39 replies to this topic

[thehappysmith]

Hooray, Lynchburg!  A town of 65,000 with a metro population of 228k (though that's highly dubious), I have this wonderful panorama I wanted to put in and let people comment on.  I was driving through town on Business 29 one day, and took the first right after the bridge into Madison Heights.  It goes up to this nice little neighborhood perched on top of the hill there, and I took these pictures from a some woman' s back porch.  She was very polite, but probably thought I was a loony.

I wouldn't say that Lynchburg has a terrific skyline, not even for a town of 65,000; my fondness for it exists for other reasons entirely.  What do you think?

[rusthebuss]

its alway good to support where you are from or currently living. Be proud of lynchburg dude. you never know what might happen and spark some growth and make your downtown bigger. Your only problem is Roanoke is to close and they will more and likely get that buisness. The railroad makes that town.

[StevenRocks]

thehappysmith, on Mar 5 2005, 08:42 PM, said:

I wouldn't say that Lynchburg has a terrific skyline, not even for a town of 65,000; my fondness for it exists for other reasons entirely.  What do you think?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think it's a cool picture.  Lyncvhburg doesn't have a lot of tall buildings, but what it lacks in tradtional urbanity is made up for by great old buildings.

Big up to Lynchburg!

BTW, do you have any idea what happened to the Kroger in Madison Heights?  I went to take pictures of it yesterday because it's the last of that '70s style of store around here that hasn't been heavily remodeled, and saw that it had closed.  Just curious.

[JRQ]

Awesome shot, thehappysmith! Lynchburg has a nice, dense skyline. I visit as often as possible. I'm pretty fond of the place.

[bobliocatt]

Great shot.  Judging from the pano, I think it has a decent sized skyline for a low key city with a population of 65k.

[lammius]

I've never been to Lynchburg (the name alone is intimidating enough) but there definitely seems to be a fine collection of older buildings.  I think it's important to keep in mind that this city was left high and dry during the interstate construction period and there exist no interstate highways anywhere near the city.  I'm sure passenger rail service is limited if at all existent.  Judging by that photo it definitely seems like a nice small city worth visiting, though.  How much life/activity is there in the downtown area?  Is that larger building Jerry Falwell's office?  

[vdogg]

For a city of 65k that is definately a nice looking downtown. Even though they were left high and dry by the interstate system, it doesn't look like a depressed town by any stretch of the imagination from that picture.

[hoosadam]

Having been born and raised in "the 'burg", moved away, and now back again ... there are certainly things to appreciate.  It's a great place to raise a family.  Downtown is on its way back with lots of little shops and several good restaurants and cafes.

BTW, the big building is now Bank of the James, formerly Wachovia, formerly Central Fidelity.

[vdogg]

hoosadam, on Apr 6 2005, 08:30 PM, said:

Having been born and raised in "the 'burg", moved away, and now back again ... there are certainly things to appreciate.  It's a great place to raise a family.  Downtown is on its way back with lots of little shops and several good restaurants and cafes.

BTW, the big building is now Bank of the James, formerly Wachovia, formerly Central Fidelity.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Welcome to the forum hoosadam. It's great to have another lynchburg resident here .

[StevenRocks]

vdogg, on Apr 6 2005, 08:35 PM, said:

Welcome to the forum hoosadam. It's great to have another lynchburg resident here .

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The number of Southwest and Central Virginians on the forum is on an upswing  

[Jerseyman4]

Lynchburg is a very nice city to visit and drive in. It is one of the best kept secrets away from I-95 and I-81.

[thehappysmith]

I understand there's a move afoot to run an interstate along the current US 29 corridor.  I can't remember where I read that, though; maybe it was part of I-73?  Not sure.  Anybody have any ideas?

It's been some years since I took this picture (probably was 1999) so there may have been some changes, though I don't really suspect so.  I've always looked upon Lynchburg as one of those great smaller cities I might move to when I get out of the military and go someplace because I WANT to and not because I HAVE to.

