Civil Municipal Magazine - Dec 2023

304 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 12 Lynchburg Virginia is counted among the nation’s best small cities. Located in the heart of Central Virginia, LYH is a quintessential Virginian city with rich cultural character, a vital sense of the past and a growing contemporary energy. We celebrate our history with an eye always towards the future. Rated as a Top Adventure Town, with more than 40 miles of urban trails, a vibrant, walkable downtown, an engaging arts and cultural scene, and safe and affordable neighborhoods, the cost of living in the City of Lynchburg is 12.8% lower than the U.S. average. Our City is positioned as a hub for young people, students and families to call home. Our 80,000 residents are smart, young and diverse with a median age of 28. LYH has recently been noted as the Best Place for Millennials, one of the South’s Cities on the Rise by Southern Living, and Top 25 College Town by Travel + Leisure. The City’s colleges and universities confer more than 24,000 degrees annually and this pipeline has grown more than 10% over the last five years. We are a city that makes things and produces talent for the world. Our top industries include nuclear engineering, manufacturing, healthcare and social assistance, retail trade and higher education. More than 6,000 people work in the manufacturing sector, 22% higher than the national average. Some of our top industries include names like BWX Technologies, Inc., Framatome, Harris Corporation, Centra Heatlh, Frito-Lay, Delta Star and Belvac. We know you will love LYH because it’s leaning into its future by repurposing, revitalizing and redefining itself without losing the sights, sounds, materials and textures of its history. We are a small city with an outsized ambition to become a truly welcoming place, working with energy and pride to look the future in the eye and offer a seat at the table for all. LYH Loves You. LYNCHBURG CI T Y SCHOOLS Lynchburg City Schools, with its 20 different sites and myriad programs, has evolved significantly through the years. Yet, as Dr. Edwards emphasizes, the unwavering commitment to educating the diverse student body of Lynchburg City remains unchanged. On the school district’s current strategic trajectory, Dr. Reid Wodicka, Deputy Superintendent of Operations & Strategic Planning, shares, “We’re in the midst of a master planning process, focusing on realigning the number of elementary schools to optimize our educational offerings.” Dr. Wodicka paints a picture of a district in transformation, not just physically but educationally. He details the drive towards “right-sizing” elementary schools to foster more engaging, rigorous programs that resonate with students’ lives. The plan doesn’t shy away from infrastructural enhancements either, with energy efficiency upgrades Dr. Edwards