Matt Gentry | The Roanoke Times

"One of the first things we noticed in downtown Christiansburg was the churches with the trees in bloom, free parking and lovely shops," said Winston-Salem, N.C., real estate agent Chuck Houska during his tour of downtown Christiansburg. Houska was taking part in Monday's "The Downtowns — Re-Visioned" panel discussion and tour hosted by the Montgomery County League of Women Voters.

BLACKSBURG -- To boost your downtown, play to your strengths, build more housing in the urban cores and think more about your future than your past.

That was the advice given to Blacksburg and Christiansburg officials Monday at a panel discussion hosted by the Montgomery County League of Women Voters.

"The Downtowns -- Re-Visioned" brought together retired economics professor and League President Mary Houska, Virginia Tech marketing professor Jim Littlefield, North Carolina real estate agent and former downtown development director for Winston-Salem, N.C., Jack Steelman, Winston-Salem real estate agent Chuck Houska and Angela Hamilton, director of Lynchburg's downtown organization, to discuss the past and future of the two downtowns.

The panelists toured both areas, then shared their suggestions and ideas in a open forum.

"I don't want to bust anybody's bubble," Steelman said. But, he pointed out, the days of downtown department stores are gone, those businesses long ago left because of changing transportation patterns and the shifting of schools and housing from downtowns to the suburbs.

Steelman praised both downtowns but encouraged officials to think and talk more about the future and less about the past and the present. He called for a unified redevelopment vision for each locality.

The exuberant development of retail malls, many also built in the suburbs, have contributed to the decline of downtowns across the country, Chuck Houska said.

Houska cautioned against an idea brought up in a question from the audience for a teen center that could mix teenagers with adults at downtown bars, a problem Blacksburg Town Council and police department hope to solve with a proposed ordinance regulating teen dance parties.

He also warned that big-box stores, such as one proposed for land off South Main Street in Blacksburg, often have a short lifespan and that redeveloping those sites after the stores close is often unsuccessful.

But there are things governments, residents, business people and developers can do to revitalize the heart of their towns and cities, according to the panel.

One of the most successful strategies for Lynchburg has been encouraging residential development targeted to empty-nesters and 20-something professionals, Hamilton said.

Such developments often reclaim old properties, such as vacant school and manufacturing buildings, and create a sort of captive customer base for downtown businesses.

The Lynchburg revitalization effort was also helped by the city pumping $1 million a year in capital improvement funds into the downtown, Hamilton said.

Another Lynchburg strategy relieved a long-running perceived downtown parking shortage, Hamilton said. The city hired consultants to analyze traffic and parking patterns and then developed a parking authority to govern use of those facilities.

Parking has been an issue in both Blacksburg and Christiansburg.

Other suggestions for Christiansburg included boosting tourism by focusing on its many antique shops and branding a visit to the town as a trip back in time.

Steelman said were he director of Christiansburg's downtown, he would tout the fact that the town hasn't changed much in the past several decades and use that connection to history to draw tourists off Interstate 81.

He also pointed to the churches in downtowns as a boon to development. Religious buildings create a sense of safety in urban areas, he said.

He also suggested Blacksburg host Virginia Tech pep rallies and focus on events that would sell a lot of beer.

Town council members from both localities, as well as planning officials, attended the meeting at the Blacksburg Municipal Building.

Tacy Newell-Foutz, a downtown Christiansburg advocate and commercial landowner, said the discussion was affirming of the work she and others have put into creating new festivals downtown, among other revitalization efforts.

"I was very pleased to see the Christiansburg town government well-represented," Newell-Foutz said.

"It was good for community awareness," said Susan Anderson, a Blacksburg councilwoman and chairwoman of the town's Downtown Revitalization Committee.

Blacksburg Vice Mayor Leslie Hager-Smith said the message she got from the forum was this: "It's much easier to build streets than it is to do the social engineering" necessary for downtown revitalization.

Hager-Smith said she hoped people who care about Blacksburg's downtown would get more involved in budgeting and other issues that affect the town's core.

Other suggestions for the localities were:

Help property owners recruit new tenants.

Erect displays or artwork in the windows of vacant downtown buildings.

Aggressively pursue building code violations and ways to work with owners of vacant buildings to redevelop or sell them.

Erect good wayfinding signs for parking and attractions.

Reuse old and vacant school buildings for housing and civic spaces.

Implement more downtown events and festivals that would drive hungry revelers to restaurants.

The panel discussion will replay on WTOB Channel 2 and Channel 16 on the Tech campus at 3 p.m. Thursday,  8 p.m. Friday and 4 p.m. Sunday.