Several recent publications have touched on recreation and tourism, which can both serve as economic engines for communities. Based on current activities of town administrators, Christiansburg appears to be positioned to dominate in these arenas regionally.
A recent op-ed in the Roanoke Times highlighted what tourism means for our local and state economies, contrasting efforts here and with direct competitors and asserts "In hard times, smart companies don't cut back on their sales and marketing investment, they increase them."
Along the same lines, another local blogger looks at how Christiansburg needs to have adequate infrastructure to support tourism as it determines a cap on contributions made to a regional initiative. One year after executing a contract with the local chamber (with higher gas prices and a shaky national economy) the town is changing how it approaches economic development through tourism.
In Pulaski County, supervisors are exploring a study to identify costs for building an indoor recreation facility as a means to expand community amenities and enhance economic development. Although they already have an outstanding inventory of outdoor leisure destinations, including 87 acre Randolph Park with the affordable water park, supervisors are responding to citizen feedback while noting "Radford’s center stops taking memberships for non-residents between November and April each year because the center is so busy...On a typical Saturday, an average of about 1,400 people use the center. In Christiansburg, their recreation center has 13,000 members and is still growing annually."
The Southwest Times article goes on to state "Salem and Roanoke YMCA’s recently started campaigns to expand their centers, with membership standing at 8,000 and 9,000 respectively."
What really jumps out from this article is that there is a lot of emphasis on recreation spending throughout the region, and the reported participation rates:
| Location |
Current Population |
Recreation Membership |
% |
| Cburg |
19,176 |
13,000 |
68% |
| Roanoke |
91,552 |
9,000 |
10% |
| Salem |
24,825 |
8,000 |
32% |
It is notable that Radford's population, excluding students, is approximately 16,100 and so is very similar to Christiansburg. Larger population centers like the cities of Roanoke and Salem generally have not-for profit organizations such as the Y providing leisure services, instead of town or county recreation facilities. The counties of Roanoke, Wytheville and Botetourt all have extensive recreation programs as economic drivers and amenities for citizens. As a region all these facilities and leisure offerings create a large inventory, collectively.
If these percentages are a true indicator of successful economic development, citizens of Christiansburg can indeed have high expectations for Town Council administering both its own tourism plan and realizing a solid return on investment from the new aquatic center. This in turn could be expected to provide some of the lowest property and business taxes in the region.