I want sidewalks in Roanoke & Salem (Blue Ridge: apartments, home builders)

[theluckygal]

Hey All!! I am so smitten by this lovely weather & would love to walk everywhere. Except, we dont have SIDEWALKS.
Tried greenways but you have to drive there, park the car,... takes away all the spontaneity, fun & seems like a chore. We complain about rising gas prices, obesity & health costs. This could be a simple solution to encourage people to walk (or bike) to grocery stores/work on a lovely day like this. I have heard about speed limit being the issue, especially on 419, but I have seen sidewalks in raleigh/durham on streets that have 45 speed limit. Making exercise as a part of your everyday life works more effectively than setting aside time to go to gym. Also, we could save so much on gas.
I hope this post shows up in search engines & some of our city planners/law makers seriously consider building sidewalks.

[roanoker 4]

Oddly, there are very few sidewalks in Roanoke County where many of the nicer subdivisions are located. It seems as if the home builders had their way with Roanoke County supervisors in building homes in the past. In the older sections of Roanoke City there are sidewalks and many have access to neighborhood shops, especially in the South Roanoke area. The flight to the "suburbs" with its higher gas costs is definately reversing for many in Roanoke. We must all now think of the future and its challenges and how will be adapt.

[headnsouth]

Where do you live, asma410? There are tons of sidewalks in Roanoke. Where I live they're on every block from here to the greenways and then some. One of the many benefits of city life over suburban life.

Also there are bike lanes all over the place too, so if you don't have sidewalks where you are, maybe you can ride your bike to the greenways?

[scott1094]

This doesn't exactly pertain to sidewalks, but I feel its still relevant to the discussion.

Check out this newly posted article, asma410. It has details about potential suburban greenways and a proposed greenway in South County that could eventually connect to the Roanoke River via Blue Ridge Parkway.

Cotton Hill – 221 Renovations Could Include Bike Paths / Greenways | News Roanoke

[theluckygal]

I live close to electric road. Would luv to see a stretch of sidewalk from tanglewood mall all the way thru 419, to salem main st & melrose intersection. And also on apperson rd in salem.
Thanks for the responses. I wish i cud start a petition someday. People who own houses can walk around in their neighborhoods but ppl living in apartments are stuck coz there is only parking lot to walk & some of them have very tight parking lots. Just walking to a closeby grocery store or pharmacy in evenings is so relaxing & healthy. Why do we have to depend on our cars even if the grocery store is less than a mile away? I hope our city officials gave it some serious thoughts. Build greenways that connect residential areas to grocery stores, restaurants, malls & put some benches on the way to enjoy the ambience