The future for Rock Island is very unpredictable. While having a great quality of life and great leadership, Rock Island has plenty of hurtles to overcome. Brownfields might be considered one of those hurtles, but at the same time may be seen as a slight advantage. The spaces that the brownfields have reserved as undeveloped are oftentimes in spots that once cleaned up they are prime land. In Rock Island this is because many of the locations are former gas stations located on the corners that used to see the most traffic and in many cases still do. These prime spots will become more of an issue to Rock Island depending on where it decides to grow. The growth of Rock Island has led to it developing its holdings south of the Rock River, soon afterwards this use of land will lead to two options. Annexing land is one of them, an option that is expensive in both its original cost and then in the expansion of services that it requires. A second is that Rock Island will concentrate on redeveloping or rebuilding its inner structure. In this case the costs are kept down from services, the city as a whole begins to look better, and there is less dispersion of the haves and have-nots.
In a effort to make Rock Island and its neighbor Moline more attractive in the future plans are being created, and are currently underway to develop the southern portion of the two cities. These plans put together by the City of Rock Island and the County of Rock Island outline a new bridge across the Rock River, and new developments that are more environmentally friendly. These developments, such as the county’s Case Creek, are planned in hopes that they will show others what the Quad Cities can become and what it has to offer. Hopefully then more development will be sparked and the effect is growth for Rock Island and the greater Quad Cities, but in a way that is different from the developments of the past in that it is sustainable for future generations.
