I overheard snippets of a conversation between two “learned” persons last week and was somewhat surprised when one of them said that they felt Wythe County would have a huge population increase over the next 50 years… his statement was “100,000 people will be living in that area” by then. Any thoughts? I have looked at population projections and cannot find any support for anything close to this figure… but if the economy improves and the industrial park keeps landing large corporations - who knows? Anyone, anyone ...

sure dont see it in smyth do ya

I don’t think that’s very realistic.  If you look at the population centers anywhere in this part of the US, you’ll see that they were determined way back in original settling of the wilderness a couple centuries ago.  So generally speaking, cities will keep their existing size ratios relative to one another, and all tend to grow as the US population increases.  One of the biggest forces causing people to move to new areas is overpopulation of large cities.  However, people usually move out into nearby suburbs, where they are still part of the main cities’ workforce, and there aren’t any cities nearly that large nearby for us to gain population in that manner (not even Roanoke is that large yet).  So that only leaves employment as a source to bring people here, and there is no way that enough industry is going to plop down here out of the clear blue sky to require a workforce of 100,000 people.  If you look at Gatorade, Pepsi, and the other plants in the Industrial park combined, they probably employ around 1000 people.  So it would require 100 times more development than that to employ 100k.  We do not have a skilled workforce (most employment in this county is in the service industry - hotels, restaurants, sales clerks, stocking, etc, which is not considered skilled labor), nor do we have a 4-year college to produce such a skilled workforce.

I’m afraid I’m sounding overly negative, so let me compensate by saying that Wythe county is growing, and will keep on growing.  I think we will see more growth than any other county in this region - between Bluefield and Mt. Airy, and between Christiansburg and Bristol.  Wythe’s perfectly central location between large cities, located on the confluence of two major long-haul interstates, is a massive asset that will continue to attract new business.  We have one of the best community colleges in Virginia, and it is a wonderful resource.  I’m looking forward to the day when it will begin offering 4-year programs as well.

My prediction is that Wytheville will continue to grow because of its service industry and shopping (regardless of growth because of industry).  As the cost of transportation increases, people will not be as willing or able to travel long distances to buy stuff or do things.  Since Wytheville has such a central location in a very large, sparsely populated area, I believe it will continue to become a destination.  I think it will see continued growth in retail stores (Target, shopping mall, etc), certainly growth in the restaurant industry (hopefully including Chuck-E-Cheese, because I’m tired of having to drive all the way to Roanoke for the closest one), entertainment, and a place for conventions.

Let me point out a couple of businesses that have already made Wytheville a destination.  Wohlfahrt Haus Dinner Theatre, from my 3rd-party perspective, is doing booming business.  All the shows I’ve checked on lately have had waiting lists.  You can drive up there pretty much any day of the week and see multiple buses there from communities within a 100 mile radius.  Last show I saw I overheard a family talking that lives a couple hours from here.  They said that they come to watch every single show that the Wohlfart Haus produces at least once.  The other business is the Convention Center.  I drove through there earlier this week, and I don’t know what event was being hosted, but practically every parking spot in that entire place (including the Community Center side) was full.  They seem to be hosting really large (several hundred people) events at least a few times each month.  These types of business are self-sustaining and inherently cause growth.  For example, I know of groups that utilized the Convention Center that also booked a show at the Wohlfart Haus for entertainment in the evening.  I think Wytheville will continue to expand in this way, because it is a convenient, centralized, isolated, safe and scenic location that appeals to groups that also has the lodging accommodations for thousands of people.

So while I think Wytheville’s industry base will grow, I expect services and sales industry growth will still be greater, but even all of it combined will not give us a population of 100,000 people within 50 years.

The US population has more than doubled in my life time and I have read estimates that say it will possibly double again in as little as 40 years.  There is no telling exactly what effect that will have on Wythe County but it will be huge.  I just wonder what effect a failing economy will have on population.

Hold on to your shorts its going to be some kinda ride we maybe abel to relate to all the stuff our grandparants told us!!

you never know some of the city people may want to be moving to the small country areas before it is over with.

I am not a resident of Wythe Co. or Wytheville, however my aunt & uncle lived all their married life there.  I was in Wytheville last Thursday.  I am 57 yrs. old, and have been coming to Wythe Co. since a small child.  I would hate to see the farms and rual country-side gone.  The town of Wytheville has doubled in my life-time.  It is the low key life-style, history, and the good folks of your county that seniors, and generations younger than I are looking for in todays world.  I will not be around in 50 years, if G-d allows maybe 20 to 25, due to family medical history.  However it would not at all be impossible that it may reach 150,000.  I 6 months ago returned to my great-grandparents farm in Patrick Co.  You could not pay me a trillion dollars to leave !!!  I have seen areas in SWVA out grow themselves in less than 40 years, such as Smith Mountain Lake area of Franklin Co. Virginia .  I believe that it is up to local goverment to plan for the future, and the responsibility of the residents of Withe County to plan for the future of generations to come !!!  Neal Hall

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with all of the new people visiting from all over, no one knows what wytheville will look like then. yeah, and all of the dumb people who litter everywhere and some of us would like to keep america beautiful. example: traveling back from marion some idiot chooses to trow mickey dees trash all over the road instead of throwing of finding a gas station and putting that crap in there! KEEP LITTERING AND WE WILL SEE WHAT WYTHEVILLE LOOKS LIKE IN 50 YEARS!