It's hard to get any two people or two entities to work or agree on anything these days. We talk about political parties, but I just find people too intransigent (and negative) to try to move anything ahead. We need to focus on small changes or we're going to end up in a new dark ages. But I think it's a creative idea and would help the community a lot.

Blacksburg are on target. Beyond those observations, the towns have the opposite view of things than VT people do. They see VT as the giant with all the money, and they want VT to invest in their communities, but they don't want to help fund projects. The partnership with Christiansburg for VT to use the olympic pool in exchange for annual rental (debt service) payments was enngineered by a Chrisitiansburg employee, who was a swimmer, and had connections to VT. Once this was known, some people in Christiansburg wanted to end the deal or increase to cost to VT to pay for the center. Ffortunately, the Aquatics Center turned out to be a big success for both parties.

Blacksburg is extremely liberal and Christiansburg is extremely conservative. Blacksburg constantly battles VT and really isn’t a business friendly place. Christiansburg welcomes just about all new businesses. There are dingbats or the equivalent on each town council, but I think Christiansburg does a better job of trying to keep things moving where Blacksburg winds up delaying or effectively filibustering a lot of stuff.

Miles apart Honestly we’d have a much better chance building an arena in CBurg than Blacksburg. Plenty of space around the I-81 exits. Students don’t seem to care about basketball anymore, so the ones who do come still won’t mind a 15-20 min shuttle bus ride AND I think we’d get more Hokies from Roanoke on weeknights. The extra 30 minutes total (round trip) could make a big difference in those making the trip ** Edited by hokiepro at 11/27/2024, 1:30:38 PM

It took them until the late 1960’s to get a liquor store.

with high density housing. But BBurg would rather have those junk house be worth half a million than have affordable housing. They talk about it but rarely do anything. Yet they complain about VT wanting to grow. I've never seen a town not know where its bread is buttered more than Bburg. ** Edited by hokeyhokie at 11/26/2024, 9:06:16 PM

The old Sharkey's (the building next to the current Sharkey's) needs to be fixed up and have a business move in there. Then there's the old Tech Bookstore which sits empty (I think it was a mattress store for a year or two), and the dilapidated house across the side street from Cabo Fish Taco (there's some sign in the yard...used to be an art place...or something). The bank that's a door or two down from the old London Underground could probably make a really cool restaurant/bar - looks like it's home to a moving company now. A number of the buildings that house businesses along Main Street could use a good paint job, or at least a power washing. A block of Main St, there's an old Motel that shares the parking lot with Benny's pizza - I think at one end of it they sell funnel cakes or something. No idea if the rest of the motel is still used as a motel (or maybe cheap student apartments?) But now I'm just rambling.

And when you see the items written out as you depicted. Just wow. It’s startling.

First and Main and still had nothing I ever needed. And now it is closing. The Ace Hardware that moved into it's old space is really nice to have in town. Saves me many a trip to Lowe's.

Not close enough to downtown to walk there.

They haven't been accepting new tenants for awhile (and are moving others around) to accommodate their redevelopment plans...but the appearance definitely creates a perception that "everything is closing". It's a shame they don't communicate more about their plans because it just fuels the rumor mill/negativity.

locations you mentioned at the moment. The Old Sharkey's is particularly complicated...and overall the spots you mentioned are both cumulatively problematic and individually very different circumstances. But there are town officials, business leaders, and an outside consulting firm all working on the problems you describe. Time will tell whether they can solve/improve it...but they're trying.

Politicians…talk and talk and get nothing done

owners to minimum maintenance and landscape standards. 629 N., I’m looking at you. If it looks like that on the outside, why do I want to go inside? Also, what’s going on with my old fraternity house (Kappa Sig), which was The Blacksburg Tap House and the adjacent, but now defunct Antique Shop? The Tap House didn’t survive COVID and the antique owner retired. Those businesses have been sitting vacant essentially since 2020/21. ** Edited by BackInTheBurg at 11/27/2024, 8:50:58 AM

He just closed it down. Got too hard to run. Employees were stealing from him, and he just didn't feel like being involved in the headache of running a restaurant/bar anymore. He has another business in Blacksburg that he runs full time.

The tap house and antique store sold to a developer ...those properties are in the area proposed as the new NW Zoning District. Presumably the developer plans to file plans once that district's requirements are defined (within the next few months...I think)

Issues in terms of getting it to be up to code.

