The City of Alcoa originated in 1918 as the first planned community in the State of Tennessee. A planned community is any community that was carefully planned from its inception. In the original plans, Alcoa, Inc., included one acre of park space for every 100 city inhabitants. Between 1918 and 1924 approximately 300 shade trees were planted along city streets and parks. In addition, the City of Alcoa has a great school system that is being left behind with promises of more funding from new growth/development.

For the past 12 or so years the city managers, along with Blount County, Knox County, Maryville, and the State of Tennessee, have been spending a lot of money and effort to remake the City of Alcoa with uncontrolled growth and immense costs.

Is there a plan? What is the cost? How much more can we take? I understand growth. I lived in the Orlando, FL, area during a time of huge growth. However, there has to be a plan. There also has to be a limit on how much a town of 8,000 residents can spend.