New Orleans, Louisiana has been called the “Big Easy” since the 1960s. Mobile, Alabama has been called the “Little Easy” since the 2000s.
 
The article “You Can Call It the Little Easy” by John Mtyka was published in the New York (NY) Times on March 23, 2007. “Mardi Gras in ‘The Little Easy’; Mobile opens its doors to unique carnival experience” by Peter Wilson was published in the Star-Phoenix (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) on January 24, 2009.
 
The “Little Easy” nickname for Mobile was little-used until The Huffington Post (Canada) included the nickname in the article “7 Pint-Sized Towns That Totally Deliver On Big Fun” by Mike Dojc, published on June 8, 2014.
 
The article “Making Mobile the ‘Little Easy’” by Ken Robinson in the Lagniappe Weekly (Mobile, AL) on March 15, 2017 explained:
 
“Seeing ourselves as a ‘Little Easy,’ we claim sisterhood with New Orleans not just because of our shared history or heritage, but also because, from architecture to cuisine to our easygoing way of life, we Mobilians have more in common with our Creole cousins down in the bayous of Southern Louisiana than we do with most other residents of the Yellowhammer State.”
 
“Little Easy” is also a nickname for Oxford, Mississippi.
   
   
Wikipedia: Mobile, Alabama
Mobile (/moʊˈbiːl/ moh-beel; French pronunciation: ​[mɔ.bil]) is the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 as of the 2010 United States Census, making it the third most populous city in Alabama, the most populous in Mobile County, and the largest municipality on the Gulf Coast between New Orleans, Louisiana, and St. Petersburg, Florida.
 
Alabama’s only saltwater port, Mobile is located at the head of the Mobile Bay and the north-central Gulf Coast.
 
New York (NY) Times
You Can Call It the Little Easy
JOHN MOTYKA MARCH 23, 2007
WHEN thousands of athletes from around the world pull on their running shoes in Mobile, Ala., tomorrow and set out through the streets in the 10-kilometer Azalea Trail Run, they will race past antebellum mansions, ornate old commercial buildings, majestic churches and storefronts topped by lacy cast-iron balconies and grillwork. The run, now in its 30th year, is timed for late March to coincide with the bloom of azaleas and dogwood, one of the prettiest seasons in Mobile, an easygoing port town spread along the banks of the Mobile River and bell-shaped Mobile Bay. The race attracts runners from as far away as Kenya and New Zealand, happy to test themselves amid the scent of wisteria. But they are far from the first outsiders to be attracted to Mobile.
     
24 January 2009, Star-Phoenix (Saskatoon, Sask.), “Mardi Gras in ‘The Little Easy’; Mobile opens its doors to unique carnival experience” by Peter Wilson, pg. E18:
If you’ve an itch to check out a southern Mardi Gras this February, Judi Gulledge offers some friendly southern advice about “The Little Easy.”
 
“Try Alabama, and see how we do things here in Mobile,” says Gulledge, the executive director of the Mobile Carnival Association and director of the organization’s fascinating museum. “We’re the oldest Mardi Gras in America and our celebrations have a unique family twist.”
 
4 February 2009, The Gazette (Montreal, Quebec), “Try The Little Easy; Mobile has the oldest Mardi Gras in the United States and one with a family twist” by Peter Wilson, Pg. I3:
Anonymous. The Gazette; Montreal, Que. [Montreal, Que]14 Feb 2009: I.3.
If you have an itch to check out a southern Mardi Gras this month, Judi Gulledge offers some friendly southern advice about “The Little Easy.”
 
The Huffington Post (Canada)
7 Pint-Sized Towns That Totally Deliver On Big Fun
By Mike Dojc
Posted: 06/08/2014 10:07 am EDT Updated: 06/09/2014 10:59 am EDT
(...)
Mobile, Alabama: The Little Easy
While N’awlins gets all the fanfare, the Sweet Home state’s port city has celebrated Fat Tuesday for even longer. Mobile’s been getting down with Mardi Gras since 1703, and for a revelry history experience like none other there’s the Carnival Museum. Traipse through this Government Street mansion while scoping out the colourful paraphernalia and sumptuous gowns and coronation robes.
   
Twitter
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@VisitMobileAL
@HuffingtonPost dubbed Mobile Bay ‘The Little Easy’  http://m.huffpost.com/ca/entry/5462131?utm_hp_ref=tw ….  #visitmobilebay #SoMOBILE
7:01 AM - 12 Jun 2014
 
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Mobile Sports Auth‏
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VIa @HuffingtonPost: Mobile, AL “The Little Easy”, makes list of “pint-sized towns that totally deliver on big fun” | http://huff.to/TO1XRx
9:37 AM - 12 Jun 2014
 
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LOCAL 15‏
@LOCAL15NEWS
Mobile has earned the title of ‘The Little Easy.’ Here’s why: http://bit.ly/SEiHcs  @Andrea_WPMI
6:24 PM - 12 Jun 2014
 
YouTube
Mobile Earns ‘The Little Easy’ Title
LOCAL 15
Published on Jul 14, 2014
MOBILE, Ala. (WPMI) The Port City’s been dubbed “The Little Easy.” Mobile landed on Huffington Post’s list of “7 Pint-Sized Towns That Totally Deliver on Big Fun.”
 
The article honed in on our moon pie madness. It says, “While N’awlins gets all the fanfare, the Sweet Home state’s port city has celebrated Fat Tuesday for even longer. Mobile’s been getting down with Mardi Gras since 1703.”
 
The article also recommends people check out our Carnival Museum that’s filled with the “colourful paraphernalia and sumptuous gowns and coronation robes.” It even mentions our moon pie drop on New Year’s Eve!
 
This is a cool list to land on as Huffington Post looked at “microopolies,” as they’re referred to, around the world.
 
Atlanta (GA) magazine
Weekend Getaway: Mobile, Alabama
The Little Easy steps out of New Orleans’s shadow to reveal its own brand of refinement and revelry
November 19, 2015 Larry Bleiberg
 
Pedaling Puppy Raisers Cycling Across the U.S. 
Day 46: Into “The Little Easy “: Mobile
Posted on April 12, 2016 by Bill & Barb Bochner
April 11, 2016
Vancleave, MS to Mobile, AL
 
Twitter
Southbound Magazine‏
@Southbound_Mag
Nicknamed the Little Easy, Mobile, Alabama, is like a small-scale New Orleans, but perhaps more refined.
7:01 AM - 7 Jun 2016
 
Lagniappe Weekly (Mobile, AL)
Making Mobile the ‘Little Easy’
Posted by Ken Robinson | Mar 15, 2017 | The Griot’s Corner
We Mobilians like to see ourselves as being different from other Alabamians. When we look for kinship, we often look west rather than north. The Big Easy, or New Orleans — which lies 140 miles to our west — is the city we claim as our bigger “sister city.” New Orleans got nicknamed the Big Easy some time ago, a reference to the easygoing, gentle and slow way of life pervasive in the city. New York City was the Big Apple, so New Orleans became the Big Easy.
 
Seeing ourselves as a “Little Easy,” we claim sisterhood with New Orleans not just because of our shared history or heritage, but also because, from architecture to cuisine to our easygoing way of life, we Mobilians have more in common with our Creole cousins down in the bayous of Southern Louisiana than we do with most other residents of the Yellowhammer State.