Backyard Brian here. I wanted to take a few minutes to share some thoughts on the new Comprehensive Plan for Waynesboro. I got a chance to go to the city council meeting this past Monday, and I’m standing here on Main Street right beside the City Council building. I’m really excited about what our local officials have worked hard to put together, and I want to give a shout-out to Terry Shore, Bruce Allen, and some of the others on the City Council that have worked to make this happen. Based on what they shared,  I’m really excited for the future of Waynesboro. May family and I moved back to this area about two years ago. We lived in Nelson for a number of years, but Waynesboro is where I grew up. So I’m excited to see Waynesboro move forward in this way. Although, there was something shared in the meeting that I’ve been thinking about quite a bit this past week.

One of the things that’s hurting Waynesboro is our buildings, both residential and commercial. As a whole, compared to surrounding areas, our buildings are really run-down. There are a few things that the city and public can do to improve the structural quality. However, it’s ultimately up to us as city residents to really think about what needs to be done to initiate improvement of maintenance, care, and condition of our homes and buildings. It’s time for us to take some pride in Waynesboro and show that this is a great place to live. We’ve got awesome parks that are only going to get better. We’ve got the Wayne Theater behind me. We’ve got an awesome downtown. We’ve got many great local businesses like The Farmhaus Coffee Co., The French Press, Heritage on Main, and Green Leaf.

If we want this area to draw others to visit and live here, we’ve got to do something about the condition of our buildings. We must take initiative to say “Okay.” To make sure our yards are cleaned up and homes are maintained. The buildings that we have influence over are our responsiblity. And lending a helping hand is important to. Maybe we have a neighbor who’s struggling with keeping their place up, so let’s offer to help. It’s time for us to have some pride in our community and really step out. To choose to work together and make sure Waynesboro looks great. Our city councilmen can’t help us do that. they can encourage us, but we are the ones to musst take action in the end. It’s up to us.

According to the consultant that presented the Comprehensive Plan, real estate values of our homes and businesses are about 20 percent below what they could be because of the condition of our buildings as a whole. We have a lot of opportunity and room to grow. This is an opportunity for all of us in Waynesboro and put money in our pockets if we want to. If will work together and we’ll see the quality of our neighborhoods and streets improved.

Anyway, it’s a great opportunity. Let’s work together to take it. Pass the word. Share this with others. If you want to see the Comprehensive Plan, it’s on the city’s website. There’s a lot of other great things in there that I’ll be talking about over the next couple of weeks, but let’s start by working together to make our communities, homes, and business buildings look great. All right, talk to you later. Have a great weekend. Bye.