Blacksburg native Krisha Chachra recently secured a seat on Blacksburg’s town council. Chachra ran on a platform that focused on promoting smart growth while protecting local charm.
Having studied at the College of William & Mary and American University, Chachra felt drawn back to Blacksburg to get her doctorate at Virginia Tech and to also give back to the community that she feels gave her so much.
As a student in the Urban Development and Planning Department, Chachra spends her time studying as well as working with creative programming in the New River Valley in hopes to create a more close-knit community of creative professionals in the area.
The Collegiate Times had a chance to sit down with Chachra and discuss what brought her back to Blacksburg and what her vision looks like for the future of Blacksburg.
COLLEGIATE TIMES: What inspired you to run for town council?
KRISHA CHACHRA: I’d have to say Blacksburg is my home. I was born and grew up here, so when I left for college and grad school and then returned, I realized I really wanted to come back to serve my community in some way. I’ve been involved with a lot of young professional issues, and as a young professional myself, I started to talk to my peers and others in my age group, about creative professionals who wanted an opportunity to live in Blacksburg. Lots of people want to return here to raise a family, but a few things hold them back: the lack of jobs and affordable housing as well as things to do around the area. Basically, I got involved with social programming, especially with getting creative professionals excited about living in Blacksburg. Through those events and by my peers, I was encouraged to run as a local that had a reason to come back to Blacksburg.
CT: You’ve written for a variety of publications. What led you to writing?
CHACHRA: I’ve always loved to express my thoughts in words, and I also love a good story, so I’ve always been inspired to write what I see and what I feel, but also what others tell me they see and feel. It really started with traveling. I traveled a lot when I was young and carried that with me. A lot of people like to buy cars or fancy things, but every time I had a spare piece of change in my pocket I’d spend it on travel.
CT: What local publications do you write for currently?
CHACHRA: I’m a regular columnist for Bella Magazine, and I have a column called Young Professionals in NRV Magazine. In that column, I profile a young professional that has either started their own business, is a leader in the community, works for a non-profit, or has found a creative way to either give back to the community or start a sustainable business here in the New River Valley. I want to show that it is possible for people to be successful here as a young professional.
CT: What else are you involved in around the community?
CHACHRA: Basically one of my passions is the attraction and attention of creative professionals in Blacksburg. I realize that not everyone who graduates from Tech wants to stay or grew up here and wants to come back, but I feel if they want to they should have the opportunity to. I’ve been working with creative programming for eight years. The program started as the New River Nucleus, having networking events that brought people together from different areas around town. It evolved into the New River Network.
Once we got a strong listserv of people who wanted to get involved, we started Thursday’s After Five just to get everyone together and bring people downtown. That became popular enough to start a non-profit called Downtown Events, and through that we’ve come up with different programming with multiple partnerships with downtown merchants. Our most popular event has now become “Up on the Roof,” which is a networking event that meets on the roof of Kent Square the last Thursday of every month. Our attendance has gone from 30 to 350. Everything is free from our sponsors, all food and beverages.
CT: What is your vision for the future of Blacksburg?
CHACHRA: I really hope that it becomes a destination for people who want to come and visit our town for many reasons. Blacksburg provides the experience of small town charm, but also the intellectualism of a large research university that’s making great strides in so many different industries and directions.
Also, I think that Blacksburg can be a leading community for other towns experiencing growing pains, leading by example by showing other towns that we can meet our retail and business needs without compromising beauty, charm and green spaces. We can be an example for other towns in terms of development and growth if we do it thoughtfully.
CT: What are you hoping to achieve on the Blacksburg Town Council?
CHACHRA: In terms of goals, I just want to continue to be a good listener, and to try to represent the views of as many citizens and residents that I can. One of the things that made me feel the most blessed about the election was that I had so many supporters from so many ages and viewpoints, and I think that is just a testament to the fact that Blacksburg has many people with many different needs that need to be met.
We need to build bridges and make compromises so we can get the best possible decisions that benefit the most people in the best way. This may be ideal but it is not impossible, and I will do my best to try and achieve that. I’m going into this position with an open mind and heart, to represent the people of Blacksburg I’ve come to know over many years in many different ways and to come to understand their needs and interests.