24 Hours in Mobile

[Sketching]

deleted

[Centropolis]

nice little tour! i remember the uss alabama from when i was a kid, traveling all over the gulf coast. battleships are boss.

why does mobile have a 700+ ft tower? so strange. the town has some nice bones, but i can tell that some of that has sloughed off, too.

[Sketching]

Originally Posted by Centropolis

nice little tour! i remember the uss alabama from when i was a kid, traveling all over the gulf coast. battleships are boss.

why does mobile have a 700+ ft tower? so strange. the town has some nice bones, but i can tell that some of that has sloughed off, too.

Thanks! You ask a good question about why Mobile has a 745 foot tower. I have no idea. It was built by Retirement Systems of Alabama and since I'm not a Alabama resident I don't know the history of how and why it is in Mobile and not Birmingham or even Montgomery. With the generally flat landscape down there you can see it for miles and miles.

[East72nd]

Thanks for the tour! Just curious about the downtown, did it feel safe and even better what did the locals have to say about the safety of the downtown? thanks in advance.

[Sketching]

Originally Posted by East72nd

Thanks for the tour! Just curious about the downtown, did it feel safe and even better what did the locals have to say about the safety of the downtown? thanks in advance.

Thanks. I walked all over downtown and the area they call midtown. It felt safe both day and night. I wasn't panhandled once even as an obvious tourist so that was a bonus. Dauphin Street is the primary area where locals and tourists congregate as it has the bars, shops and restaurants and it was more lively in the evening and at night than during the day. The impressions I got from locals was that other than nuisance crimes like car break-ins, vandalism and the occasional bar fight the downtown area was safe. There's also a police precinct on Dauphin Street where most of the entertainment is located.

[ChrisLA]

We don't often get the pleasure of seeing a southern city photographed. Now days it's rare that I even make a comment in a thread, but I had say something here.

For me living on the west coast, it's as if Alabama is in a foreign country. So I knew I had to check out one of the few rare threads we get to see of anything in this state, thanks for sharing.

[ColDayMan]

Great tour of Mobile.

[mousquet]

Interesting, I think it's the 1st photo thread of this place I see on here. I mean in this section of the overall forum, cause they've got their subforum.

Originally Posted by Sketching

Mobile was settled by the French in 1702 and Carnival and Mardi Gras are still celebrated here.

I wish that tradition had been kept up over here, but we don't do it anymore. Mardi Gras was originally much of a decadent party to let off steam right before Lent time. It was lost here, as people in general got less and less religious in Europe. Too bad, it seems much fun and a huge business in Louisiana.
They've been trying to import Halloween over here instead, but it leaves me in a meh; doesn't really work locally. Although it's been fun to kids who collect their candies.

They're the winner in North America of the global strategy of the European aeronautical industry. Airbus is developing their hub over there. I don't think it's only about manufacturing aircrafts, there'll be some research & development and studies, too. And the whole bunch of high value added occupations that come along... So the future of this town appears a little more comfy, now. Frankly, we should do the same as the US here, some kind of buy European policy, cause we don't have any Boeing hub yet. Lol

I think they could add a couple of floors to some of their historic bones in their downtown, by preserving original façades at street level. When carefully executed, the result is convincing, increases density and might produce a little shade to ease strollers.

[gatt]

nice tour,but where are the humans?

[Sketching]

Originally Posted by ChrisLA

We don't often get the pleasure of seeing a southern city photographed. Now days it's rare that I even make a comment in a thread, but I had say something here.

For me living on the west coast, it's as if Alabama is in a foreign country. So I knew I had to check out one of the few rare threads we get to see of anything in this state, thanks for sharing.

Thank you. I appreciate you making a comment and enjoying the photos. I believe there was a Birmingham thread posted by someone else recently. Birmingham has some charming buildings too, even smaller cities in Alabama such as Gadsden have retained much of their historic downtowns. I post Atlanta photos and have an ongoing thread but many don't seem to consider it a quintessential southern city and perhaps it isn't. I've also posted two Savannah threads, links are in my signature.

Originally Posted by ColDayMan

Great tour of Mobile.

Thank you.

Originally Posted by mousquet

Interesting, I think it's the 1st photo thread of this place I see on here. I mean in this section of the overall forum, cause they've got their subforum.

I wish that tradition had been kept up over here, but we don't do it anymore. Mardi Gras was originally much of a decadent party to let off steam right before Lent time. It was lost here, as people in general got less and less religious in Europe. Too bad, it seems much fun and a huge business in Louisiana.
They've been trying to import Halloween over here instead, but it leaves me in a meh; doesn't really work locally. Although it's been fun to kids who collect their candies.

They're the winner in North America of the global strategy of the European aeronautical industry. Airbus is developing their hub over there. I don't think it's only about manufacturing aircrafts, there'll be some research & development and studies, too. And the whole bunch of high value added occupations that come along... So the future of this town appears a little more comfy, now. Frankly, we should do the same as the US here, some kind of buy European policy, cause we don't have any Boeing hub yet. Lol

I think they could add a couple of floors to some of their historic bones in their downtown, by preserving original façades at street level. When carefully executed, the result is convincing, increases density and might produce a little shade to ease strollers.

