Ed Walker, Roanoke profiled in New York Times (Greenville: house, construction)

[Scott94]

There was a great NY Times article posted yesterday about Ed Walker, and what he has done to revive Roanoke. I'm sure many have already seen it, but if not, its certainly worth a read. His latest work, the Roanoke River House, opens this Friday I believe, with the tap house and rock climbing gym opening in the fall. He certainly has done wonders for this town.

Virginia Developer is on a Mission to Revive his Town

[Watchful]

Sweet!!

[TomDewey123]

While the NY Times article is nice, it does not reflect reality in Roanoke. Roanoke has a long way to go before it mirrors some place like Charlotte or Raleigh. Jobs are still sparse, and the 30,000 students of Va. Tech (just 40 minutes from Roanoke) still leave the area. Plus, if you are not in the fields of medicine or law you earning potential is severely limited. It's nice when the hipsters come to town, but their presence alone will not revive Roanoke.

[roanoker 4]

I was surprised to see how youthful Ed Walker really is, I thought he would be much older. I think the NYT article was very good considering the NYT considers Roanoke just a "gritty railroad town" from a past article.
I still don't think the Times has gotten over the construction of the Taubman museum as nothing today could be built in Manhattan or DC on such a big scale. Ed Walkers' commenting on Roanoke "People aren't talking about what we're not anymore Now they are talking about we are" sums up the feeling many see in Roanokes' future.

[Scott94]

Originally Posted by TomDewey123

While the NY Times article is nice, it does not reflect reality in Roanoke. Roanoke has a long way to go before it mirrors some place like Charlotte or Raleigh. Jobs are still sparse, and the 30,000 students of Va. Tech (just 40 minutes from Roanoke) still leave the area. Plus, if you are not in the fields of medicine or law you earning potential is severely limited. It's nice when the hipsters come to town, but their presence alone will not revive Roanoke.

Yet do we really want to turn into another Charlotte or Raleigh? As the article (and roanoker4) states, more people are feeling comfortable with who we are, instead of trying to turn in to something else. I agree that we could use more jobs, just as any place could. I agree that we should try to hold students here from not only Virginia Tech, but the multitude of colleges surrounding the area. I am all for growth and development, and I am personally proud of Roanoke's continued revival. Things definitely aren't perfect, but I can only imagine what our area would be like if we had become another Charlotte or strived to be one. Having all the traffic flood the valley would bring serious strain, and obviously new roads would have to built as the ones now would not suffice. I feel that it would hinder the natural beauty of the area, as there are mountains all around but the roads would have to go somewhere. One thing I do envy over is Asheville's Biltmore Park Town Square, and I hope something of that nature can be built either in the Riverside project or the future Evan's Spring project. Just my opinion.

[Kreutz]

Bio-tech and pharma would be very good here given the schools and space available for low cost. They pay well too.

[Watchful]

Originally Posted by scott1094

Yet do we really want to turn into another Charlotte or Raleigh? As the article (and roanoker4) states, more people are feeling comfortable with who we are, instead of trying to turn in to something else. I agree that we could use more jobs, just as any place could. I agree that we should try to hold students here from not only Virginia Tech, but the multitude of colleges surrounding the area. I am all for growth and development, and I am personally proud of Roanoke's continued revival. Things definitely aren't perfect, but I can only imagine what our area would be like if we had become another Charlotte or strived to be one. Having all the traffic flood the valley would bring serious strain, and obviously new roads would have to built as the ones now would not suffice. I feel that it would hinder the natural beauty of the area, as there are mountains all around but the roads would have to go somewhere. One thing I do envy over is Asheville's Biltmore Park Town Square, and I hope something of that nature can be built either in the Riverside project or the future Evan's Spring project. Just my opinion.

If the ROA were like Charlotte, I definitely would not be seriously planning to move there. Just sayin'...

[bizdudes]

Roanoke won't be Charlotte or Atlanta and probably don't wish to be. But it would be nice to be Greenville, SC which probably has the most awesome downtown in the U.S. and much of the world. One of their industrialists, Milliken, was instrumental in developing the GSP (Greenville-Spartanburg) Airport in 1962 with a longer runway than Atlanta. Their mayor in 1979 got a $7.2M grant to develop the downtown. The airport is equally well designed and is a relaxing place to spend time compared to standard airports. It has an outdoors piazza-garden in the airport. Most American cities have not figured out that the airport is the old train station centers of European cities that bought such vitality to the city centers. And BMW in Greenville has a manufacturing facility for which they charge $99 for a tour. That's more than Disney World along with high wages and 76 other European operations that have setup in SC. If you don't feel somewhat inferior about your status, then how do you ever get better? From my living and travels in all 50 states, lots of them have mountains. It's not a competitive advantage.

[TomDewey123]

I agree with those comments. Roanoke does have potential, and Roanokers must find their own way of course. In a few decades time, Roanoke may indeed move from the revival stage to revived and growing. Jobs are merely one stage and a gateway to many others, including entertainment and livability.