Why Is It Important?
As growth sparked by the success of the Brookley Aeroplex occurs, guiding smart growth in the City’s only coastal community will be key to ensuring a healthy residential community rich in natural resources.
A Unique Community | Overview for Prospective Businesses | Public Access
A Unique Community
The Peninsula portion of Dauphin Island Parkway (St 163) sits at the bottom of the vast 95-square-mile Dog River Watershed and at nearly the bottom of the entire Mobile Bay Watershed. Further, we are the dividing line between two significant local watersheds - the Dog River and the Garrow's Bend Watersheds. This means all surface runoff from all of the rainstorms in the country's rainiest city Mobile, and the entire state of Alabama somehow affect the Peninsula's shorelines.
People have been coming to Mobile's shorelines since the City's founding in 1702. Before that, archaeological records show Native Americans where settled in and around the mouth of Dog River - surely attracted by the abundance of life sustaining natural resources.
Today, as the urbanization spreads westward along with the city limits, its southern boundary remains a special, quiet place - the only residential community along the breezy Mobile Bay front or the more tranquil sunsets of Dog River or several of her creeks and streams.
Prospective Businesses
Businesses use varied criteria as they search for a new location – such as demographics, accessibility, need for products or services, target customers, fair pricing in purchase or leasing and competition. Consider the Peninsula in your search. You’ll find encouraging facts, not the least of which will be the lack of competition and strong community interest in welcoming new services to the area.
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Educational kiosks will tell visitors of the recreational, shopping and services available to them just ahead as they drive South.
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The Business Corridor of the Peninsula offers grocery and drug stores, automotive services, banks, schools and several unusual and fun places to get a snack or lunch. It is to this Corridor that we want to attract businesses selling goods and services reflecting our low impact, coastal living lifestyle.
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Toward the end of the Corridor near the Dog River Bridge, miles of marshland surround the visitor on both sides. This marshland protects the waters of Perch Creek; the Perch Creek Preserve now being established will further protect this area. The Perch Creek Bridge was raised by ALDOT to give kayakers and canoers easier access to the West side of the Creek and Dog River.
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The residential areas on either side of the Corridor range from “starter” homes, to mid-price neighborhoods, to waterfront homes with values up to a million dollars and over. This variation gives businesses access to a substantial employee pool plus a loyal customer base. Those upper price households also give businesses access to a sizable group of people with disposable income.
Public Access
Bringing people all the way through the length of the Peninsula part of DIP is critical to the sustainability of the community's businesses and residents. Providing access to Mobile's waters is a low cost, low impact way to show off our beauty while retaining our coastal integrity.
The Dog River Scenic Blueway begins at the mouth of the River offering six launch sites throughout the vast urban watershed. There are four launch sites on the Peninsula: Robinson Bayou in the Gulf Dale neighborhood, two at McNally Park - Perch Creek East and West and at Helen Wood Park at the mouth of Mobile Bay. This "combat" launch takes you into the Bay where you navigate under the iconic Dog River Bridge and into the more protected waters of the River where more launch sites await upstream.
Teaming with our partners with Dog River Clearwater Revival, hundreds come to the Peninsula to enjoy paddling events like the annual Great Drift.
