In August 2021, The Town of Blacksburg completed a 3 part online public engagement process regarding housing affordability to better understand 1) citizen priorities and concerns, 2) which housing types and densities are acceptable to the community, and 3) what strategies the community would like the Town to pursue, and 4) what specific concerns exist about the strategies proposed.

The State of Housing in Blacksburg:

Housing prices and availability have become hot topics in Blacksburg. The Town of Blacksburg has a housing shortage, particularly housing that is affordable to households earning less than the Town's median family income of $89,000.

• Please checkout this video to learn more about Blacksburg's housing affordability challenges (10 minutes).

• The NRV Regional Commission presents the data from NRV Regional Housing to the Town Council on March 2nd, 2021 in this video (45 minutes). You can also access the link to the full report on the right-hand side of this project page.

Community Input:

To see the results from each phase of the public engagement process, click below.

Phase 1- Challenges and Priorities Survey Report

Phase 2- Preferred Housing Types and Densities Survey Report

Phase 3- Preferred Housing Affordability Strategies Survey Report

Housing Strategies:

Based upon the results of this public engagement process and the NRV Regional Housing Study, the Town is taking a close look at a variety of strategies to help address this important community issue. These strategies include:

• Development incentives to encourage the production of more affordable housing,
• Mechanisms to limit student encroachment into single-family neighborhoods,
• Strategies to provide more homes affordable to first-time homebuyers and non-student renters, and
• Mechanisms to fund the community's preferred strategies.

Next Steps:

Here are a few overarching takeaways and next steps.

01 — Build Trust and Transparency.

The recent survey revealed a lack of trust. This was expressed in the many comments and the prioritization of strategies. Knowing that transparency is a community priority, the Town will continue to strengthen our engagement as we work to implement internal reforms and strengthen our partnerships to improve housing affordability in Blacksburg. We will continue to reach out with information to help expand community understanding of and create opportunities for engagement on each housing strategy.

02 — Revise Zoning and Development Review Process to Incentivize the Development of Missing Middle Housing Types.

Using the priorities and concerns expressed through both surveys, staff will determine how the Town can improve the development review process, most effectively approach revisions to the zoning ordinance to better allow for the development of missing middle housing types, and align development incentives accordingly.

03 — Implement the Strongly Preferred Housing Strategies

The recent survey revealed stronger support for allowing detached accessory apartments, establishing a Community Land Trust, using rental restrictions as part of new developments, and improving partnerships with Virginia Tech, Montgomery County, and the development community. The Town will prioritize staff time towards the implementation of these strategies.