Mobile’s first comprehensive citywide plan in decades is taking shape, and one of its most consequential ideas is a simple one: give the waterfront its own conversation.
The city is working with a consulting firm on the plan, dubbed the “Map for Mobile.” The most recent milestone was a four-day workshop at The Grounds that wrapped with a two-hour public presentation on Thursday night, where consultants walked residents through early concepts for how different parts of the city should grow.
A city divided into ‘character areas’
Among the ideas floated: dividing Mobile into “character areas,” distinct parts of the city whose differing assets and challenges would each get tailored planning treatment rather than one-size-fits-all zoning.
The first such area identified in the plan is the waterfront — and the consultants were blunt about what they found there. Today, the land along the Mobile River downtown remains largely zoned industrial, and much of it is put to exactly that use.
Those industrial uses carry national significance, particularly through the State Docks and their shipping operations. But planners also noted real friction points: residents living near tank farms and other heavy industry have raised ongoing concerns about what sits next door.
The comprehensive plan, consultants said, creates the waterfront distinction specifically to open a focused community conversation about the riverfront’s future — the first Mobile planning effort to recommend that this stretch of the city get dedicated attention of its own.
City officials are encouraging residents to follow the Map for Mobile process as it advances and to weigh in on what they want the waterfront to become.