One of the managers at Champs told me the stuff they would have to do if they wanted to renovate (which they considered at one point). It would cost more than it's worth, most likely. Blacksburg is a unique spot. Bars are packed part of the year, but you might as well close some of them during the summer months. Just like hotels. Opening new places like that in Blacksburg brings a high amount of risk.

We are fortunate enough to have friends that live in Blacksburg, and can stay there. When we were talking about the hotel situation, I brought up that it would be hard to build more hotels when the current ones probably only fill up 8-10 weekends out of the year. He was adamant that there is enough conference and other events at VT year round to support building more hotels. I'm skeptical, to say the least.

Marriott Courtyard stopped by. He said he has no problem keeping a reasonable occupancy year round.

They need to bring in most of their revenue 8-10 weekends a year. Hotel rooms are two days at NYC rates for football weekends. It cheaper to travel to away games cause the flights into ROA cost a lot and most of the other teams are in cities that have an abundance of hotels that don't require two nights. I stayed at the Doubletree in Syr that was less expensive then the Christiansburg Motel 6 this weekend and for only one night.

code requirements for residential use and are very valuable due to student rentals. And the landlords keep them at the minimum since the students are usually rather rough on them. There’s been numerous discussions in Blacksburg town council meetings about the town costs for students v property and other tax revenue generated by the student population. I know Christiansburg will not utilize eminent domain to take property for redevelopment. I’m not sure about Blacksburg, but I’m guessing it has the same policy. Charlottesville has the same types of issues with similar properties.

businesses no one would want in their town either? I have no clue, ( yes I actually do) but just wondering.

When you hear the term "Town Gown relationship," you know someone's getting ready to blow sunshine up your skirt. And, the Bburg town council and other entities are riddled with people who either work for VT, spouses work for VT, or need VT for their livelihood. Incestuous is the best descriptor I can come up with. IMO, the same descriptor can also be used to describe the AthDept.

thing that really struck me was the visceral reaction to the suggestion that a WalMart could come into the First and Main area because we wouldn't want "those kind of people" near a school. Blacksburg wants development, but only the "right kind" of development. It seems to think that the right kind of development is that for boutique shops. Unfortunately, by definition, there is a limited market for those specialized products. It also supports an environment that preserves "old" as "historic" at the expense of preventing introduction of the "new." I don't think it is a problem in itself that the Town Council has significant connections to Virginia Tech. (After all, Virginia Tech drives the economy in the region.) When it becomes a problem is when the Council members fail to position the town for growth driven by Virginia Tech that also includes entities outside of Virginia Tech. I'd really like it if we could get entities other than VT to drive growth.

members with connections would be a problem. At first blush, it could be perceived as an asset. That is until you get down below first blush. The most recent construction burst has been for student housing (i.e., The Edge, The Hub, The Union, Cedar Pointe, The Retreat, etc.). These were built in response to announced growth in student enrollment to 50,000 by Dr. Sands several years ago. VT can't get funding/authorization from the state for on campus dorms. Now that that student housing burst was completed, the Town wanted affordable housing, to the point of giving over $4MM in federal subsidies to get 24 affordable homes (i.e., Glade Spring Crossing and The Legacy Apts (neither started as of yet). All this was done in response to the planned growth of VT. Much like VT, the Town is reactive, not proactive. The Town has tried for decades to get VT to charge Town meal taxes on campus. VT is adamant they will not (students can live quite comfortably and never leave campus). Center Street is been a problem for years (this is the viewpoint of the Townies, not the students). VT says it's a Town problem to handle, with no assistance from VT. SF homes in Bburg generally start at >$600K, with commensurate property taxes. The new multi-level town homes being built on the old middle school property start at >$1MM. Many on here have mentioned the cyclical business cycles of downtown merchants (football weekend, move in week, move out week, students gone for 3-months a year, etc.). Most full time residents don't go downtown to shop anymore, because they can't find any place to park, (students), or have to pay to park. Now, all these things have to be paid for by homeowners and full time residents, usually through property taxes, sales taxes, meal taxes, etc.). The dichotomy of all this is that VT is the economic engine for not only Blacksburg, but also for SW Virginia. And, because members of Town Council and Town Planning to large part depend on their livelihood to VT, they are very reluctant to fight the hand that feeds them. And, VT knows this. Just once, I would like to see TC refuse a rezoning until they get some sort of concession from VT. VT is going to grow, and the Town is going to bend over for them. And, the Townies, to a large part, are going to foot the bill. The Walmart you mentioned was fought and defeated because of NIMBY and the elitism of Blacksburg residents. What you may not know, is that the then Mayor and the developer denied that the building was going to be a Walmart, until a resident went to Planning, found the plat rendering, and the rendering clearly said the building was going to be a Walmart. In short, there is no trust between the Town and it's residents. In short, they lie to us, and keep raising our taxes. That new multi-use building near the traffic circle at Prices Fork and Main Street, which is mostly empty, was built by the VT Foundation. The Foundation pays no taxes to Blacksburg. There is no real monetary benefit to the Town. As you say, "..,..."it becomes a problem is when the Council members fail to position the town for growth driven by Virginia Tech,..." and you're right. From some of the residents' viewpoint, it appears that the Town is more responsive to VT than to the taxpayers. But, it's the taxpayers subsidizing VT's growth. Just another viewpoint for you to consider.