Mardi Gras is still a huge celebration in Mobile it just doesn't see the attention that New Orleans receives. The city has a large exhibit at the local art museum and there is also a separate museum dedicated solely to Mardi Gras. Years ago a former Mobile resident, now in Atlanta, who was very proud of his city was the first to tell me about Mardi Gras in Mobile. I had no idea such a celebration existed there. Apparently, the French influence on the now American Gulf Coast was so vast that Mardi Gras celebrations occur in New Orleans, Mobile, Biloxi and Pensacola. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mardi_..._United_States

Originally Posted by gatt

nice tour,but where are the humans?

Thanks. Perhaps hiding indoors from the heat and humidity? The streets were more lively as the day cooled off and people were getting off work for the weekend. But during the morning into the middle of the afternoon pedestrian activity was quite low on this random Friday I chose to spend a day there. I can only speak to the 24 hours I spent there perhaps there are some Mobile forum members that can better address that.

[themaguffin]

I've been to Mobile many times (and will be again later this month). As mentioned - good bones - so much potential in its core. I don't mind the tall RSA tower, how its crown in proportion to the rest of it seems off to me.
What I do mind, is the addition of the crown to the older hotel. Ugh. Terrible, just terrible.

The city has a few good old tree lined arteries as well. However, for a Sun belt city, its economy seems sluggish.

[fflint]

Outstanding photo tour of a city we usually don't see here on the forum. It seems like a very interesting place. Thanks.

[Sketching]

Originally Posted by themaguffin

I've been to Mobile many times (and will be again later this month). As mentioned - good bones - so much potential in its core. I don't mind the tall RSA tower, how its crown in proportion to the rest of it seems off to me.
What I do mind, is the addition of the crown to the older hotel. Ugh. Terrible, just terrible.

The city has a few good old tree lined arteries as well. However, for a Sun belt city, its economy seems sluggish.

Indeed Government Street is a pretty tree-lined street as is Dauphin once further from downtown and into the residential areas.

Originally Posted by fflint

Outstanding photo tour of a city we usually don't see here on the forum. It seems like a very interesting place. Thanks.

Thank you very much.

[LSyd]

great tour! i'm planning to do a visit in a few months, once the temperatures drop a little. now i'm psyched. and surprised by the street art.

i stopped there overnight while moving back in February and ended up staying overnight in the sprawl since the weather was iffy whether i could get any photos during morning downtown, plus i had the dogs, wife and kid with me.

Originally Posted by Sketching

Even though I was born and raised in the South and still live in Atlanta I always forget how oppressive the humidity is on the Gulf Coast. Living in the Piedmont region at a thousand feet of elevation provides more relief than you might think so coming down here is like being wrapped in a steaming wet blanket air mass that requires some adjusting.

tell me about it; since early May it feels like i have had to relearn how to run without killing myself and feeling like death warmed over all day afterward.

Originally Posted by Centropolis

nice little tour! i remember the uss alabama from when i was a kid, traveling all over the gulf coast. battleships are boss.

why does mobile have a 700+ ft tower? so strange. the town has some nice bones, but i can tell that some of that has sloughed off, too.

to take the "state's tallest" title away from Birmingham, where the downtown height is FAA restricted around 450' and the site just outside the restriction where a 900' tower was proposed in 1990 has now been broken up.

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[Eightball]

Very pretty. I've driven through the city dozens of times via I-10 but never stopped. Always wanted to do so ... your tour was the next best thing!

[TimCity2000]

yeah, I don't mind the RSA tower... it's the matching spire on the hotel that was added which is the biggest offender.

thanks for sharing! been a while since I've visited mobile.

[Sketching]

Originally Posted by LSyd

great tour! i'm planning to do a visit in a few months, once the temperatures drop a little. now i'm psyched. and surprised by the street art.

i stopped there overnight while moving back in February and ended up staying overnight in the sprawl since the weather was iffy whether i could get any photos during morning downtown, plus i had the dogs, wife and kid with me.

tell me about it; since early May it feels like i have had to relearn how to run without killing myself and feeling like death warmed over all day afterward.

Thanks. I hope you enjoy your visit. There was one building I'm kicking myself for not shooting and it is the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Passenger Terminal. It might be the grandest building in Mobile.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf,_...enger_Terminal

Originally Posted by Eightball

Very pretty. I've driven through the city dozens of times via I-10 but never stopped. Always wanted to do so ... your tour was the next best thing!

Thank you.

Originally Posted by TimCity2000

yeah, I don't mind the RSA tower... it's the matching spire on the hotel that was added which is the biggest offender.

thanks for sharing! been a while since I've visited mobile.

Thanks for the comment. The RSA tower is a nice building except at street level it is built like a fortress with no street interaction.

[Austinlee]

It's a fictional city: New Yor'kleans


The city looks really cool to me. I looove the RSA tower. Awesome building.

[bobdreamz]

What a quaint charming city! Great pics!

[Comrade]

I like the RSA tower. It is beautiful. I want it in my city.