Projects large and small took center stage Wednesday night during the first AL.Com/Huntsville Times regionalism forum.

The event brought together more than 100 community members, local leaders and representatives from Leadership Huntsville/Madison County to discuss ways regional cooperation can benefit the area. The information will be used to shape the public service agenda we'll champion in the coming months.

The night involved a hefty dose of brainstorming with each topic explored from numerous perspectives.

Groups looked at a variety of ideas submitted from readers in recent weeks, ranging from improving Ditto Landing to recreating Madison Square Mall. Small groups then tackled all aspects of each topic and then decided what ideas they thought were most exciting and the most achievable.

Here are the ideas participants deemed the most exciting:

A revolving restaurant at Ditto Landing A rail line from downtown to Ditto Landing Business incubator at Madison Square Mall Planetarium Use technology to analyze and predict the areas that need the most fire protection "Emerald Necklace" of connected greenways throughout North Alabama Build out area with broadband internet

And here are ideas people deemed the most achievable:

Amphitheater at Ditto Landing Residential development inside Cummings Research Park Public/social service center at Madison Square Mall Development of a hub to highlight existing tourist attractions Develop metro/tri-county fire service Build a network of greenways throughout North Alabama Recruit new northern federal courthouse

Have some more ideas or thoughts on these topics? Let us know below.