Normal asks community for feedback on Vision 2050 Sustainability Plan

Image courtesy of the Town of Normal

NORMAL, Ill. – After prior orientation and planning, the Town of Normal has launched their Vision 2050 Sustainability Plan feedback survey for members of the community to partake in.

“Its the vision of what those citizens would like the town to look like twenty five years in the future,” Town Planner Mercy Davidson said summarizing the plan. It was created in 1990 to hear the viewpoints from a diverse group of citizens in the town for the direction they would like to see Normal head towards.

The plan does remain in its early stages, with information needed from both the general public as well as scientific groups to determine the best course of action for the town. The plans are organized to consider various broad subject relating to the town which members of the community say need focus. The first plan; drawn up in 1990 to forecast the far off year of 2015, focused primarily on the local government of the town, the economy, and the physical environment of the region.

“We’re gathering together information from local experts and different stakeholder groups,” said Davidson. “The survey will be ongoing for several weeks, and certainly that’s a great opportunity for people to weigh in.”

The committee behind the plan does recognizes that the town doesn’t have the most normal demographics, with a large transient population due to the changing academic and business aspects of the region. Despite the short term nature of these residents, the committee still would like these members input for the future of the town.

“We want to be sure that we have ample opportunity for students like ISU students to weigh in on the plan,” she said.

Davidson said the committee plans to keep the survey open till the end of June, to allow ample time for all members of the community to weigh in on the plan. The committee is aiming to assess the survey results until their presentation to the town council in September.

Members of the community can give their input to the Sustainability Plan on the Town of Normal’s website.