MACON, Ga. — Many Maconites have big ideas for the city, and Bibb leaders want to hear them.
On Thursday, they kicked off the third edition of the Macon Action Plan to see how folks in town want the city to look a few years from now. The atmosphere at Fall Line Brewing was upbeat, and the ideas were flowing for Macon's future.
"We've been coming here for about five, six years, and we're just very interested in helping improve the community," Debra Steinhaus said.
That was the goal of Thursday's Macon Action Plan open house: getting ideas on how Macon can grow.
"It's great to see how all the ideas that we come up with, all the ideas that we throw against the wall, some of them stick," Marty Koplin said.
Koplin has been coming to these since the first-ever Macon Action Plan events in 2015. She loves the community focus.
"We want to see what would help the community really see themselves as part of the progress here. And how do we capitalize on connections between the neighborhoods?" Alex Morrison with the Urban Development Authority said.
It's safe to say Morrison will have a lot of ideas to work with.
"A trolley that would go around the main streets downtown so people could get on and off without having to move cars," Steinhaus offered.
"Let's also bring a lot of things for our youth and our kids, so they have a lot of safe spaces," Shandreika Smith said.
"I love all the diverse restaurants we have downtown, and more retail would be super," Koplin said.
Speaking of food, Mark Steinhaus had this to say: "We also need a German restaurant!"
Morrison says the next step is using some of these ideas to come up with strategies. Then, they'll ask for more public input to help focus their plans. Morrison hopes to release the newest Macon Action Plan this spring.
If you couldn't make it out to Thursday's event, Morrison says there will be plenty more. You can also fill out their online form here.