Comprehensive Plan
Cape Vision 2040 - Today's Dream, Tomorrow's Reality


Planning Services Division
Ryan Shrimplin, AICP - City Planner

City Hall - 44 N Lorimier Street, Cape Girardeau, MO  63701
Phone 573-339-6327 | [email protected]

A comprehensive plan is a guide for a community’s growth and development over a long period of time, typically 20 years. It addresses major components of the community such as the economy, housing, social and cultural systems, infrastructure, transportation, land use, and development. It serves as a framework for taking action to achieve a set of goals based on the collective vision of the community. Developing a comprehensive plan involves community engagement – listening to citizens, businesses, and organizations to understand what is important to them.

The City of Cape Girardeau adopted its first modern comprehensive plan in 2008. As the 20-year window for that plan came to a close, the City hired a consultant team to prepare a new comprehensive plan. A multi-year process, the development of the new plan – Cape Vision 2040 – involved hundreds of citizens and representatives of government, business, education, and community services. Through stakeholder interviews, public meetings and other outreach events, and online engagement, the consultant team collected thousands of comments and ideas to use in preparing the plan.

The Cape Vision 2040 comprehensive plan was adopted on July 8, 2020. While the City of Cape Girardeau will lead the implementation of the plan, it will require the efforts of the many citizens, businesses, and organizations that participated in its development to make “Today’s Dream, Tomorrow’s Reality”.

For more information, contact the Planning Services Division.