Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 28, 1993 TAG: 9303010214
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: F-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
ACROSS THE REGION, WORRIES RISING
THREE THEMES, springs of this region's collective concerns, surface in the 1992 Roanoke Valley Poll:
Residents like it here.
They fear an eroding jobs base.
They're dissatisfied with local leadership's response to the economy.
These and other findings, reported today, mark the start of an effort by this newspaper to examine how the region is facing up to challenges of economic change.
Or not facing up.
The poll reveals a reservoir of insights into our situation. We find anxiety about drift (57 percent of respondents say they're "very" concerned about the local economy's future, up from 41 percent three years ago).
Also, frustration with politicians. ("Ineffective government" is cited as the greatest threat facing the region.)
One should expect to find plenty of both sentiments. They not only mirror the national mood ("it's the economy, stupid") that last year helped oust a president. They're also reasonable reactions to local warning signs.
Such signs flash in the form of announcements - by Dominion Bank, Radford arsenal and others - of thousands of jobs lost. The losses haven't become a flood yet, but some control over our destiny is drained away.
Meantime, job-creation in service industries chugs along. But many Roanokers struggle daily just to make ends meet and hold households together.
Warning signs sprout, too, around a local leadership suffering Regional-Vision Deficiency.
Yes, useful efforts are under way. The drive to reopen Hotel Roanoke is a credit to Virginia Tech and city leaders' persistent creativity.
But regional economic-development efforts remain fragmented. City government has been distracted by disputes over high officials' abuses. Roanoke County and the city not only fail to get their act together - they're suing each other over water bills.
And in the New River Valley, lost industrial prospects - not to mention teen-age suicides and insufficient school-funding - draw less attention than a debate over, for heaven's sakes, the names of school holidays.
There is cause for concern.
In some of its results, the poll hints of economic wisdom spreading, if at a high price. For example, respondents rank "too much growth" dead last in a list of 11 possible threats to the valley - a well-deserved burial.
The poll shows, appropriately, less worry about lost jobs than about opportunity generally. By big margins, respondents are concerned about opportunities not only for college graduates in the valley, but - increasingly - for high-school graduates.
And valley residents, the poll suggests, are drawing the connection between their beloved quality of life and economic growth: The two do not contradict, but depend on each other.
Some views submerged in the data betray lapses of understanding. There's not enough evidence, for instance, that people appreciate the importance of closer links with Virginia Tech.
The results also show economic-growth and regional-perspective concerns rising with income level. Those earning more than $30,000 and the college-educated are likelier to cite "lack of high-wage jobs" and "little community vision" as threats facing the valley.
Granted, higher-income respondents can better imagine landing high-wage jobs, so feel this risk more acutely. But if slow growth and Regional Vision Deficiency deepen, surely children of the working class more than of the elite will swell the victims' ranks.
The poll reveals frequent gaps between the views of residents and of elected officials, as well as a conspicuous lack of consensus around a desirable economic-development strategy. This suggests the need for regional economics education, in some cases of public servants by their employers.
But the poll generally conveys sensible attitudes and warranted worries. Mountains (62 percent) rank as the valley's most-liked feature. Poor job opportunities (70 percent) win the biggest-gripe category. It's well to be aware that opportunities are more movable than mountains.