Bill Aden on the Future of Blacksburg

The Blue Ridge Business Journal ran a piece recently on the announcement that Bill Aden, CEO of Draper Aden Associates, would be stepping down as CEO in 2010.  In the article, Aden discussed development in the Town of Blacksburg, and his thoughts – based on years of experience in the community – regarding how intelligent development within the Town can have a huge impact throughout the region.

Bill’s experience is well-respected throughout the New River Valley (and beyond), and we’d be well-served to pay attention to his points.  In many ways – my opinion, not his – we’ve not planned well for growth in our Town, and we need to get back to a point where we know where we’re going.  A lot of work went into our Comprehensive Plan, and it allows for intelligent growth … he makes a good point, are we putting more emphasis into economic sustainability or environmental sustainability?

Q: What are your thoughts on how to boost economic development both in Blacksburg and in the region?
A: I think that what we’ve got to do here in Blacksburg is we’ve got to create an environment in which economic development is welcomed, not discouraged. And in a lot of cases it’s not overtly discouraged, but the town of Blacksburg has got such a terrible reputation for regulation and stumbling blocks and delays and a lot of issues that frankly scare people. We’re fortunate, though, that we have a thriving populous here in Blacksburg that continues to attract people. But being in the kind of business we’re in, where we interact with economic developers that come in here … most of them say they’d never do it again.

We just don’t have the reputation of embracing economic development in the town, and I’m very hopeful that the new [town] council is going to recognize that and do some things that can change that attitude.

Q: What are the regional impacts of the “smart growth” and “sustainable growth” movements, and how is that affecting the economy and the construction/engineering industries?
A: As far as sustainable growth is concerned, I think that is such an overused term especially in Blacksburg and I think it’s very confusing. When you hear “sustainable growth” from one person and then you hear it from another, they are probably talking about different things. The classical definition of sustainable growth has to do with sustainable growth, sustainable economies, sustainable society, sustainable development. I mean, I don’t know that I have a complete understanding of what it means. Now in Blacksburg I feel like it’s defined as environmental sustainability, and that from a business point of view I think is certainly important.

But you also have to realize there are other types of sustainability that are important, too, like economic sustainability and bringing in economic development that will go on for years. And I think most people in Blacksburg are probably confused to the point they don’t even think about that — Blacksburg is very environmentally sensitive and that seems to drive a lot of decisions that are being made.

Now smart growth, I understand that a lot better and I agree with that. Smart growth doesn’t mean no growth, however. I think smart growth means planning growth in such a way that you utilize the existing infrastructure that you already have built to the max before you start going out and building new infrastructure. That’s difficult to do a lot of times, but it is something we should strive for. And here again I think Blacksburg particularly … and a lot of the officials of Blacksburg, don’t know the real definition of smart growth and sustainable growth. This town is going to grow and we’ve got to do it in a smart way but it’s also got to be economically sustainable.

Thanks to the Blue Ridge Business Journal for a well-written article, and to Bill Aden for his work throughout the area.

7 thoughts on “Bill Aden on the Future of Blacksburg

  1. Jeremy Post author

    Jeff, I wish I could explain where the tension really comes from, but I can’t put my finger on it, either. I do think that Bill hits the nail on the head when he poses the question of whether we’re talking about environmental vs. economic sustainability, but I can’t say that environmental equates to “quaint”.

    I do think that both can go hand in hand, however. We have the resources, interest and opportunities to do just that.

  2. Jeremy

    Jeff, I wish I could explain where the tension really comes from, but I can’t put my finger on it, either. I do think that Bill hits the nail on the head when he poses the question of whether we’re talking about environmental vs. economic sustainability, but I can’t say that environmental equates to “quaint”.

    I do think that both can go hand in hand, however. We have the resources, interest and opportunities to do just that.

  3. Jeff

    Thanks for pointing us to this great article. It’s a fairly obvious tension that even newcomers (we’ve only been here six months) can readily discern. Here’s hoping that “the powers that be” address these significant challenges to a fading paradigm.

    I really wonder if “environmental sustainability” is a scapegoat for simply keeping Blacksburg “quaint?”

  4. Jeff

    Thanks for pointing us to this great article. It’s a fairly obvious tension that even newcomers (we’ve only been here six months) can readily discern. Here’s hoping that “the powers that be” address these significant challenges to a fading paradigm.

    I really wonder if “environmental sustainability” is a scapegoat for simply keeping Blacksburg “quaint?”

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