Alton Wants Your Input for the Next 20 Years. That’s Cute.
I love a good long-term plan. Nothing says “we have everything under control” like a 20-year vision crafted in a conference room with bad coffee, laminated maps, and a PowerPoint that refuses to die. So when I heard that Alton is gathering public feedback for its shiny new comprehensive plan—stretching two full decades into the future—I had two immediate reactions: Ambitious. Adorably optimistic. Because if there’s one thing humanity has consistently demonstrated, it’s our uncanny ability to predict the future with all the precision of a coin flip in a hurricane. But hey, here we are. Alton is asking the public—yes, you, me, and the guy who still thinks Facebook comments count as civic engagement—to weigh in on what the city should look like in 20 years. Roads, housing, economic development, green spaces, infrastructure, quality of life—the whole buffet of municipal aspirations. And I went. Of course I did. The Town Hall Experience: Democracy Meets Folding Chairs You ever w...
