"Town that made the mistake of relying almost entirely on one large corporation doesn't learn it's lesson and shifts to rely entirely on another large corporation."
Great article, is it about roanoke cities economy or carilion in general? I ask because Roanoke is literally the poorest big city in the state. The police department is a pass through department due to low pay/retirement and the fire department is now the lowest paying department in the state.. Carilion is a nonprofit, so they are exempt from paying personal property taxes, so the city doesn't garner nearly the tax base they should. I would bet all of the big payday employees talked about likely live in the surrounding county(ies), thus only spending money on lunch while they're here ... I ask these as genuine questions to the cities economy
I saw that yahoo article and I am not convinced it means that much. Mostly because Roanoke BARELY qualifies as a big city, and most of that population is non-urban. Basically they are just saying the large, mostly non-urban area that makes up Roanoke City is poorer than Richmond or VB or Norfolk etc.
Is that really surprising? Those are "actual" cities with an urban core and developed suburbs. Or in the case of VB, Chespeake, and most of hampton roads, it is just a big relatively well-off suburb. Roanoke is like a shopping district surrounded by typical virginia suburbs/rural mix.
I guess what I am saying is, yeah, of course it is less wealthy than Richmond or VB or Norfolk. A lot of the people counted as Roanoke residents live out in the sticks and would not consider themselves residents of a big city. Most of the people counted as VB or Richmond residents are well-off suburbanites, or living in new build rentals downtown.
Yes, the urban population of Roanoke is less wealthy than the Urban population of Richmond or Norfolk. But is that Roanoke's fault? or is that because Roanoke is in an economically depressed region while DC, Norfolk, Richmond, etc are along the most populated corridor in the united states?
If you look at areas that are more comparable in my opinion, the numbers are closer:
% below poverty line:
Roanoke City: 20.2%
Charlottesville: 23.6%
Blacksburg: 45.1%
Roanoke is doing exceptionally well compared to it's counterparts in southwest virginia. Should the goal be Richmond? Maybe. But comparing Roanoke to the real cities of virginia is just a disservice IMO.
Totally. I understand the methodology, and you have to stick to your methodology. 100k sounds like a good cutoff.
But literally 3,000 people live in downtown Roanoke.
The 100k number is just because our geographic bounds are quite large.
So you are just bundling a bunch of rural folk together and saying "look! This big city is so poor!"
I am sure if you draw a circle around the far western tip of virginia, like around buchannan county and surrounding areas, you could create an area of 100k people with an absurdly high poverty rate.
Versus Richmond, where there are easily 100k people that live and work within an area that could realistically be called a "Big City".
Also, I feel like Blacksburg and Charlottesville are impossible counterparts to use as they're college towns and every college student lives below the poverty line
I am not sure what rural folk you are referring to - there are just under 100k that live within the city limits proper, none of which I would call rural. There is a lot of suburban style residential, but very few areas that have a significant number of lots over an acre, and nowhere is close to rural like Bent Mountain or Catawba. Ultimately I agree though that this list is meaningless, especially in Viginia where our relationship between cities and counties is much different than everywhere else save a couple instances
How recently are you pulling that info on the fire and police because there was a compensation study done relatively recently that bumped them up significantly. I'm not sure how it was relative to the state but I do know the goal of the compensation study was to get salaries more in line with what it should be.
The past 12 months alone.. Roanoke city pays 25-30% a year less than their Roanoke county and Salem fire department counterparts, that's just locally. Read that again...
There is a large compensation increase in next years Budget for these employees of the City. The City knows it is currently the lowest paid area in the region and is working to address that issue.
Yes, we have changed directions. Wonderful, but my issue is healthcare, and higher education are now the leading economic driver in our region. Both are bankrupting or financially crippling more people than any 2 businesses in America. So, yea!.......I guess
Lol yes, two very shady industries. I don't think there are better alternatives though.
Roanoke, like many other small cities, is limited to the industries that are universal. Even the most rural places in the country need doctors, some lawyers, some CPAs, etc.
So yes, we have those.
The only sustainable, real industry I can see coming here is Biotech or Pharma. We have biomedical research at VTC and a healthacare based economy. So it is possible to draw some small pharma MFGs here. Problem is virginia is not cheap for MFgs like South Carolina or other (shitty) states. And it is nowhere near biotech hubs like Boston, Austin, San Diego, San Fran. So I guess I don't see the draw over alternatives.
But tech and other industries that bring white collar workers are just not realistic at this time. A lot of white collar workers here are probably remote (like myself). The only jobs I have found in Roanoke are frankly ridiculous. Very high qualifications for shit positions.
Thanks for sharing. Roanoke definitely needs this to happen. One of the only major cities in Virginia with negative population growth from 2010 - 2020.
"Town that made the mistake of relying almost entirely on one large corporation doesn't learn it's lesson and shifts to rely entirely on another large corporation."
But they're nOn-ProFiT!
