Column: Blacksburg provides a unique atmosphere

Monday, April, 9, 2007; 10:28 PM | 0 | | Print

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The past four years at Virginia Tech have given me something that was absent growing up in northern Virginia. As I think back to my hometown there wasn't really much to do. Woodbridge, Va. was a rather large area, but it was small in what it consisted of: Wal-Marts, Starbucks and the other big name chains and franchises that can be found anywhere. It really didn't matter how far or where one drove, everything simply felt homogenous and to a certain degree, fake.

It wasn't until around my junior year at Virginia Tech when I began to realize how unique this town is. Luckily, from wandering downtown and trying out different restaurants, coffee shops and various stores around Main Street I've been able to learn the best way to allocate my time and money. The second I step outside my apartment I know where to go to run into which crowds, where to go to run into which social niches of Blacksburg and where to go depending on the cultural atmosphere that I want to be near that day.

Embedded downtown is a strong sense of community with good, friendly people. As Reverend Billy, a revivalist preacher who leads the Church of Stop Shopping, once proclaimed, we should shop locally because there "you know the person behind the counter or at least

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