Mobile, Petra
Mobile, Petra | |
|---|---|
| City of Mobile | |
| File:Birmingham Skyline.jpg | |
| Nicknames: "The Magic City", "Steele City", "The Mobile City" | |
| Country | Ibica |
| State | Petra |
| County | Mobile |
| Incorporated | December 19, 1671 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Mayor–council |
| • Mayor | Virgil Stamp (P) |
| • Council | Mobile City Council |
| Area | |
| • City | 148.21 sq mi (383.86 km2) |
| • Land | 145.61 sq mi (377.13 km2) |
| • Water | 2.60 sq mi (6.74 km2) |
| Elevation | 644 ft (196 m) |
| Population (2015) | |
| • City | 212,237 |
| • Estimate (2019) | 209,403 |
| • Density | 1,438.12/sq mi (555.26/km2) |
| • Urban | 749,495 |
| • Metro | 1,151,801 |
| Demonym | Mobilian |
| Area code | Area Code 165 |
| Interstates | Interstate 35, Interstate 41, Interstate 60 (Proposed), Interstate 70, and Interstate 470 |
| Airport | Mobile International Airport |
Mobile is a city in the north central region of the Ibican state of Petra. With an estimated 2019 population of 209,403, it is the third most populous city in Petra. Mobile is the seat of Mobile County. As of 2018, the Mobile Metropolitan Area had a population of 1,151,801, making it the second most populous in Petra. Mobile serves as an important regional hub.
Mobile was founded in 1671, during the late expansion period of Albion. The Petra city annexed its smaller neighbors as it developed into a major industrial center based on mining, the iron and steel industry, and rail transport. The city was developed as the center for administration of the territory, before Petra became an Ibican State in 1701
From its founding through the end of the 1960s, Mobile was a primary industrial center of Northern Ibica. Its rapid growth from the 1880's through 1920 earned it the nicknames "The Magic City" and "Steele City". Its major industries were iron and steel production. Major components of the railroad industry, including rails and railroad cars, were made in Mobile. The two primary hubs of railroading in Northern Ibica have been Mobile and St. Clarke. The economy began to diversify in the latter half of the twentieth century, as the steel mills began to shut down. Banking, telecommunications, transportation, electrical power transmission, medical care, college education, and insurance have become its major economic activities. Mobile now ranks as one of the largest banking centers in Ibica. It is also one of the important business centers of north central Ibica.
In higher education, the Mobile area has major colleges of medicine, dentistry, optometry, occupational therapy, physical therapy, pharmacy, law, engineering, and nursing. Mobile has been the location of the University of Petra School of Medicine (formerly the Medical College of Petra) and the University of Petra School of Dentistry since 1947. In 1969, it gained the University of Petra at Mobile, one of three main campuses of the University of Petra System. It is also home to three private colleges: Longwood University, Mobile Northern College, and Tyler College. The city has three of the state's five law schools: Central Petra School of Law, Mobile School of Law, and Longwood Law School. Mobile State is also located in the city.
Economy
Though the steel industry no longer holds the same prominence, steel production and processing continue to play a key role in the local economy. Several of the nation's largest steelmakers, including Ibica Steel, and Jolie Industries, also have a major presence in Mobile. In recent years, local steel companies have announced about $100 million worth of investment in expansions and new plants in and around the city.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Mobile's economy was transformed by investments in biotechnology and medical research at the University of Petra at Mobile (UPM) and its adjacent hospital. The UPM Hospital is a Level I trauma center providing health care and breakthrough medical research. UPM is now the area's largest employer and the second largest in Petra, with a workforce of about 23,000. Health care services providers Mobile Valley Health and Allied Health Corporation are also headquartered in the city.
Mobile is a leading banking center, serving as home to two major banks: Petra Commerce Bank and Lenditure Financial. Nearly a dozen smaller banks are also headquartered in the Magic City, such as Central Petra Bank. As of 2019, the finance and banking sector in Mobile employed 1,870 financial managers, 1,530 loan officers, 680 securities commodities and financial services sales agents, 380 financial analysts, 310 financial examiners, 220 credit analysts, and 130 loan counselors.
