Toms Creek Basin Planning Study

Almost a quarter of the picturesque and beloved landscape of Toms Creek Basin, just north of Blacksburg, Virginia is conserved as open space today. Yet as demand for living in Blacksburg continues to increase, the limitations of existing conservation tools are evident. The community’s need for workforce housing, recreation, and jobs must be balanced with environmental stewardship, open space management, and infrastructure demands. To tackle these challenges, Blacksburg sought the expertise of Development Strategies to identify and articulate the tradeoffs between these complex and interconnected systems in order to develop a shared vision for development in the Basin.

The final plan, adopted in Spring 2025, prioritizes assembly of land around cherished and environmentally sensitive areas for conservation. It promotes greater clustering of communities to preserve more open space through zoning and incentives, while “missing middle” housing is encouraged through the support of smaller housing types. The plan encourages the growth of agritourism as a path to promote farm preservation, and connects people to open space and recreation through trails and active amenities. Infrastructure needs are identified, while ensuring ecological conservation and rural character guide investment. In total, the plan identifies roughly 2,400 new housing units across the Basin, visualizing possibilities for where and how this new development could happen –while conserving most of the Basin’s open space in the process.