Well, here we go. My name is Ron Bergeron, a long-time musician and songwriter who has had to wear corporate hats for over 3 decades. The past several years took me from my home state up in Central Noizee Joizee to a small and unique Metro area in SW Virginia that looked something like the North Counties of my old state, except the cost of living here is about 1/2 or better in this beautiful Blue Ridge region.
That's my story in a nutshell. I didn't need to roam around much while I was working as an IT consultant, but soon as that project was through, I had to get out of my house a little more often, other than driving to the airport. (By the way, if you've never flown in or out of Roanoke Regional Airport, you have got to do it. It's breath-taking to see the mountains surrounding this valley.)
I had little occasion to run Downtown or go into SW County or to shop at the malls (which I don't really do anyway because I prefer buying from non-chain businesses). Once I got to know a few people and had some things to do about town, I quickly realized that Roanoke had tons more things available for its residents than most of the large cities I've lived in and around in the Tri-State NYC area. How could that be possible???
Obviously, the exception would be Manhattan. Otherwise, the next closest "town" or city I can compare Roanoke to would be something like New Brunswick, NJ... but only because they have a younger university population, the county seat, lively night life, huge medical facilities, arts organizations and a theatre (not a movie-house). The landscape does not have similarities. But as for action, I can go there and not get bored.
Roanoke is working on having its own teaching hospital from what I understand, with Carilion. So, while we have no formal UNIVERSITY, we do have nearby Roanoke College, Virginia Tech, Radford University, and local learning centers like Virginia Western, National College, Roanoke Higher Education Center, and more. We're not slacking in education, and we have major players in Roanoke as far as employment and technology.
To rattle off a few, the Roanoke Valley is home to Norfolk Southern Railroad, Carilion Healthcare, ITT, General Electric, Lewis-Gale Medical, and a host of logistics companies, like FedEx, UPS, and other major common carriers. We have some of the area's best sound local banks. We also have huge financial and insurance institutions. Appalachian Power is one of our biggest energy companies. We have several communications services as well, one being Cox Communications which brings many of us our cable TV, internet and telephone services. I am a customer of theirs, but I am also a long-time customer of Verizon, which continues to be my wireless provider. (Geez, did I just make it sound like... "yep, we got electric.")
Real Estate is what brought me here originally. Home prices compared to the NY-Metro area is a difference that can take you out of a cottage and put you into a brand new golf course mansionette... if you do it right.
What Roanoke shouldn't be lagging in, though, is its young residents. I keep hearing stuff about how we can't hold onto our young people. Young adults leave their roots all over. It's not an uncommon phenomenon. But young people also come back after getting their fill of big-city life. Right now, with the economy being stale everywhere, work is going to depend on education level more than ever, I believe. And Roanoke is not the backward town that some outsiders might mistake it for. Far from it.
YEP. WE GOT ELECTRIC...
Roanoke. Downtown is a place that reminds me of the mid-60's Main Street shopping era. I loved it then, and I love it now. Feels like home to me. I like to shop at stores where I know the owner's name. People are so worried about sales reps remembering their customers' names. Anybody can do that. Do YOU know your shopkeeper's name? How many store owners do you know personally? Have you ever thought they might be residents of your town? That they are not the big-box alterers of the landscape and rather care more about your purchase than how many cheap widgets they can ship in a marine container for a bigger profit?
That's the guy and gal I'm talking about.
Is that classic? Is that somehow "retro?"
I'm thinking, we need to see the forest from the trees. All the global-mindedness ain't gonna happen on some blanket pulled over the earth, even if that blanket is our great friend, the internet. Reach out and actually touch someone, please. Do it often. Get out into the air. Walk, bike, or drive to somebody's real life thing.
Fun happens offline. You can do Meet-up, Twitter, Facebook, and all that, to see what your friends and co-workers are doing... and go. You can peruse The Roanoke Times, City Magazine, The Roanoker, whatever, for what's going on out there... and go.
Go. Go. Go.
Get out and do something because there's TONS OF STUFF TO DO ALL OVER ROANOKE!!Free stuff. Group stuff. Alone stuff. Volunteer stuff. Participation stuff. Creative stuff. Sit and watch stuff. Walk, bike, hike stuff. Cruise-around in your car stuff. Sports stuff. Kids stuff. Senior stuff. Civic stuff. Shopping stuff. Entertainment stuff. Learn-how-to-do stuff. Crafts stuff. Mentor stuff. Food stuff. Party stuff. Teach stuff.
And events galore!!! I had no idea how many events go on in the Greater Roanoke Valley, from Downtown Street festivals to Regional Music festivals. So if you are not sure where to go or to find out what's going on - definitely click on any of the linked words here in this post. And come on back to the Star City Fame blog so you can find out more about events and organizations (to get you going) in this l'il old town that isn't so little.
Okay, that's it for now. I just wanted to share with you how much I really dig being a resident (and taxpayer since it helps make this the city and county it is) of Roanoke...
And now that Star City Fame is getting rolling, you'll see some more stuff back here to give ya's a well-rounded idea about this multi-faceted Valley.
PS - The flowers are blooming!!!
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