The famed 19th century Beale Treasure may still lie hidden in the mountains of Bedford, Virginia, but Bedford City Director of Planning and Community Development Barrett "Bart" Warner thinks the real gold can be found in the little city itself.

"The quality of life here is excellent," he says. "I can walk everywhere – rarely do I need a car. Neighbors know and look out for each other. There are plenty of shopping, dining, and recreational opportunities, great schools, and low unemployment. My wife and I loved Charlotte, N.C., but we don’t miss it at all."

In fact, Warner notes the 6,400-population city seems on the verge of becoming a "trendy" place to live, with young families and retirees coming from as far away as Belgium to buy homes in a brisk real estate market.

Bedford may be a small town, but it’s a progressive one. One of the nation’s first cities with high-speed cable access to the Internet, Bedford is a leader in its use of Geographic Information System (GIS) interactive mapping for land parcels, building inspection, transportation planning, zoning classifications, water distribution, sewer lines, and electrical system infrastructure tracking. A&A has helped the city integrate global positioning data into the WebGIS, pinpointing the location of the city’s power poles and guy wires and facilitating speedy restoration during power outages.

"The city staff had been considering this use of GIS for awhile. Anderson & Associates made it possible by offering us an affordable option now," Warner says. The city will pay for the system over a three-year period.

Bedford is finding the GIS mapping especially useful as the city analyzes land use and fuses zoning districts in preparation for revising its zoning ordinances. "We’ll be blurring the lines between uses, encouraging technology-oriented employers, and attempting to create a diversified economy," he says.

Warner came to Bedford from Davidson, N.C., where he served as planning director. Prior to that, he was assistant planning director in Belmont, N.C. (where he implemented a GIS using Microsoft Access and Map Info in 1994). He has recently had "Assistant to the City Manager" added to his title.