Small Town Thinks Big

From the view on Main Street, Blacksburg is just a small college town in southwestern Virginia. There are narrow streets and quaint, older buildings with red brick and white trim; the main drag fronts Virginia Tech University. In short, you'd never know that Blacksburg is said to be America's most wired town.

The Blacksburg Electronic Village project, coordinated by the town government, Virginia Tech's computer systems department, and Bell Atlantic, is an experiment to electronically link the citizens of this relatively isolated community to one another -- and to the global village.

A satellite field outside the Blacksburg Electronic Village (BEV) office provides computer and video uplinking capabilities for the town. (Photograph by Randy Olson)

Professor Virgil Cook of Virginia Tech is blind. His computer synthesizes speech from text so he can participate on the Net. Cook says his new found electronic ability has completely changed his life. (Photograph by Randy Olson)

The Freedman's Church in Blacksburg, Virginia, built in 1869 by emancipated slaves, was falling into disrepair. Habitat for Humanity members used the Internet to organize a renovation project. Harvey Hicks, pictured, who lived on the property and lost a son to a fire there, was overjoyed by the church's new lease on life. (Photograph by Randy Olson)

In Blacksburg, the corner bank discusses marketing plans electronically with other banks around the world. Wade's Grocery sells flowers over the Internet, and it is experimenting with allowing complete shopping online. And residents can apply for basic town permits (public gatherings, animal licenses, and the like) and post public announcements electronically.

So far, the project has connected more than 14,000 of Blacksburg's 36,000 residents. There are high-speed connections in all student dorm rooms, and there's a push to install Ethernet and other high-speed connections in new construction.

Wiring a town can be hazardous. Mark Richardson must wear a "moon suit" to install Ethernet cables in the asbestos-lined tunnels beneath Virginia Tech. All university dorm rooms feature high-speed Internet connections to Blacksburg's Electronic Village -- and to the world. (Photograph by Randy Olson)

Many non university residents didn't seem to "get it" initially, says Andrew Cohill, the project's director at Virginia Tech. "I've started calling it the reverse 'Field of Dreams' theory," he says. "If you build it, they won't come. I've learned that it's not enough to provide the connectivity. You have to teach people its value. You have to show them it will mean something in their lives."

One business that's learned the meaning of the Internet is Backstreets, a popular, locally owned pizza parlor. Employee Rusty Riley urged his boss to post a menu and coupons on the Internet (two strombolis and two drinks for $9.95). "We get people from all over the world who have found it," Rusty says. "Things are changing around here," Andrew says. "It's far enough along now that people are having to relearn the rules of community."

The Saurkraut Band, a local musical ensemble, communes on the Web when it comes to club dates and rehearsal sites. (Photograph by Randy Olson)

This story is excerpted from a longer article by Dwight Silverman, computer columnist and technology reporter for The Houston Chronicle. Silverman's home page address is http://www.neosoft.com/~dwights/. The article is copyrighted by the Houston Chronicle Publishing Company. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.