I'd encourage you to reconsider this part: "...because members of Town Council and Town Planning to large part depend on their livelihood to VT, they are very reluctant to fight the hand that feeds them." The current dynamic is actually quite the opposite... and the root of a lot of problems.

The mayor went on a mini-rant about the university not being willing to work with them. Her husband is faculty and has been since the early 80s. But she is not pleased with the gown part of the town-gown relationship. I believe one other council member is retired faculty (she was my calculus professor) but the rest of the town council does not have a direct relationship with the university through theirs or a spouse's employment. We've been petitioning the town council to work on a problem, and they've been really receptive and are proposing a good bit of money and action to fix it. I'm really happy with them right now. And it's been really interesting and fruitful to work with them.

Blacksburg. But Blacksburg seems to not desire “big box” stores like Walmart. But Christiansburg says “bring ‘em on”. Both towns make a ton of money off of property, meals, transient occupancy and business license taxes from the commercial entities that locate in the town limits. It should be noted that local sales tax revenue is collected by Montgomery County and distributed to each town based on a formula that considers the number of K-12 school age population (ages 5-19) in each town. ** Edited by RJHokie at 11/26/2024, 8:46:09 PM

availability/adaptability. Christiansburg is better suited from a zoning and general land availability perspective to accommodate big box style stores. Blacksburg also has the NIMBY problem...but even without it, they'd be hard pressed to find suitable sites for the square footage needs that certain retailers of that scale require. And when Christiansburg fiiiiinallllly managed to redevelop the shopping mall that sat like a ghost town for years ... it thankfully opened up a lot of new site possibilities there. There's a lot of redevelopment on the horizon for Blacksburg too...but almost every situation involves complicated property ownership scenarios (before you even get to any required approvals/reviews that are what most often gets the attention as being the main obstacle).

middle school property on South Main Street, and they are still monkeying around with it even after developing part of it. College towns tend to have “NIMBY” disease. Charlottesville has a lot of that even when the “NIMBY” property enhances the surrounding property values. Christiansburg has taken some of the student housing load off of Blacksburg by allowing the building of a 💩 load of townhomes in the Cburg high school area.

younger people, entry level jobs, assistant professors, young families, etc. Some students roll up in that too...but Cburg (though getting less affordable by the minute as well) has more housing options in a range that is just rarely available in Blacksburg anymore. Several neighborhoods in Blacksburg that used to be starter home/single family neighborhoods are now basically just student housing/rental properties...the housing scenario for the entire NRV is challenging (to put it mildly).

Property values have skyrocketed in Cburg and look to get worse. There are a number of approved housing units in the town that haven’t been started with a fair amount of that due to cost and related sale price ceilings. The Mt. Woody area, as @The_Phew calls it, has hundreds of townhomes a lot of which are both single family and student rentals. In our neighborhood, which is located about a mile west of the NRV mall (now called Uptown Christiansburg), older homes sell before or very shortly after being put on the market, most with cash deals.

My neighborhood was mostly 'upper blue collar' when we moved in like 18 yrs ago, i.e. nurses/contractors/cops/etc. Our newest neighbors showed up with like $180k just in their two cars, after paying like $650k or some nonsense for the house. I haven't talked to them yet, but probably professor(s) based on stereotyping (Asian, 40ish). ** Edited by The_Phew at 11/27/2024, 9:59:50 AM

Riner and moved there in 2019. The value of my house has risen a stupid amount since then. My wife tells me "let's sell"....and my response every time is then we have to buy in an equally inflated area.

area of the state or country. Buying replacement homes of similar size in the local area won’t help your bank account.