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10
Support our Gulf Coast downtowns
Think of any major southern city. Maybe it's here. Maybe it's your favorite place to visit. Honestly, it doesn't have to be a Southern city. Think of any major American city. Chances are it has a collection of iconic photos to its name. And more times than not, those iconic photos are of their downtowns.
Downtowns are that all-American part of a city that makes it unique. They display a city's history. They give it its identity. Chances are when you think of downtown Fairhope, you think of the intersection of Fairhope Avenue and South Section Street. The Fairhope Clock, the Fairhope Pharmacy sign and the gorgeous flowers are iconic, no doubt.
We here along Alabama's Gulf Coast are lucky to have several iconic downtowns near us. But the importance of our downtowns isn't just their great photo opportunities. Our downtowns help drive the economy.
The Mobile Chamber of Commerce's most recent Opportunity Zone Guide explains, "In the past 14 years, the single square-mile of Downtown Mobile has seen more growth than any other square-mile in the City of Mobile." Current revitalization efforts began in the 1990s, and the Chamber's numbers highlight the success of the movement:
- Nearly $1 billion has been invested in major renovations and new construction projects.
- More than 700 new residential units are in service or under construction in downtown Mobile.
- A million square feet of office space has been built or renovated.
- More than 1,000 hotel rooms have been built or renovated.
- Approximately 175 new businesses opened downtown.
- Approximately 55 restaurants are now located downtown, 44 of which have opened in the past 14 years.
Fairhope has more than 80 shops, according to the Downtown Fairhope Business Association, driving economic development for the area just as Mobile's downtown does. It's those uniquely Fairhope businesses, like Fairhope Pharmacy, The Mill and Little Whiskey Christmas Club, and uniquely Mobile businesses, like Loda Bier Garden, that make the areas so charming.
That charm attracts business opportunities in some less traditional ways as well. Amazon Prime's movie Map of Tiny Perfect Things, filmed in downtown Fairhope and released in February, is just one of the latest in a string of movies to be filmed in coastal Alabama. On the Alabama Film Office's index of movies filmed in Alabama, 40 of the 78 filmed from 2010-2019 were shot at least partially in Mobile or Fairhope.
It's the cycle of downtown economic development: the combination of charm and business opportunities attracts an initial re-interest in the area, which encourages more people and businesses — including restaurants, boutiques and even movie sets — that create even more charm. That cycle benefits the entire Gulf Coast and is all the more reason to support our local downtowns, especially in light of all they have experienced with COVID-19.
