As many of you know by now, Mike's Grill on Main St. is closed. In that thread some of us began discussing the planning practices of the Town of Blacksburg and how they may have contributed to Mike's closing. Because TKP is a community of people who care very deeply about Blacksburg and most of us have lived here for at least a few years, I thought it would be a good idea to engage in a discussion about Blacksburg planning and development.
Before I continue, for those of you who don't have experience with urban planning and have 30 minutes, I encourage you to watch this. It's an entertaining and funny look at land use practices.
How a place is planned affects every aspect of your life, from where you live to where you drink. Planners need input from the community in order to improve their experience. Government officials will bend to public pressure, so if you're upset that Mike's is gone and that the Town did not do enough to facilitate an economic environment where it could succeed, please get involved. Town of Blacksburg Planning Commission meetings are on the first Tuesday of each month @ 7:30 second floor of the Blacksburg Municipal Building.
This forum can be the place where we stay informed on the changes happening around Blacksburg and Virginia Tech. To start off, what are the problems that you see in Blacksburg? How should those problems be fixed? What do you want Blacksburg to look like in the future?
Fernleyhokie, who has a career in architecture and urban design, outlined his ideas on the Mike's forum. His 4 main suggestions
1) Shopping Mall Town Center
2) High density mixed-use on Progress St.
3) Centralized parking lots
4) Turn part of Main St. into pedestrian only
My suggestions (I am not formally trained in urban planning yet)
1)Short-term replace private lots in the downtown core with metered lots
2)Higher density affordable student housing within .5 miles of main campus, emphasis on housing .5 miles of Main St core
3) Connected bike lane network with protected lanes on major roads
4) Better sidewalks--need sidewalks on many roads, others need to be widened
Here are links to the various plans from the Town, Virginia Tech, and Montgomery County if you are interested:
Blacksburg
Comprehensive plan
Bike master plan
Parks and Rec master plan
Virginia Tech
Campus master plan to be completed in 2017
Parking & Transportation master plan site
Student Experience
Comments
To me the biggest problem is the town's reluctance to place student housing near downtown. Until that happens, pedestrian traffic will be minimal and businesses will be forced to get business from people parking which is difficult at best. I live in a small apartment complex couple blocks behind Mellow Mushroom and its great because I can walk downtown in 5-10 minutes.
Its not downtown exactly, but Prices Fork/University Blvd where the new hotels and shopping are going in (old Holiday Inn site) was originally proposed as high density student housing. The town balked at it and forced developers to reconsider and now there's no student housing there. The university is growing and the town recognizes more student housing is needed. Big question is where is it going to go? If the Retreat tells us anything, far from downtown
By chance were you in Municipal Engineering last semester? I see you are a senior in civil. We spent quite a bit of time discussing the issues with that site on Prices Fork/University City Blvd and The Retreat/Blacksburg Comp Plan in that class.
I was not. thought about taking it. and I need to update my profile haha. I graduated in May and just started my masters
Congrats! I also graduated from Civil in May!
Should have graduated from CEM in May, but finishing my victory lap in December. More than likely we had classes that overlapped.
You think Ped traffic downtown is minimal? I never got that feeling but I've been gone for a while.
There aren't many sites or opportunities for higher density residential that close to downtown, but when there is, it should be encouraged. Developers need certain ratios: enough land to get their density, space for parking, etc (no, structured parking won't work for high density residential in a market like BBG). That land is available on the periphery of town, not near the core. Ther have been a number of boutique MF in the core the last decade, and those should be encouraged.
not minimal but its plateaued. development isnt happening in places that encourage pedestrian activity. and as others have said increased food options on campus limit residential students wandering onto main street
Good topic! I have zero experience and knowledge on the issue and town planning. I don't know what the right answers are. My opinion is that some of the things won't apply because Blacksburg is still a fairly rural area. Students will always be there, and to lesser degree, staff and faculty. I suppose it should be designed toward that mindset though. How tough will the political side be?
Looking forward to the ideas and progress that come from TKP minds.
Main street is still a primary route for vehicles, which provides some limitations to what can be done. If we are talking major upgrades, it might be easier to shift downtown to a side street than to shift the primary vehicle route.
Wooh, what happened to private property? Private parking is private for a reason. $$$$$$$$$$$$$. And $.
Private parking lots DT means you can only go to the place that owns the lot. While that might bring some money to the owner, a lot of those lots stay empty.
I wasn't thinking that these lots would be taken by the Town. The owners could run their own meters (through a meter management company, they already pay towing companies). The Town could put a limit on how many spots would be allowed for "Our Customers Only" and the rest would be metered. Churches, like First Baptist on Main and Turner St. would make a fortune and everyone would benefit from people being encouraged to walk around.
