New industry and what really matters for Mobile’s future
The announcement of the new airplane plant for Mobile has some of my peers turning metaphorical somersaults, but my outlook is decidedly more guarded.
I think it could possibly be good for Mobile’s arts world. Some industries like Degussa have a decent track record of investing in Mobile’s cultural scene, ponying up funds for various endeavors and institutions. Others come in and treat us like the “demi-Third World region ripe for exploitation” that the state government claims we are in their attempts to woo new industry. We’ll see into which camp the new players fall.
But true to my reputation at Lagniappe Central, I remain skeptical as to the depth and length of any impact. Why? Because I’m a history buff–it was my major in college–and I’m well familiar with Mobile’s backstory.
For centuries, Mobilians have always awaited the intervention of outside forces to save the city’s fortunes like some benevolent hurricane showering good fortune on all. There is a distinct complacency here that keeps folks from realizing their true power.
Following the rise and fall of the Cotton Boom, Mobile has hung its hopes on project after project.
“Well, when the feds fix the shipping channel, we’ll really take off.”
“Well, when the state builds new docks, we’ll really take off.”
“Well, when the shipyards are improved, we’ll really take off.”
“Well, when the Department of Defense finishes that air base, we’ll really take off.”
“Well, when the federal government finishes the Tenn-Tom Waterway, we’ll really take off.”
“Well, when they open that naval homeport, we’ll really take off.”
“Well, when the convention center opens, we’ll really take off.”
“Well, when the cruise terminal gets opened, we’ll really take off.”
The latest projects to start the mantra again have been the RSA Tower, Thyssen-Krupp and now EADS.
The RSA Tower sits mostly dormant. We keep hearing new tenants are coming, but it’s been almost a year since the big unveiling and most of the floors are obviously vacant as evidenced by the nighttime views into the windows. And I’m still trying to figure out why all these new tourists David Bronner foresees are suddenly going to be headed for Mobile. To go to Bellingrath Gardens?
Thyssen-Krupp hasn’t opened yet, but its distance from town puts its impact in doubt. A few decades ago, a host of chemical plants opened just south of Tillman’s Corner and their combined employment opportunities and economic impact was comparable to what is boasted for the T-K project. They were much closer to town yet they in no way “reshaped” Mobile. When one factors in the rapidly escalating cost of gasoline, it becomes even more doubtful residents on the Mobile-Washington county line will be coming into town with any daily frequency. I mean, we currently see West Mobilians who think going six miles into downtown is somehow arduous so think about those who live 50 miles away.
Granted, Brookley Air Base impacted Mobile but basically in population numbers. It provided the impetus for expanding city limits but not much else. Sure there are many who try and paint a picture of Mobile as an effete oasis prior to its contamination from the hinterland hordes who worked at Brookley, but that is little more than myth and perspective. If you asked the great majority of poor blacks and white citizens who provided the grist for Mobile’s economic mills whether Mobile was more “civilized” in those days, their answers would likely be less rosy.
Essentially, those emigres didn’t change Mobile culturally. Did they eradicate the trappings of Mobile’s Creole roots? The Catholic archdiocese is still here and just as powerful. Mardi Gras is bigger than ever. Lord knows, the racial and socio-economic divisions of the past still haunt us.
Let’s face it, the only way Mobile is going to intrinsically change will be if the residents alter the most mysterious frontier: the one between their ears. The very thing that keeps Mobile a backwater is the perspective of many of its residents. Not everyone here is provincial, but a vast majority are. Until Mobile can become more than a suburban rookery, a place where people withdraw to raise children in isolation from outside influence and cosmopolitan mindsets, where those that are “different” feel estranged and alienated, where criticism is eschewed instead of digested and defensiveness is reflexive, no change of value will ever come to Mobile. That Mobile needs to go the way of malaria epidemics and paddle-wheelers.
The days where a cloistered group of Mobilians “kept it small and kept it all” should pass into the dusty bin of history.
