Hart Fowler: The rent and housing problem is ridiculous in Blacksburg. What can be
done about it? People that live here making even a decent wage can’t afford to live here.
Is it just way the way it goes with rent, which is it never goes down?
Liam Watson : Well I think that’s part of the benefit of adding a younger voice to
Council. I’m a renter. What decisions are made in the town of Blacksburg that impact the
overall rent prices in our town directly impact my pocketbook. And let me tell you, rent is
not cheap in Blacksburg. Anybody who has ever looked to buy a home in Blacksburg also
knows the problem that we’re dealing with.
The issue with affordable housing is, we’re not just talking about people that live at or
below the poverty line or below 150% of the poverty line. We’re also talking about people
that earn, like you said, a decent wage, earn a middle class wage, and they can’t afford to
share in the community that they put their time and economic resources into.
You come to Blacksburg to shop, you pay our sales tax, and then you go live in Giles, or
Radford, or Christiansburg because you can’t afford to live here.
I mean, that’s how I grew up. I grew up in Pilot because my parents were working at
Virginia Tech and could not afford to live in Blacksburg. This is not a new problem. It’s a
growing problem, but it’s not a new problem.
And I think that we need to get aggressive about the solutions that we seek for this
problem. I don’t think it’s just a zoning issue. I think it goes deeper than that, which is,
which is why I support Delegate Clark’s bill to allow localities town cities counties to enact
rent control measures. I think that is a bold solution to tackle this problem.
And it’s a problem that’s only going to get worse as Blacksburg gets bigger.
And so short of doing things to lower people’s property values, which is not something that
any of us want to see, we need to take steps to make sure that renters are protected and
make sure that our community is accessible to people who are protected and
make sure that our community is accessible to people who aren’t just in one tax bracket,
but that we are more diverse, socio economically speaking.
