The Real Deal

By Sharman Egan Lagniappe columnist

It’s “Idol” season again, and it seems every time I turn on the radio, there’s Daughtry – the guy who’s made the most money by losing the contest – belting out his mega-hit “Home.” “Be careful what you wish for,” he sings “You just might get it all.” And now it seems that’s exactly what’s happened to the city of Mobile.

For decades our leaders have been struggling to bring growth to the area, along with more jobs and better paying ones. After years of limited success, things finally started happening. First there was EADS, the Austal expansion and the cruise ship Holiday. The Choctaw Point container terminal, the racetrack and other economic development successes too numerous to list here. Then late last year, the crown jewel: ThyssenKrupp’s announcement that it will build a $3.7 billion steel mill here, purported to be the largest economic development project of the decade in the U.S.

A few weeks ago, Mobile finally got its due with the release of a study on www.forbes.com (the Web site of Forbes magazine) projecting growth over the next five years in all urban areas in the U.S. with populations of 50,000 or more. Of the 363 metropolitan areas meeting this criterion, Mobile led the pack. Number one.

The study, which was conducted by Moody’s Economy.com, projects that Mobile’s “gross metropolitan product,” (a measure of the output of goods and services in a metropolitan area) will grow 34 percent between 2007 and 2012, more than any other area in the study. Mobile also received high rankings in other measures, including projected job growth and increases in personal income.

Suddenly it seems we have in fact gotten it all, at least as far as economic development goes.

Now that there’s little doubt Mobile will grow rapidly, the question becomes, “How will we grow?” We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make this city not just bigger but also better. Not just a great place to work or to make a lot of money. But also a great place to raise a family or retire, a great place to live.

One of the current buzz phrases in urban planning is “smart growth,” which refers to a set of generally accepted principles for developing “livable” cities. The Web site www.smartgrowth.org, lays out 10 principles for creating highly livable communities including walkable neighborhoods; a range of housing opportunities and choices; development decisions that are predictable, fair, and cost effective; mixed land uses; and a variety of transportation choices.

Smart growth is hardly a new idea to Mobile. In 2004, the city’s Urban Development Department, at the direction of former mayor Mike Dow, created a planning initiative entitled “Smart Growth for Mobile.” That same year the Mobile City Council approved a package of smart growth guidelines with incentives for developers to follow those guidelines. The guidelines consisted of 10 recommended features including proximity to transit, buildings close to streets, walking and biking trails and mixed land uses.

More recently, the Urban Development Department contracted with an urban planning firm to develop a 10-year master plan for an area that encompasses downtown Mobile and much of midtown. That plan, dubbed a “New Plan for Old Mobile,” will incorporate policies and initiatives from the Smart Growth for Mobile initiative, according to the RFP for the plan.

There’s also a local organization, SmartCoast (www.smartcoast.org), dedicated to encouraging smart growth in the Mobile Bay area. The Fairhope-based nonprofit held its first conference in April 2006, and it will hold it first Green Build conference, GreenCoast 2008, at the Arthur Outlaw Convention Center in April.

Perhaps most promising of all is “The Blueprint for the Village of Spring Hill,” a master plan that was unveiled in late January. The 110-page report begins with the question, “What do you want your community to be when it grows up?” then goes on to outline a detailed plan that incorporates many of the fundamental principles of smart growth including walkable streets; connectedness; compact, mixed uses; and street-oriented buildings.

Clearly, there’s a great deal of interest in smart growth in the Mobile area. The challenge is to pull these initiatives together into a strategy for growth across the area that is both cohesive and smart.

And what happens if we don’t? Daughtry sums that up too as his song continues, “You might just get it all and some you don’t want.”

Forbes.com accompanied its story on the fastest growing metro areas with another story entitled, “Worst Places: America’s Most Miserable Cities.” Using data from a variety of sources, Forbes ranked 150 cities based on its proprietary Misery Index that includes unemployment, personal tax rates, commute times, weather, crime and toxic waste.

Charlotte, N.C. is a surprising number nine on the list, and it’s an indication of what could happen to our community if we blow this opportunity. Charlotte has been the beneficiary of tremendous economic growth over the past decade, and its population has grown 32 percent. In spite of its economic growth, unemployment rates are up by more than 50 percent and it ranked worst on violent crime, two of the factors that led to its ranking as one of the most miserable cities in the country.

So what’s it going to be, Mobile? Are we going to grow smart or are we just going to grow? Now that our growth is more or less assured, that’s the question we should be asking our leaders and ourselves.

Sharman Egan is Lagniappe lagniappe columnist. Contact her at Sharman@SharmanEgan.com.

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