I know so many people who would have made this a far more interesting place to live but opted to move over the last few decades. They went on to form successful recording labels, work for international entertainment entities, record hit songs, succeed in the film industry, just on and on and on.
That’s why despite my expectations, my actual hope for this town-that-is-almost-a-city is that these new projects not only flourish but succeed in bringing in many, many thousands of new residents who don’t hold the prejudices and predilections common to native Mobilians. The mindset that has marked this place for the last three hundred years HAS TO CHANGE or nothing ever will. The best, brightest and most creative will continue to leave for more vibrant environs otherwise.
Tags: Arts, culture, EADS, history, Kevin Lee, RSA Tower, Thyssen-Krupp
March 1st, 2008 at 8:44 pm
That was an interesting post and you made some good points. I would like to add a more optimistic perspective. Mobile IS changing from the inside out.
I can only speak for one group. We are the children of the Now-Middle-Aged-Broke-ass Pseudo-Hippies, who hide amongst the backwoods of Mobile County. I speak for myself, much of my family, and many of my young friends, colleagues, and acquaintances. Many of us are native Mobilians, and many of us have ancestors here since the early 19th century. Our parents grew up as the cultural hippie movement slowly (kind of) made its way to Mobile (perhaps years behind the rest of the country). We were raised in Mobile with parents who taught us to be questioning, tolerant, and open-minded. Many of our parents did not appear have significant cultural influence in the city. This is mostly because they were broke-asses from a long line of other broke-asses. And they were used to things never changing around these parts. Also, many were just too stoned at the time to get involved. Nonetheless, I think they will ultimately prove to be culturally influential.
Some of them were “tuned out” musicians, writers, would-be activists, ect. Most of them were working class folks just trying to get by. And they were the children of the “provincial” type that you mentioned. They were, perhaps, not highly inclined toward politics, outward social reform, or the like. They were simply tired of the crap that they were taught. Many of them preferred discussing their new ideas over beer and ribs in the back yard. People like my parents and my friends’ parents did not push their new values on the elders of Mobile. They found solace in small sub-communities. But they were quietly raising children with attitudes that are very different from “Old Mobile.”
We are a large group of mostly late bloomers. This is because when you teach children that it is ok to question everything while, simultaneously, teachers and preachers say otherwise, it takes them a little while to figure things out AND because some of our parents were on so many drugs when we were conceived, our brains are slightly bogged down. We are finishing up our educations, and many of us have had to go away to meet our educational needs and early career needs. Also, many of us needed to see the world first. But we are coming back. Slowly but surely. We are entering the workforce in Mobile. We are starting businesses in Mobile. We are teaching at the colleges in Mobile. We are artists, musicians, writers, and (mostly) fans. We are scattered all about the city and its outskirts. And we are starting to breed and raise like-minded children.
We don’t necessary speak up in public forums as much as we should. But we stand up for what we believe in. We practice tolerance and progressive ideas in our own homes, our neighborhoods, our jobs, our children’s schools, and, if we have them, our churches.
We are certainly among the “best, brightest, and most creative.” We are starting to come back home. This is party because many of us do have that old-school southern pride. We love it here, and to the extent that it is not already a great place to live, culturally, we intend to make it so. We are calling our friends in Atlanta and Birmingham and elsewhere, and we are saying, “Come home. We miss you, and Mobile needs you.” And slowly, maybe even one at a time, they are listening. I see this happening in my own circles.
It is up to Mobilians to change our city. Many of us young Mobilians always welcome new people with new perspectives. However, have some faith in young Mobile natives as well. Many of us are still here, and we are growing and progressing from behind the scenes. No economic investment will ever change who we are as a city. But we can, and we will. We leave it up to you artsy people to inspire us. We are busy. And we don’t always go to cultural events or write to newspapers with our opinions. But we are listening to you guys. I promise you.
Keep up the good work. All of you.
March 4th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
the klass is always klalf klempty, klee.
March 5th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Well, Ash, it’s a little hard to address deficiencies by pretending they don’t exist. You can’t move up from third string to first string without shoring up your entire game.