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PROCESS: COMMUNITY INPUT

CHAPTER 1

Approximately 110 residents attended the first Downtown Strategy meeting on December 5, 2017 at the Blacksburg Community Center. The meeting began with a presentation that explained the purpose and process of strategic planning, and outlined the opportunities and challenges Blacksburg faces today. It also introduced a framework for approaching the future potential for Downtown—specifically, that a successful, sustainable future will require a balance between elements shaping the area’s evolution: growth, town identity, cost of housing, and placemaking. Following the presentation, attendees were invited to visit four stations related to those key issues. Each station included activities with comment cards, maps, and boards, allowing attendees to provide feedback on how they view Downtown today, how they use Downtown today, and what they want to see in the Downtown of the future. One activity asked attendees to describe their ideal future Downtown in one word; the results are reflected in the word cloud on the facing page. It demonstrates that the community wants to see more in Downtown—more activity, more access, more diversity, and more vibrancy. Achieving that vision is the guiding mission for the recommendations contained in this plan. PUBL I C MEET I NG # 1 The community shares a desire for a more active, accessible, diverse, and vibrant Downtown. Achieving this vision will require balancing growth, town identity, cost of housing, and placemaking.

15 Downtown Blacksburg Strategic Plan