Lynchburg’s Downtown Is Worth the Time, Effort

The News & Advance
Published: April 21, 2008

In the upcoming City Council elections, one of the issues that has arisen as a dividing line among the candidates and, by extension, city residents is the worth of the ongoing efforts to revitalize downtown Lynchburg.
Over the years, city officials have pumped millions of dollars into downtown and the riverfront in efforts to revitalize Lynchburg’s historic city center. From the renovation and reconstruction of Monument Terrace and the renovation of the Old City Court House to the projects on the riverfront and Percival’s Island, one council after another has reaffirmed its commitment to the efforts.
Of course, there have been bumps along the way. Not all the shops and restaurants have been successful, but that’s capitalism at work. Bluffwalk Center aside, much of the development downtown in recent years has been private capital at work, and you can’t get a bigger vote of confidence than that.
There are many naysayers out there who decry the city’s efforts to pump new life into downtown, saying the concept of a “downtown” itself is an anachronism. Put the money and sweat into “improving” retail stretches such as Wards Road, they say, though their lists of specific improvements are rather thin on details other than the ubiquitous “build sidewalks.”
Folks who remember a time in Lynchburg’s history when downtown was the place, the only place, to be, look at downtown now and shake their heads, not realizing that a city’s historic downtown is a different place with a different role than 50 years ago. Before Pittman Plaza, before River Ridge mall, before Wards Crossing, there was downtown for everything. Now, downtown Lynchburg is an area of specialty and niche retailing and commerce, much like Boonsboro Shopping Center.
Critics of downtown revitalization efforts say the area is simply not worth the time or money; let it sink or swim, they say, and if it sinks, so much the better.
That attitude is economic fascism at its worst. No city that neglects its core, its historic center, is healthy in any way whatsoever. Sure, there’ll be retailing growth on pathways leading to the suburbs, but at its heart, that city will be rotting and sooner or later the rot will spread.
That was the dire situation Lynchburg officials faced going back 30 years or more. They knew that the city shifted its focus with the fickle flow of consumers and their retail dollars, what would be left behind were empty, decaying pockets of “what used to be.”
And for the most part, those efforts have and are paying off.
Property values have increased in downtown Lynchburg. People are living downtown again, shopping downtown again, dining downtown again … all thanks to efforts of one council after another, one city administration after another.
Think downtown is a dark and dangerous haven for criminals? Then you haven’t been to downtown Lynchburg lately. Art galleries, speciality shops, restaurants big and small: It’s all downtown and is just there for discovery.
Downtown is Lynchburg’s history and its future. It’s a gem worth investing in and protecting.