What's special about Roanoke

When we moved to Roanoke in September 1989, it was by choice.  We could have gone pretty well anywhere in Virginia.

Having grown up in North Carolina and traveled Virginia extensively from 1987-89, I knew all the places in Virginia pretty well.

There were a couple of things that really attracted me to Roanoke besides the really friendly people.  One was the incredible natural beauty that I could see just by rolling out of bed every day.

The second thing was Roanoke seemed to be intertwined with the natural beauty.

From our deck it often seemed that Roanoke was more a city of trees than buildings.

Sometimes when Roanoke's summer greenery is at its peak, the city's buildings almost disappeared.

Coming to Roanoke proved to be a wise choice.  No place is perfect, but Roanoke was a very good place to raise a family.  We have many great memories from the kids turning snow packed ditches into toboggan runs to wonderful walks in the deep woods along the slopes of Twelve O'Clock Knob Mountain.

As I watch the construction along Keagy, I hope that the natural beauty of Roanoke will continue even with the added shopping.

I am like others in that I enjoy a new restaurant or shop, but I never want them to overwhelm the natural beauty of Roanoke.

As I see homes farther and farther up the mountains and more trees and hills leveled, I wonder if some enlightened development policies might help recycle some empty buildings or redevelop some abandoned neighborhoods instead of letting urban sprawl continue unchecked.

I am not looking to the be the last person on the mountain, but I am hoping that we aren't the last generation to really enjoy Roanoke's wonderful natural vistas.

I am not a fan of more government regulations, but it might be nice to try to create a doughnut shaped park around the valley to protect the mountain slopes.

Comments

[Cara]

Hi David--
Just returned from a week long conference in Radford, VA. and have friends who live outside of Roanoke and I lived for several years in Lexington, VA in the late '70's.
I am looking seriously at the Roanoke area for relocation and semi-retirement in about two years.
I am looking for a walkable community where one can get to basic amenities by walking. Everything in Florida is sprawl so communities such as this rarely exist. How would rate Roanoke in this regard?

[ocracokewaves]

Cara,

The best area that I can think of which would fit your needs is the Grandin Village area. It's one of our favorite spots in Roanoke. You can walk to the theater, restaurants, drug store, and grocery store.

There is also a neighborhood Ridgewood Farms near Lewis Gale Hospital where you could walk to a number of services.

You might be able to do nearly the same thing over in an area of South Roanoke that has a neighborhood grocery store, but I suspect it would be more expensive, and I don't think it has all the same services.

I hope we see more communities like those.