Editorial
A proposal was made at last week’s meeting of the Buena Vista Planning Commission that bodes well for the future of Southern Virginia University and the overall community. SVU is proposing to build a huge new dormitory to house 600 students that should dramatically increase the availability of affordable housing for working families in Buena Vista.
SVU’s growing enrollment over the years has exceeded the availability of student housing on campus, resulting in inevitable town and gown conflicts due to students moving into singlefamily dwellings throughout Buena Vista. College students and working class families living side by side in traditional residential neighborhoods don’t always make for harmonious living arrangements.
A regional housing study completed earlier this year by the Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission showed that there is a shortage of affordable housing for working families in the Rockbridge region. This has an adverse impact on the local economy because manufacturers, aware of the shortage of housing for their potential workforce, are less likely to locate here.
Shifting students away from living in the city’s residential neighborhoods will increase the housing stock available for working families. Such a trend should lead to more manufacturers moving to Buena Vista or elsewhere in the Rockbridge region.
When it is completed in the next couple of years, if everything goes according to plan, SVU’s proposed new five-story dormitory with 218,525 square feet of floor space will pull 600 students away from off-campus housing options. Having these additional students on campus will create a more immersive college experience for SVU’s student body.
To make this transition work, SVU will have to review and update its policies regarding students living on campus and their ownership of vehicles. Currently, freshmen and sophomores are required to live on campus. Perhaps this policy should be extended to juniors in the future. Availability of on-campus parking, or lack thereof, could lead to SVU placing restrictions on vehicle ownership by students.
The new dormitory should create opportunities for enhancing the walkability of campus, encouraging pedestrian access and improving pedestrian connections between SVU facilities and the rest of the city. There are stairs on both the south and north ends of campus that are in definite need of refurbishment or replacement. The deteriorating stairs on the south end of campus descend directly down Seminary Hill to Magnolia Avenue and downtown Buena Vista.
SVU and city official need to have conversations on how to create lasting bonds between students and city residents. Students ought to be encouraged to patronize local businesses. A resurgence in downtown Buena Vista appears to be imminent, especially with the opening of Mountain Gateway Community College’s Wilson Workforce Center this fall. We look for entrepreneurs to take advantage of the influx of students, faculty and staff downtown by investing in new businesses.
The future looks bright for Buena Vista. SVU’s planned new dormitory on the hill that will shortly be taking its place on the city’s skyline alongside the university’s Main Hall is yet one more reason for this optimism.
