliminating the income tax would go a long way towards unleashing entrepreneurial growth in Mobile.

Funnily enough, there was an article just this week in Mobile's "Lagniappe" (weekly periodical) about officials from Jackson (MS) coming to Mobile to learn from Mobile's successes in reducing/preventing crime.

The title: "Swamped in violent crime, Jackson PD looks to Mobile as model"
Link: https://www.lagniappemobile.com/news...c16aea116.html

[InlandWave]

Originally Posted by Southsky

Funnily enough, there was an article just this week in Mobile's "Lagniappe" (weekly periodical) about officials from Jackson (MS) coming to Mobile to learn from Mobile's successes in reducing/preventing crime.

The title: "Swamped in violent crime, Jackson PD looks to Mobile as model"
Link: https://www.lagniappemobile.com/news...c16aea116.html

wow, how timely

[PortCity]

Originally Posted by Southsky

Funnily enough, there was an article just this week in Mobile's "Lagniappe" (weekly periodical) about officials from Jackson (MS) coming to Mobile to learn from Mobile's successes in reducing/preventing crime.

The title: "Swamped in violent crime, Jackson PD looks to Mobile as model"
Link: https://www.lagniappemobile.com/news...c16aea116.html

Exactly! MPD has done a great job with reducing crime in Mobile.