If you are studying to be a public planner, I highly recommend a summer intern with a developer. But if you do that, you never go back to public practice unless there is a massive recession again.
For a second I thought this was about linebacker recruiting. Sorry.
We'll whip you into shape.
My wife n I live in Christiansburg. We would love to go eat in Blacksburg more often as the restaurant choices in christiansburg aren't as good overall. The parking situation in downtown deters us big time. The downtown 16 blocks in blacksburg needs ped traffic to survive.
Student housing near downtown n more parking is essential to downtown viability. And, the city council needs to relax it's fix on parking meters, it's crazy.
I'd disagree on more parking. Increased parking and free parking hasn't actually been shown to help business, and it's poor land use by any locality. Parking should be for people like you who are traveling long distances to reach a destination. Parking now is for people who live in Blacksburg, residents who should be able to live close enough to walk but can't because their housing is far away. Free parking encourages people to use their cars more, it won't necessarily result in more spaces. (Most meters in Blacksburg are free either after 5 or after 7).
My biggest thing about Blacksburg Town Council is their heavy reluctance to develop and grow the town. I understand the idea of keeping it a small town and keeping that tight-nit community feel, but the town has to develop more residential and commercial areas if the university keeps expanding. Just my general 2 cents.
Blacksburg is not anti-development, it is in favor of good development.
I understand that the students want to see changes to make Blacksburg "ideal" immediately while residents are in ok with slow and thoughtful development. Errors in development have very long lasting implications.
If you could have the perspective of the growth of Blacksburg since 1990, you could not argue that there is a desire to be stagnant. There is a desire to be better.
Just my idea. Turn it into Sodosopa at Historic Kenny's House
So funny and sooo spot on with a lot of "downtown revitalization" I've seen.
Hahah nice. That whole theme last season was nuts but relatable
As a practicing planner, all of the ideas listed above are great, but it takes A LOT to get even one of them in motion.
Just a thought, but what if there were more bars/restaurants closer to student housing? If something were to open near the Patrick Henry area, it could take some student business away from downtown, encouraging townies to venture out more.
Blacksburg has a limit for how many places its population can support. If you were to put bars on Patrick Henry, either the new bars or the old bars would go under. If the DT bars go under it hurts Main St. And don't forget, students going to DT bars also get food at DT restaurants before the go to the bars or after they leave. That would be a lot of business lost.
Townies are not usually going to go out on a weekend night. If they are they would go to a place they know students won't be packed in shoulder to shoulder. DT should be able to support both. The reason it can't is because it is meant to be walkable, but everyone, students and townies, have to drive. A lot of people, again both students and townies, avoid DT because they can't find parking. My argument is that if student housing were closer to campus and DT, students would walk, leaving the parking lots more accessible to townies who live far away. Your idea is in line with the thinking that developed Hethwood, UCB, S Main Kroger, and First & Main. They have taken business away from a DT that needs it, and strip malls like those aren't exciting.
I thought this thread was going to be about a Foster plan to shift our use of the Mike backer and win us a championship. Must have football on the brain.
curious
Fix the damn hill that Blacksburg was built on that only goes up.
I remember hearing a few years ago that the old National Bank of Blacksburg building was auctioned off. Has anything gone in there yet? Or are there plans? I thought a brewery could do an awesome job with that space.
Being turned into lofts according to the sign out front
SoDoBlaBa?
If they keep the original bones inside, those lofts are going to be incredible. And pricey.
It doesn't help that the town has been wrangling with the county forever on the old Blacksburg middle school plot. That is a very large developable space very close to down town. What do all you smart guys with experience think would be a good idea for that place. As a student all I can think of is a 5 acre outdoor sports bar/wings place/sports field/ lazy river tiki bar/poolhall/ place for co-eds
As a 23 year old, all I can think of is a 5 acre super mansion outdoor sports bar/wings place/sports field/ lazy river tiki bar/poolhall/ place where all my young adult friends can live together in Blacksburg
As a 28 year old, all I can think of is a 5 acre super mansion outdoor sports bar/wings place/sports field/ lazy river tiki bar/poolhall/ place where all my adult friends can hang out together in Blacksburg
good to know the dream doesn't die.
As a 32 year old, all I can think of is a 5 acre super mansion daycare/ school that will watch my kids for free while I go to all the Home games.
This is the latest news on it http://www.collegiatetimes.com/news/after-years-of-trying-montgomery-cou...
The Town doesn't want student housing. They own a portion of the land and won't sell it until they're guaranteed non-student housing. Except that the best option for that land is probably high density student housing with retail fronting on Main St.
Sounds like the developer needs to make some high density condos. Once the development is done sell if off to a leasing company and turn it into apartments.