Thanks for the comment, I appreciate your enthusiasm. I can’t say that I’m a huge fan of the RT either, thankfully it’s not my first source for news here in the Valley.

Do you feel as if the RT has contributed to the sprawl in Christiansburg because of a lack of coverage? You said “some geniuses at the paper should have forced massive amounts of attention on developers like Roger Woody to dedicate AND build green space connecting all of their massive townhouse developments.” You’re right – the vocal minority pushed that stuff through while the silent majority sat on the sidelines. I noticed the RT coverage of the New River Village expansion led to some more frequent blog postings about the project, and ultimately the project was halted a bit. So you’re right – coverage by the paper would have increased exposure. Communication builds awareness and consensus.

I fail to see how the construction of a NRV Bureau for the RT contributes to the sprawl, though. Sure, they constructed a building for their own purposes but unlike so many other projects in Christiansburg, they retained – and regularly maintain – a large, well-kept grass lawn on the property. I’m interested in your thoughts on this some more though, maybe we can get some more readers’ thoughts on this.

The best thing to ever happen in Christiansburg is Brad Stipes getting elected to town council. He’s made priorities out of the Huckleberry and a revised (and useful) Town website. Things are moving forward solely because he’s got the enthusiasm and energy to pursue them. Now if we could just get the other council members, the Town Manager and his staff on-board then and only then will we see some real changes in Christiansburg.

Sadly, we can’t turn the clock back on the terrible growth-management decisions made nearly two decades ago. The nightmare at Cambria and Franklin and the crazy 114 situation are great examples of how little influence and insight the Current editorial staff has. Where was that brain trust when all those subdivisions were brought before the Town? Where was their influence? I’ll tell you where… loosing money building a bureau office in the midst of a tail-spinning news industry. Loosing readership because they couldn’t report the news if it bit them in the…. ehem.

If you’d like to see Christiansburg residents use the Huckleberry, then some geniuses at the paper should have forced massive amounts of attention on developers like Roger Woody to dedicate AND build green space connecting all of their massive townhouse developments.

Sprawl and Christiansburg go hand in hand, though. And the paper was in the middle of it, building its fancy pants bureau office on 114.

Frankly, I bet they’re hedging on their own futures and looking at what happens when they sell that building and, guess what… they wouldn’t want an ugly bridge just down the street. It hurts their ability to market the commercial space, right?

BTW, the Council didn’t skimp when it came to Town Hall, why would the paper prejudice this project? Maybe Council is just being realistic about building something that might have to be torn down in a few years b/c of traffic on 114.