East Main Planning

Focus groups with RU students

Students tend to stay on campus and not venture into East Campus...why? What might encourage them to explore this part of the community more?

Bikes and walking trails connecting East and West main. The separation is terrible.

More eateries and retail shops would help drive traffic. Many businesses downtown aren't going to attract shoppers w/o a specific agenda

Parking is an issue. I don't eat downtown because it's not convient to find parking with a family. Outdoor dining would be great.

Metered parking kiosks. Digital. This will help turn traffic for more in store visits and the city can pay for enhancements with collection

If installed before revitalization than it would be commonplace when bustling

The movie theater!

There is plenty of parking available on the street and in the lots!

Attention to History

Think about it…what does downtown Radford offer that you can’t find in strip malls, town centers, and other shopping areas? The answer is: pride in preserving history. History is Radford’s greatest asset so you should really capitalize on that as a way of making East Main a cohesive whole, and for attracting visitors!

Capitalize on the History

Really promote East Main as a historic site. Radford already has a good attention to history, so capitalize on this strength! Draw more attention to the history. Some ways to do this: - Create brochures that describe the history of each building - Map out walking tours and create a brochure for it (example: a good walking tour could be made for Main St., Grove Ave., and university) - Guided, historic tours - Maybe have a small visitors’ center on East Main - Draw attention to historical nuggets, such as: 1. The last I checked, there is still a Leggett’s sign standing at the back of the old Leggett’s building 2. There is an old sign at the top of Sharkey’s that says “Jackson’s Harware” 3. Cuban Cigars sign 4. Elvis was in Radford (at the train station) in 1960 5. The steep staircases in Sharkey’s and the dental office building Old Town Alexandria is a good example for demonstrating this aspect of building up and marketing the history as a way of strengthening the economy. People go to Old Town Alexandria because they want to eat and shop in a historic area. I would say make the history more visible than it is now. A lot of Radford history is recorded, but people need to dig for it. Present more of the history as part of the presentation and marketing of East Main. The more attention to history, the better!

Create a Richmond (Radford) 300 Plan

Try to seek a strategic plan like the Richmond 300 Plan which recently just won the 2021 Daniel Burnham Award for a Comprehensive Plan from the American Planning Association (APA) (https://www.planning.org/awards/2021/excellence/richmond-300/). Here is the plan and how they went about implementing it. http://www2.richmondgov.com/marketingMasterPlan/

THINK BIG - Utilized ways other VA Cities have grown

The downtown mall in Charlottesville is a great place to visit and stay. Look at the similarities there and see what options are available to take and implement it downtown. At the end of the downtown mall is the Sprint Pavillion that is a great venue for a concert. There have been discussions of an amphitheater in Radford and that would be a great location to boost the downtown. Being close to Radford University will allow more students to be able to attend these than they would if it was on the other side of Radford. Additionally, it would allow alumni to have a place to go, stay, and play when visiting for alumni events, etc. Having a full downtown mall would be a great addition to the City and more attractive to tourism! Another City to look at is the City of Richmond and how it has utilized the river for outdoor activities (trails, pedestrian bridge crossings, kayaking, etc.) and economic growth with office buildings, apartments that are attractive for all generations. Maybe create a trail that goes from one end of Radford to the other and crosses the river via a pedestrian bridge through a partnership with Pulaski and comes back down. Richmond has many of these already and is heavily utilized. Could be a loop that will allow for races, walking, etc. Also currently the river trail is completely dark at night. I would add solar or LED lights along the trail. There are not many apartments that are attracting young individuals to downtown so think of ways to create that live, work, play aspect. Additionally maybe an exit at the other end of Bisset that would allow access from the West of Radford. The idea of Amtrack or trains coming to NRV is awesome. That needs to be utilized to the fullest form and encouraged and marketed. Driving on 81 is risky enough with the number of accidents, delays, and deaths that occur there. Students would utilize this as parents would not have to come and go when students go home. Parents would also utilize this in visiting their kids and would make them want to stay downtown as they would utilize public transportation or uber/lyft. The Commonwealth Corridor would be huge! Think long-term for maybe a private tram/train that links the NRV (Radford to Christiansburg Downtown to Christiansburg Mall to Blacksburg and back). Think of the benefits there. This would be a huge boost to navigate around the area and be an alternative to driving. It also allows people from DC, Charlottesville, Richmond, VA beach to have a weekend getaway where they don't have to drive 5 hours or so. So improving the infrastructure is key. With that, this access will help boom downtown as it would create interest and tourism to the NRV thus visits to downtown. Seek opportunities that will exist in the upcoming Federal infrastructure package. I have noticed that people want more retail/restaurants but in order to attract those businesses and thus visitors/tourists, you need to have the right infrastructure in place in order for them to make that investment and calculate their success. Once this is established, it should have a domino effect. Blacksburg is another city/town to look at and how it has grown rapidly over the years. Seek what incentives they have utilized and implement them here. Again think big as these opportunities are rare!!

Provide standardized trash receptacles to businesses and residences to prevent trash "overflow" that ends up strewn around adjacent property

Cleanup

Storefront beautification and modernization would create a more welcoming downtown area.