As an Alton resident who lives in a cell signal void area, this is a really frustrating issue. I totally sympathize with the NIMBY's (Not In My Back Yard) people who don't want some butt-ugly tower in their view - I really do...
But...
We have a LEC (Local Exchange Carrier) here with limited options who isn't allowing Metrocast Cable phone in the area AND is rather expensive to have as a utility - it seems everything is a long distance call with them! I've had several locals comment that as soon as a tower goes up, they're planning on dumping Union Telephone for their cell carrier for cost savings.
Additionally, whenever we have a power outage there is a safety factor - and we were impacted by this a few weeks ago.
In early October there was a nasty thunderstorm that came through the area. It included high winds and we had a microburst tornado touch down in our back yard - we had seven trees fall on our house in this less than fun event - causing over $10K in damage (home & property & tree removal costs). I had NO WAY to get in touch with anyone until power was restored. I was home with a 2 year old and a little freaked out by the whole thing. I'm thankful it wasn't any worse than it was but the "what ifs" run through my mind, especially where I have two young children.
Although I may take some heat for this, there's a "greater good" that should be considered in this issue. I haven't been following this closely enough to know what designs have been explored, etc. or what other locations might have been considered but I am for having a tower here Alton.