Founded in 1702 by French settlers, Mobile is the oldest city in the Heart of Dixie. Cruise ships dock in the state’s only deep-water port, which is also home to the World War II–era USS Alabama battleship. The Dora Franklin Finley African-American Heritage Trail and institutions like the Mobile Carnival Museum also reflect the region’s multicultural history. (Do you think Mardi Gras originated in New Orleans? Think again.) The waterfront Arthur R. Outlaw Mobile Convention Center, meanwhile, is a 317,000-square-foot facility that’s considered tops along the Gulf Coast. So many attractions are key selling points: Mobile ranked #9 in our Product category for Convention Center and #8 for Museums. There will be more to tout in the near future, too: the city’s aggressive goals are pinned on the creation of 2,000 new jobs with relatively high annual wages and the procurement of new- and expansion-project capital investment totaling $1.25 billion by 2022.