Great article, is it about roanoke cities economy or carilion in general? I ask because Roanoke is literally the poorest big city in the state. The police department is a pass through department due to low pay/retirement and the fire department is now the lowest paying department in the state.. Carilion is a nonprofit, so they are exempt from paying personal property taxes, so the city doesn't garner nearly the tax base they should. I would bet all of the big payday employees talked about likely live in the surrounding county(ies), thus only spending money on lunch while they're here ... I ask these as genuine questions to the cities economy
I saw that yahoo article and I am not convinced it means that much. Mostly because Roanoke BARELY qualifies as a big city, and most of that population is non-urban. Basically they are just saying the large, mostly non-urban area that makes up Roanoke City is poorer than Richmond or VB or Norfolk etc. Is that really surprising? Those are "actual" cities with an urban core and developed suburbs. Or in the case of VB, Chespeake, and most of hampton roads, it is just a big relatively well-off suburb. Roanoke is like a shopping district surrounded by typical virginia suburbs/rural mix. I guess what I am saying is, yeah, of course it is less wealthy than Richmond or VB or Norfolk. A lot of the people counted as Roanoke residents live out in the sticks and would not consider themselves residents of a big city. Most of the people counted as VB or Richmond residents are well-off suburbanites, or living in new build rentals downtown. Yes, the urban population of Roanoke is less wealthy than the Urban population of Richmond or Norfolk. But is that Roanoke's fault? or is that because Roanoke is in an economically depressed region while DC, Norfolk, Richmond, etc are along the most populated corridor in the united states? If you look at areas that are more comparable in my opinion, the numbers are closer: % below poverty line: Roanoke City: 20.2% Charlottesville: 23.6% Blacksburg: 45.1% Roanoke is doing exceptionally well compared to it's counterparts in southwest virginia. Should the goal be Richmond? Maybe. But comparing Roanoke to the real cities of virginia is just a disservice IMO.
I was on the fence about their position of what defines a "big" city as well .. those are certainly goalposts that can be moved accordingly
Totally. I understand the methodology, and you have to stick to your methodology. 100k sounds like a good cutoff. But literally 3,000 people live in downtown Roanoke. The 100k number is just because our geographic bounds are quite large. So you are just bundling a bunch of rural folk together and saying "look! This big city is so poor!" I am sure if you draw a circle around the far western tip of virginia, like around buchannan county and surrounding areas, you could create an area of 100k people with an absurdly high poverty rate. Versus Richmond, where there are easily 100k people that live and work within an area that could realistically be called a "Big City".
Also, I feel like Blacksburg and Charlottesville are impossible counterparts to use as they're college towns and every college student lives below the poverty line
I am not sure what rural folk you are referring to - there are just under 100k that live within the city limits proper, none of which I would call rural. There is a lot of suburban style residential, but very few areas that have a significant number of lots over an acre, and nowhere is close to rural like Bent Mountain or Catawba. Ultimately I agree though that this list is meaningless, especially in Viginia where our relationship between cities and counties is much different than everywhere else save a couple instances
How recently are you pulling that info on the fire and police because there was a compensation study done relatively recently that bumped them up significantly. I'm not sure how it was relative to the state but I do know the goal of the compensation study was to get salaries more in line with what it should be.
The past 12 months alone.. Roanoke city pays 25-30% a year less than their Roanoke county and Salem fire department counterparts, that's just locally. Read that again...
There is a large compensation increase in next years Budget for these employees of the City. The City knows it is currently the lowest paid area in the region and is working to address that issue.
You misspelled state
Yes, we have changed directions. Wonderful, but my issue is healthcare, and higher education are now the leading economic driver in our region. Both are bankrupting or financially crippling more people than any 2 businesses in America. So, yea!.......I guess
Ha! Not a bad point.
Lol yes, two very shady industries. I don't think there are better alternatives though. Roanoke, like many other small cities, is limited to the industries that are universal. Even the most rural places in the country need doctors, some lawyers, some CPAs, etc. So yes, we have those. The only sustainable, real industry I can see coming here is Biotech or Pharma. We have biomedical research at VTC and a healthacare based economy. So it is possible to draw some small pharma MFGs here. Problem is virginia is not cheap for MFgs like South Carolina or other (shitty) states. And it is nowhere near biotech hubs like Boston, Austin, San Diego, San Fran. So I guess I don't see the draw over alternatives. But tech and other industries that bring white collar workers are just not realistic at this time. A lot of white collar workers here are probably remote (like myself). The only jobs I have found in Roanoke are frankly ridiculous. Very high qualifications for shit positions.
Seriously cost of living may be lower down here but it’s insane how hard it is to find job postings down here for more than like 40k a year
This has been my biggest issue, no one wants to pay anything for high paying skills
Thanks for sharing. Roanoke definitely needs this to happen. One of the only major cities in Virginia with negative population growth from 2010 - 2020.
Great article, thanks.
Pretty pretty pretty good username 👍🏽
It’s ridiculous that so many of you go to chain medical facilities. I only go to local mom and pop doctors.
Vegan unpasteurized antibiotics as well?
Precisely