[StevenRocks]

thehappysmith, on May 7 2005, 05:55 PM, said:

I understand there's a move afoot to run an interstate along the current US 29 corridor.  I can't remember where I read that, though; maybe it was part of I-73?  Not sure.  Anybody have any ideas?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There was some talk of an interstate along the US 29 corridor, but it was further down, south of Danville.  That project is I-785 and it will run from Danville south to Greensboro when finished.

As far as through Lynchburg, I remember a very sketchy proposal for an interstate along the US 460 corridor as part of some sort of new natonal interstate, but that was just talk.

[Unifour]

Ive never been to Roanoke or Lynchburg, although they are the largest cities in the southwest part of the state. I imagine that Roanoke is the "capital" of western Va. However, what annoys me about this society is how Americans think that a highway or a big road is the key to economic and cultural success. I don't think it is. Keep in mind that Europe and Canada has no equivalent to the interstate system, and they don't base that when determining how viable a city is. I just wish Americans would focus on culture, preservation, and education, and improved livablility instead of focusing on mega road projects, strip malls, and cookie cutter houses. If we don't we are going to be living in a totally homogenous society with no distiction whatsoever-driving from New York to California and seeing nothing but the same malls, stores, fast food, and subdivisions. Every city seems to have landing a interstate as thier biggest achievment, and that is truly sad to me.

[StevenRocks]

Your points are well taken, but a city such as Lynchburg in a country the size of this one gets lost in the crowd when it comes to culture, preservation, and education, despite their best efforts.  The resources are not there to turn this city, or any other one in America for that matter, into a world class destination overnight.

Interstates don't have much charm, but they make it easier for companies that trasport goods to locate in a city, which creates jobs.  That's really what they're after with the various highway proposals.

[ZachariahDaMan]

Nice picture, thanks for posting.  I'm suprised Lynchburg only has a population of 65,000.

[Jerseyman4]

Unifour, on Sep 15 2005, 07:32 PM, said:

Ive never been to Roanoke or Lynchburg, although they are the largest cities in the southwest part of the state. I imagine that Roanoke is the "capital" of western Va. However, what annoys me about this society is how Americans think that a highway or a big road is the key to economic and cultural success. I don't think it is. Keep in mind that Europe and Canada has no equivalent to the interstate system, and they don't base that when determining how viable a city is. I just wish Americans would focus on culture, preservation, and education, and improved livablility instead of focusing on mega road projects, strip malls, and cookie cutter houses. If we don't we are going to be living in a totally homogenous society with no distiction whatsoever-driving from New York to California and seeing nothing but the same malls, stores, fast food, and subdivisions. Every city seems to have landing a interstate as thier biggest achievment, and that is truly sad to me.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

By not having any controlled access highways/freeways&interstates, you are forced to using existening state roads to get around. This would cause major traffic and likely gridlock which would take days to get around. There would be a small/limited/stagnent/dismal economy as a result of poor travel. Our country is heavily relied on trucks to transport goods in and out so the freeways are a necessity. One major difference when i was in Italy for the summer, passenger rail is provided for pretty much allover the country since the majority of the population are situated along the coastline. All of your freeways (in italy, there called autostrada) are located along the coastline since a few go inland to serve inland cities.

If the US did not have interstates and it was up to the states to provide intra-state travel, no doubt that Virginia would be the best state on the east coast (maybe even the entire country) to provide a comprehensive transportation infrastructure with the bypasses and two lane road upgrades into four lanes.

I do not mean to open this up for tangent discussion after my post but if you think Richmond are given too many freeways/lots of road projects while NoVa and Hampton Roads are under served, you are right however statewide, nearly all Virginians living outside of urban areas, small and big, are getting their fair share of quality reliable transportation.

[wrldcoupe4]

always hatin' on the capital's road network... lol j/k

[Jerseyman4]

Nah, not at all!  

[urbanlife]

always liked my visits to lynchburg when I was younger.  I could never live there, but I always managed to have some fun.