Blacksburg Seeks Feedback on Local Housing Affordability
In early December, the Town of Blacksburg launched the first of a three part online public engagement process on Housing Affordability. Blacksburg’s increasing lack of affordable housing has become a major topic of community concern and the town is considering a variety of affordable housing strategies to help address the issue.
The public is asked to provide feedback to aid in the understanding of top concerns and priorities regarding affordable housing. Feedback will be used to weigh the tradeoffs of potential approaches, and select the most appropriate strategies for local growth and housing availability.
As part of phase one, the Town of Blacksburg produced an informative video about its housing affordability challenges. The video details data and analyses from the forthcoming NRV Regional Housing Study. This current phase also seeks to understand what citizens feel are the biggest challenges with growth and change and what they would like to see preserved as growth occurs. Individuals also have the opportunity to share their experiences trying to find housing in Blacksburg. Phase one will conclude on February 12th.
In phase two, the community will have the opportunity to provide their feedback on factors such as quality of life, community and neighborhood character, inclusivity, patterns of growth, and density.
The housing affordability engagement page can be found on the Town of Blacksburg’s recently launched online community engagement platform called Let’s Talk Blacksburg. (https://letstalkblacksburg.org/affordable-housing)
Let’s Talk Blacksburg allows Blacksburg residents and others to get involved, participate in community decision making, and provide feedback on a variety of topics. Through the site, the Town will listen, engage, provide timely project updates, and report back to the community about how their feedback has contributed to decisions that are being made.
Although the Town will continue to offer traditional, face to face engagement opportunities, Let’s Talk Blacksburg offers an additional online venue for users to have their say, at their convenience.
Providing feedback on this site requires a quick and easy, one-time registration process that includes a username, email and password. Register once and come back at any time to engage in this, and other, active projects. Registration helps ensure a broader set of perspectives and also means that the Town can easily communicate updates related to the issue for which you provided feedback.
To register and start engaging on this issue, visit: https://letstalkblacksburg.org/affordable-housing.
For additional information contact Blacksburg’s Housing and Community Development Initiatives Manager Kim Thurlow, at kthurlow@blacksburg.gov or 540-443-1619.