Parking is the most recurring subject that comes with any and all downtown discussions in the Blocks and Beyond.
Opinion by Hart Fowler
One of the first of the first-world problems, too many PEOPLE with too many WAGONS and not enough SPACES. And even with the capability, technology, and resource of Virginia Tech and a progressive-seeming Town Adminsitration, we’re still dealing with decades old delays for the OVERDUE and FREE TO-THE-PUBLIC downtown parking facility.
We who live here, those thinking of living here, and our guests deserve better.
If we were coding a restaurant, Downtown Blacksburg is past capacity.
With Marriott and Hilton coming into the Blocks with the goal for building these hotels is on the good bet they can book those rooms. A big part of the hotel business are events for non-hotel guests that will also need to park. Will the Police Station Lot be able to handle that overflow?
Couple that with the still somewhat undiscovered super-chill spot which is the Draper Block that is growing into a FULL-ON-ART-REVIVAL on hot summer days, and we already has that “Field of Dreams” magnetic draw to it with canopy tents and two gigantic new murals, the Stella Rose Outdoor Piano and the anxiously anticipated Town’s phase I of an improvement plan.
CROWDS DRAW CROWDS and the community is building attractions left and right, and not from the ground up nor on the Draper Block alone. The Draper Block moves are bettering existing infrastructure, and similarly the Sharky’s renovation expansion looks to add an entrance and increase their capacity.
Couple that with the new Retail Cooperative and Incubator Program at
411 N. Main Street which is also looking towards a possible opening date in 2024 in an effort to fill that space with multiple entrepreneurial groups and non-profits. This conversation was had when Greeks was tore down decades ago, but woulda coulda shoulda but when, now? Right?
The outdoor gem of a downtown spot Market Square Park draws thousands to the Blacksburg Farmer’s market and many events and has been eyeing expansion for some time, as they are bustling at the seams as well.
Is the first thing you want to do when visiting a destination spot is find a restaurant where you can relieve yourself after a drive?
It’s embarrassing as now the local merchants have to handle that burden.
I spoke with Blacksburg Councilman Liam Watson shortly after his first 100 days in office. We went into detail on the Draper Block Improvements that were scheduled to begin after Tech’s graduation, and the lack of downtown public restrooms.
He comes across as having an urge to act with now not being the time to drag feet, for any reason, and with a genuine interest for the Town of Blacksburg to come to the aid in whatever ways possible to smartly grow the center of the town and community where he has spent nearly the entirety of his twenty-four-years.
He also gave hints of a new downtown outdoor amphitheater, and the ongoing conversations with Virginia Tech about the burdens of expansive growth and infrastructure upgrades necessary to make visionary strokes that hopefully look as inward in the build as outward as an attraction.
Our mailbox is always open for Letters to the Editor to be published in the next print copy, story ideas, or just to say hey.
hart@16blocks.org
This is also in Print Copy #47 currently available at local shops and boxes in downtown Blacksburg and beyond.
