Whatever happened to.....
Christiansburg's Visual Enhancement Committee?
This town and citizen joint effort was active over a period of several years, and comprehensive recommendations were presented to Town Council in 1995.
The town sponsored VEC already had some successes under it's belt, planting over 110 trees to stabilize a stream along Depot Street. It had worked with Virginia Tech's Community Design Assistance Center, which today comes with an associated price for tapping into this specialized expertise. The people serving on the committee were citizen representatives with solid experience, including business, the arts, and management. Not a hockey mom club, to be certain, and they took council's task to heart.
The group's recommendations actually served to build momentum for upgrading the downtown streetscape, making it more pedestrian friendly and had numerous economic development elements -- including historic districts, tourism and exploring Virginia's "Main Street" program. Part of that project was actualized this past summer. Only a small portion of it, but having a bit of a residual echo of what was envisioned going back nearly two decades now.
After a presentation of this report to the town council, the report....just sort of disappeared. Then the people who had worked so diligently on this project....just sort of disappeared, mostly out of pure disgust and discouragement.
More on the VEC and other "Whatever Happened To...." posts will follow in the coming weeks and months.