Together, the city of Mobile, Ala., and the Downtown Mobile Alliance are working on completing a downtown optimization plan to make downtown Mobile safer for pedestrians and drivers. In 2017, they teamed up to create a zoning code for the downtown area and later a citywide zoning initiative. In 2020, they began a planning initiative for the downtown streets project, including the public and various community stakeholders. Following the design’s submission to engineering, the project received approval in June 2025, and construction commenced.
As part of this master plan and attendance at conferences, Fred Rendfrey, Downtown Mobile Alliance president and CEO, was introduced to Jeff Beck, who is well known for his work with walkable cities.
“All of our customers are pedestrians,” Rendfrey explained. “Whether it’s people at a park, people walking downtown or people walking from their car into a store — they’re a pedestrian. We want to provide streets that are safe, walkable and good for business.”…