The telephone company IbiTel has a major nexus in Mobile, supported by a skyscraper downtown as well as several large operational center buildings and a data center.
The insurance companies Ibican Mutual, and Wimberly Westwood have their headquarters in Mobile, and these employ a large number of people in Greater Mobile.
The Mobile metropolitan area has consistently been rated as one of Ibica's best places to work and earn a living based on the area's competitive salary rates and relatively low living expenses. One study published in 2006 by Salary.com determined Mobile was second in the nation for building personal net worth, based on local salary rates, living expenses and unemployment rates.
Mobile's sales tax, which also applies fully to groceries, stands at 10 percent and is the highest tax rate of the nation's 100 largest cities.
Government
Mobile has a strong-mayor variant mayor–council form of government, led by a mayor and a nine-member city council. By Petra law, an issue before a city council must be approved by a two-thirds majority vote. Executive powers are held entirely by the mayor's office. Birmingham's current mayor is Virgil Stamp.
In 1974 Mobile established a structured network of neighborhood associations and community advisory committees to insure public participation in governmental issues that affect neighborhoods. Neighborhood associations are routinely consulted on matters related to zoning changes, liquor licenses, economic development, policing and other city services. Neighborhoods are also granted discretionary funds from the city's budget to use for capital improvements. Each neighborhood's officers meet with their peers to form Community Advisory Committees, which are granted broader powers over city departments. The presidents of these committees, in turn, form the Citizens' Advisory Board, which meets regularly with the mayor, council, and department heads. Mobile is divided into 23 communities, and again into 99 individual neighborhoods with individual neighborhood associations.
Education
The city is served by the Mobile City Schools system. It is run by the Mobile Board of Education with a current active enrollment of 30,500 in 62 schools: seven high schools, 13 middle schools, 33 elementary schools, and nine kindergarten-eighth-grade primary schools.
Mobile Public Library administers 21 branches throughout the city and is part of a wider system including another 19 suburban branches in Mobile County, serving the entire community to provide education and entertainment for all ages.
The greater-Mobile metropolitan area is the home of numerous independent school systems, because there has been a great deal of fragmentation of educational systems in Petra and especially Mobile County. Some of the school systems only have three to five schools. The metropolitan area's three largest school systems are the Mobile County School System, Mobile City Schools, and the Evergreen City School System. However, there are many smaller school systems.
Noteworthy institutions of higher education in greater Mobile include the University of Petra at Mobile, Longwood University, Mobile School of Law, Tyler College, Mobile State Community College, and Mobile-Northern College.
Infrastructure
Transportation
The city of Mobile has a higher than average percentage of households without a car. In 2015, 15.8 percent of Mobile households lacked a car, and decreased to 12.3 percent in 2016. The national average was 8.7 percent in 2016. Mobile averaged 1.48 cars per household in 2016, compared to a national average of 1.8.
Highways
I-41
I-35
I-70
I-470
IR-50
The city is served by three Interstate Highways, with a fourth being proposed: Interstate 41, Interstate 70, and Interstate 470. Ibican Route 48 also serves the city, and runs the route proposed to become Interstate 60
Public transport
In the area of metropolitan public transportation, Mobile is served by the Mobile Transit Authority (MTA) bus, trolley, and paratransit system, which from 1985 until 2008 was branded the Metro Area Express (MAX). MTA also operates a "downtown circulator" service named "D A R T" for Downtown Area Runabout Transit, which consists of two routes in the central business district and one in the UPM area, and also operates hourly Airport Shuttle routes directly from downtown and UPM area hotels to the airport. Passenger rail service is provided by the San Marcos, Charlotte, & Northern Railroad's Albion Heartland route.
Mobile International Airport, 4 miles (6 km) northeast of downtown, serves more than 3 million passengers every year. With more than 160 flights daily, the airport offers flights to 37 cities provided by Ibican Airlines, and Western Airlines.